unchained-lightner

[unchained-lightner]

     Hey there, folks! Timey here with another disaster of a roleplay blog; this time, a dual-muse featuring Lonely Pearl and Fable from the mobile game, Steven Universe: The Phantom Fable. So how about it? One curious little moth gem with a teensy bit of library abandonment related trauma, and her unlikely best pal, a sentient book that craves company just as badly as she does? Just be careful, or they might show you what it really means to get sucked into a good book!

     If that sounds like a fun time, feel free to give this post a like and/or a reblog and i’ll drop by to check you out! Note that this is a sideblog, so all follows will come from timey-roleplay-hub.

                      home    |     rules      |     about      |      mun

[unchained-lightner]

     I’m starting to realize that... It’s definitely a good thing I picked the playerless AU for this Kris’s main, because this kid is NOT nice as a soulless husk of their former self. Like... I’m just gonna talk a bit below the cut about some significant differences between the two, because personality-wise? Having lived their life as a pawn in someone else’s game has a pretty significant impact, as you might expect. So. Yeah. Awful as this kid is right now? Soulless Kris is roughly 100x worse.

     - Due to their soul being separated in ‘soulless vessel,’ Kris exhibits many of the same serious problems as Flowey. They can’t feel compassion, or love, or hope, or happiness; all they really feel is anger and vague amusement. And the worst part? No guilt. At all. Kris without their soul is actually ridiculously dangerous, at least if you get in their way. While they won’t go straight to killing, they’ll hurt people very badly without a care if it suits them-- and not just mentally, either.

     - To make matters worse, soulless Kris is... Pretty sadistic. Not unlike Flowey, they revel in other people’s pain and fear, and enjoy tormenting others who cross their path. On top of that, they’re very, very good at it. While not especially strong from a combat perspective, this version of Kris can pick people apart psychologically, using their weaknesses and deepest fears against them. They’ll tear apart a person’s resolve and confidence in a couple sentences, then just walk off like nothing even happened.

     - Don’t expect soulless Kris to care about your feelings at all, honestly. You’re hurting? Scared? Sad? Lonely? They’ll just smirk, implore you to go tell someone who cares, and leave you in the dust without a second thought. Again, this Kris is not nice. Like, at all. They’ll just do whatever they think will get an interesting reaction out of someone, really. If you don’t have anything they want, they just don’t care.

     - The one positive is that, without their Determined soul, Kris’s abilities are EXTREMELY limited. They can’t summon anything more than a weak knife, and can’t save, load, or reset, either; their Determination literally can’t go over 20%, a relatively ‘normal’ amount for a human. As a result, despite seeming a lot scarier and more intimidating on the surface, they’re actually a lot easier to deal with when it comes to actually fighting them. That doesn’t mean they’re a pushover though, they still have their bare fists and a sharp knife.

     - If people notice their lack of a soul-- either through magic, various detection methods, or whatever the case may be-- Kris will not tell the truth of how that happened. Instead, they’d rather fabricate any manner of far, far more disturbing possibilities to phrase in as terrifying of a way as possible. Some particularly horrifying examples;

“Oh... I got tired of having a conscience. It’s so much easier to hurt people when you don’t feel any guilt. Want me to show you..?”

“It was taken. I don’t have one anymore, but... I miss having a soul. Mind if I borrow yours?”

“Feelings are hard... It’s easier to be empty. Are you scared..? I can make that go away, forever.”

     - In other words, yeah... Whereas Kris’s playerless variant is generally more friendly, snarky, and a bit mischievous, without their soul this kid is... Not somebody you want to meet, to put it nicely. They might still be relatively tolerable to people they befriended beforehand, but that’s honestly just a facade they put up to appear ‘normal.’ Kris is fully aware their behavior is abnormal and frightening, they just don’t care unless they’re dealing with someone who might catch on.

     - In conclusion; the Kris of this blog is pretty much just an AU Chara/Frisk mix whose life didn’t go to hell, and as a result they’re relatively peaceful. But, take out that stability and they’ll gradually become more and more like the ‘demon who comes when you call its name,’ and could potentially become every bit as volatile and filled with hate.

[unchained-lightner]

me: so what all do i have in my drafts anyways--

me:

me:

me: ah,

[unchained-lightner]

emptyxhere‌:

It really was unnerving how much this person looked like a human they had met before. People don’t usually look that similar, do they? Unless they were twins or something? Except the other one was so dissimilar all at the same time. This one just felt more threatening in just about every way. Frisk didn’t know how to feel about that. They especially didn’t know how to feel about the weird stuff the self proclaimed demon was talking about. Us? Weird pronoun usage. And the way they said it sent a shiver down the child’s spine. They didn’t like the way the stranger was looking at them. They didn’t even realize they’d taken a step back, as much as they tried not to appear intimidated.

Probably didn’t take a genius to know what they meant by busy, though. It was pretty obvious. The fact the entire population down here was wiped out and dust scattered all over the place while Frisk was the only living being around; anyone would’ve realized they killed all those monsters. But that was so long ago. They weren’t very busy anymore, at least.

Oh god, Frisk didn’t want the teen coming toward them like that. And what was that about souls? …They didn’t understand what that meant, but they got the feeling it was something that they didn’t want to find out either. They didn’t necessarily enjoy having their soul being handled by people other than themselves. Frisk struggled to remain calm. They still tried. But the smile they held earlier had slowly faded, expression turning to something more morose.

“My story…?” They echoed. Share their story? Definitely never done that before. They didn’t exactly have anyone they could confide to after all this time anyway. And they weren’t quite sure how well they could handle reliving all those memories again. Something told them it would probably be a bad thing to not comply with this person, if the dangerous vibes they were already sensing weren’t enough of a warning. But it had been such a long time since they last forced themselves to think about what actually happened to them. In fact, they kind of quivered the slightest bit at the mere thought. 

“It’s… There’s not much to whatever ‘my story’ is. They… They made me do it.” Frisk mumbled, straining to find the words they didn’t want to look for. “I… I… I-I–” A lump formed in their throat as they stammered softly. They swallowed. Why was their heart beating so fast? Must be because they were so angry at what happened. No other reason. Maybe if they elaborated just a little bit, the older kid would understand.

“We were s’posed to be happy. But it’s their fault. I freed everyone. I didn’t wanna reset. Then… And then. Then fight. Fight. Fight, fight, fight, they didn’t stop. And then, my friends all– It wasn’t my fault. I couldn’t stop. They wouldn’t let me. I couldn’t. Couldn’t. Their fault. Their fault it was theirs it’s their fault–” 

And with that, it was almost as if they were barely seeing the demon in front of them anymore. They didn’t care about that at this point. No, instead, they were somewhere else entirely. Transported back to exactly the same place they were however long ago. Reliving it. Same raw emotions they felt those exact moments too. Why were their cheeks wet? That’s embarrassing. They lasted being down here this long without this much distress at the thought of death. Why was this any different? Their sleeves flew up to their dampened eyes, an attempt to wipe away the tears as they completely shut down and shut up. They were shaking. They didn’t understand why.

     Something shifted in the entity’s gaze as the child before them began to explain, to stammer... To crack. Their careless amusement faded, gradually softening into something that looked much more like sympathy. They were quiet for a long moment, just listening, taking it in. ‘Congratulations, you have successfully given the child a mental breakdown. If you goal was to produce a blue screen of death in record time, I would say mission accomplished,’ chided Charity in the demon’s head. Finally they heaved a heavy sigh, brushing their messy bangs back with a few slender claws; for a few seconds their eyes were clearly visible, and it was obvious right away why they’d called themself a ‘devil.’

     Crimson irises, glowing with unnatural light... Slit pupils, dark sclerae, as though stained by ink. Nothing about their eyes looked human, but it wasn’t reminiscent of any monster, either. Yet, despite the alien appearance, the raw emotion in them was clearly recognizable; guilt, concern, perhaps even a bit of genuine kindness. It was an abrupt shift from the disturbingly content facade they’d held just moments before... But that was exactly it, wasn’t it?

     Perhaps the mask this entity wore hadn’t been a literal one, but it was just as effective.

     Finally Reaper closed the gap between the pair, one hand reaching out tentatively, offered to the traumatized child before them. The creases of their frown shifted, altering their expression into a surprisingly gentle, apologetic smile. Their fingers were strange to look at, nails tapering into sharp, dagger-like claws; it definitely seemed very odd on a human. Had they filed them into that shape, or was that just another effect of their condition, like the changes to their eyes..?

     “... Hey.” Their voice sounded tired, but there was an unmistakable sincerity to their tone that had been dreadfully lacking before. “I’m sorry for dredging up old memories, kid. You’ve really been through something awful, huh..?” Comforting wasn’t this being’s strongsuit, but they were certainly trying. ‘I think they really need a hug,’ commented another little voice inside their skull, ‘That helps most people feel better, you know!’ Reaper shook their head at that; there was no telling what this kid might do on reflex. It was much better to start slow... Not that a stab wound or two would have bothered them that much.

     “I just... Had to make sure. Let’s take it easy from here, okay?” They kept their tone soft, calm... Soothing. Hopefully that would help to draw the little thing back out from the snare of their painful memories. “Come on, let’s take a seat. Hmm...” Reaper thought for a moment, then gave a nod. “How’s hot cocoa sound? I know that always made me feel a bit better, back when I was your age..”

[unchained-lightner]

👋,,,, Hhhewwo,,,

Send “👋” if you want to RP with me but have been too shy to approach

whoops i’m a fool and forgot to answer this--

AAAANYWAY-- i’d love to interact again sometime! heck, your kris over at @silentmxvement was the first other Kris blog i interacted with on here, come to think of it; man that was ages ago. looks like you’ve actually got even more neat muses i didn’t even know about, too, dang.

for real, come at me anytime! i promise i don’t bite though my muses i can’t make any guarantees about, they’re kinda rude

[unchained-lightner]

Send “👋” if you want to RP with me but have been too shy to approach.

(If you cannot see the emoji send “Wave”)

[unchained-lightner]

emptyxhere‌:

For a moment, they wondered if they should at least try to help the older kid up when they fell into some of the dust on the ground. But Frisk was still pretty shocked. Too much to move. They were frozen. All they could really do was stand there, staring, no effort made to move forward after bumping into the other person at all. Still, who could blame them? That was another human. There was another human in the Underground besides them. How long had it been since they’d last seen someone of their own species? 

Thinking about that sort of thing just made them feel bad. They missed the life they had before they fell down. Maybe there was a point where they enjoyed being down here, but that ended with getting to go back to the Surface with so many new friends in tow. And that part of their journey seemed like so long ago now. Now it was just a barely attainable dream.

There had been no need for Frisk to keep their head up while they had been strolling through the Underground. With practically no one else here besides them, the last thing on their mind was the issue of keeping an eye out in case they bump into anything. Maybe that was part of why they’d been so startled at first too. Unexpectedly bumping into something in a place where you know you shouldn’t be bumping into anything was sure to give anyone else a bit of a heart attack, right? But they relaxed pretty quick enough, seeing as the teen seemed harmless enough from the display they’ve seen so far.

It wasn’t like Frisk had any reason to distrust the stranger anyway. Even if this sort of thing had never happened before and they didn’t know what could come out of this encounter, they could always reload. At least, that was usually their plan. Besides, it wasn’t the people down here who they couldn’t bring themselves to trust. Unless this person– Edge, was in the same situation as Frisk. But what was the likelihood of that? Until shown otherwise, there was no reason to stir up anything.

Their sneeze was quickly met with a bit of a mumbled, “Bless you.” Frisk kept their hands in their shorts pockets as they rocked a bit on their feet, “Um. Okay, well you’re in the Underground, under Mt. Ebott, but that’s kinda obvious.” Well. Obvious for people from their timeline, or generally similar ones. But it’s not like they really knew that. “My name’s Frisk Mallory. Or, I guess just Frisk. Don’t really got a cool nickname like yours.”

Despite how they really felt, they decided it was only polite to return the smile Edge gave them. Though it didn’t quite reach their eyes as much as they tried. “It’s very nice to meet you, Edge!” A curious head tilt, “Why do they call you that anyway, though?”

Then they remembered Edge had fallen, and they probably should help like they meant to earlier, instead of just standing there like they had been for the past couple seconds. They were less surprised now that those realizations didn’t just happen anymore. The child took a step towards them, extending their left arm out. “Oh– Need a hand getting up? Sorry for bumping into you, by the way. Wasn’t looking where I was going.”

     “Mt. Ebott...” The teen quickly processed this new information, or at least as quickly as they could. A nod was given in return; they’d suspected that this had to be under Mt. Ebott, just based on the familiar scenery. It added up, especially since this kid was apparently the timeline’s resident Frisk.

     Though... If this kid was the Frisk, and all the monsters were... Missing.........

     Edge shook the thoughts from their head, peering to the offered hand-- and gently grasping it, let the other help them up. “... Thanks. Sorry about that too,” they replied with a hint of embarrassment, “I wasn’t really paying attention, either... Got lost in thought, I guess.” That wasn’t the entire truth, but something, some instinctual feeling deep in their gut just wouldn’t let them explain any further. Brushing the dust off themself, the teen finally shrugged a bit.

      “For the nickname,” they admitted, seeming almost to puff with pride from the compliment, “I came up with that, needed something to stand out from the crowd y’know? Seems like there’s a lot of people called Kris these days.” Did this kid know about the multiverse yet? Edge wasn’t sure, and they decided that was a conversation for another time.

      “Anyways, nice meeting you, too.” Edge glanced around back and forth with an uneasy shuffle, checking for anything, anyone else. Nothing, still nothing, and that silence pervaded, almost oppressively... “You down here all by yourself..?” A hint of sympathy softened their words into hardly more than a hushed, genuinely concerned whisper. Even if the teen had always been surrounded by life, they still understood what it meant to feel alone. They hadn’t exactly been popular back home, that was for sure... How old was the kid before them? Pretty young, from what Edge could tell; at this age they should be surrounded by friends and family, not wandering some dusty expanse under a mountain.

      Maybe times had changed for Edge, but they’d never forget the loneliness. The thought of this friendly kid sharing that experience-- if under drastically different circumstances-- pained their heart.

[unchained-lightner]

@emptyxhere continued from [ x ]

     To most, Reaper would have looked like just an uncaring, slightly shady teenager with messy bangs and a careless demeanor... But a more careful eye might have picked up on a lazy smile that was just a little bit too wide, eyes that glinted red as blood, teeth that looked unnervingly sharp. Both hands were currently stuffed into the pockets of their jacket, hiding the pointed, talon-like nails. They almost could have passed for human.

     But not quite.

     “Hey, depends on who you ask~” the demon hummed, straightening from their slouched position. They weren’t especially intimidating to look at, yet there was something about them-- the sleek, smooth movements, the playful attitude, the strangely focused gaze, mostly hidden from view-- that felt exceptionally dangerous. Almost... Predatory, as though they were sizing this kid up. Mostly because they were. “Most wouldn’t think much of a kid like you either,” the entity added with an amused flourish of one clawed hand, “But it looks to u̙̥̥̎̊̒ṡ̨̪͇̑͐ like you’ve been awful busy~” One crimson eye winked, the light flickering briefly.

      ‘Us?’ But, this teen was clearly alone... Not to mention the strange way their voice seemed to garble and distort in that single word, like an auditory glitch. That didn’t seem natural...

     “Y’know,” they continued, taking another smooth stride closer, “I’d suggest a heart to heart, but we haven’t had a s̻̪͖̏̌̚ỏ̺͕̺͒͂u̫̜͕͌̆̚ĺ͙̦̮̒͘ in a long, long time~” The demon stopped there, eerie cheshire grin seeming only to broaden even more. Their flourish shifted seamlessly into a point, one index finger directed to the other human. The entity’s head tilted slightly to the side, like a curious puppy... On someone else it might’ve been endearing. “Instead, how about you share your story, and we’ll share ours~? Seems like a fair trade to me, and it looks like you have some very interesting tales to tell.”

[unchained-lightner]

      Edge had always had a bad habit of partaking in incredibly stupid endeavors to alleviate even the mildest forms of boredom, and as it happened, their capacity for inactivity had recently hit its limit. When they were growing up that usually meant acting out in small ways, like hiding under a neighbor kid’s bed to scare them at night, or trying to flush a bath bomb down the toilet. But these days, with the entire multiverse at their disposal, the teen’s feats of grand idiocy had reached a whole new level.

      In a display of incredible foresight and critical thinking, the human had decided to find out what happened if they glitched themself across timeline after timeline, skipping across reality like a rock across the surface of a pond. That went about as well as expected, as it were; now with a slowly fading headache and no idea where the heck they’d wound up, Edge found themself wandering what seemed to be an entirely deserted wasteland. What even was this place? They’d seen worlds like this before on occasion, but usually they were populated by tons of friendly monsters.

      Here, there was absolutely no one. Just this deep, bone-chilling silence that made the teen’s skin crawl... And dust. There was so much dust. Had somebody been burning paperwork? While Edge had learned quite a lot about the multiverse in their travels, the true and horrible significance was entirely lost on them for the time being.

     That was when, entirely lost in their thoughts, they’d miraculously bumped right into the only other living thing they’d seen since arriving in this ghastly landscape. Brilliant. Edge let out a little startled yelp at the unexpected obstacle, quickly spotting the figure that had drifted into their path...

     The teen’s eyes flashed red, if just for a moment. The spark was barely even perceptible, but their reaction was immediate; Edge’s breath caught in their throat, heart thudding sharply. It was an abrupt, absolutely visceral reaction, one they’d only experienced a few times before-- and it caught them entirely off guard. Jolting back a step instinctively, the young human lost their balance, pinwheeling their arms briefly before tumbling backward with a thud and a soft puff of dust. Dazed and confused, Edge stared up at the strange child for a few moments before something seemed to register.

     That’s just a kid! Nothing to be scared of. So why couldn’t they shake that unmistakable feeling of intense dread gripping their heart like a vice..? Edge shook the thoughts away, deciding to ignore it for now as they sat up and flashed the other kid what they hoped was a friendly, somewhat embarrassed grin.

     “Uh... Kinda, yeah,” they answered before sniffing a few times, and then-- ACHOO! Edge’s nose wrinkled, the teen rubbing their face briefly with one sleeve of their now dust-covered sweater. Well, that had clearly been a stellar first impression... “I’m Kris.. People call me Edge these days, though. You..?”

@unchained-lightner liked for a starter!

Lost in thought was what Frisk figured they were before the moment of impact. Of course, that was their default for practically every day during the past few years. They had nothing else to do anyway, other than think to themselves while everything else kept going around them. Well. Whatever was left of the fallout of Frisk’s latest reload, that is. It really wasn’t much.

They couldn’t even remember what they were thinking about. Probably wasn’t too important. At least it wasn’t one of the thoughts that would have put them in a worse mood than now. They didn’t particularly like thinking about the past. Or the future, for that matter. Mostly because they had none. So whatever they were thinking about must have been something mundane as they were staring at the ground, kicking some dust around.

Before they knew it, they had apparently bumped into someone else. Someone else? Shouldn’t nearly everyone be dead by now? Frisk looked up in a bit of a shock, gripping their knife in their pocket until they realized they were seeing another human in front of them. It had been such a long time since they last saw a human. So understandably, the child was shocked for a good moment. But at least this was something more exciting than traversing the empty Underground. It had been so long since something new happened ever since their player left.

Soon enough, they managed to find their words as their grip on the knife loosened. Shock gave way to confusion, wondering what this person was doing here. Had they fallen in just like Frisk did? “…Um, hi. Are you lost?”

[unchained-lightner]

me: wow i should really have more interactions sometime-- me: me: me: me: oh. right.

[unchained-lightner]

[unchained-lightner]

knifceater‌:

“Reaper – “ Kale began to retort to that comment before the code started flashing before their eyes.  A sense of dread settling over the taller as they read everything that had been plaguing their lover’s mind as of late.

They felt their heart dropping as everything started to sink in, the events that transpired earlier, and eventually what led to Spear’s death.  They took their own life because of everyone around them.  They were trying to get to Kale and save their vessel, even if they hadn’t actually torn their soul out.

Spear was just trying to keep them safe.

Kale felt their eyes darken a little from that realization, the guilt settling low in the pit of their stomach, yet they felt no malice towards Reaper, or anyone else involved for that matter, the only one they could think to blame was themself.  They weren’t there to defend their lover, and this was the price to pay for ignorance and their selfish actions.

That exhaustion from before was weighing down harder than ever now, the taller only making a motion to sit down beside the alternate and hug their arm weakly, resting their head upon the other’s shoulder.  They were so tired – emotionally, physically, you name it.  Still, they remained at Reaper’s side, tears forming in the corners of their eyes as they finally broke the deafening silence between the duo.

“I do, though.  I love you so much, for everything that you’ve done, I still forgive you.  No matter what you come to me about, I will always see you as a partner and my lover whom I cherish more than anything.” Kale pauses, lifting their head a moment to press a soft kiss to the smaller’s tear stained cheek.  Gentle hands cupped their face, bringing the entity’s gaze up to meet Kale’s.

“Please come to my arms, Reaper.  I want to hold you like I always do.”

      There were so many barriers up, walls that had been carefully constructed so very, very long ago. Just one look into the demon’s eyes, and it was clear that their own version of ‘corruption’ was dreadfully different from their partner’s. That look on their face was hollow, as though the familiar spark had flickered and died out long before Kale even arrived.

     > [ WARNING; DATA CORRUPTION 90%. UNSTABLE. ]      > [ WARNING; DATA CORRUPTION 91%. UNSTABLE. ]

     While they did nothing to resist their lover’s affection... The entity didn’t come any closer, either. Reaper was silent, faint flickers of dark pixels dancing in the air.

      > Don’t you understand? Don’t you get it?       > I’m toxic to you. I’m p̱͙o͈̞i̻̯s̰̮o̤̠ṇ̼ọ̦u̮̙s͓̙.̩̬ Even now I’m still killing you.       > You’re hurting. You came here and now I hurt you.       > I can feel it. I can see it on your face. I k̯̻n̩͕e̪̪w͕̞ this would happen.       > It’ll just keep happening. I̱̹t̹͚’̝̝s̱̰ ̨̻a͈͔l͉̞l̢̤ ͇̖I͍̲’͚͚v͎ͅe̩͍ ̧͙e̗̭v̙͙e͓͔r̤͓ ̟͚d͉̱o̡̤n̰̻ȩ̤.͓̻

      Even despite those distorted words materializing in the code, Reaper was motionless. It was as though something had splintered, the bond between mind and body shattering. It wasn’t completely gone, not yet, but something inside them was breaking.

     > You said I’ve been there for you. That I’ve helped you.      > But we both know that’s not true. I̤͜t̮͈ ̯̫n̗̟ȩ̞v̤̞e̻͎r̹̜ ̩͜h͓̗a͇̘s̲͉ ͖͜b͔͈e̟̯e͔̯n͖̠.̧͚      > You’re always the one picking up my pieces.      > When you need me, I just make everything w̞̗o̞̠r̨̙s̜̻e̬͙.̢̮      > I just keep dragging you back down, over and over.      > Just like ṛ͇i̬̙g̫̲h̺͓ţ̦ ̡̬n̬̱o̟̹w̫̖.͙͇ I just can’t seem to s͕̟ṭ̪o̪̜p͚̥ myself.

     There was a strange, dark flicker to their face for a moment... A glitter of madness. It was a horrible sight, a dreadful, eerie vision of vicious amusement mixed with venomous self hatred. Silently they were laughing at themself, their own stupidity. Their own foolishness.

     > E̡͖v̢̱e̠͜r̯̯ỵ̜t͉̱h̲̱i͚̳ṉ̦g̼̟ about me was engineered to hunt people like you.      > To break you. To weaken you. To ḳ̼i̼̬l̡̬l̼̩ you.      > That’s what I was made to do, Kale. T̘͈o̻̘ ͖͉d̖͖ḛ̳s̮͈t͍͎r̘̬o̺͎y̦̼ ̘̭y̺̣o̯̱u̳̭.̡̯      > Maybe my programming has just e̘͔v̹͎o̰͜l̯̺v̰͙e̥͉d̨͖.̨͜      > Maybe this is just the newest method.      > M͍̲a̢͜y̞̲b̜̱e͕͈ ̨̭I̝̘ ͚̦j̤̥u̖̺s̺̰t̜̺ ̪̻d̮̦o̼̳ṋ̜’̩̫t̹͕ ͓͍ḵ͉ṋ̟o̟̜w͕̜ ̫͉m̢͙y̩̹s͇̺e͎̱l̖͈f͕̥ ͖͖a̙̠s̗̗ ̰͖w̘̫e̖̟l̢̜l̙̭ ̜͜a̭͓s͓̜ ̙̲I̤̻ ̙̝t̢̗h̜͜o͍̼u͖̙g̢̣h͈͚t̠̣.̭͕

     It was such a sick, twisted concept-- but just seeing what line of thinking was crossing the demon’s mind no doubt made many of their deepest insecurities and fears all the more clear. Reaper had been so afraid of causing a rift between Kale and their other lovers. They’d been terrified that their very presence would break down the people they cared about. But they’d taken the leap anyway, because so many had encouraged them to do so.

     And now that was exactly what had happened. Even with all the power in the multiverse at their disposal, Reaper wasn’t in control of anything, not even themself.

      > Whatever you may think, ṇ̨o̮̠n̠̖e̜͉ of this is your fault. I̭͎t̤̞’̱̝s͓̮ ̬͓m̮͈i̲̩n͔̳e̗̲.̘̖       > You don’t deserve a ş͕i̼̰n͍̥g͎̬l̨̟e͇̝ thing that’s happened to you.

[unchained-lightner]

@riskydreamur has been... Located?

     > [ ERROR ]

     Like usual, the entity arrived with a flicker of pixels and static... Though this encounter certainly felt much different. Reaper was a mess, even by their standards. Stains of toxic DT littered their clothing with dark splotches, and still smeared their face here and there despite their efforts to wipe it away. Their untidy mop of brown hair was even more disheveled than usual, more of that dark liquid matting it into thick tufts here and there.

     “... Hey.” Reaper’s voice was quiet, and everything about their posture felt off; their hands were stuffed into the pockets, and they were slightly hunched-- but almost as though they were trying to look smaller. Was that... Shame? It looked like the weight of all the demon’s regrets was ready to crush them right into the floor.

      Whatever had transpired, clearly it hadn’t been anything good.

[unchained-lightner]

knifceater‌:

The scene that unfolded before them was one that made their stomach turn with worry.  Kale took a few deep breaths to try and calm themselves, they had to focus.  They took a few cautious steps across the expanse of white, quickly speeding up once they were able to confirm the floor was solid and going to their partner’s side.

Kale dropped to their knees, hesitant to touch the smaller alternate for a moment but starting slow and cautious, placing a hand over Reaper’s, quite similar to the night the other came to apologize, and gave it a gentle squeeze.

Their voice was gentle, caring, and filled with worry from the messages received through their phone as well as the ones shown in this plane, “Reaper– no, Kris.  I’m here for you.  Everything is going to be okay.”

Mismatched orbs glanced over the form of their lover, taking in the toxic DT stains littering their body, eyes softening in empathy and concern, knowing their condition was almost similar at reaching certain points of corruption, 

“Please, just take a few breaths for me, I’m here now, I love you.”

      The contact made them stiffen, yet the demon did not pull away. Reaper’s head lifted slightly, just enough for tired crimson eyes to peer out from under their messy hair, the being’s brow crinkled from stress. Reaper’s expression shifted when their true name was used... It was hard to tell if this was a positive response, or a negative one.

      They glanced away, unable to meet their alternate’s eyes. “... You shouldn’t.” It was hardly more than a whisper, but what came next was far more perceptible-- another spark of code, corrupted data flickering as it drew new information from within their core. For someone unable to read code, it would have been as though nothing was happening-- but for Kale, it was all clear as day. They were sending out error codes, except these weren’t actually errors at all.

      > Spear was right. I’ll be the one who hurts you. I already have.       > I can’t be redeemed. You can’t save me. I can’t save myself.       > They hate me. They hate me. They hate me. They hate me.       > But I don’t blame them. I can’t hate them back. But I want to.       > I ruined everything. I always do. All I know how to do is destroy.

      It was as though in their refusal to speak the truth aloud, their absolute, steadfast insistence on trying to hold back everything that explained their words, the corruption itself was forcing them to let it all out... Even if they didn’t want to.

      > They promised to kill me. They did something to my soul. I felt it.       > I can’t trust them. I can’t tell if they’re sorry for anything at all.       > It scares me so much. I don’t care what happens to me.       > I care what happens to all of you if they actually succeed.       > I’m scared they’ll use you to get to me, one way or another.       > I’m scared they’ll hurt all of you just to make sure I can’t.

      They’d started shaking now, eyes squeezed shut... Reaper didn’t want all of this out there, but they couldn’t keep it in. Not in person. Over an internet connection, they could control what they sent. Here? Everything was being broadcast now.

       > I̼͙t̰͎ ̖̠a̟ͅl͙̳ḷ̥ ̩̺h͈̟u͈ͅr̪͉t͕̠s͚̝ ̼̣s̫̠o͙̮ ̯̪m̥ͅų̥c̜̹h̤̞.͕͈ But I feel so c̠͓o̩̮l͓̩d̡̧.̨̗

[unchained-lightner]

      However bad it might have been that night in the castle, that had been nothing compared to what was waiting for Kale in the void. Reaper had completely isolated themself from everyone-- and it wasn’t hard to guess why. Why they didn’t visit Red, why they were so reluctant to even answer anyone’s messages, why they had been missing in action almost all day. The corruption was so strong it could be felt, flickering in the air like static.

      They were currently seated on the white expanse of ‘floor,’ legs pulled up with their face buried in their knees. Smears of toxic DT were visible everywhere; the floor, their hands, the fabric of their clothing, and what little skin was visible of their face. The demon’s phone sat nearby, in reach but untouched. Not only did they show no signs of intending to answer Kale’s last response, but the entity didn’t even seem to notice their arrival.

      But they’d already stopped crying, stopped shaking. Reaper was dead silent; it was hard to tell if they were even breathing. Out of all those times they’d likened their body to a walking corpse, this was the closest they’d ever been to resembling exactly that.

      > [ WARNING; DATA CORRUPTION 89%. UNSTABLE. ]

      It wasn’t so much a voice as an odd projection, information written directly into the code of this empty space. That didn’t sound good. It hadn’t been produced by Fallen, or even Charity.

      It was a call for help from a malfunctioning vessel, teetering on the edge of catastrophic collapse.

       Everything is so cold. But I’m  b̫̟ ͇͍U͍̞ ̨̞r̩̣ ̲̱n̟̬ ̖̱i̤͙ ̤̤N̞͖ ̟̭g̬̖  inside.

Having nearly finished packing what they needed, Kale took a long sigh before checking their messages once more, having shortly heard a small ping prior to zipping up their bag.

They froze.  Those messages in return were just getting more distorted with passing, an internal panic setting in as they pulled on their coat and bolted out the front door.  They weren’t going to sit by again, not this time.  Reaper needed them right now, just like before in the castle.

Slim fingers grasped at the portal gem around their neck, focusing intently to try and locate their partner, not even sure they had a home timeline but where ever they were, Kale would be there.  They had to be.  A small light shone through the gemstone before they vanished into the dark of the night, hopeful to arrive before the condition of their lover got any worse.

[ @unchained-lightner ]

[unchained-lightner]

💭

hidden truth - not accepting 

it feels like we’re from two totally different planets, which is so fucking weird because we’re both krises, and usually i can figure out my alternates to some degree.

it’s nothing against you, don’t get me wrong. but i just don’t.. get you, i guess?? i never know what i’m doing, or how to do it, and it always feels like i’m doing something wrong no matter what i say. i want to be closer and i also want to run away, and i don’t know which feeling is stronger.

it’s like i’m just stumbling around in the dark bumping into everything and knocking over all the furniture, i feel like such a fool.

but.. you’re a good person, krispy, and i admire you, in a way. you somehow manage to pick kindness even in such impossible situations, i can’t even imagine it. it’s a different kind of strength, and one i wish i had but know i never will. if i’d had that ability today, maybe things could have turned out a lot differently.

i hope you never lose that kindness, really. you’re really something special, and i mean that. and, i really do appreciate everything, even if i am kind of shit at showing it.

[unchained-lightner]

💭

hidden truth - not accepting

it might seem like i just gave you a knife with that particular effect because you’re, well, almost the only lv 1 kris around, but.. there’s another reason.

hell, i can’t even touch that blade without feeling my skin is searing off. if anything happens, if i ever hurt you.. i want you to have a way of stopping me. karmic retribution can’t do much to you, but to somebody with lv as high as mine, it doesn’t matter how high your attack is. even someone with just an atk stat of 1 could kill me with it, if they wanted to.

i know you’re a pacifist, but not everybody else is. i’m sure not. i don’t know if it’ll make you feel any better to have something like that, but i hope you feel at least a little less defenseless against the absolute insanity outside your timeline.

you’re such a kind person, krepe. i can’t stand the thought of you getting hurt.

i can’t stand the thought that the one who hurts you might be me.

please, stay safe.