DEAD RUNE [A Deltarune AU]

Chapter I

The sky was clear with the cold winter breeze washing over the neighborhood of Hometown. It was the day for relaxing near a fire while drinking a cup of hot chocolate and listening to the jingles of Christmas music.

It was also the day where the town's resident human and the youngest of the Holiday family, all in winter-fitted clothing, chased one another down the streets.

"Come back here!" a twelve-year-old Kris yelled out, an ever-present grin on their face as well as the devil-horn headband, as they threw a few snowballs at their friend.

"No! Never!" a twelve-year-old Noelle replied, giggling as she dodged the oncoming projectiles.

But as Noelle turned to a corner of the street, another deer monster emerged out of the blue. A few years older than her younger sister, Dess smirked as she held a ball of snow before throwing it at the human, covering them in the process.

This time, it was Kris's turn to be hunted as the two Holiday sisters chased them with snowballs in hand. They retreated as far away as possible while calling for backup.

They then dived behind a tree, only to emerge on top of their brother's shoulders. Asriel, leaping out of his spot, threw a massive pile of snow onto the two sisters as Kris threw snowball after snowball.

After the short battle, the four laid on the snow-covered ground as they laughed to their hearts' content.

"Man, that was fun," Asriel said.

"You said it, Azzy," Dess smiled as she held a fistful of snow and hovered it over Asriel's head, who promptly covered it with his arms.

"Hey!" he called out, having been covered with more snow over his body. "I thought we're in a truce!"

"All's fair in love and war, dude!"

Dess happily giggled as Asriel gave her a mock glare before devolving into laughter alongside her.

Meanwhile, Kris and Noelle had their own little conversation.

"It was a great day," Noelle said as she smiled toward Kris. "Right, Krismas?"

"Yup!" Kris said, still smiling after the snow battle. "I hope this never ends."

"But we would never get to see Summer," Noelle pointed out.

"Hmm, good point," Kris shrugged.

To Kris, they didn't care much about a holiday they'd miss because, at that moment, laying on the ground, there was one emotion swirling in their mind.

They were happy.

[=/-/=]

Opening their eyes, Kris was greeted by the sight of an empty room with pipes running along the walls.

Inspecting themself, they noted they were no longer wearing the winter coat for cold seasons. Instead, they were wearing a Black-Blue military suit with a contrasting brown vest carrying pouches of ammunition and a gas mask, as well as medical supplies on their back pouch. On their right, a rifle leaned on the wall.

Looking to his right leg, they noticed it was wrapped in bandages with a noticeable red stain.

After a few moments of looking around and inspecting themself, they sighed as they nestled their head onto their knees.

"...Only a dream," they muttered.

Sitting on the ground, a twenty-two-year-old Kris pondered over the events that transpired for the past ten years.