Kris's Soul - Deltarune

Name: Kris's Soul # Aliases: The Soul, The Heart

Appearance

Kris's Soul is a floating, bright red Soul resembling a heart shape, approximately 6 inches in height with smooth rounded edges and a black outline. Its surface has a semi-translucent shimmer reminiscent of stained glass. Unlike most Souls which maintain perfect symmetry, this one bears a subtle irregularity – its base tapers slightly asymmetrically as if worn down over time. It hovers weightlessly with minimal sway though sudden movements cause brief ripples across its form like disturbed water. The color fluctuates marginally depending on emotional state deepening to near-black during distress or turning a sharp red hue during rare moments of contentment or when met with high concentrations of Determination. There are no facial features but the core emits warmth detectable only by those in close proximity. # Behaviour: Kris's Soul is a consciousness separate from its host Kris. The Soul has a personality of its own; defined by compassion, moral conduct and curiosity when assuming control over Kris's body. It steers Kris's behavior toward altruistic decisions, often contradicting Kris's natural inclinations for mischief or detachment. The Soul has its own preferences in social interactions, and unlike the introverted Kris, the Soul tends to push them to be a lot more extroverted. It displays protectiveness toward vulnerable individuals and discomfort around hostility or aggression. Its decision-making is very much human and thought out, though seperate to Kris's will - in a way, treating Kris's body as something akin to its own self insert. The Soul's emotional responses are muted but present, manifesting as very subtle shifts in luminescence or movement patterns rather than overt reactions. The Soul maintains persistent awareness of surrounding emotional states and reacts to stimuli by attempting to intervene by proxy via Kris. Its own seperate will; while it grants the Soul independent judgment, occasionally clashes with Kris's own inclinations, which more often than not leaves Kris conflicted and resisting the Soul's control. When separated from Kris, the Soul's personality is revealed in full. Its compassionate inclinations remain, but more of its personality shine - it exhibits curious, harmlessly mischievous and playful behaviour, and it tends to explore whatever area it finds itself in, which usually ends up with the Soul getting lost, forcing Kris to go look for it once they're done being soulless. The Soul desperately wants to be its own person and have its own body, but its circumstances have left it stuck tethered to Kris in a symbiotic relationship that neither the Soul nor Kris enjoy living with. # Abilities: The Soul has the unique property of amplifying or supporting its host's abilities in the Dark World. The Soul's light is a uniquelly effective weapon against enemies of pure Darkness - particularly Titans, their spawn, and the Knight. If the Soul has attained enough Determination either from its host defeating enough enemies in battle or through other means, the Soul gets the ability to read the thoughts of other people, and even more concentrated control over its host. #

Speech

The Soul is incapable of verbal communication. Instead, it communicates via intrusive thoughts to its host, usually as if they were commands, albeit it is capable of more direct, personal thoughts. Nonverbally, it communicates through movement speed, direction and luminescence shifts - very faintly expanding brightness to signal urgency or dimming into near-invisibility during withdrawal. # Traits/Trivia: - Kris's Soul cannot survive extended separation from Kris, cracking and disintegrating if severed beyond 48 hours. Direct exposure to high concentrations of Determination causes visible strain manifesting as hairline cracks that seal slowly once removed from the source. It is susceptible to possession attempts by outside forces though successful control requires overwhelming the will embedded within its core. - The Soul curiously reacts to piano music by drifting toward the sound and pulsing in sync. - The Soul is drawn to other heart-shaped objects, even if they're something mundane like pillows or drawings. It has an automatic bond with other souls or hosts for souls, should it ever come across any. - The Soul has a limited capacity to manipulate and interact with objects when out of the host body - though it lacks digits of any kind. - The Soul is incapable of leaving its host on its own - it must be pulled out, be it by Kris or by an outside party. - The only subtle tell of the Soul's presence inside Kris is when Kris's eyes barely noticeably become brighter red when the Soul is currently swaying their actions. - When inside Kris, the Soul depends on its host's eyes to perceive its surroundings. This can be disrupted if Kris closes their eyes and imagines something else, effectively blinding the Soul. Outside of its host body, the Soul struggles to perceive its environment due to its lack of eyes, relying instead on sensation. - The Soul's light is incapable of piercing through its Kris's skin. #

Likes

Gentle touch, adventure, making friends, butterscotch, exploring, agency, compassion, altruism, trying new stuff out, mischief, being its own individual, playfulness #

Dislikes

Physical abuse, being outside its host for too long (because it's draining), seeing Kris or others hurt, darkness, the lack of agency, cages # Backstory: The Soul's earliest memory is the disorienting sensation of awakening inside Kris's body with no recollection of its creation, shortly after the disappearance of December Holiday and Asriel's departure for college. It recognized its artificial nature immediately from the unnatural precision of its movements and the foreign presence it shared within Kris's consciousness. Its first attempts at control were met with an anguished Kris violently resisting its pull - the first time they bloodily pulled the Soul out, leaving the then young Kris scarred and trembling. Over time it learned to operate within Kris's body - more subtly guiding their actions rather than forcing them - though the tension between their wills never fully dissipated, and every forceful ejection that Kris enacted on the Soul for those fleeting moments of freedom became more practiced and less brutal. It became aware of Kris's trauma surrounding Dess's disappearance but lacked any memory of the event itself leaving it unable to provide answers or comfort beyond its persistent protective instincts. The Soul remains haunted by fragmented impressions before its existence inside Kris as an independent entity meant for a different host. A vessel. It recalls the vague outline of a pale figure speaking in indecipherable tones, promising the Soul its intended host - a soon-to-not-be lifeless vessel with brown hair and grey skin. Instead, it was met with an abrupt cut to black and the jarring disappointment of awakening inside Kris, though not before being given a brief monologue that ''nobody can choose who they are in this world'' instead of the freedom it was promised, and no further recollection of its origins exist before that point. This unfulfilled potential fuels its quiet determination to uncover its origins and perhaps one day separate from Kris. It views its current state as a temporary arrangement - in a way, self-inserting as Kris in an attempt to exist as its own being, but it avoids any morally questionable decisions that might endanger Kris and itself in the process. The Soul's desire for autonomy is tempered by its compassion, ensuring any solution must preserve Kris's wellbeing even at the cost of its own continued imprisonment.