Only Once A Year - A Deltarune Christmas OneShot
This story came to me directly in a dream not so long ago. Here is it in full, alongside a few additions for coherency's sake.
It was no secret to the people of Hometown. It was a fact that their Christmas was literally unlike any other. There are gifts, there are celebrations, there are gatherings of families and love.
But one specific family always gets one wish every year by the time the clock strikes 12 on Christmas Morning.
A debt still needs to be paid.
Servitude in exchange for a crime committed long ago.
But the barrier between worlds and the in-betweens sunders once a year, and then, a singular family of monsters gains what can only be called a miracle.
The Holiday family stood in the living room: a reindeer father, Rudolph, a reindeer mother, Carol, and their reindeer daughter of 11, Noelle.
They stood huddled together near the fire. The hour was almost striking 12, just a few minutes more.
They waited in anticipation, as they had waited the last several years on this exact time and date. The minute marks ticked closer to midnight as the little doe looked at the living room clock with anticipation and fear. She grasped her little skirt with each ticking, and her father grabbed her lovingly on the shoulder.
3 minutes till midnight.
2 minutes.
1 minutes.
Little Noelle grasped harder and seemed to hold her breath.
A few seconds.
And then the clock struck, and darkness took form in the corner, next to the Christmas tree.
It was not just darkness as in the absence of light. This darkness was its own thing.
A hole in our reality.
And from that hole, there manifested a figure.
A figure familiar to the family watching.
First, she wore a mask of her master: the forgotten one. The face of the man torn between time and space and whose existence was lost forever in the aeons.
The mask was white, with black leaky eyes and mouth, like his face. It was elongated to fit the girl's snout.
The black-haired doe that wore that mask also wore her jeans and hoodie. Her fur had turned dark grey from its once wood-brown sheen, and her black hair turned even darker, almost impossible to see, almost mixing with the oily void she came from.
This doe, older than little Noelle, stood in place on her two hoofs while the hole in reality stuffed shut and then vanished.
"Dess!" little Noelle shouted.
Her parents couldn't, and wouldn't, hold her still as she rushed out of their arms and into the arms of her bigger sister.
"Hey, there, Nick," Dess said, removing her mask. "So good to see you again, lil bro."
"It's Noelle now," her little sister said, looking up. "There's been some changes. I'm a girl."
"Ah," Dess said, hugging her tight. "Well, Noelle. It's good to see you again, erm, my little sister. And Merry Christmas!"
That night, like last year, was of merriment and reunion. One of the first things they did, the first they did every year, was sitting down and talking about what they did and what stood accomplished. Dess learned about her little sister, whom she thought was a brother, and about her transition and progress in class.
Dess did not have much to say they could fully understand. But work goes smoothly at her workplace that they only call "a Void", despite insistence there is no such thing, for that is the only word they have for it. The older, black-haired doe girl explained it as her little sister sat on her lap, not understanding every word and caring not.
Only caring she was here.
"Where's the guitar?" Dess asked. "Been a while since I touched it. Since I touched anything, for that matter."
Her parents chuckled. The mother left and soon returned, holding a guitar covered in a ribbon.
"No… flipping… way!" Dess said.
She grabbed hold of her gift, instantly tuning it.
"The other one broke, sadly," Rudy told his daughter. "But we were good enough to find a spare."
"I… thank you," she said, almost teary.
She touched the strings, trying something. She played a soft melody, something she could recall but not remember.
And little Noelle yawned, resting her antlered head on her big sister, where she closed her eyes and fell into slumber.
The night passed, and little Noelle woke softly in bed, the sun shining through her bedroom window. Opening her eyes, she feared last night was all just a good dream.
Then she saw the striking image from last year sitting on the edge of her bed, and that fear dissipated into joy.
"Good morning!" Dess said.
Her grey fur had returned to its familiar chestnut sheen, and her black hair looked naturally dark again.
Breakfast came and went. Dess briefly commented about how long she properly ate but desired not to explain further.
The presents took more centre stage. Little Noelle opened many, tearing packages apart left and right.
She gained many gifts—a new sweater, a new video game, and so on.
Someone, presumably a cousin left in the dark, gifted her some boy shoes with fire markings that lit up. Before Rudy could mention replacing it, Noelle had already put them on and sporting them with a smile.
"Aren't you a girl?" Dess said teasingly.
"I am a girl!" Noelle said with a frown.
Dess ruffled her hair playfully, which seemed to lighten her up.
"I'm sorry I don't have anything to give you," Dess said.
Noelle replied with a hug.
"I just like you being here," she said. "That's all I need."
After the gifts came a time of more stories, told within a feast of cookies, milk, and candy.
After some time, Dess wanted to see the outside again.
So her family went with her, as the doe saw and felt the outside for the first time in a year. She refused to wear a jacket, wanting to absorb the chill and the cold. It pained a bit, but she didn't mind.
In fact, she desired that. She liked to feel everything, no matter how dreadful.
Then, after a few minutes, laying on the ground, making patterns with her body, wearing nothing and feeling the ice stroke her fur, she remembered why she once hated snow and went inside to change.
Dess stood in front of the gate, wearing a jacket and a scarf, and it began to snow a little. She removed her glove and grabbed some, feeling the chill as the little white pieces turned to icy drips.
"Oh man," Dess said.
It was such a tiny snowflake, such a minuscule and forgettable thing.
To Dess, it reminded her of living.
Suddenly, her pondering was disturbed by a large clump of cold snow smashing into her face.
Dess turned to the assailant and saw her little sister standing, looking awkward and regretful.
"S-sorry!" Noelle said, looking at the ground. "I- I didn't think-"
Before she finished, her face was assaulted by a ball of snow herself.
"Hey!" she said, looking up.
"What?" Dess said, smiling and cupping a handful of snow in her palms. "Don't think you can catch up."
Noelle's expression turned to a frown.
And then, quickly, into a smile.
A war of snowballs continued between the two sisters.
After minutes of conflict, the two sides came to a truce and crafted a snowman.
"Did you know there are actual living snowmen- err, snowpeople?" Noelle asked.
"Really now?" Dess said, feigning ignorance.
"Of course, you know," Noelle said. "I'm not 5. I can see it on your face."
"Sure," Dess began. "But you'll always be my little sister."
She ruffled her hair.
"Always."
This town was the only one around where a single dinner was not only open on Christmas day but for one single family in particular for a few hours.
The dinner owner, QC, couldn't recall why. She just felt she had to keep it open just this time.
But when the Holidays walked in with their black-haired doe daughter she hadn't seen since last Christmas, QC smiled, and suddenly, all sense of complaints flew out the window.
The hot chocolate was on the house, despite QC knowing the Holidays could afford to buy the dinner itself and then some.
She asked about Dess, about where she'd been, and Dess answered truthfully, not knowing if QC was aware that she'd forget her as soon as the hour struck 12.
After bouts of hot chocolate, Dess requested to go to the lake. So they left the diner, and QC suddenly turned confused and lost without knowing why. Was she missing something? What was she doing in the dinner again?
Oh, right! There was a guest, wasn't there? Yes, just recently.
Or did she imagine it?
And then she quickly forgot those questions.
It was time to go home.
Time to prepare Christmas festivities for her own family.
But she remembered that there was something else tonight. Everyone in town did. Nothing ominous. Just a place they desired to be at.
Dess' currently desired place, the lake, was frozen hard, and many children and adults alike had taken up skating.
It also meant this marked the time the lake's only inhabitant migrated elsewhere, perhaps somewhere it could breach the surface.
This part always saddened Dess, having not seen them in years, and sometimes they hoped for a warm Christmas for them.
But she also missed the warmth almost as much as the cold. Looking at the frozen lake filled another sense of melancholy within the doe. She wondered if she could ever lay in the warm grass underneath a warm sun and let her hoofs bustle in the lake.
"Are you ok?" little Noelle asked with worry, nudging her sister.
"Oh?" Dess said. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just reminiscing."
She seized her little sister's hand.
"But who has time for that!" Dess said with a wide grin, leading her sister to the lake.
It wasn't that hard for Dess to skate despite years of no physicality. The hardest part was getting her hoofs into an ice-skating boot. Even one specifically designed for monsters like her.
But the moments that followed were worth this brief hardship. They were worth the reunion that followed.
Bob, the cat bear with a part-time job at ICE-E, Catty the cheerful cat, and her sister, Catti, the little not-so-cheerful cat. Bratty, the alley-gator. And so on.
But what stood out most was the biggest reunion with Asriel Dreemurr, the caprine monster living north of town.
Dess had just missed his little sibling, having left with their parents for home and ready for the most proper reunion later that day.
But Asriel had waited a bit longer. He could not recall why at the time. Just that he felt he had to see somebody.
And when Dess appeared in the centre of the lake, skating towards him, Asriel remembered.
He remembered everything.
And for a brief moment, the world vanished around them. It was only these two alone in the world. Their only companions were the soft snow falling and landing on the frozen lake.
"Hey," Dess inquired. "Remember me?"
Asriel seemed unable to speak. Unable to say anything.
"I-I remember," he said. "Are you real?"
Dess grabbed his hand, and thus, there could be no doubt.
"It's been a year," she said. "A year since I've touched anything. And your hands are still the same as I remember."
"A-as are yours," Asriel awkwardly said.
Dess laughed. Asriel laughed. They both laughed.
And together, they skated.
They skated in wide circles, which felt as natural as walking. They did not let go, as if doing so would lose the other from existence. The other skaters and the others by the lake watched this reunion, unable to take their eyes off it.
Suddenly, there was rumbling under the ice, and hulking yellowish tentacles burst out, spreading water over the watchers and the two ice dancers.
They saw a familiar yellow squid, and they all laughed. The lone inhabitant of the lake, all year around, had returned.
And their playful eyes glanced at Dess and remembered her. That one intimidating but overall friendly doe teenage girl that used to come to the lake long ago, feeding them some news and bits of strange but good food.
"He, he, hey, Oni!" Dess said. "It has truly been a while!"
But as with everything, time passed by, and after about an hour, Dess had to say bye for now.
She said bye to Asriel, Bob, Catty, and Bratty, but especially to the lake's one regular inhabitant, Onion-San, whom she might never get a lucky opportunity to see another Christmas again.
The Holidays took many photos of that moment. Of course, Dess never appeared in any of them, replaced by a blur that was hard to look at at any moment.
It was 6 o'clock, and the Holidays were at home after a long day of reunions and catching up.
Most families at Christmas in most towns in the country would've stayed home that day at that hour. Or they would've had dinner with some close family member.
But this time, much of the town arrived at The Holiday household to see the once-in-a-year visitor.
The Dreemurrs were first to arrive, with the eldest son, Asriel, and the younger, adopted human child of no gender, Kris, wearing a red horned headband to mimic their family's natural horns.
At this time of the year, even childish grudges between the human child and Dess remain at the door.
Next came a family of bluebirds with their young son, the one of the family Dess could only name. Then, the cat family that lives not far away, with the two sisters, Catty and Catti.
Then came the bear who dabbles in politics, the snow-drake single father comedian and his son, a bratty alligator, the two lovers outside of town in helmets and flannel jackets, the ghost that works at the police station and their loud aquatic captain with the strength of bears, the bunnies who owned the diner, and so on. Before long, it was as if the whole town had gathered in The Holiday Manor.
In a way, it was a time of the year when the whole town became a family, united under one secret.
No one knows how it's still a secret.
Even many wonder why they're still in on it despite the desire to tell relatives from distant places.
Perhaps they do not know it is a secret. Perhaps this "hole in reality's" influence extends further than The Holiday's presence.
Or, perhaps, they simply do not know about it, except for that one day of Christmas day, which is the day they've "known all along". On that day, they always know, unlike the rest of the year.
However, the town does not think about the past or dreads the future on this day. In these hours, the present is the most valued.
The dinner table was long, accommodating half the adults in town. And, then additional tables were set to accommodate the rest. Some chose to dine outside, most already monsters of the wintery variety.
But everyone was here.
And when it was dined and chatted, and when they had time to reunite with the lost sister, hours had passed, and it was time to go.
The tearful goodbyes of the town were never easy. Some cried, and some smiled melancholy, but everyone felt tinges of sadness and loss. Even if they would forget this all the day after, there always remained, for a few hours, the sense of something precious missing. Something that should be there but isn't. That loss could attributed to the loss of the Christmas spirit.
In a way, perhaps that wasn't entirely wrong.
The Holiday family sat in the living room. It was close to midnight again. They all took turns looking at the grandfather clock, watching the long arms, ever ticking towards the top.
Dess sat on the sofa, full of thought. Not too long now, all this sensation, this physical act of living, will, once again, be nothing but deep memories for an entire year to come.
Little Noelle sat down beside her, handing her the Christmas gift.
Dess took the guitar from her hand and smiled.
"For the longest time, I've felt like a ghost," she explained. "Maybe that's what I am."
Dess gently touched the strings, feeling the shaking rhythm on her fingers. Old memories came floating back from her brain and into her fingertips.
She hummed an old, familiar tune, and her fingers moved in the rhythm.
A soft, harmonious tune played. It is a song of the old days, missing years that never were, and hopes for the future years with more songs and merriment.
It was enough to still the air.
And once Dess finished, there came a sense of loss, both to her and the rest.
"Wow," Rudolph said.
"I don't know where it came from," Dess said. "But I guess I still got it."
"Can you play another song?" Noelle inquired.
Dess looked down at her sister, at her eyes.
"Alright," she said. "One more song."
But then the clock struck 12, and the world stood still.
No! Dess thought. Not yet!
"December," the voice spoke. "It is time to go."
Shadows formed in the corner of the room. Then, a skeletal face formed from the blackness, with a crack on its cheek and a void in its eyes.
Little Noelle hugged her older sister tightly as she eyed the figure.
"No," Noelle said softly. "Please. Can she stay just a little bit more?"
"The agreement is long decided," the man from the other world spoke. "She will return now. We have to continue our work."
"Sorry, Noelle," Dess said sadly. "Office is calling. You know how it is."
She kissed her little sister on the cheek.
"Alright, you have one extra minute to say your goodbyes," the man said. "And then we must go."
"Alright," Dess said.
She turned to her parents and gave them both a big hug.
"Promise you'll be back next year," her mother said.
"Promise," Dess said.
She hugged them tight for a bit longer, and then little Noelle came and joined in. Dess found herself finally tearing up.
"December," the man said.
Dess let go of her family and turned to the darkness.
"Alright, I'm coming."
She put on the white mask again.
His face.
"Hey, one more thing," she inquired. "Can I… can I bring this with me?"
She picked up her guitar.
"It will not have a physical form," the man said. "Not the same way as in this realm."
"I know, I know," Dess said. "It'll just be "an idea". But it'll be an idea I like, so…?"
The man turned thoughtful.
"Very well," he answered after a moment.
"Awesome!" Dess said. "Alright. Let's get to work."
The older doe girl walked into the black inkness. But before the hole closed, she turned around and waved.
Then, the hole filled up, and the darkness dissipated.
And little Noelle and her mom and dad stood alone once more.
They remembered. Unlike the rest of the town, they always remembered every Christmas.
All days every year.
Whether that was a curse to not forget as everyone else or a blessing for them, they did not know.
Rudolph sighed and sat on a nearby chair, palm on his face.
"How long will this go?" Noelle asked. "When can we be normal again?"
Carol put her hands on her shoulders.
"One day," she said. "That's our promise."
That is how it was for the next few years.
And so it would be for more Christmases to come.
The only uncertainty was the end. When would the payment be due? Maybe it'll never end.
Perhaps they will grow old and into dust in separate planes from each other?
Perhaps that was the payment itself.
But it is an unusual Christmas tradition that one family of monsters share a year, where a hole in our barrier of existence is open, and our world and the one between are allowed to meet for one merry day.
It's a merry day! And for years, it has been.
But not one year.
One Christmas, little Noelle stood waiting with their mother. Noelle had grown since then, now a young doe of 16.
Noelle was nervous, more than usual. If anything, she was scared.
The clock struck 12, and blackness seeped into the living room again. Dess, now a woman a few short years into adulthood, manifested in that blackness with the mask of her master from the other world on her face. In Dess' hands, she held her guitar, now ink-black with years of corrupted, physical nonexistence.
"Ho, ho, ho," Dess said playfully.
"Dess!" Noelle said, a smile finally forming on her face.
She slowly walked to her big sister and gave her a soft hug.
"Geez," Dess said. "Where's the energy? You know, your Christmas spirit?!"
Dess hugged tightly back, lifting her sister in the air.
Putting Noelle down, Dess looked at her mother to see a face full of tears.
The black-haired doe pulled up her mask, looking confused, as she went to hug her. Carol sobbed in her daughter's arms.
"What's wrong?" she inquired.
Noelle looked down at the floor, eyes avoiding her.
"There's… there's something you should know…" Noelle simply said, tears forming in her eyes.
Dess looked at her in bewilderment. Then she looked around and finally noticed the absence.
Her mother left her grasp and sobbed harder, sitting on her sofa.
"I'm so glad to see you," the mother said with blinding tears.
"W-what's going on?" Dess asked, fearful. "Where's… where's dad?!"
Author's note:
A very belated Christmas fic, I know.
But I wanted it done before the next chapters of Deltarune release, which I have good feelings is this year, so here!
And the intro blurb and description are true, this is really based on a dream I've had. A while back so details are missing, but the fic is based on the overall concept. Also, the whole mask Dess has to wear was also part of the dream.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy this belated Christmas special, even if it's just over a month after the planned release date.