They gazed in confusion at the object in Ralsei's outstretched hand. It looked like a flower stem, studded with crimson thorns, but its petals were translucent and faded, like foggy glass. Ralsei himself was garbed in green denim overalls scuffed with dirt, with complimentary pink wellingtons and gardening glives that were just slightly too big for him.

'It's called a Prism Rose,' he gushed. 'They're very rare in the dark world, but I was able to cultivate one for the first time! Don't you think it's pretty?'

Kris said nothing, but simply stared at its see-through petals, as if trying to fathom out its contours. Susie, for her part, snorted and crossed her arms.

'THAT's what you wanted us to see? Some lame-ass flower?'

'...oh, it's not just any flower, Susie!' said Ralsei, holding up a finger in reproach. 'It's said that holding a Prism Rose in your hand changes its colour to match your inner essence! I assure you, there is nothing either "lame" or, err... "ass" about it.'

The dragoness narrowed her amber eyes. 'Is that why it's invisible now, because you're such a nerd?'

'...no, I'm wearing gloves,' he explained, taking the jab in his stride. 'You have to hold it in your bare hands for it to work.' So saying, the prince proffered the rose to her, stem-first. 'Want to see?'

Ralsei yelped as as she swiped it from his grip with a grin, paying no attention whatsoever to its multitudes of thorns. Almost as soon as she took it from him, the Prism Rose's glasslike petals burst into shocks of violent purple, the once-delicate edges becoming as jagged as a raging flame. Even the stem had darkened to an obsidian black, its thorns now more closely resembling shark's teeth in both size and sharpness. She held it up to her gaze, smiling with surprise and delight.

'...yeah, okay, THAT's kinda cool.'

Kris took hold of Susie's arm so that she would lower it to their eye level, marvelling at the transformation this unassuming flower had undergone before their eyes.

'Yeah, check it, Kris! You KNOW I got the coolest colour!'

'Indeed, Susie. It's... very you!' Ralsei clapped his hands together in approval. 'How about, um, letting Kris hold it now? ...I'm certain the results will be equally spectacular!'

'Yeah yeah,' she yawned, dangling the rose in front of them, before yanking it out of their reach.

'Ahh, too slow, freak!' she bellowed with raucous laughter. 'C'mon, you gotta try a bit harder than that!'

'Susie!'

'ARRIGHT FINE TAKE YOUR STUPID FLOWER!'

The human took hold of its stem between their bare forefinger and thumb, with a finesse and care more appropriate for a priceless and fragile artefact. Almost at once, the purple colouration drained from the flower, to be replaced with a vivid red bloom that seemed to thrum with its own gentle heartbeat.

'W-wow, Kris!' the prince breathed. 'What a wonderful colour, befitting a noble hero!'

'...it's... just a red rose...?' said Susie off to the side.

Kris blinked, and the Prism Rose in their hand changed again, this time developing blotches of blue along the edge of its petals, as though somebody had dipped the flower in ink the colour of midnight. The two hues undulated against each other, waxing and waning as they seemed to vie for dominance. And where you might have expected a band of purple where red and blue met, there was instead a thin grey line... almost as if the two were annihilating each other on contact. The human seemed pained to look at it.

'Hey, how come you get TWO colours?' the dragoness seethed, affronted at this injustice.

Ralsei scratched his chin, gaze cast down and to the right. '...I don't know... I've never heard of such a thing. It's almost as if... but that can't be, can it...?'

'Can't be... what, huh?'

At Susie's interjection, he seemed to snap back into the room. 'Err... w-well, I suppose it's just a very rare phenomenon that's never been documented before! Yes... I think we're all very lucky to have witnessed it!'

'Heh, ya hear that Kris?' she said, giving their shoulder a light punch. 'You're a rare pheromone! Have'ta put you in a cage and charge people to gawp at... uhh... hey, Kris...?'

Their gaze was still transfixed upon the flower, their entire body stiff as a board. Their fingers gripped the stem so tightly it was beginning to snap, their fingertips turning white under the pressure. Their other hand fumbled for the sword at their hip, fingers like fish hooks flailing through the air. Breath loud and laboured through their open mouth, rising inexorably to a panicked crescendo...

A hand upon their shoulder snapped Kris from their trance, and they looked towards Susie, whose concerned expression slipped into quiet relief. Another, smaller hand took hold of their own, gently prising the Prism Rose from their grasp.

'D-don't DO that, man...!' said Susie through clenched teeth. '...gettin' all worked up over some stupid flower...'

Kris tilted their head slightly, as if to suggest that they had an objection to this. But they leaned slightly into her reassuring contact, grounded by the strength of her grip.

'...Yes, Susie's right,' Ralsei chimed in, returning the now-inert Prism Rose to the bell jar behind him. 'It's all... just a bit of fun in the end, isn't it? So... so there's no need to worry, OK Kris?' He smiled, giving his friend a small touch on the elbow. 'Now, how about we relax with some soothing tea and cake?'

Susie stuck out her tongue. 'Pass on the tea! ...though cake DOES sound good...'

'So it's settled!' the prince exclaimed. 'You guys go on ahead - I just need to, um, change out of these grubby clothes, haha.''

'Arright, but don't blame me if there's no cake left for you, nerd! C'mon Kris, let's eat 'till we puke!'

She grabbed their hand and whisked them away before anyone could utter a single syllable of objection. Ralsei gave a slightly-exasperated smile as he watched them go, which faded entirely as he returned his gaze to the Prism Rose.

'Two essences,' he murmured, taking his gloves off and setting them down carefully upon the table. '...two SOULS... can such a thing...? ...Oh, Kris...'

With a trembling hand, he reached out to touch the flower's damaged stem. He braced, half-expecting something terrible to happen, before closing his fingers around it.

...the flower remained inert. No rush of colour, no sudden burst of energy. Pursing his lips, Ralsei let go of the rose, letting it fall to the floor. He wasn't sure why he'd expected anything different.

Three heroes. Three SOULS. It was like poetry that just didn't quite rhyme right. But, so long as everything proceeded as it should...

Painting on his warmest smile, Ralsei changed his outfit with a wave of his hand, and set off to join his friends.

Author's Note:

More drabbles! Hey, it's slightly more substantial than all the sad ralsei character studies over at the Menagerie :P

Had the idea for this one for a while now. The whole idea of whether darkners even have SOULs, coupled with the whole question surrounding Kris and their SOUL, interested me quite a bit, and with something as charged with symbolism as a flower, particularly given their association in Undertale, I was able to craft this short, strange tale. I hope that you enjoyed it, both on its merits as a story and as a thoughtpiece on SOULs in Deltarune!

More to come soon, so stay tuned :)