Chapter Text
An inky black darkness filled with hues of purple and stars were all the two heroes of our story could see. The hopelessness of the situation as well as the setting were something they both became accustomed to since the finale.
Normally, defeating the true villain of a story came with the reward of your loved ones as well as allies you’ve made along the way congratulating you, riches and various other rewards. The respect of others. Titles, anything but what the Masked Kid and Elizabeth IV were greeted with.
The two friends were thankful to be with each other than alone in a situation like this and were hopeful that they’d be able to find their way back home, or at least out of this eternal night that was meant to lead them to a whole new adventure.
It felt like days had gone by. Weeks, even… It didn’t matter that they had just walked through mere minutes ago.
One of the worst parts about the odd area they blindly traversed in was the lack of anything other than void. There was no climate, not even a temperature that could give Masked Kid a semblance of feeling other than tiredness. It was peculiar, neither of them could make heads or tails of how it was possible. Elizabeth did her best to keep morale up by telling stories now and then or simply talking to her friend.
“Hey, uh, buddy…” Elizabeth said hesitantly, not even getting a glance from them. “Are you alright? We can take a rest, y’know. I see you getting sluggish.”
The faint echo of steps continue, unphased.
“Ki- no . Axelo.” Elizabeth sighed patiently. “Please. I need a moment to gather my thoughts without swaying back and forth here. ‘Sides, you aren’t listening to my stories anymore. I can tell!”
The movement slowed to a crawl before stopping entirely, Elizabeth feeling relieved when the Masked Kid-- whom we now know as Axelo, seemed to concede to her requests, sitting on the ground gradually. Their body slumped forward, clearly indicating how they feel right now. Poor kid. Elizabeth felt sympathetic, despite everything they were still very well a child. Being in this situation was probably really hard on them…
Who knew where they’d end up?
“Rest up, hero.” Elizabeth said softly, eyes looking off into the distance. “Who knows how much road we have left? N-Not that there will be a lot more! We’ve been so far, we’re bound to be at the end of the road soon enough, right?”
Axelo slowly turned their head to look at Elizabeth silently. After what was definitely a thoughtful look, they hum with “eyes” wandering towards where Elizabeth was looking towards. Nothing looked significant at all. Not even different. For all they knew, they could’ve been going around in circles this whole time, and what then?
“We’ll get back home, okay?” Ellie assured with a smile. “We’ll continue when you’re ready.”
Axelo didn’t doubt their friend — most of the time — but they were worried about what the future could hold. Maybe the place they were headed towards was filled with more dangers? Sure, the two of them could handle it no problem, there simply was the fact that Axelo was really tired of having to fight all the time.
After a few minutes of looking down at the “ground” which looked more like they were walking atop the night sky, they stood up suddenly and continued forward. Elizabeth would have jumped if she had the mobility too, but being nothing but a hilt, she could only yelp in surprise.
“Back on the ol’... Starry trail, huh? Give me a heads up next time, kid.”
Axelo only shrugs.
Walking ahead with nothing interesting happening was something they had become accustomed to. However, as the two did so, there was something happening to the realm they were in. Something that could be described as alarming.
Normally a change would be something the two could be relieved in, something new. A sign there could and would be change in scenery or at least proof that things in this realm were capable of change even without the Puzzleman’s influence.
This was not a good change, because what had happened was the floor unexpectedly stopped without a sign of it having ever done so. Without a floor, this meant that when Axelo stepped forward, they instead stumbled and began plummeting downwards with Elizabeth screaming in shock as the grip her friend had on her slipped, falling alongside them into the unknown.
The descent into the dark purple below them was terrifying. The speed they fell was nauseatingly fast, the stars speeding past them so quickly it was like white streaks in the sky rather than the sparkling dots they’ve come to know. For a reason they didn’t understand the speed they were falling at gradually got slower, the feeling of falling became more like slowly sinking into a pit of sand. Axelo tried to “swim” in the “air” towards their friend to take advantage of the situation, but it felt as if the deeper they fell the more of their vision they lost. The stars were gone, the floating cubes of white had disappeared. Then, there was nothing.
“Axelo…!”
Then, there was black.