Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Ralsei found this to be completely unexpected.

He made his confusion as plainly known as he could. “S—Susie?! Wh—What on earth are you—?!”

Susie didn’t even look back, continuing her mad dash. “Shut it! I’ll tell ya later,” She barked, with a bit of odd intent in her eye.

The dark prince couldn’t parse why exactly Susie was physically dragging him by the hand, but he felt it was important. Important enough to warrant her taking any and all choice Kris may have had out of the equation.

He was secretly hoping Kris would choose to go with him, but now that option was beyond saving.

“Um, you don’t have to, um, drag me. I can walk!” Already his cloak was getting a little filthier than he was comfortable with. Clearly, this dank alleyway wasn’t included in whatever public service upkeep the city had.

Susie came to a corner and slowed, skidding to a halt, still maintaining her iron-fisted grip around Ralsei’s palm. She turned back, scanning the way they came. “Right. Don’t think Kris is comin’ after us. That’s good.”

“Um. You’re still, um, m—my hand…”

Ralsei thought she might’ve blushed a tad, but it was hard to tell in the faint lighting. “Oh. Uh, sorry… Forgaddabout that.” She let go, and the prince felt his hand cry a sigh of relief.

There was a moment of awkward staring. The shady fluorescent light adjacent to them flickered as if to imply something.

“...Hmph.” Susie puffed from her nostrils, adopting a chilled lean against the wall, crossing her arms. She wove her gaze through a window of hair, and into Ralsei’s eyes.

Her sight narrowed. “You’re wonderin’ why I brought you out 'ere.”

Ralsei stood himself up, presenting himself as best he could. He knew there was no hiding his reluctant drive for answers. “...Yes. I suppose that was fairly obvious…”

“Go ahead and guess. You’re smart.”

His heart glowed at the compliment. He really loved receiving those, and it meant even more coming from someone like her. Susie really was becoming a true—

Susie widened her eyes at him, lowering her gaze. “...Well?! You gonna just stare at me all goo-goo eyed or what?! Guess!”

“Ah! I—I’m terribly sorry, um… let me think for a moment... ehm?”

Ralsei hadn’t the faintest idea what Susie could want with him, and him alone. What did he have to offer, exactly? He was knowledgeable, but he had already figured Susie took little interest in things like Darkner Lore of Old or the hidden depth of sewing. He was proficient in magic, but so was she (A reminder to himself: give her praise and encouragement whenever she cast one of her deadly buster waves. They were quite impressive!).

“You… wanted to show me your secret rubber ducky stash?”

She replied immediately, as though she already had a response in mind. “Wrong, dumbass! I don’t even have that! Although it would be kinda sick if I did , huh… Wait a sec, you’re throwin’ me off!”

It was at that moment Ralsei began to regret guessing wrong, as Susie clenched her claws around his shoulder, picking him up and throttling him slightly. There was a look of desperation and anticipation in her eyes, her toothy maw adorning a rabid grin. “RALS!! I need you to teach me healing magic. Like, dude, literally erasing wounds from thin air , like, WHAT?! You gotta teach me!”

Phew, that was a relief. For a moment he thought she was going to ask him for something a bit more… extreme. “Oh! Of course I can, um, teach you. If you would just… put me down…?”

It was an interesting feeling, being held like this. He felt really small, yet also… oddly comfortable? Like the way an owner would hold their pet. If he were being honest with himself, it should feel demeaning.

He shook his head internally. It was much better when Kris held him.

...Right?

The way Susie dropped him was rough enough to interrupt his train of thought.

She turned her back to him, thrusting her arms into the pockets of her long-tailed jacket. “I’m trusting you on this, Rals. You better teach me the best healing magic ever , ‘cause if you don’t, I’ll, uh… do somethin’ . Don’t think either of us wants that, right?”

“N—No, not at all! As long as something doesn’t entail… bad things.”

“Let’s not find out, arright?”

“Okay…?”

“Yeah.”

…

“So what the hell do I do?”

Chapter Text

“...Huh? Oh, yeah. Never thought it’d be that simple.”

On their ambling walk throughout the sprawling skyscrapers, neon cat lights (cat lights? really?) and bustling crossroads, Ralsei had thoroughly explained to Susie the ins and outs of spell casting, in relation to healing magic. There was something about SOULs and energies and emotion or whatever, at some point she heard a big word and decided to tune out to the sounds of the city. Big words were the cue to daydream to her, at least when it came to school. It also worked pretty well for non-school things, she found.

The result was that she understood literally zero percent of Ralsei was talking about.

He was blissfully innocent, as always. “Really? I mean, it is quite far from simple, actually, but you saying that—”

“That was sarcasm, dude. I have no goddamn idea what you’re talkin’ about.”

The look on his face, ugh . Did she really have to spell it out for him like this? His innocence was honestly sickening at times.

...Sickeningly sweet, like candied apples.

She really liked those.

Both this train of thought and Ralsei’s dumbfounded expression were pissing her off. She stopped in her tracks on the narrow platform they walked, whirling around to address him. “Just— look, Rals. Just tell me how to do healing magic in a way that’s more, uh… intelligible, I guess.” Damn it, now she was using big words! His nerdiness was rubbing off on her, and damn did it make her wanna punch something.

He clasped his hands in front of him in that stupid way he always did, avoiding her eyes. “O—Of course, Susie. It’s… my fault I didn’t make it clear enough to you. Everyone has their own pace of learning.”

...Was he subtly insulting her?

Susie growled at herself. Idiot. Stop being so paranoid. This dude’s a literal SAINT, he’d never jab at you that way.

“Um, I’m sorry! D—Did I say something?”

Crap. Dammit, she was doing that thing again where she was baring her teeth and growling at other people when she was meaning to do it to herself. Really need to stop doing that. Dumbass.

“What? No, dude, you’re good. I was just uh, thinkin’ about somethin’ I don’t like.”

Painful silence, hrrrrrgggggh. ARRRRGHH. SAY SOMETHIN’.

She gave him a sideways glance. “So, uh… you gonna explain to me how to do the thing, or...?”

He shifted around on his feet uneasily. “That’s right, yes, ahem. I’ll explain it to you, Susie. But, ehm… we do need something for you to practice on.” He spun around, his sight landing on the nearby crosswalk, heavy with traffic. “Ah. One moment, please.”

The purple girl watched as Ralsei catiously neared the intersection.

She furrowed her brow. What the hell is he —

Ralsei stuck his hand out, and it was struck by one of the passing cars.

...SHIT!

He spun back, letting out a small yip as Susie rushed to him, catching the boy as he staggered. “CHRIST! Wh—What the H, dude?! Why’d you... do that…?”

The upwards look Ralsei gave her made Susie’s heart skip a beat. “D—Don’t worry, it’s fine. It doesn’t hurt… very much. Just a bruise, is all. Those cars are only rubber, haha...“ He nudged his slightly crooked glasses back up to the bridge of his nose. “It’s for you to heal, remember?”

That fact that a person would straight up hurt themselves just to help teach her some stupid trick… it was a little disturbing how nice he was. And, considering that pulling some crazy shit like this was totally not on the List of Expected Ralsei Actions…

This guy’s too nice for his own good. Someday, someone’s gonna take advantage of him. Somebody’ll hurt him.

But that’ll never happen, not as long as we’re friends.

“Close your eyes and focus.”

“...Huh?”

“I’m, um, explaining how it works.”

“Oh, okay.” She propped him back up. Standing firm and ready, Susie closed her eyes, clenching her fists and taking a deep breath through her nostrils. “Right. I’m ready. What’s next?”

“What is it you want to do?”

...Weird question. “I uh, I wanna heal my crazy-ass friend Ralsei, who stuck his hand in traffic ‘cuz he thought he’d look cool in front of a girl.” She peeked an eye open. “That was pretty badass, by the way. So it kinda worked.”

The way he laughed was too warm for this world. “Haha, very funny. Now, think about your… friend. Think about how much you care about him, and how you want to help him. Picture the thoughts running through your mind like leaves on a river, knowing each leaf with your heart, but not deliberating on any single one. Do you see it?”

Susie saw a sprawling, roaring waterfall, the whitewater current raging down the jagged cliffside with deadly basalt spikes running along the cascade’s bed. She pictured herself sitting near it, dangling her boots into the water, watching the spike-shaped leaves drifting past; maybe there were even rabid piranhas prowling about the ravine. There was a breeze brisk like the ocean air, yet hot like ashes, whisking her hair asunder. Steam rose from the surface, mingling with the wind in an imperfect, aggressive dance.

...The leaves.

What did she like about Ralsei?

He was smart, that was sure. Smart in a nerdy way admittedly, but she found herself liking that about him. Mostly because he didn’t give a damn what other people thought, and that he was proud to know so much.

The leaf went down the fall.

He was stupidly kind. The amount of her shit he put up with was beyond what any living person could reasonably bear, yet somehow, someway, he stuck with her. She was really grateful for that, even if she didn’t show it.

The leaf went down the fall.

She pictured him and his stupid smiling face.

He’s… kinda cute, actually…

The leaf went down, down, down.

Deep into her SOUL.

“Susie, look! You’re doing it!!”

“H… Huh?!”

Susie looked down, and there was cyan tinted energy softly wisping through her fingertips.

“Oh! HELL YEAH!” She shouted charasmatically. “Arright, Rals! Prepare your fluffy butt for the HEALING OF A GODDAMN LIFETIME!”

As she thrust her arms out to deliver the goods, she became aware of the thought she just had, involving him and a four-letter word starting with c.

...And there was the heat in her cheeks, as if there was any stopping it. The energy fizzled out.

“Oh… hm. It seems like you lost it, unfortunately. But that’s ok! We can always try again, right?”

“...Susie?”

“Rals.”

“...Yes?”

“I—I gotta tell ya somethin’.”

“Alright, um. I’m listening.”

“Ralsei, I think I…”

“...?”

“...I think I just saw a FREAKIN’ BASKETBALL SHOOTING GAME IN THAT CARNIVAL OVER THERE, HOLY CRAP. WE GOTTA GO THERE, DUDE!”

Susie took his hand, dragging him off again.

Not that she liked holding his hand, or anything.

Chapter Text

Ralsei had no idea the simple act of tossing a ball into a netted basket could be so satisfying.

Swish went one ball, then another, then another. It was oddly mesmerizing, watching her do this. The sounds of the strange striped ball veering through the air and into the goal, the haywire lights and alarms of the arcade machine coming alive with every successful throw. There were numbers on a digital display that soared to heights he had never seen before; he wasn’t sure what exactly it meant, but it must be good.

Her face was set with a fierce determination, the same kind he saw when she saved Kris from the clutches of the tyrant Spade King. It wasn’t as intense, of course, but it welled from the same fount. It was a difficult thing to describe.

The word pretty came to mind.

Oh… oh dear.

The thumping of his heart was enough for him to know. His emotions were a whirlwind.

This is normal, right? To feel this way about someone you’ve only just met? First Kris, and now…?

I’ve never had friends before…

“PERFECT!!! YOU WIN SUPER PRIZE!!!”

The crackly announcement of the machine’s speaker was enough to jolt Ralsei out of the deep thought he ventured to enter, with Susie’s exclamation and fist pump serving to lock him out of his head for the foreseeable future. “YEHAH, YEAH! I AM FRICKIN’ BALLIN ’ TODAY!” She gripped him hard by both shoulders, violently rustling him around so that his surprised gasps jittered along with his body. “You saw all that, right Rals?! TELL ME YOU SAW HOW SICK THAT WAS!”

“Ye—es I di—id se—ee it wa—as ve—ery impre—essive—plea—ase stopshakingme—!”

Maybe if she did the shaking thing, but without the shaking part and just the arms around his shoulders, that would be better.

Thankfully, she acquiesced. “‘Kay, good. Just makin’ sure.” Susie thrusted her finger at the associate manning the counter, an Addison if he recalled correctly. “You! Whaddu I win?!”

They looked up from the phone they were currently scrolling through, expectant albeit a little shocked. “Ah. For you, young lady, we have a very special prize.” They hauled out a person-sized stuffed plushie from behind the desk, one that reminded him of a bit of the cat-like enemies he had fought earlier, a Tasque. “This incredibly fluffy and adorable prize can be yours for only three easy payments of $14.99, plus shipping and handling! And , if you accept in the next thirty seconds, we’ll give you a hearty discount of ten percent off (of one payment)! This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!! What’ll it be, valued customer?”

Susie adorned an expression of disbelief, tempered by irritation. “Wha—? Hey, wait a sec. I won that game, dude. I’m s’posed to get it for free .”

“Great ad revenue, free?! As in, no spending necessary?!” The Addison gasped. “We’re sorry, but that simply isn’t possible. Section B-567 of The Cyber City Carnival Extravaganza™ Terms of Service and Waiver you signed expressly made clear that there would be no such thing as free prizes.”

“What?!” Susie cried, bashing her fist against the table. “What Terms of Service ?!”

“You were required to sign it to enter the park, ma ‘am.”

Susie blinked.

“Oh. Damn, I guess we did sign something like that, huh?”

Ralsei remembered something like that. “Yes, we did.”

Susie reinstated her point, both literally and figuratively with her finger. “Well, I DON’T CARE. Didn’t even read the damn thing, it was like, 87 pages. I ain’t payin’!”

The Addison muttered through a fake smile. “(Please just buy the damn plushie, kid. I gotta fill my quota or my friends’ll laugh at me!)”

She crossed her arms, shooting a mean-spirited glare and baring her teeth. “I already told ya. I. AIN’T. PAYIN’.”

“I’ll, um, pay for it.”

Both the Addison and Susie were stunned.

They snatched the money out of Ralsei’s hand, hastily pushing the prize over the counter. “Thanks so much for your patronage, valued customer! (Now please leave, you freakin’ psychos!)”

Weird silence of “ Yes, that just happened”.

Ralsei nudged the larger-than-him animal over. “Here’s your prize, Susie.”

The prince was still sort of learning how to decipher body language and expressions and such, namely since the concept of other people was still fresh to him.

This one, however, confounded him.

“...Keep it.”

“What?”

“You heard me. It’s yours.”

Ralsei stammered, sure that his heartbeat could be heard throughout the carnival. “U—Um, Y—You’re sure? I mean, if you—”

“You bought it, dude. It’s yours.”

He couldn’t contain his smile any longer. “I... Thank you, Susie. I think… I think you’re wonderful.”

There was no harm in saying something true. Susie was wonderful, even if she endeavored to be a little… assertive at times. Not that it was unwarranted, of course, but the vendor was simply doing their job. There was no one to blame here, just a simple misunderstanding that he resolved before things got out of hand.

I do hope her nature doesn’t get her into trouble, one day.

Even if it does, I’ll be there, helping her through. Just like I am now.

...Were her cheeks a shade pinker, or was he imagining things?

“You wanna know what I think, Rals?”

“Yes, Susie?”

“I think I see one of those pad dancing video games over there.”

Chapter Text

It was beautiful.

The machine hit a level of pure awesome that Susie had seen sparsely throughout her life. Arcade dance games were already enough to be considered a national wonder of the world, but this one was like, woah . Its dance pad was as big as a ballroom floor (okay, maybe not that big, but seriously)! The set was complete with two blocky stereo speakers, a touchscreen panel, and a vibrant neon sign that read “BOOGIETRON ULTRA”. Already the screen was displaying a demo of the game, with a waterfall of high scores running with the fast-paced multicolored arrows.

It was as if the machine was saying “Hey, Susie! Come beat me! You know you want tooooo!!”

She heard it loud and clear, that was for damn sure.

Ralsei didn’t seem as thrilled, which she felt could be considered a federal crime. “Wow, this gizmo is quite large, haha… what does it do, exactly…?”

“You’ve never—?! Are you—” Oh wait, that was right. He probably didn’t have anything like this in that creepy town he lived in. “Y’know what? Get on the frickin’ thing. I’ll show ya.”

Susie sped up to the top of the stairs leading to the main dance platform, eagerly anticipating Ralsei to join her. It took a moment of anxious deliberation, but the prince eventually made his way to join her, sidling closer to her side with cautious steps.

She glanced down at him, curious. He was acting all fidgety and worried, more so than usual.  What’s up with him? Hope he isn’t gettin’ stage fright or somethin’. Guess the stage lights aren't helpin' much for that.

Susie nudged him with her arm. “Hey. You don’t have to play if you don’t wanna.”

Now he had this mega-thoughtful look on his face as if he was thinking really hard about something. Hell if she had any idea what it was.

After a few long years of wrinkling his cloak and gazing shiftily around, he responded with a calm disposition set in his tone. “No, I… I do want to play. Go ahead and start the game, Susie.”

The purple-scaled girl stuck a hand in her pocket and huffed. She felt that there was something up, but she didn’t want to seem weird or overbearing. “...Okay. Let’s go.”

A flurry of flashy-colored tiles lit up below her boots as she hopped down onto the formerly blank canvas, following her gait closely like a trail of stars beneath her step. As Ralsei jumped down, she noticed that the lights below him were more of a bright chromatic green, as opposed to her deep mauve.

It’s matching our main colors. That’s neat, I guess.

As Susie marveled at the swirl of colors before her, the demo music emitting from the speakers lowered, punctuating the arrival of a vivacious female announcer.

“Two players detected. Recalculating difficulty algorithms… complete. Please enter a name.”

"Ass and Ralsei."

Ralsei's expression was priceless. "Wha— Susie! That's a swear!"

"I know. It's the name I always use for arcades, heh."

"Player names ASS and RAL confirmed. Please select the level of challenge you prefer."

Seven panels activated in front of Susie, each of them with colors ranging from red to violet.

“Um. Is this part of the game?” Ralsei asked timidly.

Again, gotta explain everything. “I think it’s asking us how hard we wanna make it.”

“Ah. Can you maybe put it on the easiest? I’m a little… inexperienced  at dancing, to put it lightly.”

It was boring, but valid. “Ugh, fine. We can play on the wimp setting. Lemme just…”

Susie narrowed her eyes at the array of selections before her.

Uh…

...Which one’s easy?

There were no names for the colors to correspond to.

Eh. I’ll just pick the one I like the most.

Susie stepped on the violet tile.

“Impossible difficulty selected.”

... GODDAMMIT!

Susie immediately went to try and press a different color, but they had already disappeared. “W—Wait, NO, waitwaitwaitgoback—”

It was no use. The song was already starting, and a grid of tiles lit below her in a three-by-three area.

“S—Susie!? I—I don’t think impossible is what we wanted!”

“I KNOW, HEADASS! IT WON’T LEMME— ARGGH!” Susie stamped her feet on the ground, cursing to herself for her blatant stupidity. Now was probably the time to explain the game to him before they got annihilated. “Arright, listen, Rals. There are gonna be arrows on that screen, there. All you gotta do is tap the tile below ya with your foot when the thingy lines up. You gotta time that crap, okay! Got it?!”

He gave her a look she interpreted as I’m scared for my life. “Yes, I—I think?! I’ll do my best!”

The arrows came.

There was no preparing Susie for the amount of legwork she had to perform to keep the score afloat. Already she was the kind of person who had two left legs when it came to dancing; not that she didn’t enjoy it, but she was probably the last person to ask when it came to being actually good at moving your body. It felt like day after agonizing day passing by as her feet zipped from one tile to the next, then back, a thick layer of sweat beginning to form on the back of her turtleneck sweater. She was too focused to even consider looking at Ralsei.

A lull in the arrows practically saved Susie’s life as she staggered, fighting to keep herself upright. They call this a game?! I’m fighting for my goddamn LIFE over here!

“W—Wow. Are you okay, Susie?”

She looked at him and found that he was completely fine and not panting for air.

What. The hell?

“How… Are you… NOT DEAD?!?!”

“...I think I’ve been playing the bass line.”

Actual, physical pain surged through her upon hearing that.

The music began to build again.

“Oh no, nononono dammit no—” This was it. This was where her life ended, here on this stupid ass dance machine. Pretty high up there on the Top Ten List of Worst Ways to Go.

The song welled, and she braced herself.

...There were no arrows.

There were no arrows!

But the song wasn’t over…?

Ralsei pointed to the screen, directing her exhausted gaze. “Look, Susie! It says Freestyle! I think we can make up our  own  moves!”

She let out a massive sigh of relief. She wasn’t going to die! The world would see Susie another day.

Susie recuperated herself, dancing in the way she felt was most comfortable, which was a casual rolling of the arms and sprinkle of hip action; Nothing too extreme. Ralsei’s dance was a sort of awkward four-step movement, which she found somewhat amusing (and maybe even kinda cute). She figured he probably read that from one of his books and incorporated the moves, but not the feel.

This was actually enjoyable. The music was a real bop, too.

...But the score. Somehow, they were on the verge of failing.

Susie’s voice became frantic. “H—How are we losing?! It’s a freakin’ FREESTYLE!”

“We’re losing?! Maybe… maybe we need to, u—um, work together somehow?”

The realization hit her like a truck.

It was a two-player game, so they had to dance together.

Susie scooped Ralsei up.

The boy bleated in surprise, but he understood Susie’s intentions nearly immediately, their eyes locking in an act of total trust. As the song continued, the two spun and swung each other around in wild, fanciful flourishes, each of their individual styles clashing to create a unique routine that had never been danced before. It was something between a rave mosh pit thrash and a ballroom waltz, and somehow, it flowed effortlessly in time to the music.

It was, unequivocally, the best dance Susie had ever partaken in her life.

She dipped him down in a final move, their hands and heartbeats as one.

“NEW HIGH SCORE!”

There was an eruption of applause as Susie slowly brought Ralsei back up, her eyes still connected with his, unable to escape. She almost didn’t notice the small crowd that had amassed around them, everyone cheering with adoration for their skills.

Susie couldn’t care less about the heat in her cheeks. It was in his, too. “Damn. You uh, really killed it, Rals.”

He smiled way too sweetly,  Hrgghh.  “I couldn’t have done it without your help, Susie. You’re an incredible dancer.”

“You know it, dude. Heh.”

There was something in the air, between them.

It was certainly, definitely, one-hundred percent not the L-word, no way.

She felt her hand, the one that was just holding his. She smiled.

Alright, maybe it was a little bit of

Wait.

...Something wet on her hand.

It was blood.

…?!

There was blood on Ralsei’s hand.

“D—Dude? What— what the hell happened to your hand?” There was an open gash she saw, just before he tore his hand away.

“I—It’s nothing! Please, don’t worry about it—”

“Like hell I ain’t gonna worry about it! Come on dude, we gotta get that fixed!”

Chapter Text

Pain wasn’t an unfamiliar concept to Ralsei.

Pain in a more abstract way, to be precise: pain beyond what you could physically feel. Spending the entirety of your life completely alone without a single soul to know or see or even talk to… well. It became… unbearable… at times.

The terrible part was he barely knew why he was in pain, let alone what a friend even was . The bricks were his friends, the walls his companions, the empty houses his long-time acquaintances. He had even begun to name some of them, waving hello as he trotted by on his daily trips to and from the city to scavenge for supplies; not that they ever waved back. He just assumed that feeling worthless every day of your life was, for all intents and purposes, normal.

The dread was what made it impossible. The waiting, the hoping, the thought that today might be the day the lightners come . It was immutable. Whenever he ran out of books or made-up activities or things to distract himself with, that dread seeped in, tearing and ripping away at his heart like a starved beast. He could not, could never rest, not until he saw the prophecy through.

The days were filled with thoughts about the prophecy. The prophecy that he knew for as long as he could remember, as if it were a part of his very fiber. The prophecy that was his life.

The prophecy that might not be real.

If the prophecy wasn’t real, then what purpose did his life serve? Was it even a life worth living, without anyone to know or love?

He remembered looking down, down into the abyss of the grand fountain, often for hours on end. Sometimes it felt like the void was calling him, in a somber song that promised an end to the misery.

Sometimes he wondered what would happen if he listened.

But he was eternally glad he never chose that answer. He had friends, real, honest to angel friends , and because of this, the past two days were the best he had ever had in his life.

Even then.

That same dread was with him, now.

Susie led him over to a nearby bench, sitting down and taking his hand to inspect it. The shock on her face was as clear as day, the genuine worry clearer.

She looked up at him. “Ralsei, what— what happened? Why didn’t you tell me?”

He was dreading having to explain this, but he had to. He wouldn’t lie, not to a friend.

“I um… I never healed the bruise on my hand. From when it was struck by the car. And, when we danced… you were, um, a little rough. The skin was still raw, I think… B—But please, don’t feel bad! It’s not your fault!”

No, no, no. This was exactly what he was worried about. Susie felt bad now, and it was because of him. She was experiencing a bad emotion, because of him.

What kind of friend would do that?

He wanted to curl up into a ball and disappear forever into endless nothingness.

“Rals, I—” She turned her gaze away, something he was glad for. “Would… would you have never said anythin’ if I never noticed?”

He wanted to say yes because that was the truth.

Instead, he apologized.

“...WHAT?!” Susie exclaimed in utter disbelief. “D—Dude! I’m the one who hurt you. What the hell are you sorry for?!”

“I’m making you feel bad.”

“...Huh?”

“You’re sad now, right? It’s because of me. This is why I didn’t want you to notice, and also why I didn’t heal it myself. You would be happier if you didn’t see. I’m just being a burden...”

Maybe he should just stop talking because he was making it even worse now. Her worrying gaze, burning into him. It was worse than anything.

Why am I doing this? Why can’t I just —

“Hey. Get outta your own head.”

“...?”

“Listen, Rals. You’re not makin’ me feel bad , or burdening me or whatever. Sure, I guess I’m kinda sad right now, but that’s just like— it’s part of bein’, like, a person! It’s empathy . I’d much rather feel like this for a few minutes than let you be in literal pain for however long you were planning because I’m your friggin’ friend. Friends look out for each other, right? I—I mean, am I wrong?”

How could he answer that?

I… I don’t know…

“Don’t— wait, don’t cry dude, c’mon.”

Ralsei dug his head into his sleeves. He found himself unable to say anything, as he was too busy fighting back the tears that threatened to bawl out of him.

He heard Susie get up from her seat. “W—Wait right here, dude. Don’t go anywhere , I mean it . ”

Her boots stomped away, and Ralsei was left with his thoughts.

Was what she was saying right?

The more he thought about it, the more it made sense. Even though it went against everything he believed, everything he thought he knew about friendship, he knew in his heart that it was true.

The pain in his hand throbbed. If he couldn’t care about himself, how could he care about others? How could he draw love from his heart if the well was empty?

He clenched his fist in resolution.

People care about me, whether I like it or not. It’s my responsibility to ensure that I’m the happiest version of myself I can be, even if it means a little sadness along the way.

That’s what it means to be a friend.

“...Hey. You doin’ good, dude? I brought ya somethin’.”

Susie was there, and she was holding two big puffy balls of pink in her hands.

Quickly, he wiped the moistness from his eyes. “O—Oh. Hello, Susie. What… are those?”

She plopped herself down, handing one of the great fluff bits to him. It was poised atop a cone, to his wonder. “Eat it. It’ll perk ya right up.”

Ralsei took a suspicious bite out of the stuff, and the incredible candy-like taste danced around his tongue.

He looked at her, and she looked back.

She got this for me. For us.

I need to say what must be said.

“...I’ve been a fool, Susie.”

“Dude, you’re good. I get it. I get it, y’know?”

“Really?”

“Yeah. A lot of this friendship stuff is new ground for me, too. Still gettin’ used to things like havin’ people that like me. Believing people can like me.”

Her breath wavered for a moment.

“...Likin’ myself. That one’s still kinda tough.”

His heart—!

Ralsei simply couldn’t take it anymore.

He thrust his arms around her, wrapping her up in the tightest, warmest embrace he could muster. His entire heart was in it, his beat thumping against hers. Susie was taken aback momentarily, but she soon returned the hug, her calm breath and rhythmically rising chest softly pressing against him.

Perhaps this is what heaven feels like.

He clenched his eyes tight, taking in the smoky scent of her hair as he spoke. “I really, really like you, Susie.”

“...I, uh, l—like you too.”

Suddenly, there was a flash of light.

The pain in his hand was gone.

Reluctantly pulling away to check his hand, he saw that the gash had disappeared! Susie had healed it completely!

“Susie, look! Your healing magic— it repaired my hand!”

She brought her head back up to him, a bit flustered. “Wait, I— I did? Oh. Yeah, I did. Totally meant to do that, Heh.”

“You’re well on your way to becoming the greatest healer in the land. Soon, you’ll have to wear a funny little cloak like me!”

Susie snorted with laughter, giving Ralsei a rough punch on the shoulder for his trouble. “Pfft. You’re such a dork .”

There was no hiding his smile. “I know. It came with the property.”

They sat there for a minute, bantering at each other with joy in their hearts.

“...Heh. Speakin’ of dorks ,'' Susie wondered aloud. “Where’s Kris? Y’think we should go try n’ find ‘im?”

...Kris. Where were they? They were due to come by at any moment, now. He had to make sure they saw him and Susie eating cotton candy; that was important.

He focused, wondering what Kris was doing… right… now

No.

Oh no.

Great angel, no.

“...You feelin’ arright, Rals? Ya look kinda pale.”

“Susie.”

“Yah?”

“You are tired, are you not?”

“...Uh, yeah. A bit. Why?”

He wove a spell with his fingers, quietly chanting the incantation he had memorized.

Susie slumped over him, dead asleep.

As much as he didn’t want to, he slunk out of her weight.

I need to find Kris.

Chapter Text

The first thing she noticed was the cold.

It was the cool weight pressing under and over her body, enveloping her form like a blanket woven of ice. It was the frigid chill of the briskly blowing breeze, whistling its gentle song as it rippled across her skin; it was a song she felt she’d heard somewhere before, in another place like this. A place familiar, yet alien.

The fire within her against the frost.

There was a darkness over her eyelids, concealing her sight. Slowly, with labored breath, she tore the icy scales from her eyes as they struggled to open.

...White.

Trees. Leafless trees. Birch? Something like that.

Snow. Covered in it.

“...Uff! Get— friggin’— hrggh.” Susie awkwardly pushed herself up, vigorously dusting off the flakes of fresh snowfall that had accumulated on her jacket; there was snow that had melted into the back of her clothes, probably from lying on the ground. It was giving her a wicked chill from behind, but there was nothing she could do about that. She ran a hand through the messy threads of her hair; there were snowflakes there too. There was a decent chance she could be mistaken for a walking snowman.

She turned her head up, surveying the woods surrounding her.

...What the hell?

No. That wasn’t good enough.

“WHAT THE HELL?!” She cried. The sound of her voice echoed back to her, along with a flock of birds (were they birds?) scattering.

She looked around again.

“...Rals?” she called, softly, uneasily.

Nothing.

This was bad. Very bad, actually. From one to ten on the scale of badness, a solid nine. Ten, even, but it didn’t feel like she was completely screwed (at least, not yet. hopefully). Waking up in the middle of butt-frick nowhere with no idea as to how you got there or where you are: Really bad.

But she wasn’t the type of person to just curl up in a ball and cry, she knew this to be an indisputable fact. If she ever did that, she might as well just stop being Susie.

So she walked.

And walked.

...And walked some more.

It was cold.

Real goddamn cold.

The snow crunched under her boots as she shivered, her hands furiously rubbing against her bare arms for warmth. The cold was becoming a serious problem, especially due to the wet spot along her back. She was beginning to lose feeling in her fingers already, her arms would probably soon follow. If there were any drawbacks to having a sleeveless jacket to show off her sick-ass muscles, this was it. At least the turtleneck sweater she wore was doing an okay job at keeping her core warm.

It felt like the snow was coming down harder as she went on. Or maybe this place was getting to her.

Her teeth chattered as she growled from the back of her throat. God, if I become a living popsicle, I swear…

—!

Her boot caught on something.

It was a fallen tree branch, longer than she was tall, decently thick. Looked pretty tough.

There was a slash through it.

She looked closer, squinting. What was that ashy black stuff around the cut marks…?

...A twig snapped behind her!

“W—WHO’S—?!” Susie whirled around on a dime, only to see something she immediately regretted seeing.

It was a shadow, peering from behind a tree.

Badness scale shot up past ten.

It reached out a hand, deadly claws scraping and grinding against bark, shredding it like tissue paper as it stalked out from their cover. The snowfall picked up to a blizzard, the frigid wind battering against her ears.

Her legs were screaming RUN RUN RUN GTFO DUMBASS, but she couldn’t move. Could barely even scream or shout or do anything but quiver.

Through the gusts of raging white, she could see it. The thing’s body was amorphous and ghostly, like a cloud of dust magnetized into the form of a slouched over beast; a pinprick of red pierced out from the center of their wavering spherical head like an overbearing lighthouse. It possessed a sinister, lurching gait, bent-backward knees stomping towards her without care for subtlety; each impact on the ground leaving a sizzling black imprint in the snow. Looking into that light… it was a kind of horror that she nearly couldn’t describe. Like gazing into a taste of hell.

It stopped just before her, towering over her with that eerie crimson ray. Its head twitched, flickering and crackling like a black, ashen inferno. It smelt like burning.

“P—PLEASE DON’T RIP MY GUTS OUT!” Susie gasped out, her panicked breathing hitting a crescendo.

It cocked its head to one side.

Then, its head started to change shape.

Now they had a stubby snout, with a head of bushy black hair draped over their eyes.

𝗥𝗶𝗽... 𝗚𝘂𝘁𝘀... 𝗢𝘂𝘁, They growled, in a crooked reflection of Susie’s voice.

They grinned a set of impossibly sharp teeth, their talons inching forward to her abdomen.

In the small moment that the light wasn’t pinning her, she reached for her ax and swung as hard as she could.

The ax’s blade cleaved cleanly into and through the midsection of the shadow’s head, prompting an ungodly shriek and a burst of light to streak from the point of entrance; they staggered back, clutching at the crack of red shining out of their hair and snarling fiercely. Her ax had absolutely gone through their head, but it wasn’t chopped in half, as it had just… reformed.

...Should she run?

No. Whatever this thing is… I doubt I’m the only one it’s attacked.

It’s gotta die.

Susie poised the weapon in her hand, fresh adrenaline fueling her stance as she hardened her glare. “A—Arright, creepy-ass... sh—shadow thing! Go ahead and try to kill me! No one’s managed it yet.”

They jerked their head back, baring their teeth. She saw that the red light was streaming through the cracks in their toothy smile.

She shook her head, refocusing her racing thoughts. No, don’t— do NOT look at the light. That light is… it’s wrong. Just fight.

The shadow began with a vicious attack, lunging forward on all fours and slashing out with their claws. Susie deftly swerved out of the way, exhaling sharply from her nostrils and swinging downwards with her ax. The strike was deflected wide with a stray claw strike, coupled with a feral snarl from the beast. Her stance faltered as she struggled to regain control of her weapon; she was completely caught off guard. The shadow rushed at her again, talons rearing for a deadly blow, but Susie brought her ax back just in time to block.

They clenched their talons around the bar of her ax, bearing down on her with incredible weight. Susie’s knees couldn’t help but buckle as she struggled to push back, gritting her teeth as she forced her eyes away from the light again and again.

Her boots skidded against the snow. Don’tlookatitdon’tlookatitDON’TLOOKATIT!!!

The light shone brighter, calling her name louder, louder.

𝗦𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗲. 𝗦𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗲. 𝗦𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗲.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗱𝘀, 𝗦𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗲?

She caught a glimpse of the shadow’s slitted red eye, buried within the hair.

"Wh—What— are you?!" Susie strained out.

𝗬𝗼𝘂'𝗿𝗲 𝗺𝗲.

Their eye flickered, and it triggered something primal inside her.

“HRRRAAAAGH!” In an act of final desperation, she kicked forward, aiming for the shadow’s gut.

Her foot went straight through, and she lost her balance.

A haymaker claw dug deep into the front of her shoulder, ripping away flesh and dust in a clean swipe.

Susie howled, howled in agony, reeling back and collapsing onto the rustled snow, instinctively clutching at her arm and seething through her teeth. The wound was ashy and black and sizzling away at her scales, it felt like a hundred million fire ants all biting at the same time, or maybe like pure acid dumped into an open wound. She couldn’t remember a time when she had felt pain this bad, this deep. It was like poison ravaging her very SOUL.

The shadow smirked, picking up the ax she had dropped, trailing its blade across the snow as they bore down on her. Their darkness trailed down the hilt and along the blade, rippling with fury as their essence intertwined with the weapon.

All Susie had the strength to do was scuttle backward along the ground and stare in terror at it. Soon, she found herself stopped against a tree, blocked with nowhere to go. “N—NO! Haggh, NO PLEASE, DON’T— Uff—! AAUGH! SOMEONE, ANYONE, HELP!”

The shadow stood at her feet, perking their head up as if to listen.

Silence.

They smiled down at her, crooking its head in manic glee.

...𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝗻𝗼𝗯𝗼𝗱𝘆 𝗰𝗮𝗺𝗲.

They raised the ax.

And were struck dead center by a veering wave of blue light.

The wave crashed into their side in a blistering explosion of energy, hitting them with enough force to send their body flying back and slamming into a nearby tree. It hit the ground spasming, erratically jerking every which way, cracks of redness beaming all over its body. Screeching, it took its talons and dug away at the snow, digging furiously away, black snow flying everywhere.

Eventually, there was a black hole in the ground, and the shadow was gone.

The snowfall was calm.

Susie lay there for a few minutes, simply attempting to control her breathing and trying to maybe have coherent thoughts.

The pain. That was the first priority.

She winced as her eyes wandered to the wound on her shoulder. It was still sizzling away, albeit a little less intensely; not that it didn’t still hurt like hell. She took a few handfuls of snow and covered it in an attempt to numb the burning, but it barely made a difference.

It only got colder.

Through the growing forces of shock, she fought to remember what Ralsei had told her. His soft, tender voice rang through her mind, bouncing around her brain and soothing her as the darkness crept in around her vision.

She thought about how much she cared about him.

Rals? You there?

Imaginary Ralsei looked up at her with those captivating, inescapable pink eyes. “Yes, I’m here.”

I really care about you, dude.

“...I care about you too, Susie.”

No, like, I think… I feel like there might be something more. The fact that I’m even talking to a fake you in my head like this…

“Susie…? Y—You don’t mean…?”

Yeah. I guess it’s pretty obvious, huh?

She could feel her heart begin to beat again.

I’ve got it bad for you.

The pain subsided.

Glancing again at the wound, it wasn’t completely gone, but the ultra-painful burning had stopped. The pain was at a more tolerable level, still enough for it to eat up space in her head, but not enough to shut everything down. It would scar, that was for sure.

...At least I’ll have a badass scar along my arm now, heh.

Wonder if Rals’ll like that.

Chapter Text

Ralsei paced back and forth, his clashing thoughts periodically interrupted by Susie’s growling snores.

...Should I leave her here? Gosh, what was I thinking, pacifying her?! She’s going to be… once she finds out—!

Snoooooooore…

But I don’t want her to worry. She doesn’t have to know that anything terrible is happening. I can fix this. I can find Kris, bring them back, and everything will be corrected before she wakes.

Sn… Snaaaaaoooore…

...No, No! What was she just telling you?! That entire, heartfelt conversation we just had. She wants to help me, I shouldn’t— I can’t hide this. I should just tell her. I should—

SnnnnnRRROOOAR...

...Gosh, she’s quite the loud snorer.

Although, there was something vaguely amiss about the way she slumbered. It looked like she was in distress, with her eyes firmly clenched, fists balled, breath uneven. She was shivering.

A pang of guilt ran through him, seeing her like this. He had already convinced himself this was for her own good, but it still hurt.

She looks cold. I’ll do what little I can to keep her warm, it’s the least I can do.

Ralsei neared the snoozing girl, making sure to creep so as to not wake her. Seeing her like this was a new experience for him. Susie was so lively and bombastic, but seeing her so quiet like this...

This was also a rare time when he could look at her for longer than a few moments without getting a nasty glare.

He oogled gazed at her for a while.

Oh... oh wow. She's... so pretty...

Susie groaned, shuddering violently. He imagined her barking at him for staring.

...What am I doing?! I—I can't be wasting time like this, no matter... how much I want to...

Ashamed, he tore his eyes away.

...No. I need to go. I'll make sure she's warm, and then I'll go. That's final.

Ralsei came up close.

And as he reached over her.

“...Rals?” she muttered.

The blood in Ralsei’s veins froze.

...

Snoooooore...

Ralsei remembered to breathe. Oh, thank angel. Alright.

Once he was finished with his work, he stepped away, looking back one last time.

He set his jaw, purpose set within him. Don’t worry, Susie. I’ll make this right.

Cities weren’t supposed to be empty. Ralsei knew this.

Yet somehow, after a decent span of walking, he had yet to find a single living person anywhere.

The silence was crushing. What was once the roaring clamor of the city’s bustling streets had been reduced to next-to-nothing, the whistle of blowing wind his only travel-mate. All the flashing advertisements had been switched off, the displays shut down, the stores closed with blinds turned. Entire streetways were vacant, cars deserted.

It reminded him too much of his lonely years, the ones he spent in castle town. As if his fate had prepared him for situations like this.

For a moment, he was back.

Ah, there we are.

Ralsei gazed in admiration at the work of (somewhat) excellent craftsmanship before him: a life-sized mannequin made to resemble his image. It had taken time, and effort, and a lot of trial and error, but finally it was complete.

Now, it was time to test. He removed his scarf and wrapped it around his new friend’s neck.

He took a breath.

“...Hello, lightners whose names I have yet to know. I am Ralsei. I’m a prince of the dark, but I don’t have any subjects, um…  n—not that it was of any relevance, but um… I really do hope we can… become friends.”

“I really hope.”

“Please, please be friends with me.”

The mannequin didn’t say anything.

His memory was interrupted by the sound of crinkling paper.

Ralsei looked, and saw there was a bundle of papers, tumbling along the asphalt road. A twinge of curiosity struck, prompting him to skip over and retrieve the collection (not without looking both ways, first. street safety!). Once he had salvaged the items as best he could, he took them back over to the sidewalk.

He unfurled what he found to be newspapers, dated around a few minutes ago.

...A few minutes ago? That’s an awfully up-to-date paper schedule.

Or maybe something of note has happened.

Clutching the paper tighter, his eyes scanned the headline.

“ICE-SHOCK PSYCHOS: DANGEROUS DUO FREEZING INNOCENT CITIZENS! CITY UNDER LOCKDOWN”

He dropped the paper, unraveled. That was all he could bear to read.

...But Kris doesn’t have ice magic. They can’t— They couldn’t—

His heart sank into his throat.

Unless someone helped them.

A shriek rang out.

No—!

Ralsei took off as fast as his little legs could carry him, hoping, praying that he would find Kris before—

He banked a corner and stopped in his tracks, throwing his hands over his mouth in horror.

There was a Werewire encased in a tomb of solid ice, frozen in a state of reeling panic.

“No…! Nonono oh please, no!” Ralsei pleaded, running up beside them to place a hand on the frigid exterior. It was cold to the touch, and there were fresh ice crystals formed at and around the base.

This had just happened. Kris must be near. If he could find them…

But this poor, poor citizen! Couldn’t he do anything to help?!

...There was something he could do. But he promised himself that he would never, ever use it, not unless it was an absolute emergency.

It’s a life at stake. This is an emergency.

Focusing the well of power within his SOUL, he drew from within the fire that would set this darkner free. Flickering blue flames billowed from his palms, stoked alight by the compassion and will burning inside his heart.

Blue light shone through the prince’s steeled eyes. “By the ANGEL’S light… I cast away the cruel shell that binds this one! BEGONE!”

In an instant, a tower of pillaring flame engulfed the chilly prison, melting away the ice with turquoise swirls of warmth.

The Werewire collapsed to the floor, limp.

Ralsei stumbled down to cradle the darkner’s body, lumbering through the darkness that tugged on his own consciousness. Casting holyflame was a draining task; he knew that it took a toll on his composure every time he used it. He didn’t care. This was about saving those who needed saving, about being a hero.

𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬, the shadow within him whispered.

He swallowed the lump in his throat. No. Not now.

“S—Sir, are you alright! If you can hear me, please, speak!”

No response.

He tried shaking him. No response.

Ralsei’s breathing trembled, his heart pounding. He put his ear down to their chest, listening for something, anything.

No respon—

“Ooooooaaaughhhh…”

Ralsei jumped back, his heart leaping in relief. The groan came from them!

“SIR!! You’re… You’re alright!”

The Werewire groggily propped itself up on their elbows, rapidly waggling their water-matted head (and wetting Ralsei slightly). “Oh… oh man. I got my ass handed to me...” An arc of electricity shot from their face-plug thing as they jolted in shock. “Woah! Hey man, I—I don’t have any money—!”

Ralsei threw his hands in front of himself nonthreateningly. “It’s okay, it’s okay! I’m not going to hurt you.”

“Huh? Oh, phew! That’s a relief. For a minute there I thought I was gonna get cooked—” They cocked their head to the side. “...You aren’t gonna cook me, right?”

To Ralsei’s surprise, there were still some remnant embers of holyflame in his palm. He shook his hands out to remove them. “Ah, sorry about that. And no, I won’t be cooking you.”

“Good. No Werewire barbeque today, then.”

They didn’t need much help in standing up, although Ralsei made the offer. Not that it would’ve made a difference, since they were much, much taller than him with their spindly, furry legs. The Werewire did another waggly shake from head to toe, wringing out their fur in such a way that elicited Ralsei to shield himself with a portion of his robe, if only to avoid getting drenched. It had the unfortunate downside of making his robes smell like wet dog.

Looking themselves over, they crackled in distress. “Hm. No idea why I’m soaked, didn’t see any rain on the forecast today. Things are getting weird around here…” They turned to side-glance Ralsei. “Hey, little guy. You look brainy. Have you got any idea what’s going on?”

He wasn’t exactly sure how to put this. “Um. Alright, well, e—evidently it turns out that you were… um, frozen alive.”

Another shock ran through their face-cord, colors running vibrantly through the colors of the rainbow. “What the—! I was frozen? You mean like a popsicle? ”

“...It was more of a rainbow sorbet, really.”

“Ooo, sweet. But also NOT sweet! Who the heck would do such a thing?! I’m an upstanding citizen! I pay my taxes!” They crossed their lanky arms, huffing. “Unlike a certain dinosaur I know… hmph. If anyone deserves to be a tasty dessert, it’s him .”

We’re getting a bit off-topic here. “Sir, if you would… could you tell me the last thing you remember? Any details at all would be of great help. There’s someone— erm, I mean— I just think it would be helpful, y—you know. So we could find who did this to you, that is.”

The Werewire made a sound of realization. “Ahhhh. You’re a copper. Fightin’ crime, I see. Kinda small for one, but I guess most of our tax dollars go into the Queen’s private reserve, anyways. Gotta have someone on the job.”

Ralsei had trouble deciding if he should be offended or not.

Their furry ears slanted coyly. “Well, I’ll tell you what I know. But first, we’ll have to set some ground-level concepts. You agree that, when an object is moving, it continues to move in the direction it’s moving unless it’s stopped?”

“...Huh?”

“Say yes”

“O—Ok? Yes.”

“Right. Now, you also agree that the term “object” can be loosely applied to things that exist. This way, we can refer to people as “objects”.”

“...Isn’t that sort of demeaning—”

“Now, the guys who jumped me. Following this perfectly sound logic, we can conclude that, if they came from, say, that way, they would be going this way.”

“Sure…?”

“And, for the moment of truth. From what I remember, the rude dudes came from that way. Now I can say, with absolute certainty, that they have gone… drumroll please…”

“...I said DRUMROLL, PLEASE!”

“A—Alright!” Although a little taken aback, Ralsei started patting his legs in a rolling rhythm.

 “...THAT WAY!”

With every ounce of vim and vigor, they pointed heroically...

...At a wall.

“Er— THAT WAY!” They pointed slightly away from the wall, in a direction that was more plausible.

Ralsei had to restrain himself from facepalming.

“Now you know where they’ve gone. The laws of the universe support me in this knowledge.” They struck their finger in the air victoriously. “Another win for logic!”

Slowly backing away. “...Thank you. I’m, um, going to go find them now.”

“Tell ‘em Socket sends their regards! Heh.”

...I'm going to have to save a lot more people, aren't I?

Chapter Text

Okay... Okay. Not dead. Not dead yet, at least.

Now what?

With the heat and feeling in her face returned, her senses were aware enough to pick up the distinct noise crunching of snow beneath feet. It wasn’t her feet, though; it came from somewhere beside her. Quickly, she stood herself up (maybe a little too quickly, she stumbled a bit as her sight went woozy) and whirled to the source of the sound.

There was a man there.

She reacquired her ax, clenching it in her grip. It was definitely a regular guy, not a death monster. Looked like they were holding… some sort of walking stick? They were pretty far away, so she had a hard time discerning any more than that.

...The blast of light that saved me. It came from this direction.

She cupped her hands around her snout to project her voice. “H—Hey! HEYYYY! DUUUUDE! I’m LOOOOST!!”

The man looked back for a moment.

...Then continued to hike away.

Oh, HELL no. I’m getting some goddamn answers.

“WAIT! HEY, WAIT!” Susie sprinted after them as fast she could, trudging through mounds of snow and dormant brush, frantically pushing past the trees that shot past, not caring at all about that snow that was getting into her boots. She couldn’t see the man running, but it felt like he was getting farther away the faster she ran.

The hell??? This guy’s literally DEFYING REALITY to get away from me. C’mon, I can’t be THAT hideous.

She ran faster, determined to catch up to him. But try as she might—

He was gone, vanished into the snow.

Not even any footprints.

Panting hard, Susie gathered every ounce of her will into the difficult act of not screaming. As much as wanted to scream, she really didn't need another shadow-jackass ripping her apart.

...Wait. Maybe if she listened, she could hear him. After all, that was what clued her in to his existence.

So she closed her eyes, listening.

...Something?

No, that was just her breathing.

Wait a sec...

Rushing water.

That’s what it was. She thought she could hear something like that. Once she pinpointed the rough direction, she went towards the noise. As she approached, and as the noise grew, it brought with it an odd sense of calm and serenity.

Susie wedged her way through the thickened bramble, exiting into an undisturbed field of snow. The sky was a dreary off-white with a dense soup of post-storm fog covering the landscape; the fog here was so thick that she could barely see in front of her, let alone herself. Stuttered gusts of wind blew sheets of snow wildly across the rolling hills, some of it occasionally kicking up in her face.

Oh yeah, and there was also a waterfall.

...That was a pretty big thing to almost entirely miss.

As she neared the precipice to the stream, she saw that there was steam rising from the surface. It was noticeably warmer over here; there was even a noticeable lack of snow near the water’s eroded bank. Looking down past the fall, the drop was beyond her range of vision. A mild sense of vertigo struck her over the temple, scolding her for doing such a risky thing.

Yeesh. Yeah, don’t look down there.

She rattled her head around a bit, and it helped to clear a bit of the brain fog. The whitewater rapids that ran through the river were spotted with jagged black crags, jutting out from the basin like crooked teeth.

Hm. I wonder...

Susie stuck her finger in to test. It was hot, but not unbearably hot.

Hmph. Feet are already soaked from the snow. Might as well.

She plopped herself down and let her boots dip into the water, feeling the deep warmth of the running water soothe her skin as the current lightly tugged at her feet. At first the heat was slightly more than she could handle, but it wasn’t too difficult to ease into.

Really… ease into… yeahhhhh...

Her senses were beginning to melt into bliss with the sensation of warmth, so much that she couldn’t help but smirk to herself. Wow. This actually feels really frickin’ good. Kinda like the hot tub at the rec center, but better and also not tiny. Seriously, how come there aren’t pool-sized hot tubs? I should invent that, I’d make a literal fortune.

She sighed wistfully. Makes me wish I had my own bathtub so I could do stuff like this.

“And as I stand amidst the roar.”

—!!!

Susie yelped in surprise at the man who was standing just next to her on the bank, gazing out across the stream.

He continued to speak, in a deep mahogany voice that was rich with wisdom and age. “The clamor of the wayward shore.”

While she continued to look for things to say (or shout), she saw that the man had a roughened scaly snout, much like hers except in a more azure hue. The clothes he wore were composed of modest greys and browns, loose cloth jackets with bushy fur hides that ran in tight bundles up to his neck (barefoot, for some reason. bare clawed , actually). It blew valiantly in the wind along with his long braids of midnight black hair.

The question she ended on was “Who the HELL are you?!”

“I gather up within my hand…”

He bent down, plucking a grain from the bank.

“A single grain of golden sand.”

After a short contemplation, he flicked the grain, releasing it back into the basin.

“Yet even this I cannot keep, for if I were to rest,

“The shadows of the rancid deep would bring my kind duress.”

A wave of whitewater crashed against the bank, lightly wetting them both with scattered spray.

“Uh… sick bars, dude. That was… that was fire. Yeah.”

He didn’t say anything in response.

...What the hell is going on??? Who is this guy??? What is ANYTHING????

The man peered down at her from under the thatch cone hat he wore. “I have a place you may rest, if you wish. The forest does not yield to those who come unreadied.”

In ninety-nine percent of other cases, Susie would’ve said how about no, you creepy ass weirdo, but here it felt like getting abducted was the better choice.

“Come with me, then,” He said. “I know a shortcut.”

The man stuck his walking stick in the ground and walked past it and literally disappeared into thin air.

Susie’s eyes shot open, blinking rapidly.

The stick was still there, but the man was straight up gone.

Suddenly, the man’s bodiless head stuck out from behind the stick, gazing at her inquisitively. “You are coming, are you not?”

Another unflattering yelp escaped her, not that she could’ve contained it. “U—Uh… s—sure, dude! Haha! I’m just, uh, j—just gimme a sec.”

“...Of course. Come as you wish.” He disappeared again.

Susie walked up to the stick and looked around it, generally feeling like a dumbass as she did so. There was nothing weird or freaky about it, just a normal, wood-carved walking stick.

Do I just…?

She walked past it.

...Nothing happened?

“Ah, there you are.”

“—GAH!”

The man stood right next to her, thankfully with the rest of his body this time. Now there was a log cabin, something she felt like she couldn’t possibly have missed while she was in that field. She glanced behind her; no more waterfall. Just forest.

It became apparent to her that the laws of physics didn’t apply to this guy, for whatever reason.

“You look perturbed.”

“Ah, y—yeah, ya think?! After— after whatever that was?!”

He huffed out fog through his nostrils. “Apologies. My means of travel tend to estrange those whose preconceived notions of spacetime are firmly based in the rigidness of euclidean geometry.”

She crossed her arms. “...What? The hell’s that s’posed to mean?”

“It means your mind is like an uncooked noodle.” He playfully tapped her on the head with his pole, provoking her to scowl. “Let your expectations be bent every now and again. Who knows, the world might surprise you. Hahah.”

“I’ll bend you, you friggin’ weirdo,” Susie muttered to herself.

In terms of log cabins, this one didn’t seem too out of the ordinary. Of course, the entire damn thing had a few metric tons of snow dumped on it, just like everything else. There was a pile of firewood just outside the front, kept dry by a tied-up tarp. Also these spindly bits of metal and stone, tied together with twine and hung from the roof’s overhang. They shimmered and made little jingly sounds as they gusted along with the breeze.

Susie was more than relieved to see a color other than white. The brightness was beginning to do a number on her eyes, which were naturally inclined for darkness.

The man sauntered up the steps to the home, lightly kicking the door frame to dislodge the snow from his feet before stepping inside. He motioned for her expectantly.

Susie’s arms fell to her sides in defeat. Uh. Guess I don’t have much better to do.

She stepped inside, taking in—

“Wipe your feet, please,” He ordered sternly.

“Ugh. Arright, jeez.” She wiped her boots on the outside rug, reluctantly. “What are you, my dad?”

To her surprise, he chuckled at that. “Heh. It’s funny you say that.”

The way he said that.

And the fact that the man looked vaguely similar to her.

What.

“What.”

“I’m not your father, if that’s what you were thinking.” He removed his cone hat, revealing a cascade of braided black locks that flowed down his shoulders and past his chest. “We look nothing alike.”

Susie let out a massive sigh of relief. “Oh, thank god. That woulda been, like, the worst thing ever. Uh, nice hair by the way.”

“I am his distant ancestor, however. Heheh. He is… quite the interesting man, to say the least. A fair bit different from his depictions in the legends.”

Susie really wanted to think he was making some weird offhanded joke, but his face was dead serious.

Maybe it was better not to think too hard about anything he said.

“Please, come in. Make yourself comfortable.”

She stepped inside (again), taking in her surroundings. The cabin was as every bit welcoming as it was warm, soft candlelight working with the roaring fireplace to coat the interior in a comforting orange hue. It was sparsely decorated, but the furnishings it did have were just as homely: wood-carved chairs and a table, a fur rug, a sleeping cot, even some counters for holding little wooden statuettes.

The carvings were hidden practically everywhere she looked, as if they were spying on her.

...Maybe he just really likes wood statues?

They were all people with snouts.

Although she felt a bit uneasy doing so, Susie sat down at the table where the man was, the ancient wood groaning as she let her weight down on it. The man didn’t acknowledge her, instead continuing to whittle away at a block of wood with a sharp-edged stone.

There was also a steaming kettle, and two cups of something with an earthy floral scent. One was placed at the only available seat, the other at the man’s side.

Susie eyed the cup suspiciously. No way I’m drinking that. Really don’t need to get roofied right now.

She turned her gaze to the man. 

Scrape. Scrape. Scrape.

“...Nice statues.”

Scrape. Scrape.

Susie felt like she should start asking. “So uh, about that question I asked ya earlier. Where I, uh, asked who the hell you were. You got an answer for that, or…?”

Scrape. Scrape.

…

...Scrape. Scrape.

“...Um—”

“I’m someone you’ve already met.”

She looked at him, more than certain she’d never seen this guy in her life.

“Or… someone you will meet. Or won’t. It depends.”

“...Depends on what?”

“On the line we’re referring to. On whether sealing a fountain prevents The Roaring… or unleashes it.”

Susie narrowed her brow. He said the word line as if it was some kind of term.

...Whatever. If he wants to be a cryptic jerkass, let him. Not like he can stop me from asking.

She leaned in on her seat, resting both arms on the table. “You think you can tell me what the hell that… that shadow-whatever thing was? I know you saved me. I mean, thanks but also please explain.”

Scrape.

...

The man put his block and knife down, producing a leatherbound book from one of his pockets.

“The monster you describe. Did it look like this?”

He opened the book, displaying a page.

“Yeah, yeah! That’s what it looked like, pretty much. Except it was… like… I—I dunno. First it looked like that, and then it looked like… like me .”

The man nodded, returning to his work. “The maledicts call them marelyrkers. Wretched scavengers displaced from the under world, beings wrought from the abyssal flame. They prowl about the inter world, preying upon those whose wandering dreams have led them astray. Many have found themselves face-to-face with the beast, and many more have fallen before them. How many, I cannot say. Only the forest knows.”

Marelyrkers. Okay. Damn, even the name alone sends a chill down my spine…

“What you did was very brave. I wouldn’t have expected less from one such as yourself.” He paused for a short moment. “...Warrior blood runs in all of us, even you.”

Susie thought for a bit. The fire crackled and spat out faintly glowing embers of ash, as if to imply something.

“...Hang on. What about dreams? You said somethin’ about dreams.”

Scraaaaaape. “What about them?”

“Is… is this a dream? Am I like, dreaming right now?”

He looked her dead in the eye.

“What are dreams, other than a projection of consciousness? What you experience as reality is purely subjective; a simple byproduct of the mechanisms our minds have evolved to depict our environment in a way we can process. The things we call space and time are none other than man-made concepts, derived from the world as we experience it. What then, makes a dream any different from any other conception?”

If his goal was to break Susie’s brain, he was pretty close to achieving it.

...I don’t even know what half those words mean!

“Look, Socrates. I didn’t come here for a goddamn philosophy lesson. Actually, I don’t even know why I came here— I mean—” She sputtered, thinking of more things to say. “Like— Hey, since you apparently know everything, why don’t you tell me how to get the hell outta here?”

“Hah. Saying I know everything is like saying ants are apex predators.”

Now he was really pissing her frayed brain off. “E—Enough with the WEIRD SHIT. I wanna LEAVE! I’ve been attacked and nearly KILLED by a goddamn MAREJERKER and I have NO IDEA where I am and I don’t even know what’s real anymore, I… I just...”

C’mon. Don’t break down in front of this guy. You really think he wants to see that?

She sucked down the awful feeling in her throat. “I… hrk... I wanna leave. Please, just... just tell me how to leave.”

Something slid across the table.

It was the wood carving he’d been working on.

Looked like her. Even had a little ax.

“...Heh. It’s uh, it’s cute. Nice.”

“This one, you may keep. I shall make another.”

She took the trinket and slid it into her pocket. “Thanks.”

Susie sniffled. “...U—Uh. Sorry you had to hear all that.”

“You are not the first to walk this path. And you will not be the last.”

The man looked down at her, his eyes warm and rife with empathy. Even though she barely knew him, she felt… safe.

“The door to leave is just over there.”

There was a grey door. It was just standing there, dead center in the room.

“...Oh.”

Susie stood up and walked to the door, inspecting it closely. It reminded her of the walking stick; she could literally see that there was nothing behind it.

Yet, when she opened it, a blinding black shadow tore through.

“Whenever you feel alone, remember that we are with you, always. Even if you cannot see us.”

She looked back a final time.

"...Why are you helping me, anyway?"

"It's the least we can do for our kind."

Our kind...?

Ugh. My head hurts.

"Well, thanks, mister whatever-your-name-is."

"Se' bastion."

The name shouldn't have been familiar to her.

"Thanks... Se' bastion."

Susie stepped through the frame and was enveloped by the dark.

“Come back soon! It gets lonely here.”

And with that, Susie was gone, along with the door.

Se’ bastion sighed to himself, scrawling something down in his notebook.

“Hrm. She is slightly less impulsive in this line. It seems her heart is given to someone else, as well. I wonder what that will entail. So many Susies to keep track of...”

"...It could be worse. If it weren't for Su' zaya, this would practically be a full-time job. Never in my living days would I have expected an eternity of this..."

He latched the book shut, slipping it back into his jacket pocket.

“I suppose I have to go see him now. That will be quite something, if only for the amusement of seeing his reaction.”

He struck his pole into the floorboards and walked past it, disappearing.

The flames of the roaring fire crackled and sparked, gradually shifting from a faint orange to inky black.

A single crimson dot shone through the hearth.

Chapter Text

“Looks like there’s just a few left.”

Ralsei stood back to admire the branching rows of towering bookshelves that snaked through the library. The one before him was easily several times his height, spiraling up to a ceiling so high he had to uncomfortably crane his neck to see. Even up there, the books were a tight fit.

He scanned the cover on the book he held, one out of several carried under his arm.

“Qualities of a Good Friend”

He placed it back where it belonged.

The next one.

“A Simpleton’s Guide to Heroism”

It went back with the others.

And then, this one.

Ralsei stared at the gold-lettered title.

“How to Confess Your Love for Susie”

He opened it. There was only one page, and one word.

“Don’t.”

Ralsei wasn’t sure why he cared to look. He already knew what was inside.

It went on the shelf, back with the rest of the forgotten books.

Back with the friends they had.

Then, there was nothing to do. Every errand had been completed for the day. Food supplies were good, he had made sure of that. The castle faculties were pristine, down to the brick. He had already done his daily prayer meditations.

And when there was nothing to do, there was one thing to do.

Ralsei walked from the library, down corridor after corridor, through flights of unyielding stairs, until he was there.

The Grand Fountain.

The domed ceiling gave way to an opening through which the fountain could pour, it's dark vision set upon the heavens like a crashing wave; immutable, immovable. Vacant rays of moonlight streamed through the array of stained glass portraits looming overhead, twisting with the darkness and setting the fur on his face alight with shadow; the moon itself gazing down upon him without intent.

The stained-glass figures were of individuals that were vaguely reminiscent of him, ranging in color from red to yellow, four other blank patterns arranged with them; seven in total. The fourth pane, which was centered, held a faint green tint to it, and the way it was positioned happened to frame the moon perfectly. Tempered with fire and age were the adult Ralsei-like individuals to the left of that center pane, the ones present with vibrant pink halos glowing behind their solemn expressions. Under their caricatures, potential titles of the men were scratched out.

The third man's pane, the yellow one — it was shattered.

He had seen these before, numerous times, and they always made him wonder. Were they his forebearers? There were no written records kept of previous descendants that he knew of.

But there was also a portion of the library that was burnt to ruins when he first found it.

 He wondered if that was for a reason.

...The fountain. He had seen it so many times before, yes. But each time his eyes drew upon it, he felt a strange sensation spark within his heart. Was it connection? Maybe. The books in the library only held so much knowledge; there was nothing to explain the way he felt.

It drew him closer.

Ralsei peered over the basalt banister railing and down, down into the abyss, trying to see further than his eyes would allow.

It gave a feeling that made him turn to the grand piano that was situated just up to the edge.

He sat on the stool and began to play.

Ralsei played, inserting every fiber of his SOUL into each strike of the keys, paying no mind to the rising gusts of wind billowing against him, the gusts that blew his robes and scarf fountain-ward. Wisps of magic kicked and swirled around him as his emotions swelled with the chords, his spirit no longer chained by the body that bound him. It was in rare moments like these when he felt free, truly free, free from the agony of a life without life.

But even then,

The shadow within him was there, behind him.

𝐑𝐞𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧.

The prince’s face was wrought with pain, tears streaming down his cheeks as he played the refrain. “...I can’t.”

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰, 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮?

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐬.

The music crescendoed, moonlit drops from his firelit eyes wetting the keys. “I can’t. I know… I know these days are bad. But when the lightners come… they will be good. They will be. I’ll never know if I don’t live to see them.”

…𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞?

He tried to play. He tried to ignore that growling voice, seething in his ear like acid.

𝐃𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐢𝐭?

𝐃𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞? 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐮𝐛𝐦𝐢𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐭𝐨?

He played harder to try and drown out the whispers.

𝐃𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐞?

A choked cry escaped him, his fingers trembling. “Y—You’re not real.”

Cold spiked down his spine as the shadow laid a hand on his shoulder, a feeling like ice striking into him. His body went tense against his will, nearly causing him to blunder the final arpeggio.

𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐈 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥…

They grinned.

...𝐈𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐞?

He could feel the sharp sting and deathly light of the shadow’s eye burning, searing into the back of his skull. Gradually, a new feeling took a claw hold within him, one that he didn’t feel often. A feeling that clenched his teeth and balled his fists.

Anger.

“Huh… h—huhh… hhhHHRRAAAAAAAGH!"

He smashed the piano keys with his fist.

“ENOUGH!!!” Ralsei roared, kicking the piano stool as he spun around, raging holyflame bonfiring from his palms. “You DARE think you can—”

But there was no one.

All he could see was his own looming shadow cast along the ground, glaring through him with unseen eyes.

And again,

He was alone.

“...Ya think he’s alive?”

So alone.

“I ’unno. Do people cry when they die? Are death tears a thing?”

Alone, forever.

“No clue. Either way, I’m gonna try it. Stand back, everyone!”

Alone in this dark, twisted, forsaken—

“CLEAR!”

Ralsei yipped in shock at the sudden current of electricity surging through him and racking his body with sharp pain. He immediately threw his arms forward out of instinct, pushing away the Ambyu-Lance that was pressing a strange device to him. They stumbled back, shrieking.

“I TOLD YOU THAT WAS A BAD IDEA!” Someone shouted. “The heck were you thinking, using a defibrillator on him?”

“Well, it WORKED. He’s ALIVE now, so there!” The Ambyu-Lance condescended back.

The darkners surrounding him were the people that he had been saving for the past hour or so. What resulted was a posse of thankful individuals that sought to aid him in restoration of the city’s citizens, at least to as far an extent as was possible. There were Virovirokuns, Tasques, more Werewires, and even some Mauses (mauce? meese?). Lots of them, all willing and eager to help.

But why was he unconscious?

And… partially undressed???

What in the world…?

His cloak was unbuttoned and slid down to his navel, about. Thankfully he wasn’t bare-chested, just bare-armed, thanks to the form-fitting black undershirt he wore. Nevertheless, it was still by every account bizarre.

Ralsei lay in dumbfounded confusion for the moment, attempting to piece together the events that led to this. He was saving as many as he could, and then…? There was a blind spot in his memory.

“U—Um?” The prince picked himself up, tying the adjustable in-laid belt within his garments tight to keep them from falling. He glanced around in perplexity at the collage of expressions around him, ranging from worried to exasperated. “I’m sorry, I don’t— what exactly is going on here?”

“Oh hey, he’s not dead! Will ya lookit’ that!”

Ralsei snapped his head up. The voice originated from a darkner who was pushing their way through the crowd; a Werewire.

Their ears perked as they caught sight of him. “Hey, cop guy! It’s me, Socket! Glad to see you’re doin’ okay. Was worried for a minute there.”

“...Huh?”

“The guy you saved? We had that whole conversation about popsicles? Me, teaching you the laws of the universe?”

A tad mortified, Ralsei nervously tugged on his shirt. “O—Oh, pardon me. I didn’t recognize you. Werewires… they all sort of look the same. To me, at least.”

“I would say that’s kinda racist, but that’s actually a valid claim.” Socket nudged his shoulder. “Heh, just pullin’ your plug. ANYWAYS. It’s really great that you’re not meeting with the big outlet in the sky right now. That’s one less problem we have to worry about. In fact—”

Socket began to ramble, and Ralsei couldn’t for the life of him hear any of the words right, not until the blankness in his mind was corrected, or at least explained.

Ralsei made a waving motion with both hands. “Wait, wait, wait, just— slow down, please. Tell me what happened.” He sought deeper into his head, searching for something, anything. “I—I, I don’t... remember...”

“Wha…? Whaddaya mean you don’t remember?” Socket threw his hands up in disbelief. “It was crazy! You were goin’ all around and freein’ people all hero-like! Also sayin’ these weird cryptic lines about fire and shadow and unending night or whatever, you had this crazed I’m a maniac look in your eyes. Not to mention they were glowin’ like fireballs! How could you not remember that?!”

A sharp gasp escaped his mouth as it dawned on him.

...The holyflame.

It’s corrupting me.

I can’t keep using it like this.

Ralsei took a trembling hand to right his askew glasses. “I… I see. I—I…”

“...You doin’ alright, little guy?” Socket cocked their head, scratching behind his own ear. “You look a bit tense. I mean, it must be a long day for you, I understand.”

What’s happening now, what’s going to happen. It’s dangerous. Too dangerous for anyone but me.

Me and S—

... No. Just me.

“Everyone!” Ralsei raised his voice, capturing the attention of everyone present. “I appreciate everyone’s help. Really, I do! Now, I don’t mean to alarm, but… it isn’t safe out here. I cannot in good faith guarantee your protection if you continue to stay with me. So, I humbly request that you all return home. That is the most you can do.”

A clamor erupted from the crowd.

“What?! We wanna help!”

“We can take em’ on, whoever’s doing this!”

“Squeak squeak!”

“Yeah! C’mon, let us help you!”

“Mreowwwww!”

Ralsei scowled in frustration at the ignorance on display. Anger was brewing in him, starting from his hands up. These darkners know NOT what they reckon with. Are they blind?! Must I walk them to their demise?!!

Ralsei flinched as Socket laid a furry hand on his shoulder, amicably. “Hey. Whoever’s goin’ around hurtin’ people… They can’t be that tough, can they?”

You don’t even know.

This loss of control, building, tearing at his mental walls. He bit down on his tongue hard, focusing on the pain to control his breathing.

“Hey, chill out little dude. We can take ‘em—”

...Little. LITTLE. LITTLE—!?

It wasn’t enough.

He forcefully shoved Socket away, hefting with fury. “RAGH! ALL OF YOU!! DO YOU NOT—”

Socket’s scream entered his eardrums.

He looked, and saw there was a patch of singed fur on the area he had shoved them.

His breath hitching, Ralsei slowly lowered his gaze to his palms. They were brightly alight with holyflame, burning softly in the wavering breeze.

Did… did I…?

Ralsei grimaced.

What have I done?

A shocked silence permeated the crowd, only punctuated by the occasional murmur. Socket’s pained groans were more than evident, and everyone both knew and saw what he had done. They were fearful, some of them taking a step or two back.

“...Little guy?” Socket said.

“H—Huh?”

“What... the hell are you?”

Ralsei turned and ran.

Ran, down city street and alleyway, past the vacant metropolis that he had helped to create. If only he had been more cautious. If only he had been more watching of Kris, if only he had been more of the hero he was supposed to be.

...If only Susie hadn’t dragged him along, he would’ve made sure Kris couldn’t harm anyone.

That thought stuck with him. He wasn’t sure how much of his fault it was, and how much of it was hers. All he knew for sure was that he felt a brewing rage when he considered it.

The fire in his eyes ignited a shade brighter. If she hadn’t taken me along, if she had let Kris CHOOSE, NONE of this would’ve happened. NOBODY would’ve gotten hurt. It’s HER fault I have to deal with this MESS.

Ralsei flung a wave of fire at the nearest wall, heaving in rage as the flames engulfed a nondescript trash-can. He was always the one who had to do things alone, by himself. It was better this way, without others to meddle with what he knew was right; not that anybody ever saw that he was right. He was always looked down upon, trampled over like a doormat (QUITE LITERALLY, by SUSIE NO LESS), and discarded as little, cute, kind, and he allowed it.

He allowed it because he was a slave to his loneliness. Because those he called his friends would look down on him if he tried to be anything different, if he requested even a modicum of respect.

Ralsei incinerated a group of traffic cones. He would be a slave no longer.

I don’t need anyone.

A poster of some worthless product endorsed by the Queen, consumed in flames.

I don’t need ANYONE.

A hanging traffic light, its opaque glass signals cracked with blazing fire.

I’ll even say it out loud.

“I DON’T—”

The fire in his palms faltered.

“...I. Don’t. I don’t need…”

The thought of Susie’s warm smile silenced him, each and every time.

It felt like the walls were laughing at him.

He wanted to burn them.

He was ready to.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

A voice. Female. Soft-spoken, yet direct. It came from around the corner.

“I’m telling you, stop!”

...No.

Ralsei lunged forward, but tripped on a stray pile of litter.

“I… I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

He hit the ground hard, his glasses dislodging from his head and crashing to the ground along with him. His vision went blurry beyond the point of sight, the taste of blood filling his mouth.

“...Fine. You want to see what happens so bad?”

He scrambled desperately for his glasses, sweeping his hands on all fours to find them.

Please Angel No please please PLEASE

He found them. One of the lenses was shattered.

“Watch what happens when I cast a spell I don’t know!”

Ralsei rounded the corner and saw them.

Kris.

Before he could say or do anything, there was a blinding flash of light.

Ralsei was thrown against the wall from the explosion of wind and snowfall that roared across the narrow alley; his head cracked against the bricks from the impact, followed by a mallet of pain directly into his temple. He fell to the ground sputtering, gasping for air in the flurry of frigid air that invaded his nostrils. The world was spinning and tilting sideways and for the first time in his life, he feared that he might die. The fear crushed him from every angle, bashing against his skull like a battering ram, bam, bam, BAM.

All he could do was curl into a ball and pray.

Through the terror and delirium, there was a memory. A flash of life before his eyes.

Ralsei stood at the precipice of his living quarter’s balcony, watching the moonlit cosmos graze past along the skyline. The air of the eternal night was cool, softly yet briskly gusting life into and through him. The starry night sky blazed, shining with beautiful purpose, each of them knowing their place for all time, forever, until they burnt out and returned to the nothingness that birthed their forms.

Maybe today would be the day.

...He chuckled to himself. Was there really any point in perseverating over a potential arrival? Not that he could find, even though he would do just that anyway. Today would likely be just as the rest.  Perhaps he could tend to the garden, check up on his darkberry vines, see if they were ripe for harvest. Then he could make a delicious fudge and jam cake!

The prince sighed to himself, resting his head on the hand propped against the banister by way of elbow. That would be nice.

It would be better if he had someone to share it with.

He shook the thoughts away. No need.

But, just as he began to turn, a sliver of movement caught his eye.

Ralsei squinted, craning forward over the railway. Two figures, sliding down the cliffside…

“Oh… O—Oh my A—”

A cry escaped his SOUL.

He brought a hand to his mouth, shedding tears of joy.

The lightners of legend, the DELTA WARRIORS.

They were here.

Ralsei snatched his concealment cloak from the door-side coat rack, knocking it over in the process as he flew down the flights of stairs that led to the ground floor, almost tripping in the process of his mad dash. It felt like he could explode from the excitement, from the vindication. From knowing that his life was for something, and that everything was about to change.

He barrelled through the castle doors, just in time to spot them ascending the winding steps to the foregrounds. Hands quaking, he slid his cloak on, bringing back within his mind the lines he had recited over and over, so many times.

“O—Once upon a time, a LEGEND was whispered among shadows!”

“Once, upon, a time, a LEGEND, was whispered, among shadows...”

“Once upon a time, a LEGEND was whispered among shadows.”

Somehow, he already knew their names.

Kris, the human.

Susie, the monster.

Finally, he had a reason to live.

When the darkness passed, the blizzard had calmed.

Cautiously, very cautiously, Ralsei pried open an eye. Oddly enough, he wasn’t covered in snow, and there was an unexplained absence of anything cold in a perfect sphere around him. The throbbing in his head was muted, but still there. Reaching behind his head to touch returned a feeling of wetness against his hand, and sharp pain that sucked air through his teeth. There was a spatter of frozen blood against the wall.

No time to heal. Need to find Kris.

The wounded prince rose, using the wall as support to carry him against the dizziness afflicting his senses. Worn down by fatigue and pain, he pushed on, focusing his breathing until he could stand on his own.

He looked up through the single intact lens in his glasses.

Kris was gone.

And what remained was another victim he had failed to save.

“Ha…”

“Haha.”

“Ha. Hahahahaha…”

Ralsei began to burn things.

And the shadow within him smiled.

Chapter Text

The light tugged at her eyelids like fishhooks.

To say she felt like crap would be a massive, massive understatement. The way she felt, she might as well have gotten run over by a truck, or maybe tossed off the grand canyon. This was like hangover times a thousand, plus infinity, plus whatever she just felt COMPLETELY AWFUL and it was PISSING HER OFF.

Also, she felt like she had some sort of crazy dream, but the details were already fading away into the slog of brain torture she was experiencing at that moment.

Susie let out a labored groan, feeling her brain rattling around in her skull as she stirred.  Uggggggggh. God. This is worse than the time I broke into Sans’ and chugged all his vodka, thinking it was water. I feel like DEATH.

The mind fog was so bad that she almost didn’t notice the white ball of fluff, cradled beneath her arm.

Her heart nearly leaped out of her throat. “OOP! R—Rals—?!”

He was out like a light.

And there it was, the heat in her face, returned like a recurring nightmare to haunt her. She would never admit to anyone, not even herself, the extent of these stupid, idiotic, dumbass things called feelings she had. It made her even angrier that she liked it, that she liked feeling as if her scales were floating away from her body, as if she could die right now and it would be perfectly fine. As if literally nothing else in the world was worth a damn as long as she was with him, holding him like this.

She would never admit that she had a big sloppy crush on Ralsei.

It was true. It felt true.

But there was this weird doubt, gnawing at her. Like she already had admitted it.

...Her head hurt.

Doing her best not to disturb the sleeping prince beside her, Susie awkwardly turned her head down to c̶h̶e̶c̶k̶ ̶h̶i̶m̶ ̶o̶u̶t̶ look respectfully at him.  Dammit. Dammit! Why’d he have to be so goddamn CUTE?! ATTRACTIVE PEOPLE HAVE IT TOO GOOD!!!

Through the incessant internal cursing, an idea began to form. A mischievous smirk made its way onto her face.

...You know what? He’s gonna get what’s comin’. If he wants to be pretty as hell, let him. But it won’t stop me from doing this—!

“...ROOOOOOOAAAARRRRR!!!” Susie bellowed, snarling from deep within her draconian diaphragm and directly into his ear. It was maybe the strongest roar she had ever emitted; a cry to rival Godzilla’s, even.

And yet, there was no reaction.

Susie’s face catapulted into confusion.

...What the hell? He’s not dead, is he?

“Uh… Hey. Rals. You... dreamin’ or somethin’?”

Nothing.

She poked him.

Still nothing.

Roots of panic were setting in. “R—Ralsei? Hey, stop tryna be funny. I know you’re… wait, hang on a sec—”

She looked closer, past the drug-like haze that clouded her vision.

It was

The goddamn

Tasque plushie.

Suddenly, Susie felt very much like she wanted to find the nearest sharp object and impale herself on it.

But first, there was the problem of finding out what the hell was going on. The self-impaling would have to wait.

She gawked down at the plushie, completely and totally annihilated by this revelation. To her unfortunate chagrin, the thing she was cuddling and fawning over was not a cute fluffy boy, but instead a cute fluffy inanimate object.  It was the scam prize she won by shooting hoops at that stupid rigged game that she won anyway, just because she was that good.  Now it was here, resting peacefully in her arms as if to say  Ha. You totally thought I was Ralsei, didn’t you? I bet you were even getting all hot n’ bothered too, hee hee~

Too bad it didn’t have a coy reply to getting shredded by her claws.

With cotton gore fleshly made on her hands and her brutal vengeance taken, Susie took a moment to think. It was fairly obvious that Ralsei was planning to dip/and had dipped, seeing as he deliberately slipped a decoy under her arm while she was asleep. Another weird point, actually: how the hell’d she fall asleep, anyway? Before that, she felt a  little drowsy, yeah, but it was nothing that would lead her to conk out on the spot like that,  and right next to him even.

She racked her brain around this. Before she took the train for Snoozetown U.S.A., she remembered Ralsei acting kinda strange and saying something oddly specific.

That, and he had a spell that put people to sleep if they were tired. She had seen him use it pretty liberally in battles, but…

But he wouldn’t do that to me, would he?

If so, why?

Did he ditch her? The mere thought was enough to set her dust ablaze. And after that whole touchy-feely scene where they bantered and hugged ( Still mentally trying to get over that...)  and she straight-up admitted she had self-loathing issues. For him to pull something like that, after her being so vulnerable and open and…

Susie noticed her fists, unclenching them.  No. He had to have left for a reason.

Something felt off.

Something felt wrong.

Her gut was telling her something was wrong.

As she sighed in conflicted frustration, she reached her hand to scratch the back of her neck. 

Instead, it hit cloth.

—?!

Ralsei’s trademark pink scarf was wrapped around her neck.

Susie ran a claw over the hand-knitted wool, feeling its made-in-heaven surface in awe. Holy hell, was it soft. And warm, too. The scent was pointedly Ralsei, sort of like a yappy dog combined with fresh mint. She could practically feel his undying, sort of ridiculous at times optimism radiating off of it.

He left this here for her.

So maybe he didn’t want to leave.

She closed her eyes, pressing the scarf to her snout and taking in the scent. Hopefully, it was strong enough for her nasal sensory thingies, whatever they were called. The things that were essentially made for purposes like this. Typically she used her keen sense of smell for things like finding garbage food or clothes or whatnot, but now was the opportune time for it to really serve as useful.

Sure enough, her nose picked up another scent like it, blowing in from across the carnival.

Don’t worry, Rals. Whatever bad shit’s going down, I’ll make it stop.

Preferably by punching it.

The city was quiet.

This was something that struck her as something particularly weird, mainly because most cities were not that.

She was still in the festival area, from what she could tell. The concrete blockers made to sanction out blocks for the carnival, as well as the numerous prize stands and abundant minigames made that evident. Only catch was that there were literally zero signs of life anywhere.  The loudly blaring screens of the city’s electric billboard ads were shut off, there weren’t any lights on in any of the buildings she could see, and the carnival itself could be a goddamn ghost town for all she knew.

Her mind was already running wild with worst-case scenarios.  Damn. Dammit, what the hell. What if this is actually serious? What if there’s some evil monster goin’ around slaughtering people? Or like, some sorta forecasted earthquake that’s gonna happen in about five minutes?

Susie “borrowed” a candied dark apple from a vacant food vendor, chomping the treat in a single snap of her maw, stick included. Least I get some free food, heh. Bet they woulda charged me somethin’ stupid for that.

She continued to trek on, taking a bag of kettle corn for the road. The food was garbage, as was expected, but it was food. Any food was good. Even stuff that was debatably food, actually. As long as it wasn’t actively poisonous or unhealthy, it was good.

Actually, that still wasn't true.  Anything that staved off hunger pain was good.

Thinking about food led her to think about Ralsei’s unbelievably good cakes, which led her to think about Ralsei. Her intuition told her that the sudden vanishing of city folk might have a correlation with Ralsei disappearing, although she wasn’t a hundred percent sure. It was anyone’s guess, really. In terms of ideas she had of what the hell was going on, there was none. If only—

The wind smacked a newspaper into her face mid kettle corn munch, causing her to flinch and the bag to spill on the floor.

Susie tore the flapping paper from her face, growling in exasperation. “AGH, what the f— aw, COME ON! You gotta be—” But it was too late. The entire bag slipped into a drainage gutter, carried by a wayward current.

The food was gone, and so was her patience.  Grrrr. Arright, you smug-ass paper. You better have somethin’ good to read, otherwise, you’re goin’ in the sewer with the evil clowns and gators.

Susie clenched the paper in her talons, ready to shred it at a single instance of boredom. There was something weird about it though, it was as if it had been… burnt. She could only read bits and pieces.

“ CITY BURN ! LE L 5 LO OWN IN EF ECT AS C ZED ARSO T SETS WORLD AL HT!”

There was also an image of what looked vaguely like a person, but she couldn’t make it out due to the annoying charred-over portions.

Were those… horns?

And the scent of the embers… felt familiar...

As she was walking, her boot stomped on something bushy protruding from under a prize table.

“YYYYYYOOOOOOOOWWW!”

Susie yelped in surprise as a furry monster leaped from under the table, howling and clutching their tail, whimpering. The way the darkner jerked overturned the counter with such force that it collided with Susie as she tried to jump away, nearly knocking her down in the process.

“AUGH!” She exclaimed as she attempted to regain her footing. “Wh—what the— what the hell,  dude?! What’s your frickin’—”

They were cowering, curled up in a jittering self-protective ball, not even trying to escape or fight or do anything really, other than mutter “nonononono” over and over. Susie recognized them as an enemy she and the team had thrashed at some point, a  Were-somethin’  or whatever. Whatever the hell it was, it was actively shitting itself at the sight of her.

...Were they hiding from something?

Susie wiped off some of the scattered specks of soda that had spilled on her jacket from the crash. “Uh… You okay, dude? I’m not, like, a bad guy or anything. Well uh, I used to be, but then I got, like, all reformed and stuff. Not that it took any a’ my cool away, heh.”

“No, no, oh god please no oh god…” It whimpered, covering its plug with its hands as if it would magically make her disappear.

Normally she enjoyed it when people were afraid of her. It made her feel powerful, in charge even.

Now it was just annoying.

“Dude. Can you like, stop bein’ scared?  It’s kinda pissing me off.”

“Oh okay”

Immediately they stopped shaking, which made Susie wonder if the whole scaredy-cat thing was an elaborate act. She offered a hand, which they took (a little too enthusiastically, might she add), ruffling their head and de-bristling their fur as they stood up. A lot of the fur was matted as if they’d been sweating bullets, and there were even patches of fur that were entirely missing— singed away, it looked like.

It occurred to her that their tail was probably the thing she stepped on.

Susie scratched behind her neck, doing her best “I’m sorry for my dumbassery” look. “Uh… sorry ‘bout the tail. Didn’t see it.”

They touched their pointer fingers together nervously. “I—It’s alright, haha. Happens to the best of us.”

A painful, dragging silence.

“...What the hell’s goin’ on?!” Susie exclaimed, throwing her hands skyward. “Where is everyone? Why do  you  look like you came outtava  bonfire?! ”

Now they looked even more nervous. “Er, yeah. About that… those are all good questions, yes…”

Susie narrowed her gaze, trying to see past that weird plug obscuring their face. There was something more than suspicious about this guy, she found herself thinking. That, and the way they were fidgeting... it looked like they knew something she didn’t.

Among fear, her nose picked up guilt.

She summoned her ax, baring her teeth a smidge.

“...You’re up to somethin’.”

An arc of lightning shot through their wire, their fur standing on end as they worriedly gesticulated to themselves in defense. “Wh—What?!? I—I don’t— I didn’t— It wasn’t me, I swear! How the heck would I even be able to do something that bad?! ”

“...Something that bad? What?”

They pointed. “Th—That!!”

Susie followed her gaze over to the city’s skyline. She could see a big yellow Ferris wheel in the distance, the carts built to resemble hearts.

Her eyes procedurally widened, along with her mouth.

The entire damn thing was burning.

“Oh… god.”

“See?! You think I coulda done that?!”

He had a point.

Susie let go of her ax, turning back to him with astonishment. “What in the goddamn...? What happened? Did a frickin’  bomb  go off?!”

“Uhm… not exactly, haha… it’s actually a lot worse than that, I think.”

Again, they had that nervous “I’m withholding important information” scent that really threw her off. There was no literal way this wobble-legged weirdo could’ve plotted a bomb threat, that in itself was self-explanatory. He had to know something.

...Was she really gonna interrogate this poor guy?

Yeah.

She noticed that they were sneakily trying to sidle away, so she stepped around to block their path, to their mild surprise. “Hey. ‘m not tryin’ to accuse you of anythin’, but... it seems like you know what’s up. And I don’t like it when people know somethin’ I don’t. So why not save us both the trouble, huh?”

They glanced frantically back and forth as if they were scanning the area for predators like their life depended on it. “I, u—uhm, I really don’t think, that’s—”

“What, are they gonna get you or somethin’? The hell would a bomber have to do with you? Even if, I’d kick their ass.”

“I—I, I don’t—”

She jabbed at his chest with a finger. “Just tell me, dammit!”

“I—IT’S MY FAULT, OK!”

Susie’s bared teeth snapped shut.

They sounded like they were about to cry, their body language completely defeated. “It… there was just… there was this guy, ok? And, uh… just, cutting all the nonsense, I think I inadvertently pissed him off. And now he’s going on a destructive rampage around the city." They cupped their plug in their hands. "We’re all completely screwed because of me!”

Suddenly, she felt kinda bad for the guy, however he got mixed up in all this. Not only that, but they genuinely looked as if they wanted to just curl up into a ball and die. It was a feeling she knew better than most, and hell if she was gonna let anyone else feel like that.

Maybe this is a chance to flex my atrophied empathy muscle.

She reached a claw up to their shoulder (tried to, at least. They were really tall). “Hey. Whatever you did to piss ‘em off, it sure as hell wasn’t a green light for them to do what they did. Don’t feel shitty about yourself for something like that.”

They sniffled. “Th—Thanks. I’m trying not to.”

Eventually, Susie decided she'd had enough of the sappy stuff. She turned around to look over to the burning skyline, placing her hands on her hips pensively. “So. You knew this guy?”

“Ehm, sort of. Only for a little bit. They seemed good at first, and they were going around helping everyone, but then… I don’t know. I have no idea why they’d do this, it’s like they just… snapped.” They broke a pretend stick, sound effect included. “Crick!”

Now she was getting somewhere. This bomber guy, whoever he was… I mean, come on.  Had to be related to Ralsei. Maybe he left to go stop them? It was possible, but that still didn’t explain why he put her to sleep in the way he did. She was absolutely certain that Ralsei would’ve taken her with him if there was any ass-whooping to be dispensed. Herself being an expert at that, of course. Especially considering he was way weaker than her in basically every area; imagining Ralsei trying to be a lone-wolf vigilante nearly made her burst out in laughter.

Huh. Badass Ralsei. That’s a fun thought. With like, huge biceps and washboard abs and…

And now that was a thought that would stay in her head forever, along with all the other psychotic thoughts she had about him.

Anyways, enough of stupid-ass sexy Ralsei. Seeing past the carnival, she saw some more signs of damage and flame further down; even looked like it got worse as it went on. It seemed likely that the culprit was headed that way. Maybe if she hurried, she could catch them, and even find a certain mint-colored prince in the process.

So she thanked the furry darkner for their help and began to briskly walk off.

To her surprise, they ran up to her with frenzy in their motions. “Wh—What are you doing?! Are you crazy?!! THEY WENT THAT WAY!!!”

She shot a glare at them. “...I know. I’m gonna go stop ‘em. What's it look like I'm doin'?”

“Wha— I— You— UH???????” They stammered. From the shocks of power surging through their plug, Susie was concerned it might burn the dude’s head off. “WEE WOO WEE WOO! WHAT’S THAT?! I think that’s the BAD IDEA ALARM!! That is a VERY BAD IDEA.”

“...And?”

“AND?!?! Did you WANT to get your FACE ROASTED OFF?!?”

Susie crossed her arms. “Not if I roast his off first. 'Sides, ain't like I’m asking ya to come with. Go find another table to hide under, or whatever. I’m gonna go actually do somethin’.”

That was more than enough to shut them up.

She turned back around, hopefully for the last time.

“Wait.”

This was her last leg of patience. “...What.”

They stood beside her, every ounce of defeat stripped from their voice. “Maybe it’s not my fault. Maybe. But I’m not doing any good hiding like this. I need… I’m going with you. Even if it’s killing me out of fear.” Heroically, they sent a downwards glance. “It’s time for Socket to get real.”

A smirk began to crack on Susie’s expression. “...Dude.”

“Hm…?”

She offered her fist. “Hell yeah.”

Socket bumped it. “Thanks. I’m trying!”

Susie was beginning to think that this bomber was more of a flamethrower guy.

There was fire in pretty much every direction she could see. Raging flames, blue like the sky, roaring from the inferno of burning buildings. Smoke was beginning to become a serious problem as well, since not only was it stinging her eyes, but it was screwing up her sense of smell; she had lost Ralsei’s scent already. Although, she  at least  had his scarf to use as a makeshift breathing filter. She would much rather have his smell plugging her nose.

Susie nudged away a chunk of fallen debris with her ax, making sure to keep her distance from the heat. Somehow, she knew that Ralsei was at the center of all this. She wasn’t sure how, but she just knew.  She’d find him, and together they’d stop this asshole from continuing his fiery rampage.

Socket was just behind her, waving away the falling ash. “Man. Never been more glad I’ve got this plug. Kinda makes me feel bad for you breathing guys.”

“Good for you,” Susie muffled, pushing away another ashen chunk with the end of her boot. “Ugh. Help me clear this stuff out, will ya? It’s blockin’ our way.”

“Oh, that stuff? This should be easy. Might wanna stand back, though. Things could get messy—!”

Susie noticed from the build-up of electricity in their paws that she should probably back the hell off. She quickly darted away, and with an incredible flash and a sounding *CRACK*, the rubble was reduced to an explosion of ash.

“Damn!" Susie cried, impressed. "That’s one way to do it!”

Socket made a dramatic bow, coyly cocking their head to the side. “C'est magnifique, non? Une petite  électricité  ne fait jamais de mal, haha.”

“Uh, yeah. Magnifeek. Nice Spanish, by the way.”

“Thanks!” They chirped. "My plug’s international.”

They kept onward, destroying more piles of rubble as they came up. The crackling embers of the blazing ruins blew like flaming rose petals in Susie’s hair, in a destructive swirl along with the wind. The sounds of the roaring flames might've been soothing, if it was a fireplace and not an entire city block.

Socket was still shaking slightly, although they were trying their best to hide it. 

Susie wondered.

“So uh… how come you’re so scared? I mean, since you can shoot frickin’ lasers from your hands, and stuff. If I could do that, I wouldna be scared of anythin’.”

*ZAP*. “I… I’m not sure. Having neat powers doesn’t really make you any less… any less you.  I’ve always been sort of… antsy. If that’s a good way to describe it. I guess I just really hate conflict...”

*SMASH*. “Why not just zap anythin’ that pisses you off?”

*BZZZT*. “Hah, that’s the thing: I tried that, actually. It just… It gets you in a lot of trouble, and it makes you…”

They blew a hole in a larger chunk of a fallen building, big enough for them both to walk through.

“...Weird. You just feel even worse.”

“And you only want to do it more I guess since that feels like the only option at that point.”

Socket stopped, looking to the moon.

“I’ve always been pretty gifted with my Were-form, more so than most other Werewires. Instead of playing games like zapscotch or lightning rounds, I’d just practice. I got really good at controlling my arcs. But… people really don’t like it when you’re better than them. The bullying was bearable at first, but then… one day…”

“You lost it?” Susie asked.

“...A wire’s gotta snap at some point, right?” Socket sighed. “That’s… that’s a pun. I’m trying to be at least a little funny here. If all this wasn’t depressing enough…”

She didn’t say anything, instead trying to gauge any sort of emotion from them. It was hard to tell with the plug on their face, but she felt they might’ve been teary-eyed.

A cough-choke. “Ehem. Uh, sorry, that got… kinda personal, haha. I have no idea why I’m venting about my stupid childhood sob story to someone I just met…”

“Heyheyhey. Don’t worry ‘bout it.” She tried a smile through her scarf. “Everyone’s got screwed up shit they went through. And if anyone says they don’t, they’re either lying or high off their ass. Or both, heh.”

A rainbow rippled through them, which Susie hoped meant happiness. “Thanks. I wish—”

They were cut off by a resounding *BOOM*, crashing through the air like a tidal wave.

Susie nearly jumped out of her scales with how loud it was. “Wh—What the hell?!? What was—”

“Look!” Socket shouted, pointing with one hand and covering their ear with the other.

Every few seconds, the night sky was set afire by a scorching blast of azure flame. Each blast was a miniature inferno of its own, thrashing and crackling against the stars with the ferocity of a raging tiger; the sounds of the explosions were comparable to the loudest sound you’d ever heard, plus a few decibels, give or take.

The fireballs were coming from a high-rise scaffold-type looking area, not too far from the city grounds.

Fireworks?  She thought, perplexed.

Wait, no. It’s the same color as the fires here.

There’s our guy.

And Ralsei.

I know it.

She steeled herself mentally, gritting her teeth. “Come on! He’s right up there!”

“W—Wait up!”

Susie and Socket scrambled through what was left of the city streets, running pell-mell to make it to the high-rise area, dodging falling debris and blazing flames alike. Overturned cars and fallen streetlights became normalcy, but none were a match for the power of Socket’s zapping technique and Susie’s brutal ax strikes. The heat and smoke only served to drive the fire in her lungs as she ran, the screams of the black-turned blue sky cheering her on as she powered through.

It took years (it felt like years), but they made it. The fires were just as bad here, maybe even worse, but at least there was a bit less chance of getting pressure-cooked by a rotten turn of luck, and unstable architecture.

Susie half-collapsed to the ground, heaving for air below the smoke to fuel her exhausted legs. “Huff… Haff… Okay… phew. We, made, it. I think…”

Socket dug down into the crater next to her like a soldier prone against a foot-high bunker. “Hey, hold on. See that, past the explosions? I think that’s the Queen’s castle!” They made pretend binoculars with their hands, zooming in. “Wow, I’ve never seen it up close before. Although, it might not stand for long…”

“Wait, really?” Susie rolled over on her chest, craning her head around Socket’s to see. “Oh, yeah. The fountain’s there, too. I bet our guy’s gonna go there next.”

“Speaking of, I think—” They began to inch their head up, but they immediately planted it back down on the ground. “AUGH! Oh no, oh nononono—”

“What is it?!” Susie cried, then cried again because she was sure if they heard through the deafening blasts. “What do you see?”

“It’s that g—guy,” Socket whimpered. “H—H—He’s right there—!”

“Damn, alright. Stay here.”

Ax summoned in her off-hand, Susie crawled up the small incline, peering over.

All she could see was—

...Ralsei.

Ralsei...?

RALSEI!!

Without thinking, she began to stand up, ready to dart into his arms

Socket hauled her back down.

Susie fumbled her footing, landing awkwardly on her arm as she and Socket crashed to the floor. A spike of pain surged through her shoulder; she growled and seethed, shocked by the intensity of the needles stabbing into her.

When she looked, there was a deep scar in the shape of a claw mark on her shoulder.

But Socket didn't have claws...

...When did I get that?

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! ARE YOU CRAZY?!?!” Socket whisper-yelped. “That guy’ll ROAST you on sight!! We need a plan!”

Susie glared incredulously at them. “What?! What’re you— What guy? I only see—”

Another fireball, embers from the explosion cascading down on them both.

And she saw him throw it.

No.

No, no, no.

“COME OOOOOONNN! HRAAAGH!!!” Ralsei roared, flinging another firebomb into the sky. “I KNOW YOU’RE HERE, KRIS!! YOU THINK YOU HOLD THE RIGHT TO DELIVER PAIN?!? I’ll show you… I’ll show you TRUE PAIN!! FACE MEEEEEE!!!”

It felt like a dream. No, a nightmare. What was happening right now, genuinely did not feel real. The way she felt when she was holding him, how everything would sort of just melt away into a perfect bliss, this was maybe the polar opposite of that.

It felt like some sick alternate reality where everything went wrong.

Either way, her brain was shattered into a billion tiny, jagged, spikey pieces.

“So, do you think, um… we should do some sort of ambush attack? Just try to knock the guy out before he does anything?”

This was one of those times when she didn’t know how to feel, or speak, or breathe or do anything.

“...Um, purple ax girl—?”

But there was one emotion under everything, one that was always there. One that she fell back on, time and time again.

Anger.

She stood up.

“HEY!!” She shouted.

Halfway through another fireball fling, Ralsei flinched. She saw his expression flick from rage to shock, in a split instant. For the briefest moment, he locked eyes with her, not before turning his back and clenching his fire-lit fists.

Susie could see a trickle of something (was darkner blood black?) running down his head, and that one half of his glasses were shattered, with jagged portions of glass still present in the frame. His robes were tied down to the waistline, the white, wavy fur of his arms contained only by the midnight black of his compression tank-top. And again, that brightly burning light-azure flame, whisking in the wind with his flagging sleeves.

Huh. So that’s what he wears under all those robes. I always just assumed he wore nothing…

Hrgh. Now is I’M PISSED time, not Being-Into-Ralsei time.

Susie definitely did not think about how Ralsei was kinda sort of shirtless. “Wh—What the hell, Ralsei?!? Why did— What— I— What are you doing?! And what’s with all the fire stuff?!?”

Cold silence.

Or hot silence, maybe. Not just from the fire, but from how it felt like he was glaring a hole into her despite not even looking her way.

Susie took a step forward, then another, despite Socket’s crazed beckoning motions. “Did you— all of  this,  was it— was it you…?”

Hotter silence. The fire in his palms shone brighter.

Things to say, things to say. Questions. She had an ungodly amount of questions. She wanted to just spurt them all at once and have some sort of mental breakdown and maybe jump into the water hundreds of feet below, sinking, forever, never coming back. Ever.

Why?

“...Why?”

“It was to protect you.”

Okay, now it's mental breakdown time.

“WHAT?!?!” Susie shrieked as her hands began to do the insanity dance. “YOU— PROTECT ME. PROTEEECT MEEEE?!?! FROM WHAAAAT?!”

He turned around, with the sharpest sideways glare she’d ever received.

“Kris.”

Susie gasped audibly. Holy god, his eyes. It was like staring into the sun. A hundred suns. They were Ralsei’s eyes still, she recognized them, but it was as if there were thousands of layers of blue-hot fire layered onto them, concealing any amount of warmth or kindness or vulnerability. Only burning and madness were left.

It took a few seconds for her to begin thinking about what he just said.

“...Kris? What— What do they— The hell’re you talkin’ about?!”

“You don’t understand. They’ve been  hurting  people.” There was something wrong with his voice. It was a few tones deeper than usual, and it had this surreal quality to it, as if multiple Ralseis were speaking in chorus.

Susie couldn’t bring herself to believe him, not now, not while he was like this. There was very clearly something wrong with him, whether he was possessed, or being forced, or something,  there was no possible way that this was him,  and only him.

“Listen, whatever— whatever the hell happened, it doesn’t warrant burning the entire goddamn city down!!  I don’t— I don’t know what—”

“What happened to your shoulder?” He growled.

“Huh?”

The part of her scales in question — it was glowing black. Black ashes were rising from the wound.

Susie’s breathing hitched. This was enough reason to freak out a little bit. What the hell did happen? Where did she get these crazy scars from, and why hadn’t she noticed them until now?

What the hell, what the hell, what the hell… What happened? Did I burn myself? Did —

“You’re inflicted.”

Susie snapped her gaze back up to him. He was stalking towards her, his feet leaving remnant burn marks into the metal.

Without realizing it, she began to slowly tread backward. “Uh… wh—what?”

“I don’t know how or where you encountered one, but an underner has left its mark upon you. Seldom does the SOUL of a victim survive long enough for a transfiguration to take place, but now? The process has already begun.”

Susie struggled to find any words to say. “What…?”

“Soon, their wickedness will overcome the natural defenses of your body. Your SOUL will become their abode. Only then will you be stripped of any sentience you once held, becoming nothing but a vacant husk; a shell of something once living.”

“Th—The hell? Rals, what're you—” She tripped slightly on a piece of rubble. “Uff—! S—Stop bein' all weird—!”

“And, once corporeal, the beast will deliver its darkness unto the worlds of both light and dark.”

He stopped, lowering his head. “I cannot allow this to happen.”

“H—How the hell do you know any of that, anyway?!”

“How do I know?”

Susie felt as if Ralsei had disintegrated her with his eyes alone.

“There is only one way to banish a demon from its vessel.”

Ralsei brought his arm up to eye height, examining it.

With a flick of the wrist, a blade wrought from holyflame extended outwards.

“...Destruction of the host.”

Chapter Text

Everything was burning.

Ralsei wondered how it was possible. The town he’d lived in for so long; it had always been burning, for as long as he could remember. Pillaring flames a hue of bright blue he didn’t think possible, soaring across the dead expanse of vacant homes and shops. The endless ruin of a society that never existed, shown on full display to a mind that couldn’t comprehend, let alone believe that such a thing could be. Even the castle wasn’t immune to the raging fire— in fact, he postulated the castle to be the source of the infinitesimal inferno, rather than the receiver. How it all worked, only the Angel knew.

It was burning, and that was how it always was.

And would be.

I wonder if the lightners will come today.

Ralsei sighed, laying his arms restlessly on his balcony’s banister for what may have been the fifth time that day. Always, it came back to this. Hoping, praying, more hoping, more praying. Waiting for his life to begin, as it were. Of course, he knew how unfair it was, how the entire purpose of his existence hinged on whether a couple of strangers decided to stumble into this forsaken place that passed as a town. The nighttime breeze felt caustic, a world’s worth of acrid smoke pushing into him, filling his lungs with that terrible, yet familiar immutable dread.

He cupped his head in his hands, cursing under his breath. "Damn it. Damn it all. Damn this whole place to hell, I just can’t take it anymore…"

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐭, 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤?

“Go away,” Ralsei mumbled into his sleeve, dejected. “You’re a pain.”

𝐀𝐧 𝐚𝐰𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐫𝐮𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨’𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩.

And then, this thing, this dark part of himself that he couldn’t name. He wasn’t sure when or where it gained a voice of its own, but he had known them for as long as he could remember.

They had quite the knack for making him angry.

Ralsei shot them a heated sideways glare as he turned around to face them. “Oh, let me guess. You’re going to tell me to kill myself again, is that it?! Is that all you’re good for, you soul-sucking WRETCH?!” He furiously kicked over a pile of already-read books, to make his point clearer.

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐠𝐮𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐡? 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐨, 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐈’𝐯𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐞?

“Do not patronize me, FIEND,” The prince seethed, jabbing his finger at the shadow and glowering as hard as he could. “Perhaps I should follow your direction, if only to rid myself of YOU.” Ralsei sent his fist cracking into his bed's wooden frame, the pain well worth the release of anger.

Burning silence between them.

His shadow stood dead still, glaring down at him. Their expression was one of boundless disgust.

They went to leave.

Horror shot across Ralsei’s face.

“Nonono please I’m sorry I’M SORRY!” He begged, dropping to his knees and clasping his hands together. “Please don’t leave me alone! Please, please please please don’t I didn’t mean it, please…”

They stopped but didn’t turn.

𝐀𝐥𝐥 𝐈 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐧. 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐮𝐩 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐲 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲, 𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐬𝐨 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐲𝐞𝐭 𝐠𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧. 𝐃𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝?

“Y—Yes...”

...

His shadow descended to one knee to meet his level. They raised Ralsei’s lowered head with a finger, caressing his face tenderly with the back of their shadowy hand.

𝐃𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐈’𝐦 𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐥?

Ralsei couldn't form coherent words.

They took him in a cold embrace, enveloping him in darkness.

𝐈 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐧𝐨𝐰, 𝐈 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐨𝐨.

𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐝𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐭.

His darkness squeezed tighter.

𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐮𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞. 𝐑𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭.

*Ignited Ralsei blocks the way!

Susie’s claws were trembling, just as much if not more than her breath. She knew full well what was about to happen, but she couldn’t bring herself to believe it, it all felt so unreal. Already she’d tried everything: pinching herself, slapping herself in the face, even reciting the entire goddamn lyrics to Highway to Hell in her head, but she was still awake, here and now.

This was real, and Ralsei was there, glaring with a glint of murder piercing his sharp-as-razors gaze.

Susie blinked away tears.

Ralsei

is

…

is EVIL now.

And he’s going

to kill me.

The ax that apparated in her grasp didn’t help with these thoughts. Susie gawked down at the weapon, then Ralsei, struggling to find something to say, anything.  

She had to say something.

“W—Wait, Rals, I—I… Wh—What’s gotten into you?!” Susie tried.

The determined look in his eyes said enough.

Any response Susie could think to summon stopped dead in her throat as Ralsei wound his armblade back, heaving as he unleashed a roaring ball of flame with a brutal forward swipe. She gasped as the projectile hurtled towards her at a speed that gave her barely enough time to react; it whizzed just past her as she threw herself out of the way, careening away into the night sky and exploding with incredible power.

Now flat on the ground, Susie snapped her sight to the dazzling explosion, then back to Ralsei, terrified.

HOLY SHIT HE IS DEFINITELY TRYING TO KILL ME.

Shocked, Susie glanced at the area on her chest, checking for any signs of lingering fire. There were a few spots of cloth on her turtleneck that had been set ablaze by the fireball, the sheer heat of the flames enough to cause them to catch fire by mere proximity. She hastily patted them out her claws, earning a few grunt-inducing burns as she did so.

She stood herself up, although her legs weren’t incredibly cooperative. “Holyshitwhatthe, what the f—” Susie thought out loud. “R—RALSEI!! WHAT THE HELL, YOU TRYNA KILL ME?!? S—SNAP OUT OF IT!”

Okay.

So not only is he a bloodthirsty maniac, but he’s also apparently a total bad boy now.

I’m dead, both figuratively and literally.

“Purple ax girl! You alright there?!”

Susie spun around to see a familiar plugged face, prone behind the small incline that led up to the platform. “Oh, Socket. Yeah, I’m fine. I think…” She checked the recently burnt threads of her sweater a second time. “Mostly. Uh, n’ the name’s Susie, by the way. Don’t think I ever told ya that.”

“Ooh, another name that starts with S!” Socket mewed cheerfully. “That officially makes us comrades in names! I’m already imagining all the name-related shenanigans we’ll get into~!”

Watching Ralsei, Susie saw that he was pacing back and forth impatiently, adeptly weaving fire to and from his palms as he did so. “Right, uh, cool. Maybe we should save the tea party for when someone ain’t tryna kill us?”

“Trying to kill you, actually. And, erm, point,” Socket observed. “The total hottie over there who’s trying to turn you into a fried Susie-kabob? Really big issue.”

Susie felt the dust rushing to her cheeks. “OH MY GOD, SOCKET!!! DON’T CALL ‘IM A HOTTIE!”

“Well jeez, sorry, ” Socket muttered. “Ignore the fact that he’s literally on fire. But anyway, here’s the thing: I can’t actually, well… fight. With you, that is.”

“What?!” Susie tossed an anxious glance Ralsei’s way; looked like he was still pacing. At least he still respects the turn system, even while in psycho-mode. “Why the hell not?!”

Socket began to tap their furry little fingers together abashedly. “It’s just that, um, darkners can’t exactly join parties with lightners. I don’t know why, but it just doesn’t work like that. Even if I tried to attack him, my lasers wouldn’t do anything, since technically I’m not part of the battle. So you’re sorta out of luck on that front, sorry.”

“So you can’t— AUGH!” Susie jumped at the ear-splitting crack of the firebomb Ralsei threw into the sky. “D—Dammit! You can’t help at all?! Why’d you even come with me?!?”

Socket uncovered their ears. “Listen, Susie! I can help you, but only indirectly. Like, I can cast magic to help you in little ways and give you items and stuff, but otherwise, you’re on your own! It’s up to you to take that rude dude down!”

Of course. Of COURSE, it’s up to me. “Can you do anything now?!”

They ruffled the back of their head in thought. “Uhh… not yet. Gimme a few turns, and I’ll see what I can do. You can survive that long, I know you can!”

God, if that isn’t wishful thinking.

Susie took a deep breath, in, then out. Ralsei was glaring right back at her.

You can do this.

She gripped the handle of her ax.

* Susie used S-Action!

Susie pleaded with the enemy.

Chapter Text

“Why exactly does the study have a fireplace, again?”

His shadow raised an eyebrow emphatically. 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐈 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰? 𝐈’𝐦 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬.

While they had a point, it still didn’t answer the pending question of what purpose a hearth could possibly serve in a castle that was perpetually ablaze . The only reasonable explanation he could gather was that the castle was constructed before whatever world-ending catastrophe had taken place. It made more sense the more he thought about it, considering the idea of a structure that was intentionally built to burn indefinitely was, by all accounts, completely insane.

But perhaps that was one of the smaller mysteries that plagued him.

The library foyer was burning, just like everything else. What he could only assume to be eccentric columns and sprawling archways had all been reduced to crumbling ash by the fire. The lack of supports gave way to a gaping, jagged hole in the center of the basilica’s domed roof, firelight and moonlight intermingling to provide no shortage of illumination. It amazed him how a place of such architectural marvel could be reduced to charcoal,  just the same as anything else.

“Do you think we’ll find a new book today?” Ralsei asked pensively as he hoisted himself over a chunk of fallen basalt. “If we do, I hope it’s a new recipe collection. Karasorte bread is wonderful and all, but I certainly wouldn’t mind something new.”

His shadow slunk and wove through the cracks in the rubble, tailing him closely in the wisp-like form they assumed on occasion. 𝐍𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝, 𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐈 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮. 𝐈 𝐝𝐨 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐰𝐞 𝐠𝐨 𝐨𝐧.

...Odd, Ralsei noted. Normally they aren’t this pleasant. Perhaps they feel bad about earlier this morning…?

The thought stuck with him as he trekked on through the perilous wastes of the ruined halls, as he clambered over fallen bookcase and decrepit rampart. His shadow had always been there for him, with him, guiding him through the dark, through places he wouldn’t dare go alone. Without them, he would’ve long been consumed by the fire that tempered these holy grounds.

Nevertheless, they were an enigma to him. If they were so intent on providing the best for him, then why were they so firmly set on having him commit suicide? Wasn’t it impossible for him to be happy if he were dead? It simply didn’t make sense.

There must be more to this, Ralsei thought, wrapping his scarf around his stubby snout to use as a barrier to the smoke. There’s something I don’t know.

Then again, there are a lot of things I don’t know, many of them more pressing than this.

Soon enough, he came to a part of the wreckage that had yet to be consumed. Here was yet another marvel of the castle he knew: the place would actively attempt to repair itself when given the chance, via whatever ancient enchantment had been bestowed upon it. This had the interesting side-effect of generating completely new books whenever a destroyed sub-section of the library was regenerated, allowing him to scavenge up unique, undiscovered items each and every time (as long as he was quick enough, at least). It was in this similar way he procured most of the things necessary for survival, but books were arguably the most important, only subsumed by food and water.

He pounced from a bookcase triumphantly onto the unbroken patch of carpet within the newly made block of library, grinning to himself. Knowledge is man’s greatest power, after all.

In this procedurally generated block of library was a modest looking bookshelf, ornate with classical engravings chipped upon the mahogany’s fine surface. Nearby was a reclining chair crafted of the darkest crimson velvet he had yet seen, along with an adjacent study table and lit candle. Some parts of the furnishings were still reforming, these barely-noticeable particles of arcane dust coagulating into whatever material was demanded of them.

He nearly lost himself in the wonder of it all.

...What was I doing again?

Oh, right.

Ralsei was in no great rush to scoop whatever books he could hold off their resting place. Toting them tightly to his chest, he hauled them up onto the table and sat himself down, sinking deeply into the soft-as-clouds cushion of the seat and letting loose a sigh of bliss.

He took one of the books, adjusting his glasses with the other hand. “Ah, there we are. Nice and comfy.” He peered closer. “Let’s see here…”

The title read “How to Confess Your Love for Susie” in gold lettering.

“O—Oh.” Heat of a different kind boiled into his face. “A… A romance novel, maybe? Hah, I really do like those…”

He went to open it.

An icy hand stopped him.

𝐆𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤.

Ralsei leaped in his seat at his shadow’s sudden interjection. He mentally sputtered for a moment, thoroughly confused. “Wh… Wha—? Why—”

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐎𝐎𝐊.

“O—Ok, you can have it!” Ralsei yelped, squeezing back into his seat and releasing his hold on the book in question.

His darkness snatched it from him, and he watched as their hand transformed its leatherbound surface into a thick, midnight black ice.

It was thrust upon the ground, shattered.

The befuddled and somewhat terrified prince found his gaze ricocheting between the shattered pages, and the shadow that made them.

His darkness emitted a long, growling sigh of contempt (and a sprinkle of relief, Ralsei could’ve sworn).

They turned to him.

𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐞. 𝐋𝐞𝐭 𝐮𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞… 𝐩𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐯𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞.

Slowly, Ralsei unsqueezed himself from the chair’s cushion, watching incredulously as the part of him slipped away into the fire. He glanced down at the shards of glass-like ice that had once made a book, wondering what could possibly have triggered such a response. There was nothing about it that was out of the ordinary, at least from what he could tell.

He scoffed to himself. I’m just as jealous as you are of love, but come on. You didn’t have to go THAT far. Yeesh…

Another point of frustration he’d just have to bury. Begrudgingly hauling himself from the sofa, he went to follow them.

...For no reason in particular, the book’s remains enticed him.

Looking back briefly to make sure his shadow wasn’t watching, he came down to his knees, careful to avoid the sharper bits of ice that had yet to melt away.

Come on, come on… There’s got to be at least a paragraph or two of smut here somewhere…

He took the largest chunk of ice he could find, holding it up to his eye the way a jewelry inspector would. It was black like the darkest night, and the shadows within moved like water in the hand.

Peculiar.

He rubbed the cool surface a bit with a bit of his robe, focusing.

For the first time in his life, Ralsei’s heart began to beat.

Instead of words, there was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen.

...The only girl he had ever seen, actually.

Endless locks of perfectly mauve hair cascaded effortlessly down her shoulders, meeting with a stern, scaly snout the color of bright pink tulips. She was smiling down at him with tired, yet comforting eyes; slitted, golden, and shining greater than the brightest night. They were eyes that spoke softly, yet with poise, confidence, and perhaps a bit of necessary edge. They were eyes that said “I’m here for you, with you, always and forever, even if I’ll never outright say it.”

It was becoming a bit of a challenge to stay conscious, but he was trying. “H—Hello? Um… who— who are you?”

Suddenly, the face shifted into one of contempt.

“...Ralsei.”

She knows my name—?!

“I dunno what the hell you think you’re doin’, but… it’s gotta stop.”

“H—Huh? What… what am I doing—?”

The look of worry and fear she had, it began to hurt him. “I mean, lookit yourself. This isn’t you, dude. I know it.”

“I… I—I—”

The beautiful girl started again, but stopped, as if their words were interrupted.

But again, they spoke, this time with even more fire.

“Nah. You’re the one that’s afraid. Afraid of bein’ loved, or of needin’ help, or whatever. But you’re gonna break free from this thing that’s controllin’ you, whether you like it or not.”

Suddenly, a forgotten memory surged.

“And I’ll be there for ya the whole way,” Susie said.

Ralsei's breathing became stable.

Clutching his memory of her, he made his resolve.

I...

I know what I have to do now, Susie.

I have to love you.

Susie shrieked in pain as Ralsei’s saber tore into her core, spontaneously cauterizing her flesh as the swipe cleaved through.

She stumbled back, doubling over as she fought to restrain the gut-wrenching, agonizing burns that ravaged the spot just above her abdomen. It was of a similar caliber to the ashy claw wound that continued to eat away at her shoulder, only except that pain was gradually getting worse.

Compared to most people, Susie thought she was pretty tough. She’d been through a few rough-ups of her own here and there, a few run-ups with the wrong crowd. She’d been beaten bloody and bruised, but she had always made her way out of it, whether it was with her old friends Righty and Lefty, or by the classic Susie special of running the f away.

But this was the first time she felt like she was genuinely going to die.

Susie forced her gaze up to him, steeling herself for the next attack.

She gritted her teeth.

She dug her boots into the ground as deeply as they could go.

She locked eyes with him, trying to find some semblance of the light she knew was buried within.

There was none.

Through his sinister bad-guy cackling and the pounding of pain against her skull, Susie almost didn’t notice Ralsei’s mad dash forward, and his fatal blade trailing behind, leaving a snaking wisp of smoke behind. She brought the handle of her ax up to block just as his fire struck down, her defense miraculously refusing to crumble under the intense heat and the sparks that flew.

Ralsei pushed his other arm down on her bar, putting his entire weight into the clash. From the way they were positioned, his face was just in front of hers, only inches away. The heat of his sizzling fur was like air from a cranked-up oven, the murderous intent in his eyes clearer than cloudless night.

Susie’s eyes couldn’t stop widening, the intense pain taking a backseat to what was happening to her, what he was doing to her. He leaned further in, closer, hotter, sending her thoughts into dizzying heated spirals, some inescapable enchantment forcing her eyeballs onto his faintly parted smirk. Any tension her grip held on her ax melted away as he slunk an arm around her neck, closer now, close enough that she could smell the sulfur and brimstone in his breath. The steadied, firm beat of the burning heart inside his chest, compared to hers thumping like the drum solo of a metal band. The end of his mouth so close to hers, and the way he was tilting his head and closing his eyes as if he were— as if he were—!

Oh my god what what whatwhatWHAT is, is he—?!?

But he stopped just before.

Ralsei sank his fingers deep into the fresh wound on Susie’s side, the wound sizzling at the touch.

Susie made a sound that was a bit like a deflating helium balloon, melded with the blood-curdling howl of a werewolf’s death cry.

It was cut off by a fist sent like a bullet into her jaw. She spiraled onto the ground.

"S—SUSIE!!! No, nonono!”

Socket dashed up onto the rubble-ridden platform, slinking to the ground next to Susie and cradling her limply hanging body by the armpits. “Susie, SU...! Can… hea… can y…”

Whatever they began to say next became muffled, blurring along with the lines of her vision. The image of Ralsei before her, standing with blazing blade and maniacal expression, it faded away, away into the growing abyss that pulled her in.

The darkness grew.

She coughed up dust.

The darkness grew.

All she could hear now was her heartbeat, slowing with every pump.

The darkness grew.

All she could feel was the pain in her shoulder, the claw wound she got from nothing.

It was darkness.

It was calling

Her name.

𝗦𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗲.

No… I can’t… I can’t die. I can’t…

𝗦𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗲. 𝗦𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗲. 𝗦𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗲.

She could see them, their crimson eyes beaming through dimensions to pierce her. The fear froze her body solid.

𝗖𝗮𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗺𝗲? 𝗖𝗮𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘀𝗲𝗲 𝗺𝗲?

Please… I… I never got to…

𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝘀𝗲𝗲 𝗺𝗲.

The pain...

𝗜 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽 𝘆𝗼𝘂.

It grinned.

𝗔𝗹𝗹 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗼

𝗶𝘀 𝗹𝗲𝘁 𝗺𝗲

𝗶𝗻.

Suddenly, a jolt of electricity surged through her, rippling through her nerves like a firecracker. The darkness receded quicker than it came, and her senses returned to near full functionality.

The first thing she did was scream.

“Yes YES IT WORKED HAHA! I can’t believe that actually worked! IN YOUR FACE, CRAZY-ASS HOT GUY!”

She saw Ralsei again, still as menacing as ever. He was glowering fiercely as if his day had just been completely ruined.

“Wha… what the…” Susie groaned. “Socket…?”

Socket ruffled her hair playfully, which shocked her since no one had ever done that to her before. “You’re gonna be just fine. I used my signature move, Shocker Breaker on you!”

Susie shifted awkwardly in Socket’s arms, looking up at them with discretion. “...Huh? Shocker wha— woah. Woah. ”

She was only beginning to realize this, but she felt great. It was as if some magic fairy had replaced every part of her body with an exact replica, only way better and full of energy. Looking closer at herself, she marveled at the occasional jumping arc of rainbow-colored electricity that shot along her form.

Susie practically leaped off the floor, surprising herself in the process at how easy it was. “Socket, what— what did you do ?! This is awesome!”

They stood up as well, scratching behind their own ear modestly. “Well, funny thing is, haha, I actually don’t really know. I just used my strongest ability on you, with the tension points you’ve been building up during your fight with that guy, of course.” They touched their fingers together, slouching with a hint of uneasiness. “Um… normally it’s an attack, but I guess in this case it healed and buffed you. Weird how magic works, huh?”

Susie blinked at them.

“...YOU COULDA KILLED ME?!?!”

“B—But you’re alive now, okay!?!” Socket yelped timidly. “Just be happy that we lucked out! Also now you might be able to fight without getting your head handed to you??”

...They’ve got a point. Maybe this’ll even things out.

Susie turned her gaze back to Ralsei, smearing away the stream of dust that had vacated her nostrils with an arm.

*Susie used S-Action!

Susie warned the enemy.

Chapter Text

𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐑𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐞𝐢?

The terrified prince slammed his back into the abandoned shop that hid his presence, huddling up close to the dank, unkempt wall that teemed with moss and dew. His erratic, fear-laced breaths blew like smoke in the heat of the arid forum as he snuck through, always checking, ensuring he couldn’t be seen.

Ralsei had no idea what would happen if he was caught, but he was guessing it was somewhere within the realm of either being locked up in his quarters forever, or the other option that was somewhat worse than that: death. It was better not to chance it.

He could hear them prowling.

I still can’t believe this is happening.

Ralsei pushed himself deeper against the wall, straightening his glasses and attempting to catch the breath that ran from him. To say his mind was in pieces would be a vast understatement; it was only minutes ago that he had learned his entire life was a lie. This whole place, this endlessly burning town, none of it was real. The years he’d spent here were nothing but a dark reflection of his real life, a life within which he had real friends. An illusion conjured by an unholy being that tailed his every movement, hunting him like a wolf would a rabbit.

𝐈’𝐦 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐫𝐲. 𝐈 𝐰𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐛𝐞. 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐭, 𝐑𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐞𝐢. 𝐈 𝐰𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐝.

In a risk a different Ralsei never would’ve taken, he peeked past the corner concealing him, garnering only the tiniest slit of vision into the cobblestone streets.

He grimaced. They were there, alright.

And they were looking for him.

Even a glimpse of them made his knees wobble under the weight of his fear. Fingers trembling, he fumbled for the icy shard of memory he had left in his robe’s pocket, bringing it out to his spectacled gaze. Susie’s mesmerizing face was there still, to his unending relief. Gazing into her golden eyes filled him with strength, with hope, with a power he didn’t know he had.

“Susie,” he whispered, holding the incandescent surface up close to his mouth like a receiver. ‘Wh—What do I do?! I don’t— I’m so scared, I… I don’t…”

“...Somethin’ about your eyes, too.”

Her eyes sparkled with a fierce will.

“I know the real Ralsei’s in there somewhere, fightin’ to break free.”

“And you know what else? I know he can. ‘Cause he’s stronger than you’ll ever be, dickweed.”

Ralsei furrowed his brow, thinking.

Break free…

He set his gaze to the town walls.

I need to break free.

A portion of the burning roof shingles above him snapped, the ashen rubble crashing down inches away. He yelped, unintentionally losing his grip on the shadowy shard.

Ralsei watched in horror as it shattered on the ground.

“NOOOO!!!”

𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞.

He slapped a hand to his mouth, but it was too little, too late.

IneedtohideIneedtohideINEEDTOHIDE

Terror-stricken, Ralsei whirled his sight around the block, looking for somewhere, anywhere to hide.  Already he could feel his shadow encroaching, their presence creeping along the brick walls like a malevolent stretch of invasive vines. Even though the town’s barrier was just there, he knew he’d never break out in time, not with his enraged pursuer on the way.

He needed to hide, that was for certain. But where, where?

A glimmer of hope caught his eye. There was a tavern, a bit of a ways away. Around the building’s entrance were a collection of untouched barrels, presumably for the storage of liquor. If he could get there in time…

Ralsei shivered. The air around him was getting noticeably colder.

No time to think. He ran pell-mell across the plaza until he finally made it, flinging open the lid of the first barrel he found and plunging in, making sure to close it on the way.

“Oof—!”

He clunked against the bottom just as his shadow rounded the corner.

Flickering firelight streamed in through a slim crack in the wood, illuminating the dark interior with a ray of azure. The prince let his weight against the back of the container; it wasn’t a comfortable fit, but it was safe.

He forced himself to take a deep breath, despite the difficulty of doing so. I am okay… I am okay. They can’t find me. I’m safe.

𝐈 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞.

Ralsei yipped, the voice booming inside his head like a warhorn. Through the slit he could see them stalking, overturning rubble and charcoal in a quiet, seething rage. He watched them fling a wooden crate into one of the buildings, with such force that it splintered into bits, meanwhile setting their claws to rend a cart filled with bags of seed. Whatever they had said about not being angry, Ralsei could plainly see it was a blatant lie.

His shadow stopped, staring at the wreckage they had made.

𝐈 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭… 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐚𝐰.

Ralsei was certain they could hear his heart beating, with how hard it was pounding.

𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐬. 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐯𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐫𝐞.

There was something different about them now, the way they looked, the way they spoke.

𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐈 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞?

There was something about them that looked like him.

𝐈 𝐬𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬. 𝐁𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞, 𝐧𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐛𝐚𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞...

And a blue, beaming light he couldn’t tear his sight from.

𝐈𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞.

The blueness became more intense with the cold. The prince held his breath, unsure if he would live to take another one.

𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐬𝐦𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐠𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐭. 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐧. 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐩𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐦𝐨𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐮𝐬.

Stomp. Stomp. STOMP.

𝐃𝐢𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬? 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐝, 𝐝𝐚𝐦𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐬?

They came into view again and stopped, slowly turning their head,

to look right at him.

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧’𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟.

Susie spun away from the geyser of flame that bursted out of the ground, converting the momentum of the dodge back into her forward dash. The multi-colored chromatic lightning in her step made it easy— almost too easy in fact— to avoid the slow-to-form attacks, and to even gain tension from them as she grazed by. It still took a decent amount of effort and brain power, but she knew this wouldn’t be nearly as simple without Socket’s special ability to augment her athleticism.

She dodged another wave of pillaring geysers, cracking a smirk at Ralsei’s obvious frustration. “Heh. Ya call that an attack? Ya couldn’t even hit a target even if it— woah,” Had to make sure she wasn’t completely letting her guard down, “—if it came right up and snapped your friggin’ bra!”

Susie wasn’t sure that she had ever seen Ralsei so pissed, but she was more than sure that she enjoyed it. Maybe if he got angry enough, some part of him would snap, his brain would reset and he’d be back to normal? Anything was worth a try.

The next wave of fire-based barrages came so suddenly that she almost got hit— Susie guessed her taunt had prompted him to crank up the heat a bit. His attacks were becoming more erratic, but in a strategic way: she could tell he was picking up on her habits and punishing them accordingly. It was bad enough that he knew her fighting style, since they were originally, y’know, a team, but now his familiarity with her had become an advantage.

Typically I tend to dodge left when it comes to head-on attacks, but his stupid fire wave pattern keeps drifting to the left as it nears me; I’ve almost gotten hit multiple times ‘cause of that. Gotta watch out, can’t let ‘im exploit my weaknesses.

It was weird because Susie had never really fought someone who was intentional about fighting, who knew it was as much a mental game as it was physical. It demanded a lot from her, but luckily fighting was one of the main things her brain really knew how to approach. Whether it was her childhood years in the orphanage, having to defend herself from bigger and stronger kids, or her years on the streets where more often than not people had guns that could straight-up kill you, Susie knew that her own varied experiences had served to make her a resourceful underdog; a Bully Stomper.

Slashing through a final, desperate wall of flame with her ax, Susie came within chopping distance.

Heh, Susie thought, seeing the realization of error in his eyes. He screwed up. Didn’t I’d barrel through that one, did ya? Get ready for a faceful of ax, dumbass—!

She mentally aligned the back of her ax’s head to Ralsei’s cranial area, spinning into a crushing horizontal swipe—

It swooshed through thin, fiery air.

—?!

When Susie looked up, there was nothing in front of her.

“...What the heAUUUGHH!!!”

She screamed as she felt the excruciating pain of fire stabbing into her back. Susie snapped her head back to see a malevolently grinning Ralsei directly behind her, his armblade piercing directly into her shoulder blade, on the same side of her claw wound.

His voice was a low, burning growl.

“You thought you had me all figured out, didn’t you?”

The corrupt prince’s foot drove hard into her, dislodging the blade and knocking her to the floor. Susie bit down on the pain, quickly picking herself up and trying to decipher what the hell just happened.

“H—How—?!” She sputtered, clutching at the new wound in her back. “HRGH, god damn that hurts— How the f— I—I HAD YOU!”

Susie watched dumbfounded as Ralsei’s form dissipated into flakes of sizzling blue ember, his body crumbling like dust to the wind.

The embers bounded towards her.

Oh shit.

Chapter Text

Today had a lot of firsts for Ralsei.

Learning that the entire life he thought he’d been living was a lie, and that it was only a manifestation of his own deepest fears and nightmares? Check.

Seeing that he had friends, real and true friends, friends that a twisted, debatably insane version of himself was hurting right then and there? Check.

There was also falling in love. That was a big one, and maybe the only reason he had ventured to risk losing any of this in the first place. It was hard to admit he hated it here, but as much as he didn’t want to agree with his personal darkness… It was true. He didn’t hate it here. It wasn’t exactly great nor was it bad, but it was a life he could’ve lived, with small amounts of happiness here and there. For the longest time, it was the only life he could’ve lived. The years would’ve passed, and he would’ve lived and died, the entire time being none the wiser.

Of course, the day came when all of it, all his predispositions of right and wrong, his ideas of what was real and unreal... were shattered like glass. All it took was a pair of warm, comforting eyes and a promise that things could be better, that he could make it if he only dared to try. And he did try, blindly in fact, because he couldn’t stand the possibility that he could be a warden to his own prison. That he could be the only thing in the way between himself and love.

There were all of those things.

And then there was a bloodthirsty demon hunting him down with the intent to kill him a hundred times over.

That was a definite first.

𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐈𝐆𝐍𝐎𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐓 𝐑𝐀𝐓! 𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐏 𝐑𝐔𝐍𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆!

Ralsei made no attempt to hide his terrified screams as he fled down the narrow maze-like alleyways of the burning town, his darkness only moments behind. It was around now that he was really beginning to regret putting off exercise, since he was clearly paying for it now with how out of shape he was. His not-at-all athletically inclined lungs, combined with his relatively short leg-span made running from the beast nearly impossible, if not for his advantage in size. With careful precision, he was able to duck past obstacles and into places that made it difficult for his larger pursuer to follow, and gain distance that way.

The prince improvised a fireball, flinging it at a wooden fence just ahead and frantically squeezing his body through the newly-made hole, stumbling as he came out the other side. He looked up and cried out in hope, he was almost to the castle walls!

He kept running, despite the agony of the fire burning in his lungs. Yes! I’m going to make it!

Unfortunately, he made the fatal mistake of looking behind him, just as his shadow crashed through the fence, sending splinters flying every which way.

One of the bigger shards found its way into Ralsei’s thigh, pinning his robe to his fur.

Ralsei wailed sharply from the pain of the wooden shrapnel, but thankfully the adrenaline that rushed into his bloodstream allowed him to continue running, albeit in a hobbling limp. If his heart wasn’t in overdrive before, it was now.

What he wasn’t expecting was for the part of him to be wearing an expression of shock.

...𝐘𝐎𝐔’𝐑𝐄 𝐌𝐀𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐌𝐄 𝐃𝐎 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒! They bellowed. 𝐈 𝐃𝐎𝐍’𝐓 𝐖𝐀𝐍𝐓 𝐓𝐎 𝐇𝐔𝐑𝐓 𝐘𝐎𝐔!!

“L—Leave me alone!” Ralsei whimpered back.

Finally he came to an open section of the ghettos, where the town’s walls stood, looming over him as the final blockade to his freedom. As a precautionary measure, he threw another ball of flame at the stone archway leading into the space, creating a temporary blockade of rubble.

“That— haaaggggh…” The throbbing pain in his leg was tearing at his attention. “Th—That won’t last long. I need to—EEP!”

*SMASH* went his shadow into the barricade he had formed.

That was the que for him to shut up and begin chipping away at the walls.

𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐏! 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐊𝐍𝐎𝐖 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝐃𝐎𝐈𝐍𝐆!

Ralsei kept a continuous stream of holyflame focused on the ages-old brick, gathering every inch of his willpower into keeping the beam alive. He wouldn’t let the incessant, enraged bashing of his darkness take him away from the final task that would set him free.

𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐊 𝐑𝐀𝐋𝐒𝐄𝐈, 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐊! 𝐖𝐇𝐘 𝐃𝐈𝐃 𝐈 𝐂𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐄 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐘𝐎𝐔?!

The fire was so intense that he had to look away, choosing to look at the failing barricade and the frenzied thrashing of his shadow. “You’re just— you’re just holding me back! My friends are out there, and they need me!”

𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐅𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐒 𝐀𝐑𝐄𝐍’𝐓 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐋! 𝐘𝐎𝐔’𝐑𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐎𝐖𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐀𝐖𝐀𝐘 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐆!

“What do I even HAVE in this place?! There’s nothing here! Tell me, what do I have?!”

Ralsei saw that the hole was complete. His beam dissipated into smoke, leaving behind only a perfectly-cut circle in the stone. Past the wall was darkness he couldn’t see past.

He turned to leave.

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐞.

The voice sounded more and more like him; desperate, hopelessly lost and abandoned. They had stopped trying to claw through the barrier, instead just... giving up.

𝐘𝐨𝐮’𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐦𝐞. 𝐘𝐨𝐮’𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐦𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈’𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮.

Ralsei clenched his fists.

𝐖𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬.

...No. I’m not looking back.

𝐏𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞.

He went to climb through the hole.

He looked at his shadow one last time.

But then, he couldn’t move.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐑𝐔𝐈𝐍 𝐲𝐨𝐮.

𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧’𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐬…

Ralsei’s shadow was there.

Standing over him were two brightly burning azure lights, striking down from behind a pair of glassy, opaque spectacles, situated upon a snout made of jagged, spiky ice. Their flowing, goat-like ears were like icicles, their horns like lightning strikes of diamonds; in the same way, their entire body was nothing but black, incandescent ice, twisted and formed into chunky limbs and arms to support a beastly frame, complete with prickly bristles running along their back and arms and a gnarly, spike-ridden tail that reminded Ralsei much of the beasts he'd seen described in fantasy novels. Wrapped around their neck was a five-tailed scarf wrought from a deep blue mist, each lengthy end flagging wildly in the violently whipping wind.

This is him, he thought.

This is my demon.

𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐈, 𝐇𝐎𝐋𝐘𝐅𝐋𝐀𝐌𝐄, 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮.

Susie had lost all feeling in her arm a while ago.

Didn’t mean she couldn’t fight, though. Only meant it was a little harder.

As in, she could only move one arm, her right one.

Thankfully I’m good with both my arms. What’s that called again? Ambi-whatever? Something like that.

...Maybe now isn’t a good time to try and remember useless words.

Gritting her teeth, Susie swung her ax in a wide arc, hoping to land a decent hit or at least something , but Ralsei teleported out of the way just before it connected, same as he did every other time. It was really beginning to get on her nerves, how nothing she tried was working. ACTing and mercy didn’t do jack, since they gave literally zero progress to the spare bar, and fighting didn’t work either since he was dodging everything she could throw at him.

Needless to say, she was running out of options, and fast.

As good as I am at dodging, there’s no way in hell I’m outlasting ‘im, not like this. There’s gotta be another way…

Not only this, but this whole “bad boy” act was beginning to run its course for her. At first it was pretty intimidating (and maybe even a little bit hot, she found herself thinking begrudgingly), but now it was just friggin' annoying.

Susie snarled fiercely from deep within her throat. “God, SHUT UP! You’re really PISSIN’ ME OFF.”

Heaving, she carved another swing out, whiffing again and swearing under her breath. He was basically toying with her at this point, not even trying to attack back. Every attack of hers was met with an instant teleport, followed by another unbearable snide remark.

Something was beginning to burn inside her, something primal.

“SHUT UP!!!”

Susie grabbed him by the collar with her working arm and put her fist right where it belonged: in his stupid, grinning face.

This time it actually connected, making a fierce *CRACK* as it hit the front of his snout.

Ralsei yipped, nearly losing his footing as he staggered backwards, clutching his nose with both hands. Susie’s eyes widened with amazement when she saw the thick stream of blood that trickled from his nostril, wetting his hands.

She couldn’t help but drink in the distraught expression forming on his face. “Yeah… YEAH! How’d THAT feel, dumbass?!”

He wiped away the blood with his arm, hardening his gaze.

“WOAH!! Did you guys see that?! She popped him right in the kisser!”

Susie looked curiously back to see Socket holding what looked like a phone in one hand, and pointing behind themselves to the fight with the other, sort of like they were taking a selfie.

“Um…” She wrung her working arm out awkwardly. “Are you takin’ a picture or somethin’?”

“Oh, right, uh, everyone, this is my new friend, Susie!” Socket put the phone aside, whisper-yelling to her aside a hand. “Susie! I’m streaming this to the cybernet right now! The entire city’s watching you, we’ve got like a million bajillion viewers!!” Putting the phone up again, “Everyone’s rooting for you! Do something inspiring! ”

“Wait, we’re live? As in like, a news broadcast?”

“...Yes!”

Nice. I’ve always wanted to do this, she thought, producing a fittingly rude gesture alongside a mischievous smirk. “How’s this?”

“...That’s not inspiring!!”

As Susie snickered to herself, she noticed that the rainbows of electricity laddering across her body that she’d come to expect were becoming weaker, and her with it. It was only then that it occurred to her that Socket’s special ability probably didn’t last forever, and it looked like she was going to need another jolt.

“Uh, hey, Socket. Think you could juice me up again?” She offered. “I think your supercharge thingy’s running out.”

“Oh, of course!” They chirped, eager to help. “Another heaping serving of Socket special, coming right up!”

Arcing power began to sprout and crackle from their paws as they viciously rubbed them together, the energy glowing and building with the friction. Susie solidified her stance, bracing herself for the next rush of energy—

Suddenly, Ralsei teleported between the both of them, blasting Socket back with a burst of fire.

“SOCKET!” Susie cried, setting her sights on the prince’s vulnerable face. “HEY! YOU—”

A wall of flames erupted between Ralsei and her, barring any chance of attack.

She ravenously bashed and tore away at the fire, even burning herself in the process, but there was no way for her to get past. All she could do was stand and watch in disbelief as the flamebearer bore down on the stunned Werewire, with nothing she could do.

Socket groaned in pain, shifting meekly on their back. “Owowow… oh no, nonono wait I DIDN’T MEAN TO CALL YOU LITTLE, I’M SORR—ACK!”

Ralsei took forceful hold of their wire, extending his armblade.

“NO!!!” Susie roared. “HE DIDN’T DO ANYTHIN’!

She could see that he was about to strike them down, with nothing in his way to do so. But the way his facial expression shifted from confidence to unease, how his bladed arm trembled slightly, the glint of contemplation in his eyes... There was still an ounce of light left in him, preventing him from ever taking a life.

He was still in there, somewhere, behind the fire and wrath.

“RALSEI!!”

Ralsei looked directly at her, right in the eye, regret flashing in his.

“...Ralsei—”

And, grimacing, severed the cord to Socket’s plug.

“BZZZTAAAAAAUGH!” Socket yowled, entering an erratic spasm as their cord went wild with uncontained electricity, flailing along with their body. Susie could do nothing but watch in abject horror as their movements gradually slowed, eventually ceasing to nothing but the occasional twitch.

Ralsei nudged them off the scaffold with his foot, sending their body careening into the water hundreds of feet below.

No.

Oh my god.

“You— You actually—” Susie blinked, then blinked again, making sure this was still real, that this was still happening. “...YOU BASTARD! YOU KILLED ‘EM! THEY WERE INNOCENT!!”

He stood, staring blankly down at the ocean below.

And then Ralsei was there, gripping her arm in a painful, burning lock; she growled in pain, but there was nothing she could do. Her heart had shattered, along with her hope for him. Now her heart was going to be shattered literally, by him killing her, and it made her beyond angry that this was how it was going to end. That, after everything, she was going to end up betrayed by one of the only people she’d ever opened up to.

Susie glared up into his eyes, rage-fueled tears wetting her own. With the pain came a barrage of memories of them together.

The first time she saw him, at the castle, thinking him to be just another snobby nerd.

Becoming a quote unquote “bad guy”, just to spite him. She remembered the flabbergasted look on his face clearly, and how she enjoyed the way he frowned.

His promise of baking her a cake, something no one had ever done for her before.

The cake being incredibly good.

Her and Ralsei sitting on a bench, together, where nothing could ever touch them.

Now, all that was gone, like smoke to to the breeze.

About to be taken away by the person who made them.

It made her angry.

It made her FURIOUS.

It made her

𝗙𝗶𝗿𝗲.

Just before Ralsei’s blade slit her throat, Susie punched him in the gut with her left arm.

The blow sent the prince spiraling across the ruined ground, their body flopping like a ragdoll as they tossed and rolled along. Susie gawked, it was a level of pushback that shouldn’t have been possible, nothing she could muster could’ve set him that far.

She noticed that she could feel her arm again.

But when she looked, it wasn’t her arm.

Spewing out of the wound embedded in her shoulder was an oversized, almost mutated third arm the color of inky midnight, sizzling and waving in the breeze like a stoked flame. The smoky black arm had fiery claws an intense color of crimson red, billowing and shining almost like a second moon. Looking closer, it wasn’t just an arm— it was vaguely similar to a wing as well, like one you’d find on a dragon, but instead of thin skin and scales to catch wind, ash and brimstone. It even had extra talons running along the tips of the appendage, just like a dragon’s would.

Susie's eyes were essentially popping out of her skull. When she moved her arm, it wasn’t her arm that moved, but the shadowflame arm. She flexed her fingers, and the claws followed closely in suit. It even left an brief afterimage as she waved it around.

...Shadowflame? Where’d that word come from…?

𝗜𝘁 𝗰𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗺𝗲.

𝗜 𝗮𝗺 𝗦𝗛𝗔𝗗𝗢𝗪𝗙𝗟𝗔𝗠𝗘.

“...Oh.”

She could see them, inside her mind’s eye. It was that same darkness she encountered on the brink of death, the same shadow she knew she’d seen before somewhere, in a dream, perhaps. Wherever it was, it didn’t matter, because they were there, with her.

“Soooo… you’re here to help me?” Susie asked herself, a little creeped out. “Not that I don’t like the badass arm-wing thing, uh.

𝗜 𝗮𝗺. 𝗔𝗹𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻.

𝗟𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗳𝘂𝗹𝗹𝘆. 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝗮𝗻 𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗮𝗹 𝗜’𝘃𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗹𝗮𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁𝗲𝗿. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗱𝗼𝘄 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗵𝗶𝗺, 𝘀𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄.

𝗪𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽 𝗺𝗲, 𝗦𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗲?

Things began to make a bit more sense.

This... this demon. Me and him... we've both got it.

And now I have the power to punt it outta him.

Susie cracked the knuckles of her shadowflame claws, grinning wickedly at Ralsei’s shocked expression as her arm flared fiercely.

“Gladly.”

Chapter Text

𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞.

Ralsei centered his consciousness on the pain in his teeth, trying desperately to quiet the throbbing dread that weighed heavy on his heart like a slurry of cement. Of all the terrible things that could happen to him, this maybe was the worst. No, it was the worst. The shadow he’d known his entire life, the same being who had always been there for him whenever he needed it most, now readied and able to strike him down; more than able, in fact. That beaming ray of blue streaming from those soulless, icy eyes… that lack of eyes... it tore through his SOUL and out through his back. Physical dread pinned him in place like a stake in the ground, so much so that any attempt at movement became gut-wrenchingly painful. 

His demon was there, the only thing between him and freedom. This he knew.

And if he wanted that freedom, he would have to kill them.

Ralsei internally barked at his legs to be more cooperative, despite the aching pain in his thigh from the still-embedded stake. Everything we’ve been through together… all of it, come to this. Even if I could beat them, could I bring myself to do it? To destroy the only friend I’ve ever known?

An admittance had to be made: Ralsei cared about his shadow. How couldn't he? They were always there for him, comforting him whenever he fell into darkness. Guiding him through the pain they shared, all of it without anything expected in return.

He gazed up through his spectacles at the enraged beast before him, trying to see deeper into those eyes. It was easy to tell there was love in theirs, too.

...But why?

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐚𝐳𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐎𝐖𝐍 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞. 𝐈 𝐚𝐦 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞, 𝐚𝐦, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞; 𝐚 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐮𝐧𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮.

Holyflame’s voice was vaguely similar to what he’d imagined he’d sound like once he was older; only labored, hoarse and fraught with eons of pain. Just hearing him breathe sent eerie pricks of spindly terror down his spine, stabbing each groove like prowling spider. Something about it was just… off. Like the vibrations creating the sounds to emulate speech and breath weren’t vocal chords at all, but something raw, something colder. Something inhuman.

It took a moment for Ralsei to get past this anti-voice, and to the meaning of his words. ...Sins? Could my sins really be this bad?

“I— I don’t— I don’t understand, how—” Ralsei sputtered, cleaving through his memories to find anything that could fit such an accusation. “Wh—What have I done that could possibly be evil?! I’ve been good my entire life, every waking hour striving to be the righteous hero I know I am, for the sake of the lightners! How could you say such a thing?!”

Holyflame bristled his spinal frill’s spikes, bite-sized chunks of inky hail click-clacking to the floor as he did so. 𝐀𝐡... 𝐏𝐨𝐨𝐫, 𝐧𝐚ï𝐯𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐧𝐨 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐦 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐲. 𝐋𝐨𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐈 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐞𝐭— 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐈 𝐚𝐦.

Ralsei tried for words, but couldn’t find them. They had fled with the rest of his courage.

Holyflame’s jagged-edged teeth, glistening in the night like icicles on the underside of a glacier. 𝐎𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞. 𝐎𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝. 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮? 𝐀 𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐰𝐧 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟, 𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐡𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮? 𝐈'𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝒅𝒊𝒅𝒏'𝒕 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞.

He was right, and there was no fighting it. Ralsei couldn’t understand any of this. The pain, the fear, the burning, the freezing, all of it coiling together into incomprehensible swirls of nothingness. Everything that had happened to him today was a testament to that.

But that’s not going to stop me from trying.

“...Can you at least attempt to tell me why?”

Holyflame’s eye-beams flickered as he regarded him coldly.

They blew a puff of icy mist from their nostrils.

𝐈...

𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧.

𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐦𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐭.

"Tell me."

𝐈’𝐦 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐈 𝐬𝐚𝐲.

𝐈 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬.

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲. 𝐀 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠.

𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐞.

“...Are you sure this will work, Goreas?”

“I am not, Leitor.”

“But we have no choice. Without an heir, this kingdom will crumble. It is our duty to uphold order by any means necessary.”

“Our son… will he still be himself?”

“I am not certain.”

“But what I am certain of is that he will never die again.”

“Ever.”

“...”

TAKE

HIM

“...Gorey?”

“Ergh…”

“Gorey, do not push yourself!”

“Hrgh— I am— not—!”

IGNITE

THE

FLAME

“HRAAAAAGHH!”

“NOOOO!!!”

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦.

“Where…”

“Where am I?”

“Hello…? Anyone…?”

“Is… is anybody out there...?”

“Someone?! Anyone?! Can anyone hear me?!”

“...”

“It’s dark.”

“It’s so dark here.”

“Someone, anyone, if you can hear me…”

“Say something… please…”

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐥.

"...Hello? Who's there...?"

𝐓𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐢𝐭.

𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐞𝐞.

It felt as if a hurricane had blasted through the prince’s mind, decimating what little semblance of knowledge and reason he thought he had. As if he could even begin to process half of what he just heard. All of it was so foreign, like a cruel, unremitting joke that everyone but him was in on. Out of all the thousands of books he’d read in his life, not a single one had any information regarding what happened before his time. Not one of them.

...How could there be nothing about this?! Ralsei mulled, stricken with disbelief. There had to be. There HAD to be books written about the time before mine.

But no matter how hard I looked, I couldn’t find any.

I couldn't find any...

Maybe I couldn’t find any because they were destroyed.

His inward stupor deepened as he searched further back in the memories he still had. On some occasions he would find icy black crystals in the library, strewn haphazardly about as if...

Ralsei gasped.

As if his shadow destroyed them.

Because he did.

This was something he didn’t want me to know, so I would never question him. So that I would never know there were people before me.

So that I’d never have a reason to try and find them. To escape.

But aside from this haunting revelation, there was something he had to clarify.

“I—I’m… I’m the reason that everyone’s… gone...?” His voice shuddered with fear at the thought. “I—If that’s true, how come I don’t remember any of it?”

𝐂𝐚𝐧’𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐞𝐞, 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞? Holyflame spat, lashing his icicle-spiked tail impetuously as he began to pace clockwise to him. 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐨 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞, 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐦…

They paused in speech and pace, ancient ice cracking as they twisted their vacant head to glare at him.

𝐈𝐦𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐥.

“Immortal...?” Ralsei parroted breathlessly, trying to believe it could be true. Saying that word aloud felt ridiculous. Immortality was a thing of fantasy; a fool’s goal at best, and a source of obsessive madness at worst. People weren’t supposed to live forever, that much he knew. There was a good reason for that.

In an attempt to catch his breath, he forced himself to breathe deeper and evenly, pushing up his slightly-askew glasses as he did so. “O—Okay. So… Angel, this is lunacy— t—to try and summarize what you’re saying. I’m one of many… Ralseis, however many there’ve, um, been. A—And whenever I… well, die, I suppose— a new “me” just... appears? Without any memory of the previous me?”

His darkness nodded solemnly. 𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐯𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬, 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞. 𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐯𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐝𝐥𝐲 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬, 𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐚 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧. 𝐈 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐡𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐨𝐧, 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐛𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.

This is insane, Ralsei thought incredulously.

Holyflame made a grunt of affirmation. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. 𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬, 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐧. 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐡𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝’𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐬, 𝐧𝐨, 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐅𝐄𝐂𝐓, 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐓𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐒 𝐞𝐱𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞. 𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐘𝐎𝐔, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐢𝐭.

Ralsei searched desperately for any ounce of deception in his eyes, but there was none. He was telling the truth. It was because of him that this town was empty. He had never even thought once that he could be responsible for all this, never would he have even considered such a terrible possibility.

Still, there were so many questions. How exactly did the catastrophe happen? Why did it happen? What caused him to —he shuddered— “Burn too brightly”?

Why did his shadow seem to care?

He wanted answers. “I… I still don’t understand. Why would you care about any of that, if you’re really… whatever you are?”

With a guttural close-mouthed growl, Holyflame lowered his head in thought.

Some moments passed. Ralsei noticed he was clenching and unclenching his fists, if only from the sickly crunches they made. 

Finally, he spoke.

...𝐀 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐫𝐲. 𝐒𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐲 𝐩𝐮𝐭, 𝐈 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐢𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝. 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐚 𝐈’𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞, 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭, 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐫, 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞. 𝐒𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐭, 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐲, 𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐨 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐢𝐩𝐞 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬. 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐈 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐮𝐩𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐞.

𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐈 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐬…

Was that pride in his smile...?

𝐀 𝐬𝐨𝐧, 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐬.

𝐌𝐲 𝐨𝐰𝐧.

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐚 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝.

This isn’t real, Ralsei reminded himself.

𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧.

𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫.

Remember to fight back, the prince scolded himself. Even if he’s the only friend I’ve known, I can’t let him get in the way of my purpose. “Just… just let me go! I’m NOT happy here! My friends are out there and they need me, just as much as I need them!”

Holyflame gave a scoff, which shifted into a sickeningly destitute laughter, flecks of snowdust setting the hairs along Ralsei’s arms upright as he heaved. 𝐇𝐀𝐅! 𝐊𝐀𝐅𝐅! 𝐄𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐠𝐡𝐡𝐡… 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐞𝐞, 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐈'𝐯𝐞 𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐝. 𝐄𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐈’𝐯𝐞 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞, 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐑𝐎𝐍𝐆 𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐡.

Ralsei mentally pinged his legs another time as Holyflame neared him, his shadow’s errant stomps leaving sheets of frigid ice where their footfalls slammed the ground. No, still numb. His shadow came close, hunching over to meet his level, hellfrost breath close enough to fog his glasses, eye-beams as bright as they were haunting. His eyes found themselves drifting to the exposed ribcage of the beast before them, noting the presence of a subtle *badump badump*, just beyond that icy prison.

He ran a single, sharpened icicle talon down the sweat-matted fur of Ralsei’s cheek. Some of the sweat particles crystallized into ice cold enough to burn his skin.

𝐘𝐞𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥… They growled, deeper than a dragon.

𝐒𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥, 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞... 𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠...

𝐒𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐦...

Holyflame’s serrated talon pressed harder into his cheek, eliciting a panicked yip from the boy as it drew blood.

𝐒𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥.

His shadow regarded his liquid essence with an expression Ralsei couldn’t grace with a description.

They scowled, turning away in a huff. 𝐒𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥, 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥. 𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝐈 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭… 𝐊𝐀𝐅— 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝐮𝐫𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧, 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐦𝐲 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐲𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬. 𝐓𝐨 𝐭𝐫𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬.

𝐒𝐨 𝐈 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐮𝐬.

The prince’s heart nearly stopped as Holyflame produced a frigid trident from thin air, and in that moment, he had just as quickly accepted his death.

Instead, his shadow snapped the pointed end off with a resounding CRACK, forcefully shoving it into his grasp with both hands.

𝐊𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟.

Ralsei stared blankly at the sharpened rod of ice held within his hands, looking deeper into the eyes of his helpless reflection.

𝐃𝐨 𝐢𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐰.

He blinked, and one of the many tears he was fighting back fell to the blade’s edge.

Suddenly, its surface wavered, like ripples in a pond.

In the rod’s reflection, Susie was there, standing beside him. Her expression was fierce and full of hope, encouraging him to match hers by proximity alone.

“You got this, dude,” She said. “Don’t let ‘im get to ya.”

𝐏𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬, 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞. 𝐒𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐮𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡.

Ralsei glared up at his beast, a new fire kindled within him.

“No.”

𝐘𝐎𝐔— He saw that his aptly blunt reply had made a visible impact on Holyflame’s composure, enough to send him into a trembling rage. 𝐇𝐆𝐆𝐆𝐆𝐇𝐡𝐡𝐡. 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐒𝐎𝐔𝐋 𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐮𝐫𝐞, 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐚𝐬𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐕𝐄𝐍, 𝐢𝐟 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐢𝐥. 𝐄𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬, 𝐢𝐟 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐡𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐞𝐢𝐳𝐞 𝐢𝐭! The frigid winter gale was picking up to a near torrent of snow, coming close to blinding the prince’s vision. 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧’𝐭 𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐲𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥. 𝐀𝐬 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐬 𝐈’𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐝. 𝐈𝐭 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐛𝐲 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝. 𝐎𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐢𝐭!

His words no longer meant anything to him. The only thing that mattered was escape. An odd trance-like state overcame him, whispering softly yet sharply, barely audible yet clear.

It was his voice, and it said Break free.

Break free.

BREAK FREE.

I will break free, Susie.

For you.

“Atta’ boy,” She said.

Without breaking his stone-cold glare, Ralsei casually flung the sharpened ice fragment away, taking the bit of shrapnel in his thigh and yanking it out in a swiftly determined motion, a rush of his blood spurting from the wound. Pain opened his mouth to scream, but he only had a subdued grunt to give. He was stronger than that.

The stake burnt to ash in his hand. “I meant what I said.”

Holyflame’s eye-beams fizzled out.

The cold wind blew.

𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞, 𝐑𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐞𝐢.

𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐠𝐞.

Holyflame brandished the length of his trident with a whooshing swipe. Its icy edges glimmered in the night like puddles of spilled blood.

𝐋𝐞𝐭 𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚 𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐞.

For what it was worth, Susie found it wasn’t all that off-putting, being possessed by some eons old death-wraith-of-destruction whatever.

𝗔𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻, 𝗶𝘁’𝘀 𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗱𝗼𝘄𝗳𝗹𝗮𝗺𝗲. 𝗦𝗛𝗔𝗗𝗢𝗪. 𝗙𝗟𝗔𝗠𝗘! 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗣𝗜𝗦𝗦𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗺𝗲 𝗼𝗳𝗳.

Yeah, whatever. Shadowflame. Think I could call ya, I dunno… Shady? Y’know, Like Slim Shady? Somethin’ that doesn’t sound like a fourteen year-old’s OC?

The incredibly miffed image of Shadowflame inside her brain roared a pillar of smoky flame, something she couldn’t say she wasn’t expecting. NGAHHH!!! IDIOT! Of ALL the sinners of the world, I had to be paired with YOU?!

Ok. Cry about it. Leave if you wanna. Was doin’ just fine before you showed up.

𝗪𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆? Shadowflame jeered. 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗴𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗮𝘀𝘀 𝗸𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗲𝗱. 𝗜 𝘄𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝗳𝗲𝗹𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 𝗰𝗮𝗿 𝗰𝗿𝗮𝘀𝗵 𝗶𝗻 𝘀𝗹𝗼𝘄-𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. 𝗣𝗶𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗮 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝗳𝗹𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗲𝗹𝗱; 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂.

Ugh. She would be lying to herself if she didn’t have a point. She kinda was getting her head handed to her, at least a portion of the time. Could anyone blame her, though?! Who the hell would be ready to fight a friend-turned-foe who was not only possessed by a demon, but also stupidly powerful anyways and distracting as hell like UGH how could anyone be that hot —

𝗕𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗧𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘀, 𝗦𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗲! 𝗬𝗼𝘂’𝘃𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗴𝗼𝘁 𝗶𝘁 𝗯𝗮𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗵𝗶𝗺, 𝗵𝘂𝗵?

Susie had to stop from nearly punching herself in the face. Could you SHUT UP, JACKASS?!? STOP LISTENIN’ IN ON MY THOUGHTS!!

Although she probably looked stupid right now, she was murder-glaring as best she could at the fire-engulfed idiot occupying space inside her cranial cavity. The sick-ass flaming arm bursting out of her shoulder like a pissed volcano? Badass. This idiot creep just chilling out in her already cluttered brain, pestering her like an annoying roommate? Not badass. Very not badass, actually.

𝗜 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂. 𝗜’𝗹𝗹 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗜’𝗺 𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗬 𝗯𝗮𝗱𝗮𝘀𝘀, 𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗜’𝗹𝗹 𝗮𝗱𝗱. 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗯𝗮𝗱 𝘁𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲~

Susie hoped she could hear her groaning. This literally isn’t getting us anywhere. I hope you know that.

𝐎𝐡, 𝐧𝐨, 𝐈 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐰. 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠… 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧? “𝐒𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐦”? 𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐡, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭. 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐮𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐬 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭… 𝐨𝐝𝐝𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞, 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧. 𝐂𝐚𝐧’𝐭 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐲. 𝐀𝐥𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐈’𝐦 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐝 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰, 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮? 𝐘𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐲 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐦 𝐨𝐟 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐈 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐞. 𝐘’𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰, 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐒𝐎𝐔𝐋 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭. 𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟, 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞. 𝐑𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞, 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬… 𝐚𝐠𝐨𝐧𝐲-𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠.

Susie furrowed her brow at Shadowflame, who was currently reclining lazily in the metaphysical abstraction of a velvet sofa inside her SOUL, looking a little too pleased with herself. It occurred to the dragon girl that she might be rubbing off on them on some level, considering how they spoke and were also a massive piece of flaming garbage. Whatever they were pulling from, it must’ve been the absolute least favorable aspects of her personality; all the edgy, jagged bits of her that were still left over from after she learned how to stop being a pathetic, no-good-to-anyone bully.

Damn. So not only is Slim Shady here an evil spirit older than time itself or whatever, but it’s also copying the worst parts of me.

𝐘𝐞𝐩. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐜𝐤 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐦𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐫 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐠𝐮𝐲. 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡. 𝐈 𝐚𝐢𝐧’𝐭 𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐲.

Susie perked her head up. She was so engrossed with arguing with her inner demon that she nearly forgot Ralsei existed.

So engrossed, actually, that she didn’t see the deadly fireball hurtling towards her.

Emitting a half-swear before the ball made contact, Susie instinctually threw her shadowflame arm in front of her, more or less expecting to see it vaporized right in front of her. Instead, her shadowy not-hand absorbed the brunt of the heat, wracking the rest of the ghastly appendage with flecks of azure. There was a definite kickback to the blow —one that challenged her footing— but no pain, other than a mild, sort of soothing warmth, as if someone had simply tossed a shirt fresh from the dryer onto her arm. The warmness coursed along the arm and through her veins— literally. She could see the blue of the fire snaking from her arm and into her capillaries, blending seamlessly into her dust.

𝗔𝗵, 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁. 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗺𝗮𝘆𝗯𝗲 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁, Shadowflame mused. 𝗛𝗶𝘀 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗮𝗰𝗸𝘀 𝘄𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗶𝗻 𝗜 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗯𝗼𝗿𝗻 𝗶𝗻; 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗯𝘆𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗹 𝗙𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗲, 𝗜 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝗶𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗱? 𝗔𝗻𝘆𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀. 𝗛𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻’ 𝗲𝗹𝘀𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘄𝗮𝘆, 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗯𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗸 𝗶𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗳𝗮𝗻𝗰𝘆 𝗮𝗿𝗺 𝗜’𝘃𝗲 𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂. 𝗜𝘁’𝗹𝗹 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝘆𝗮 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝘂𝗽.

A sudden absence of pain from the various scrapes and burns she had received during this battle had implied as much, but still the info came like a pleasant tidal wave. DAMN! It HEALS me now?! Now THIS is what I needed!

𝗛𝗲𝘆, 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝘁𝗼𝗼 𝗲𝘅𝗰𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗻𝗼𝘄. 𝗚𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗮 𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗹𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗮𝗿𝗺, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗢𝗡𝗟𝗬 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗮𝗿𝗺. 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗲𝗹𝘀𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗳𝗮𝗶𝗿 𝗴𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 ‘𝗶𝗺. 𝗜 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝘁𝗿𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗯𝗼𝗱𝘆 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝗲, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗮𝘀 𝗶𝘀, 𝘆𝗼𝘂’𝗿𝗲 𝗹𝘂𝗰𝗸𝘆 𝗲𝗻𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝘁𝗼 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵𝗮 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘄. 𝗦𝗼 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗴𝗼 𝗮𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹𝘆-𝗻𝗶𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗶𝗻’ 𝘆𝗼𝘂’𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲, 𝗸𝗮𝗽𝗶𝗰𝗵𝗲?

Alright, Susie thought. Catch his attacks with my arm, don’t let him hit anywhere else, because if he does, it’ll hurt. Sounds easy enough. I hope?

Ralsei’s heart pounded like a war drum, and for all the wrong reasons. For all the times he had battled as a team alongside Kris and Susie, he thought he would’ve been ready for something like this. It was beyond evident that he wasn’t, not by a longshot. Not once had he ever fought enemies by himself, let alone a foe of such gargantuan magnitude. Kris wasn’t here to command him; he was going to have to decide what to do for himself.

Again, he forced a deep breath. That seemed to work for times like these, however daunting. Clearly, attempting to plead with his shadow wasn’t going to work; he could tell that much.

The words kill or be killed came to mind.

I won’t let you keep me from my freedom.

Ralsei gathered energy in his hands, building up the fire into a directed attack. In a determined swerve, he let the ball of flame fly, aimed roughly at Holyflame’s torso; whichever the area was he could most reliably hit. Fire sizzled and ice steamed with the impact, his shadow hacked out a pained cough.

𝐇𝐦, 𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐝. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐲 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐬. 𝐁𝐞𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝…!

The prince braced himself for an attack of some kind, but his form relaxed when he saw that Holyflame wasn’t doing anything that could clearly be an act of aggression. It seemed like they were focusing… reaching for him without hands.

But then, he felt it.

It was a crushing weight, binding him to the ground. Not a weight of a physical sense, mind you, but more of a… spiritual one? He found the feeling to be indescribable. When Ralsei looked down, he could see his SOUL resonating within his chest; it was an estranged tint of blue as opposed to the black that was typical for darkners.

𝐘𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐁𝐋𝐔𝐄 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞, 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐖𝐄𝐈𝐆𝐇 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧.

With a heaving grunt, Holyflame brought a digitigrade leg down with amazing force, such that it shook the very ground the prince stood on, and his bones by proxy. A moment passed before Ralsei noticed the stomps were generating crashing waves of icicle spikes that struck out of the cobble road like thrusted swords, and yet another moment passed before he realized they were barreling towards him. Without a moment’s hesitation, Ralsei bounded over the first wave; they came in such a way that attempting to get around them or to evade normally would be impossible. Initially his stomach churned and leapt while he desperately leaped over the obstacles —whatever magic his aggressor had cast on him made his jumps uncomfortably floaty— but as he continued to jump over the series of advancing spikes, the act became a bit more natural. Rhythmic, even.

When the beast ceased his stomping, Ralsei threw another fireball. This one hit him closer to the navel. He saw that it was doing damage, however small; it would take quite a few more before they could probably even feel it.

𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐈’𝐝 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧. 𝐈 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐝 𝐭𝐫𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐞, 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞. 𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐚 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞.

In came another ravenous flurry of attacks, this time in the form of veering blue waves generated with each whirling flick of Holyflame’s ice trident. Also present were these strangely particular icy platforms that floated hauntingly in from either side; Ralsei wasn’t going to question such a thing seeing as there were more pressing matters to attend to —namely not getting sliced down the middle— but he was thankful for them nonetheless. They made dodging the projectiles a tad easier, even though they were prone to slip underfoot as he landed on each one.

Ralsei landed with a grunt and a puff of dirt on the ground, taking account of the wound he had received from a miscalculated jump, and a well-placed ice wave across the shoulder. Sure it hurt, but it wasn’t the end of the world. He also made sure to realize that the attack slowed his movements when he was hit, which made it easy to take rapid damage from consecutive shots.

“Hrgh… hmph,” The prince uttered, reinstating his vigor. These attacks by themselves aren’t incredibly hard-hitting, but it’s the bone-chilling slowness that’ll get me. I can’t afford to get hit even once; it might spell the end for me if I do.

He cast a flame of his own, and it hit his mark. It was clear Holyflame had no intent to dodge his retaliations, as if he even needed to.

𝐇𝐦𝐩𝐡. 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧 𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐚𝐧. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐧…

𝗬𝗘𝗦! 𝗠𝗔𝗞𝗘 𝗛𝗜𝗠 𝗕𝗟𝗘𝗘𝗗!!

Susie’s fury-lit eyes sparked as she raked the barbs of her unholy pain device across Ralsei’s chest, prompting an oh-so-satisfying wail of agony.

These sounds of pain were like chocolate to her ears. Why she hadn’t noticed them before, she wasn’t sure. Maybe her shadow had lent her an ear? Either way, she couldn’t help but soak in every yip, every yowl and every pained groan, dancing into her ears like the feeling of slipping into a hot tub. Different approaches prompted different harmonies: a pointed punch would generate a more muffled, staccato grunt, while a claw-strike such as this elicited a lasting scream with a vast possibility of ranges.

It filled her in a way she couldn’t describe.

She wanted more.

Susie glared her prey down, taking in his fear as he staggered, grasping at his flayed wounds.

With that final word uttered, Susie knew what she wanted. Her lips curled into a frenzied grin as a smoky wave rippled along the inky shadow-like scales of her wing-arm, a new instrument of destruction sprouting along it like a beautiful wave: barbed wire. These barbs were hers, and they were constructed of the same essence that made the arm, coiling in deadly spirals eager to maim and thirsting for darkner blood.

𝗢𝗵, 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗳𝗶𝗴𝘂𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘆? 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲. 𝗢𝗳 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲, 𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲 “𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗱” 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝗻 𝗲𝘅𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝘂𝘀, 𝗶𝘁 𝗶𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗯𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝘆𝗽𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗿𝘂𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗯𝗼𝗱𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸. 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗱𝗼 𝗮𝗻𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘆𝗼𝘂’𝗱 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺, 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗹𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁.

Susie wondered.

...Anything?

Shadowflame cackled a genuine sounding laugh.

𝗔𝗻𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀 𝗵𝗶𝗺 𝗦𝗖𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗠.

𝐈 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡. 𝐈 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮. 𝐖𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐧, 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧?

Nearly immediately, Ralsei knew this attack was different. The rising fall of wind gave way to a battering gale of wind, enough to sting the prince’s eyes and force them to be shielded with a hand. Through the transpiring chaotic weather, one thing became clear, or maybe unclear — Holyflame was nowhere to be seen.

“Where… W—Where are you?!” The cry dissipated pathetically into the cold, which held no response. He wasn’t sure if it was a trick of the mind or something else, but the prince swore he saw the errant shine of his shadow’s eyes, peering at him through the veil of winter.

Ralsei’s fear-induced trembling returned with a vengeance. Suddenly those evil eyes were everywhere, all of them glaring vacantly towards the boy in the center of the storm. It felt more like a psychological attack if anything, if he was being honest with himself.

The wind whipped his hair like a tornado. Focus… focus. He’s here, I can feel him. Where…?

He looked.

A pair of eyes, watching him.

Teeth like knives accompanying.

Ralsei heard the faint, barely audible cue of rising footfalls, and he didn’t even have to prompt his body to fling himself out of the way.

As the boy fell roughly to the ground, he also heard something like a swish through air, the sound placed just where his head might’ve been half a second earlier. When he managed to fix his jostled glasses, he saw the looming figure of his demon, holding in a pose that indicated the tail-end of a devastating swipe. Their solemnly distraught expression and gritted teeth said enough.

Phew. Might’ve narrowly avoided losing my head, Ralsei thought, punctuating his attacker’s failure with yet another sure-striking fireball.

𝐎𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞. 𝐎𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞, 𝐈 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮. 𝐈 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭, 𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮? 𝐘𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐭. 𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐦𝐞.

Internally, Ralsei pegged the next assault to be a measure more physical, and he was right by an excessive margin. He almost wished he wasn’t so right, only when he saw Holyflame squatting down, channeling the herculean strength of his rigid legs into a towering leap. Their mid-air somersaults could’ve been called majestic, or maybe reminiscent of a soaring eagle, if they weren’t aimed to crush him into a furry smear.

Past the initial awe and spectacle, the prince realized that now was a terrible time to forget to dodge. Ralsei swerved away from the projected point of impact, watching as Holyflame came crashing down with more than enough force to shatter the cobble beneath his feet, enough to rattle his bones from the inside out. Ralsei expected the next jump to come just as quickly, although it still shocked him when it did. Past their rabid attempts to kill him, he had to give them credit, they were doing an excellent job of making him feel like a cockroach.

It wasn’t long until one of their impacts came a bit too close for comfort, the resulting shockwave knocking the flailing prince into the air. For another time out of many to come, he plummeted to the ground, eliciting a sharp yip of agony as the rough landing cracked his ribs.

𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐮𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞. 𝐈’𝐥𝐥 𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐭. 𝐀𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐠𝐨 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧. 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞, 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐭, 𝐈’𝐥𝐥 𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭.

His world spinning around him, Ralsei stumbled to his feet, channeling a desperately needed rush of healing magic into himself as he stood. A wave of disorientation hit him as he realized his surroundings: when he looked forward, the cobble road was there, and when he gazed down, it was the castle walls. How was this possible? A bewildered prince glanced backwards, an act that only worsened his nausea. The sky was behind him.

His SOUL pulsed, gravity pulling him. Somehow, Ralsei was standing on a wall.

Adrenaline shot through the prince’s veins when he realized the not-ground beneath him was brimming with the tips of deadly spikes, more than likely aimed to gut him. Instinctually his legs shot his body upward, tucking themselves in as the stakes chased him, yet barely fell short of his feet. At the height of his jump, the world spun again, and for a second time he found himself in an orientation that shouldn’t be possible. It was miraculous that he landed on his feet, and just the same that he avoided the next rush of spikes.

Slowly but surely, this attack too became like clockwork. That’s the key to this, Ralsei thought, reorienting himself mid-air in preparation for another gravity switch. All of his attacks have a certain rhythm to them. They’re brutal, but predictable.

Ancient stone cracked as the prince landed dexterously on the real ground.

This time, his fireball created a crack in Holyflame’s ribcage.

Ralsei’s menace observed this, and huffed a puff of ice crystals.

𝐇𝐦𝐩𝐡. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐞𝐭, 𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐭𝐚𝐬𝐤 𝐢𝐧 𝐢𝐭𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟. 𝐘𝐞𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. 𝐍𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐝…!

The cold wind blew harder.

Harsh, dissonant sounds of whirring metal filling the air with as much violence as there was freedom.

It was a cathartic thing, hurting him like this. The way he did, so many times to her before. Could it be called justice? Vengeance, maybe? She wasn’t sure, but it felt like something more, something carnal.

𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗲𝗻𝗷𝗼𝘆 𝗵𝘂𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲.

I enjoy hurting people.

Susie roughly yanked the cord on her oversized arm-wing-chainsaw-thing, reveling in the pained howls and growls it sounded in the night. Like a prodded beast it reacted in kind, producing a thumping, rhythmic beat as it shuddered, just as any instrument of torture should.

Maybe this was her inner predator kicking in, or maybe it was something else, but the slick sense of unadulterated fear in his eyes sated her like godly nectar, leaving her wanting only more.

And more she would have.

Unsurprisingly, he would attempt to fight back. Not that any of his attacks were of any danger anymore, that she could even feel them. A slash across her underside, drowned by the insatiable bloodlust that drove her dashing footfalls. Dazzling fireballs pelted her scales like a meteor storm, the pain making her bite her teeth down, which reminded her of her teeth, which reminded her she wanted more. Even his pathetic teleportation had been rendered helpless, since she could just as easily grab him out of it with a flick of the wrist.

Ralsei struggled, squirmed, writhed in the blades of her churning hand. She wanted all of him. His body, his blood, his bones, everything. Not a single drop would go to waste. She would have him in the purest, most perfect way imaginable. The simple thought of it excited her beyond words, beyond rationality, made her quiver with anticipation.

𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗯𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗱.

I want BLOOD.

And there was blood, spattering on her fire-wrought jacket coupled with screaming that made her heart soar.

It was almost becoming too much.

I’m ready.

Susie let Ralsei’s bloodied and broken body splat on the ground, looking down with apathy at his subdued, tortured cries. It was kinda pathetic, honestly. Only a moment ago he had been this fireball slinging, one-liner spouting, absolute hunk of a guy, but now? He looked more like a slab of meat gone through the meat-grinder, strings of flesh and fur strewn about, bits of bone sticking out where they shouldn’t.

It would be funny, if it weren’t so sad.

Actually, that was a lie. This was comedy goddamn platinum.

Susie threw her head back, roaring out wave after wave of hoarse, monstrous laughter. “HERGH HERGH HERGH! GOD, isn’t this RICH. LOOK AT YOU. You’re a goddamn pile of MEAT, crying there all boo-hoo while you bleed your stupid guts all over the floor. Waste of a perfectly good floor, too.”

“...gurgle…”

She straddled him, not that she could care less about the blood wetting her sweatpants. Could use a shade of black, she thought. “Don’t think the irony’s lost on me, dumbass. Not even a day ago, you were constantly shooting your shit about oh, we should avoid violence and try to act more like a hero n’ all that, then you turn the hell around and frickin’ BURN EVERYTHING. AND try to kill me. AND ACTUALLY KILL SOMEONE.”

“...S…”

“But y’ know what. Y’ know what? I think I see. You were tryna show me, weren’t you? Maybe you realize this whole hoity toity friendship nonsense was all an act. That the real pleasure in life… is pain. Makes a bit more sense when I think about it that way…”

The look Ralsei gave her made her heart skip a beat. Susie couldn’t help but think he was a tad more handsome when his snout was bent in the way it was.

“Damn. You really are a looker, huh? Your face is cute as hell.”

“So it’s a goddamn shame…”

𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗵𝗶𝗺.

I want to kill him.

She bared her teeth.

“You’re gonna lose it.”

Then came the maw.

Open wide, descending.

Closer, closer, closer.

Heat of her breath caressing the tip of his nose.

Heartbeat.

Anticipation.

Desire.

“Su…sss…”

She froze.

“I…”

“I… wr… ong… kh… khhhhhh…”

She could snap her teeth down.

She could snap her teeth down, and that would be the end of him, right there.

She thought that was what she wanted.

𝗪𝗲𝗹𝗹, 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗮𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿? 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗴𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗮 𝗯𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗳𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗳𝗳 𝗼𝗿 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁? 𝗠𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘀𝘆, 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂'𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘁.

Susie pushed back up, bringing her hands within view, staring blankly down at them. One was brimming fiercely with wheeling fire, perfectly calm and controlled. The other was caked with blood and trembling uncontrollably.

One of them wasn’t hers.

…No.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁?! 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝗱𝗱𝗮𝘆𝗮 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝗻 “𝗻𝗼”?!

Susie began to heal Ralsei with her real arm.

𝗡𝗢! 𝗗𝗮𝗺𝗺𝗶𝘁 𝗦𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗲, 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗹’𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴?! 𝗪𝗲’𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝗞𝗜𝗟𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗛𝗜𝗠. 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗟𝗜𝗞𝗘 𝗛𝗨𝗥𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗣𝗘𝗢𝗣𝗟𝗘!

You’re wrong, freak.

This isn’t me. YOU aren’t me.

The real me loves him.

Doing her best to tune out the raging clamor inside her skull, she reached deep into her own SOUL, scooping up whatever purity remained and channeling it into something that would save him. Or, what was left of him. The prince was barely alive, as far as she could see; it was anyone’s guess as to why that was the case.

Susie heard a few ragged, gasping breaths over her inner cacophony. In a blind panic, she shook him in an effort to accelerate the revival. “Rals! RALSEI!! Are you— oh please come on, pleasebealivepleasepleasePLEASE—!”

She wasn’t sure how, and she knew she didn’t deserve it, but his eyes fluttered open.

“...Susie?”

Is… is this him? This is him, the REAL him! Susie thought, matching his azure gaze with elation. “RALS! YES, YOU’RE— I mean— uf, thank god you’re— are you, like, alright?”

Ralsei offered a contented hum.

“I… yes. I’m doing quite well, thanks to you.”

There was a sound like a blade extending, and heat searing flesh.

“...You idiot.”

Ralsei was on his last leg, in terms of survival.

For the last few cycles of attacks, he had only just barely been able to evade death. Holyflame was beginning to meld the sequences he had come to expect into deadly combinations that wore down on his determination. Sometimes the platforms would come with both stomps and waves, sometimes his shockwave slam would alter gravity upon impact, making it a challenge to both remain cognizant of the impossible changes and the threat of being crushed. Sometimes Holyflame would zip around him using his wintery wisp-like form, sending barrages of his usual attacks erratically from every angle, making them unpredictable and even harder to dodge.

He fought through the pain racking every atom of his body, clutching his consciousness by a thread. The attacks had slowed, and the storm intensified. His attacker was conspicuously absent; this only meant one thing in the prince’s mind: Be ready.

Once more, the eyes appeared, all of them staring. Ralsei knew only one of them was real, though.

He searched frantically for the teeth that would give his demon away.

There, they were there! It was near-impossible to discern through the blustering snow, but it was them. He was sure of it.

They locked gazes.

Come on, you bastard. Do it.

The wait was agonizing. Ralsei became hyper-fixated on this vision, ready to leap out of the way at a moment’s notice.

He was focused.

He was so focused.

He had become so focused that it took him a moment to notice the trident piercing his chest.

Ralsei opened his mouth to scream, but nothing came out. It was a pain that numbed pain, that prevented the existence of feeling. Like suddenly having your mind separated from your body, and only being able to watch as you died.

𝐅𝐚𝐥𝐥.

Holyflame dislodged his armament from the prince’s ruptured back, flicking the blood away from his weapon and letting him fall to the ground.

Ralsei became dust, his robes and scarf collapsing into a heap.

Holyflame watched expectantly.

A moment and another passed.

The dust particles began to draw together.

Clumps became fur, became limbs, became him.

The prince returned.

“...GAAAAHHHH!” He screamed, the first thing his brain pushed him to do. Secondly his brain had him flick his gaze downward in horrified expectation, but there was no blade stabbed through him, no pain.

After that was a complete blankness.

...Where am I? What is… what is this place?

𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞, 𝐒𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐞𝐢.

Sarlei jumped at the sound of the haughty, broken voice that rang out. Was that his name, Sarlei? He felt less sure of that than he felt he should. This ice-person thing… should he be afraid of them? They looked rather sinister, to say the least. They were at least two-and-a-half times his height...

𝐁𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐝. 𝐈 𝐚𝐦 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐚𝐬 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧. 𝐀𝐬 𝐈 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝐛𝐞.

“I…” Somehow, he didn’t expect his own voice to sound like that. He cleared his throat a few times. “Sorry, I seem to be terribly lost here... Hi? I’m… I’m Sarlei.”

𝐘𝐞𝐬. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞.

His name felt strange in his own ears, why it felt wrong he wasn’t sure. He repeated the name a few times in his head.

Sarlei.

Sarlei.

Susie.

Sarlei.

Sarl

Susie.

Susie!

The memories came flooding back…!

“Wait… Wait, you—! My name is Ralsei!”

Holyflame’s grin receded.

The last thing Ralsei saw was a blurred figure moving towards him, before his head became multiple parts.

The prince returned.

Susie.

“My name is RALSEI!!”

An icicle spike shot through his body from the ground up, rupturing his insides like a nail shot through a railroad.

The prince returned.

Susie.

“I… am Ral—.”

His marrow scattered against the floor, conjoined with broken bits of teeth and bone.

The prince returned.

S…

Susie. Her name is Susie.

“...I—”

Holyflame hoisted him by his collar, chucking him like a ragdoll against the brick foundation of the town walls.

Ralsei’s stomach lurched as his body sailed through the air, the feeling overtaken by a sledgehammer of dizzying pain as he crashed against the basalt. By sheer luck the impact wasn’t enough to kill him outright, although it was plenty to leave a chip here and a crack there on his horns, coupled with a world-churning disorientation. The ground hitting him wasn’t good enough of a wake-up call; it only furthered the pain by breaking his nose.

He was strong, though. He wouldn’t forget.

“I… urgh— I won’t…”

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧’𝐭 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐢𝐭, 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞.

Stomp. Stomp.

𝐄𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐢𝐞, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦.

Stomp. Stomp.

𝐈’𝐯𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡. 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐭? 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞?

STOMP.

…

𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐫.

𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐫, 𝐢𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐢𝐭? 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐲, 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐡.

𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐯𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐫? 𝐓𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐞.

Ralsei growled at the icy feet in front of him, rerouting his might into pushing himself up.

𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐰, 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐞. 𝐓𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐫.

“K—Kiss… my assHOOUGH—!”

Holyflame scooped him up once more by the scruff of his fur, roughly pinning him against the wall. Air retreated from his lungs as it was forced out of him, his exhaustion preventing him from bringing it back.

𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐚𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐠𝐮𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐣𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞.

𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮. 𝐍𝐨 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬. 𝐍𝐨 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐦𝐞.

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭.

Pain roared in her abdomen in an unholy chorus with the demon screaming within her skull.

Susie gawked down at the blade piercing her scales, wondering how she could’ve been so stupid. Of course this was going to happen, of course he was going to kill her like this. This was the way it would end; a stab through the gut from someone she dared to love.

“I can’t BELIEVE you fell for that. Did you honestly think there was any good left in me, after all this?”

“The pain, the suffering, our blades crossing. I genuinely thought you had learned something from it all! It looked as if you had.”

Yes, she was angry. Angry at herself, angry at him, angry at everything.

Wait, no. Was it anger? It felt like anger, but it had an almost… transcendent quality to it? As if she could wield the emotion like a sword to strike down those that stood in the way of…

Of…

Healing.

Susie clutched the edge piercing her, grinning.

“Actually, I did learn somethin’.”

There was a bright, pink light.

“You taught me, actually.”

She thought she saw Ralsei’s features turn from malevolence to shock.

“I learned…”

𝗡𝗢𝗢𝗢𝗢𝗢𝗢𝗢𝗢!!!

“To heal.”

“That’s… not true.”

...𝐇𝐦?

“You’re wrong...”

𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐮𝐩, 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞.

“You’re…”

Love coursed through his fist, melding with flame to forge his fire anew, now with a distinct gradient of burning pink.

“WRONG!!!”

With every remnant of strength he could muster, Ralsei slammed his fist down upon the glossy blackness of the arm that encased him; a sudden burst of brilliant light boomed forth as a blood-curdling roar filled his ears. Like a severed tail the arm holding him spasmed, releasing him to the floor without grace or subtlety. Impact from the fall knocked his glasses away, blurring his vision.

Screaming that didn’t sound like screaming, but more like every possible unpleasant, harsh sound mixed into one, then molded to mimic a scream.

Pain filled his ears like cement mix, the sound seeping deeper and hardening within his ear lobes. Groggily he snatched the hazy blur from in front of him, replacing the frame to his eyes.

Ralsei watched as Holyflame’s arm, cracked with pink light, shattered into bits. Only the ancient bone of the arm was left, hanging limply.

They fell like a deciduous, roaring in agony at their missing limb the whole way.

Similarly, he gawked at his own hand. It was shining brilliantly with light, the same light that broke his shadow’s arm.

His fist clenched, and a spark of determination flashed in his eye.

I know what I must do.

Ralsei stood, wiping the dripping blood from his snout that stained his teeth with black.

𝐊𝐀𝐅— 𝐊𝐎𝐅— 𝐄𝐑𝐑𝐀𝐀𝐆𝐆𝐇! 𝐓𝐈𝐓𝐀𝐍𝐒 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐃𝐀𝐑𝐊𝐍𝐄𝐒𝐒, 𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐇𝐀𝐕𝐄 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐃𝐎𝐍𝐄?!

His legs screamed with every inch he took. Steps of his own, limping over to the fallen beast.

𝐘𝐨𝐮… 𝐧𝐨. 𝐍𝐎. 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐘 𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐊!

He clambered up onto their ribcage, teetering on the edge of death in a way that felt familiar.

There was an expression on Holyflame’s blocky face that Ralsei had never seen before.

Fear.

𝐑𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐞𝐢.

𝐌𝐲 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞.

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧’𝐭.

𝐀𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐘𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐆.

Ralsei regarded him for a moment.

“Everything…”

A flaming sword of love spawned in the prince’s grasp, poised downwards.

“Susie…

is my everything.”

He stabbed the blade down.

Dazzling, blinding light.

Freedom.

There was screaming, coming from somewhere.

Whether it came from the fizzling demon inside her brain or the light-ravaged boy in front of her, it was hard to tell through the shock-induced dampener on her senses. Susie was certain she had experienced a feeling like this before, possibly after a close run-in with death in the midst of a snowy forest. It certainly mattered more now than it did then, because this time it was real.

Susie gripped her claws harder around the fire piercing her flesh, using the rumbling pain of the burning as a foothold in consciousness. The ethereal pink light was still flowing into Ralsei, and exiting out of his eyes via beaming rays converted into a more striking blue; a hue of color akin to his flame. If Susie was capable of forming coherent thought at that moment, she might’ve wondered if that was light leaving him, displaced by the new light flowing in.

Her love, expelling the darkness.

The light stopped, and so did the burning.

They both fell.

It was quiet for some time, even in their heads. No foul whispers or shadows, no utterances of darkness lurking from the corners of their minds. No sound but both of their breathing; Susie’s pained and groaning, Ralsei’s subtle yet tortured. Them and the roaring blaze of the buildings. All of them together a muted song, dancing along the edge of death.

Ralsei was the first to open his eyes.

They were pink and fully his again.

“Ugh… agh— Angel, that hurts…” The prince moaned, rubbing the aching soreness cracked against the back of his head. No doubt it was the headwound he’d received from hitting that wall so hard after that explosion of winter, back in the city— blood from the sharp cut had bled into his fur, and trickled down past his horns to a good portion of his face. Evidently the first and most pressing course of action was to direct his healing magic into it, which he was able to do without too much concentration.

Once that was done, Ralsei picked himself up and turned to look around. His surroundings were unfamiliar, that much he knew to be certain. Surely, this was the Cyber World, wasn’t it? Everything was burning… his mind felt sluggish, like someone had scooped out bits of his brain and replaced it with molasses.

Confusion took hold for a brief instance, before it was replaced by abject horror when he saw her.

“S—SUSIE!!!”

The prince wasn’t sure he’d ever ran faster in his life, upon seeing Susie’s splayed, barely breathing body. He moved with haste —so fast in fact that he nearly tripped on rubble— and flung himself down beside her, cradling her head in his arms as best he could. He cried her name again, desperation rising as his fear-ridden gaze crossed the badly bleeding incision burned into her core.

“Susie, nonononono SUSIE!! Oh no, oh, oh sh— oh shhhhit, oh SHIT S—Susie, y—you’ll be alright, just hang on, pleasepleasePLEASE, o—okay okay…” The words welled into her ear holes and faded to somewhere else. At best, all Susie could do was cough up dust and make a sound like a diseased dolphin, if that helped any. This was what, the third or fourth time she was certain she was about to die, today? That beat the record by a fairly large margin. She wondered if she could take that achievement to Heaven or wherever she was headed.

“Susie… hc… p—please…” His healing magic was flowing into her, but it wasn’t enough. He could already see the light fading from her eyes, and it wouldn’t be long until she was gone. There was a half-decent attempt at damming the inevitable onslaught of tears, one that was extremely short lived. Ralsei just let everything out onto her, everything he had, all compressed into those tiny droplets of water running down his face, splashing onto her scales.

Moments before Susie was ready to leave, Ralsei ran his hand up the length of her arm and twined his fingers with hers.

“I’m, s, sorry…”

Burning wind.

“I’m so, so sorry, Susie… hc…”

Ralsei wailed, burying his head in the crook of her neck.

“HhhhhhHHAAAAAAAGGGHHHH!!!”

Was this what his demon had warned him about?

Was it really better to never have loved, than to have loved and lost?

…

No.

No, because there was something.

There was something left.

Something that REFUSED.

A spark.

A spark of pink flashed in their hands.

It brought her back down.

When Susie opened her eyes, she saw a big bawling ball of fluff poised across her chest. Currently, he was occupied with the task of ugly-crying as hard as he could all over her mauve turtleneck.

It wasn’t the most flattering sight, really.

“...Rals?”

The prince’s heart froze, together with his body. He jerked his head up.

“Sus— ehm— Susie?!”

“Uh, yeah. That’d be me.” She noted that his eyes weren’t burning anymore, but it was never a bad thing to be sure. “You uh, ain’t evil anymore, right? Just you this time?”

Instead, his smile was the part of him that burned. In a good way.

“YES!! I—I mean, y—yes, yes. It’s just me, Susie. It’s just me.”

“...Just us,” she spoke, softer than his fur.

Susie and Ralsei gazed into each other, past everything, into each other’s SOULs. There was a spark in the air between them; one that couldn't be seen but could very much be felt.

An idea popped into Susie’s head, staring into his annoyingly pretty eyes. It was an interesting one, nothing she could immediately call as good or bad, as adept as she normally was at that sort of thing. It was candid if anything, blunt even. If there were a better way to express how she felt through words, she’d try.

Ralsei’s thoughts were another beast entirely. They went something a bit like I can’t believe this I can’t believe I almost lost you what would I have done, what would I have done without you I don’t think I could’ve lived with myself I love you so much, oh Angel she’s so heavenly I don’t deserve her at all —

His inner ramblings were so intense, in fact, that a part of them escaped vocally as a choked “I love you s...”.

Susie blinked.

“...what,” She said.

It became rapidly apparent to Ralsei that he had just spoken a collection of words in an order that might’ve served as a subconscious confession. Subsequently, his face took on the appropriate shade of firetruck red.

“Uh— Uhm! Kidding! I—I was kidding, I was just…”

Nothing about this was okay to Susie. She hated this, whatever this was. Once again, it was her having to do the heavy lifting.

So she clamped her claws around the back of Ralsei's head, in the spot just behind his fluffy ears.

"S—Susie?! What are you mmph-!? "

She scrunched her eyelids shut and pulled hard, eliciting a surprised yip as she practically thrusted him into her kiss.

It could barely even be called a kiss at first, it was more of Susie smashing Ralsei's snout into hers in some sort of weird face-butting contest. But past the initial shock and gut-wrenching awkwardness, and once they had sorted out each other’s vastly different snout lengths, (“Maybe… like this…? Yah,” Susie muttered, craning her neck to find a more doable angle) it became a lot more like a kiss, and a damn good one at that. Ralsei’s eyes fluttered shut, his hands venturing their way down to Susie’s shoulders, fastening their grasp as he leaned further into her. His heart couldn’t help but soar, tilting his head slightly in the way she did to deepen the act of admittedly amateurish-yet-also-incredible passion they engaged in. Each end of Susie’s mouth curled into a smile, the girl willingly letting her senses loose in the warmth and softness of his lips, pulses of her heartbeat and breath beating through to him and rebounding with burning satisfaction. A ringing hum of bliss galed from within her heart, forged from the billowing flame his caprine-yet-discernibly-boyish taste sparked.

They parted from each other at around the same time, which came as a surprise to both of them. For the fact that Ralsei was rendered both breathless and smitten, he might as well have received a volley of cupid’s arrows straight through his heart. Susie couldn’t help but double over in laughter at this. Not out of any mean-spirited mockery, but just because of how utterly absurd it all was. It certainly wasn’t every day she went adventuring into an alternate dimension and accidentally summoned some actual demons from hell and nearly got killed on several occasions.

Oh yeah, and kissing a boy for the first time. That topped the list of insane crap she’d done today.

Ralsei's heart sank upon witnessing her reaction. “Oh… oh dear… I didn’t do it right at all, did I…?” In an attempt to bury his head in his scarf, the prince reached for his neck, but his garment wasn’t there— Susie was still wearing it. “I—I’ve never really, um...”

“WHAT?!” Susie barked, sputtering into a crazed fit of wheezing laughter “Are you— are you kiddin’?! THAT WAS YOUR FIRST TIME?!? That was like , amazing I mean— oh god I can't f— can't feel my face— UGH, hell’d you do to me, nerd?! YOU MELTED MY FACE MUSCLES!!!”

That was a bigger weight off Ralsei’s back than he could care to admit. He could count the amount of books he had read involving a kiss on one hand, and even then the act itself was scarcely described (so many characters who released breaths they didn’t know they were holding… should that’ve happened to him?). Of course, there were steamier novels he had managed to get his hands on, but could never get very far in without feeling like his face was about to burst from embarrassment. Getting to partake in a kiss with a stunningly beautiful girl was a dream in itself, but actually managing to not completely fail at it? Nothing short of a miracle!

Massive sigh of relief from Ralsei, conjoined with his own light-hearted laughter. “Wow… oh, wow. Hah, I’m… I’m so happy, Susie. You’ve made me so happy, I just couldn’t— I still can’t believe you feel the same way. Gosh, my head’s still spinning...”

“Um, YEAH. In case asshole-you didn’t get the memo: I love you too, you dolt.” Susie began making little twirls with her claw in the mess of Ralsei’s hair, in a futile attempt to distract herself from the raging surface of the sun that her face had decided to become. “It’s uh, pretty cool that you love me back, I guess. Means we can slobber all over each other like lovesick badgers or somethin’, heh.”

“S—Susie! I would never— I mean maybe, but, u—um??? Only if you wanted to, that is!” She was fishing for that specific expression, and god did she love seeing it now. It made her feel cool-as-ice in comparison, even though she was little more than a flustered wreck at the moment. It made her feel better, as much as she was going to kind of miss Bad Boy Ralsei. “Gosh, I... I really don’t deserve you, you know that?”

She gave him the patented Susie Smirk™. “I know. But you’re gettin’ me anyway.”

In came another entry for the Collage of Memorable Looks Ralsei’s Given Me inside Susie’s brain, and this one was a heavy contender for #1.

“Uh. Should we like, get offa this dusty ass floor? Unless you were planning on another round of kissy-kissy.”

“A—Ah, you’re right, um! Here, let me help.” Ralsei offered a hand for which Susie didn’t have to ask. Not that he was of any use hoisting her up, considering she weighed around twice as much as him; the girl considered the thought to be enough. A sudden wave of intense self-consciousness overtook him, leading him to realize he was still partially stripped from the waist up. With a quick bleat of heightened embarrassment, he clumsily buttoned his robe-coat back up; thus, the fluffy guns were sealed away behind his sleeves for the foreseeable future.

Susie looked on at this sight, an unexpected pang of envy prodding her as Ralsei’s bare arms concealed themselves. Covering up such wonders of the world was heresy, in her opinion. “...Any way I can convince ya to keep ‘em out? Oh, and uh, here’s your scarf by the way.”

“Th—Thanks. I hope it kept you warm.” Ralsei bashfully took the garment from Susie’s possession, his cheeks burning a slight shade deeper from the physical contact. “And, um, I think my arms would like to stay inside, for now. If that’s alright with you?”

“‘Course. I’ll probably miss ‘em, though…”

 Shortly after wrapping his signature fuschia-threaded scarf snugly around his neck, he took to a cursory inspection of the half-burnt pocket of cloth and scales residing near her abdomen, a look of deep concern adorning him. “Are… are you alright, Susie? I know I… I sort of…” His sight scoured the ground, as if to search for any kind of euphemism as he rolled his hands, but couldn’t retrieve any. “...stabbed you. Pretty hard. Very hard, actually, um… again, sorry about that.”

Susie raised the hem of her sweater a tad, and saw only the beginnings of a rooted scar within the finely toned muscle. “You’re good, dude. Doesn’t hurt at all, actually. Whatever you did… fixed me right up. Only thing with any lasting damage looks to be my gear, ‘n I actually like battle-scarred wear more, y’know? Looks kinda badass, like I just escaped a burning building.” She turned her sight back up to him, puffing a tuft of hair out of the way. “‘Sides, I knocked ya a few good ones, didn’t I? Heh, honestly, I kinda beat the shit outta you. But it was actually Bad Boy Ralsei’s ass I was kickin’, and him who was fightin’ me, so we’re good basically.”

Instead of gracing her with a reply, Ralsei instead averted his gaze to the floor. Concern had become regret, disdain turned inward.

She quickly noticed his dread, quicker to place a hand on his shoulder. “...Hey, what’s up?”

“That’s… not entirely true, Susie.”

“Huh..? Whaddaya mean?”

Ralsei lifted the spectacles from the bridge of his snout, pushing out the bits of broken glass that remained while struggling to relay his thoughts. “It’s… it’s hard to explain, but it was me, in a way. But it also wasn’t me. That entire time we were fighting, while I was… for lack of a better word, evil... I was trapped. Trapped in some horrible reflection of my psyche, disguised as the place I’ve always known, with fake memories of a life I thought I’d lived. The Ralsei you know, the one standing in front of you… he was down there, while another Ralsei, one that I’d wished you’d never have to see, the Ralsei I’ve spent so many years of my life burying… he was up here, hurting you. Both of them were me.”

Susie forgot english for a few seconds.

“...You’re bipolar?” She asked, incredulous.

The prince produced a spare lens from somewhere within his robe’s pocket, clicking it into the frame of his glasses and returning the repaired object to its rightful place. “Haha, not exactly, um… I don’t really know how it works. It shouldn’t be possible for two versions of me to coexist like that, in separate planes. My knowledge of consciousness theory and spatio-temporal relations aren’t very defined in that regard, um. The few books I tried reading about that were far above anything I could comprehend… anyway. What I’m trying to say, I think, is that there’s no reason to waive the blame. It was me who tried to kill you.

“...Dude.”

“I understand if you hate me, Susie. I understand if you... never want to see me again. What I did was beyond forgiveness.

“Dude.”

“There’s nothing I’ll ever be able to do to make it up, and I know—”

“DUDE!!!”

“H—Huh?”

“I. Don’t. Care,” Susie spat, as passive-aggressively as was possible. “So freaking what it was you bein’ a jackass? Plenty of jackasses I know I’m friends with, you one of ‘em. It’s intention that matters. And right now, you look sorry as hell. I mean look ‘atcha, you were practically blubberin’ like a little baby. So shut your idiot ass up with that Oh I’m so sorryyyyyy bullcrap, ‘cuz it ain’t you.” She jabbed him in the shoulder by way of a claw. “Period.”

“O—Okay. I’ll…” Ralsei inhaled a quivering breath, rising through his chest and expelling the dread as he exhaled. “I’ll stop. Thank you so much, Susie.”

“Also you were possessed by a literal demon, so I think that may have had somethin’ to do with it.”

H͇ah͆ͤa͈ha̫̅ͅ— H̪A̖͢H͖̃ͣAḦ̓̕ÀHͭ͟A̋—͕ ͓ȟ̴̊a̬h̢aͅhͮǎ…̹ͨ

Susie and Ralsei jolted from the sudden roar of inhuman laughter.

They swiveled to the source, and there was the beast.

Holyflame’s flickering visage resided in the area just beside the main walkway to the QUEEN’s castle, motionless in a hauntingly penitent kneel. Gone was any semblance of power, intimidation or poise they may have had, their entire form defeated in every sense of the word. Their once colder-than-ice exterior had decayed into a near-heap of melting mass, pure darkness dripping from their vaguely blocky maw, a maw agape permanently in a crooked half-grin, half-scream; vacant eyes shining with a strobing blue light that fought to shine brighter, but couldn’t, like a faulty stagelight. An already eerie exposed ribcage was violently broken open for all to see, and within it a faintly beating heart, little fairies of pink twirling around the defrosted husk of faintly pulsing flesh. The shadow's entire image shimmered and glistened as if they were a fading channel on an obsolete television, static blurring the lines that made them.

Five tails of their wrapped shawl, strung around their neck and rising into the sky like puppet strings.

.͈͋̈..ͮH̪͒a̍̋͘,̧͂͠ They hacked, without any visible movement of their mouth. Without visible movement of any kind, in fact.

T̷̩ō͠͝ ̊t̛̾hi̐̍n̜k ̩̊w̖͗̈́eͥ͢ ̈́co̜͌ṵ̗̑l͍d̻ͅ ͈b̢̓͘e̟̲͑ ̯͊r͆͆e͆̒l͍̪̃e̸̒g͈a̎ͮted̵͎̈́ ̣t̸̃o͗̀ͦ ͛ä̱́͜ ͖͉̠teͫ͛̕r͞mͪ̕ ͙̀suc͎̼h̙̊̾ ͇͊ä͍̗́s̘͋͢ ̽̒͏“ͫde̶͡m̮o͂ͪn”̿.
̾
͔̃̋Ẅ̓e̅ ̣̂͠à̛r̃e s͝o ̟̀m͍͌̏uch̙ mo̜̭̠r͌e.̔

“Uhhhhhhhh, um, UM, Ralsei???” Susie took one step back, then another, undoubtedly shaken by the sight before her. “What in the f— What is that. WHAT IS THAT?!?”

“It’s my demon.”

Fire stoked in Ralsei’s palms.

He pushed past Susie, steely gaze set upon his personal antagonist. “What right do you have, being here still? It’s over, Holyflame. You lost. So go on, go back to whatever hole you crawled out of.” Susie joined beside him, ax in hand, expression built in an attempt to match the prince’s constitution, although it still bore a clearly visible unease. “Unless you’d prefer Susie and I to ferry you on ourselves.”

Holyflame’s light flickered as if to imply something.

Iͮ…̞͙

Slowly, painfully slowly, their ruined head rose to stare into Ralsei’s eyes. Ice and frost cracked and crumbled as their body began shaking, fueled by a deeply burning rage.

“Be ready, Susie,” Ralsei warned.

“I am? I think?!” Susie replied, trying and nearly failing at suppressing her urge to run in the opposite direction. Whatever this thing was, it was freaking her the hell out.

And that flickering light, she thought, grimacing. God, that light. It’s like… wrong. I’ll never be able to unsee this…

ẅ̩̅i̩͛ll̥̉..̷̋ͭ.̆̊

In a jerking motion, the beast’s fists clenched hard, their trembling hitting a breaking point. Their entire body, despite being devoid of any human emotion, looked as if it were going to burst. They shook, and shook, and shook

Until an ear-splitting CRACK boomed as a jagged ravine split down the midsection of their head.

They stopped shaking.

cờnͦc̩e̝̔d͙̻̙eͭͣ̽.
ͮ͌
͢T̆h̺a̪t I ̦ͅwͩ͜a̯s ͣwrȯ̖n̛͙͠g͛̄̉.
̥͞
̏̏W͓͑ͅr͎ͭo̢̍͟ng ̯͘t͈ͤoͨͬ̈́ ̰͟hͪ͞u̗̓͠rt̮ yóͦ͏u͉,̽̍ ̬and y͢͏o͆ü̗̘r̪͠ fr͚ͪ͛i̼e̾͡n̯̈d͛ͨ̕s. ͯ̏B̩ͣė̡ca͙ͮ̅u̹s͡e I̡̾ͅ ̖ͮͅw͙̙a̰s ̶̩̚a̵ͬf̿͒̂r͚͓a̧̬i̞ͣ͏d ̘͎ͣo̻f̱̯ ͛́̀w̘hͩa̘t ̣ẅ̷́o̺uld̖ͤ ͖̏͆ha͇̩pp̟͎͉en̸̹͝ ̩ͣif͕͛̀ yo͜͢ȕ̴ͨ ̸lͮeft̑.ͭ̊͠
̻̔͡
̼Wͅr̤o̡̍͋ng t̨͌͑oͥ͢ ̭̖͟b̨̤͑e͜ ̹͜afr͇ȃ͎i͌d̜̝̘ ̛͒͢o͇͝f҉ b̎̋̃ein͢g̝̥ ̅a̤lo̓ne͠͞.̒ Oͬ̃͠f̐ͭ̓ ̬̽͋l̩ͥͣo͌s̾̓iͅn͐g̝ͥ ̇f̈e̔ͣe̎l̷ͧ̎i͉͚nͬg.͆͜

̼W̗͒͝r̡͕o̞ng̪̔ ̷̄t̠͗͋o̩ ̴̪̽t͍͙͜hͭink ̶â̵̓ č̸̘re̕͡a̢͕t̜ur̠͌͝e̞͙ͬ ͙̆ͮb̘oͧͨrn ḟ̴ͭr͚o̦͆m̌́ ͕͍̐p̤aͪin͔…̳̫

Whether it was a tear or just his body melting, Ralsei wasn’t sure.

C̒o̪ͮ̚ư̫ld̍ ͏̩̾e͆̓vĕ̥r͔̂ͧ l͖̓ov͝ȅ̛̺.͠
̓
ͨI̯ ͙ͮt̯͙̋hͩo̽̆u̢ͪ̓g̻͊̌h̺̊͞t ̨̃̚yͯ͢ou̡ ̶̋w̰̔͌ou҉̇l͔d ̮̯b̤ͨe̩ ̥ha̻p̯py̜ ȉn͗ͩ̚ ̗ͫt̫̂҉h̫e̢̱̝ ͎ẃ̩o̜̮rld͝ ͨḬ̤̈́ cͮ͝r̼͒͑eͅa͇͑t̙e͆d̃.̗̤̈́ ͒̓͟T͕h̺at̝̍͑ ͓ͣ͠I͜ ͖̞c̨o͖̒̊uld̮̥ ̱͒m̛͛âk̙͘ę̼͓ ̧yͪ̉ọu ̛̫̰h͍̟a͇͊̅pp̔y̖͋ͨ.̼ ̕Tha̗̥͡t̵͆ͬ ͥͤi̺t̬̰͖ w̛ou̺l̀ͬd ͯ̌̕j̆͡u̟s̢̬͂t̤ ̣͈̉b͐͑e̵ͬ ÿ̿̚o̱uͦ̿͘,̞͍̬ ̌m̡̏ͥe͌, ̣̈u̇s,ͧ t̛̀oge̴̩͋tḫër̳ͦ ̵̴ͤf̛o̦r ì͙nf̲̗̄i̓n̗iͭtͩy, wͨa̠̔̐itin̻͂g ̚in̩͚͕ ̫̮b̖̭̝a̦͒t̺e͑͛̂d̢ b̄҉re̔̚a͈̩͚thͭ ̥̖ͦfo̩͎r ̅͆̓an̞ ͐̐end̟̑̋ ̤̓t̓h̫͚̐at ͋wo̪̝ul̢̲̄d̙ nev̥̇er ̺̑̒c̱͐oͧm̵͆e͒.ͦ
̠̰͆
̀ͪIt̅ is c̐le͝ar̯̃ ͩto͒ ̓͋me ͕no͎̓wͬ ̿t̪hͦat̜̬̒ s̓͊ṵ̎c̈́h̺̀ ̥a̡̫͞ ̒f͏ͨa̹̋tͤḛͫ͝ ̧͌i͍ͦs͠ ̥̪f̚͡ar ̀ųn͚d͌ẽs̚erv̜i̍ng͕ ̗̫ǒ̓͡f͌̕ ̢ͩâ̭̯ ͗p̮e̽r̡͇͓s͋on̂͜ s̞ͤu̬͞ch̨ͩͣ ͎ǎ̬s͙ͪ ̖ͧ̈́y̸̤o̬̳u̢̓r̩š̴e̓̔l̡f.͍̎ ̡͆͞A̹͓ͨn̼̋ e̫͐tͦe͏̗̕r̞̍̔nͨi̪͆́t̖́̆y̅ ̻ͬ͆in ê̮m̠ͯp͘tin͈̖eš̐ͧs ̧i̼͐̃s̾ ͐̀no̫̩̓ ̾b̽͜͜eͩ̿t̋t̰ͫe͕r̦̈́ ̇̈tha͑ͯn̘̹ h̕͡ě̱lͫ̓ͤĺ̞.
̟̗̼
͒̅͐Ṙ̞à̠l҉̸s̜e̴͉͆iͧ͞.͖̎͡ ̝S͉usi̍e.̓͗͝ ̧̽B̗̋o̕t̪ͫh̸ͮ̕ ͈͌͛o҉̝f ̀ŷ͉̟o̘̍u.͋ ̵ͬY̮ọ͡u ̷̥̄p̮͇oͯͦ͞s҉̣s̯̏e̫͔ͅs͇ͥsͧ̚ ̆a̤ ̓d̲̚i͐͒ff̱҉er̳̄̀e̬n͖҉̌t k̴̡͚i̷ň̜d͌͝ o̙f́ͯ ̢͌̀po͏w̼ę̙͞ṟͮ,̬͒ o̻̭͑ne̅ ̀b͊̈ȅ͔ẏ̞o̡nd̵̍ ṡt̙r̝̕͘ë̘́n̻̦̓gͤt͊ͪ͊h. Ťo̹ͮ stͮa̮n͔͔d ̊bͩe̵forḛͥ h͈e͊ll̲̑̃, ͥ̅an̎͋d̿ͯ l͐͛i̘v͇̊e̮͋.̨ͬ́.̑ͥ.̡̖̏ it̊ ̅͊ṫa̾k̹̇e̱s̲ ̶̗̚sõͭm̢͚ẻ̘ͬt̾̀̽hͭ̉͜i̠͗n͙ģͧ̐ e̢̱ls̢͌e̙̘ͫ to̲̹ ̭ď̿o̩ͧ ̞̑ͅth͙͚ͩat̞ͣ̆.͞
H͗͊͊eề̮d ̾ṁ̧̦ÿ͙́ͯ ͏ͣ̉w͂̈́ă̻͂r͍n̴͚̥i̊̄̅nͦg̞̏ͬ, ḱͭee͛̏͜p̝̿̒ḙ̒͢r̠͈̾s ͠ő͖f̂͡ ̗ͫl͇͆ȉg̬̱̓hț͢. ̪Ţ̷h̩ͦe̤̪̓ n̴̗o͋së͚̿s͑ ̜of ͨth̶͝e̟̿ H̴͑͌ELLH̐ͅƠ̮ͮUͥN̑ͧD͔̪ͫ Q̍U̓E̲̍E̸͝N͈̍S͚̑͒ ha̔v̹̳e f̡̅l̃ar͙͍̅ḛ̟̓ḏ̅ ̤͚̊a̔ṫ̘͕ ͈̫̿tͫͭhe̜ ̲̩͊sce͠n̶̽͜t͉̔ ͖o̿f ̨͉ͪt͌̈́͘h̛ei҉r ̙͠f͊͊al͑lͮe̗n̙. ́́̉T͢ḧ͇ey̿ͩͪ wiͦ̈ll ͦͩhu͐͡n̮t you̴̜̕ ̷͡t̢oͪ͌ ͂ͩtĥͮ͂e̸̲̻ ĕ͙̒n̰͚d͑ͯs̹ o̮̹͜f ̡́̑t̒ͧ̽h̟̏ͩe̞͉̓ ̞͋ea͚r̖̓ṯh͍̋͂,̜͛ͫ a̴n̯̫ͨd w̲͘i̗̇͜ll҉ ̛̆́n͂o̘ͪ͐t̵̢ ̈́sṱ̡o̘ͣp̮̍ ̴̊ͤụ͑ͅn͑͛tͤ҉ͣil ̷̑y͕͌our̊ ͤͪS̹̽̏O̺ͨU̎͊ͧLs ҉a̋re̬̣̻ ͍rẹ̚n̸̖̐d̪͘e͆̈́reͩͩ͞d ͕̈̈to̕ ҉̦̂duͯst̯̋.̈́ͪ̚ ̩͇̒C͕̩ãn̛͡ ̪yoͬ̈͟u s̭̊t̻a̴̱̻n̸͍̼d̿̽ ̲͗̌b̵̶̑efore͞ t̲hͨei͖r ̵d͕̉ô̱̝g͇͟g̦ͥ̚ḙͩͧd ̳҉̭p̢̗̂u̳ͩͭr͖͑ͫs͏u͓į̤̀t̯́?ͭ ̏͞Y̲͗ou̔̃ ̲ͭ̉c̹̓a̹ͣͮn̰, ̻yo̞ͣ̌u ͯm̧u̴͂sͥt̺̤͑,͓̓ ͗͗fͯ̚i̞҉g͟hͯͯ͂t u̟ͥn̢ti̥l͚̩̔ tͧhe̳ͣ ͂eͯn̰d. F̝͛̾or̲̔ ̊yo͏ͤṳr̶͖ ͩd̫͞e̦ͥa͈͟t̟͆h̍̋ͦ ͒śp̱ͥ̈e̸ͦ̆l̆̎ls͇ dͨ̋e͐aṫ͖h ̝̫̲o̳f͝ ̝͞all̸̨̰, ̦̌aͭnd ̹ͣ̓n͚̟̐oṫ ̻͔ͤju͎ͩͮs̸̜͑tͫ̔ t̃̽ḩ̻̈e ͈̥ͦl͌͘i͇v̄íͪn͈̦̂g.̿̍
͔
A̖̍s̡̓̎ ͫ̿ͅf͙͛͡o̰͋̐r̥ ̴̍m͉̰e̐̓…̆
͍̋
M͘y̏͒ ̴̞̃r̢͐͜ë͇̺́m̬͟͝ăi̽ns̟̈́ ͊s̖͒haͪl̺̩ͥḽ̌ p͇̹͜r͓̒o̼͕ͅv͎͈͐id̮͠e.̈́̕ ̫͂Tͨ̂ä́̿̕k̵e͋͢ ̧̾th̷̕e͓͂͐m̶,̢̀ ̈ͨą̦n̬ͬ̒d̔ͮ ̮̩҉b̸̓͂e͕ͤcͮ̂ͮo̰̒̏m̢ͣȇ͕ st̛̅͑r͑͑ͅo̞͓n̘̘ͦģ̭̍ẹr̟ͥ.̗͈̚
̒̎̋
̢̜̇.ͮͯ..̈ͪ͆A͉̯̒h͑̏.̦͇̥

Holyflame raised his head to the sky as if to listen.

Th̘e ͞c̢old wͦin̞d̀.̰..̙ ̐b̑l͂o̸ws…

A pink spark flared inside their skull, shattering their icy head to bits like a window pane thrust against the ground. In this way, the source of their blue beam was revealed: a shimmering orb of pure darkness, shaded a dark hue of blue like the tail end of dusk and nestled within the perpetual scream of a yellowed, goat-like skull.

The light within faded.

Fire in Ralsei’s palms fizzled out, separate from his will.

Their body slumped to the floor, crumbling upon contact into dust that blew to the wind.

And from their body, a small glimmer of light remained. It drifted toward the prince, settling in his hands and materializing into two items.

* Ralsei got NocturneShawl.

A wavering remnant of an impossible love. The ethereal threads dance like moonlight in a pond's reflection.

* Ralsei got ShadowCrystal.

A fragment of darkness that moves like water in the hand.

Silence held a lasting reign.

Susie opened her mouth.

“...WHAT.”

“THE HELL.”

“WAS THAAAAAAT?!?”

Susie took to throttling Ralsei’s shoulder like a jackhammer. “Rals! RALS! WAS THAT REAL?! IS ANY ‘A THIS REAL?!? Was that like, like a, like a REAL DEMON?! The HELL did he mean by that?! DID WE ACTUALLY KISS?!?!”

“Yes I— think all of th—at did ha—ppen Susie please st—op—!” The prince vocalized.

An exasperated Susie released her hold on the boy and paced back and forth restlessly, hoping that the energy in her movement would help her to find the words to accurately explain the jumbled slushie her thoughts were. “Dammit, dammit, DAMMIT! Is this, like— are we— are you my boyfriend now???” Her voice endeavoured to make her even more blatantly flustered, seeing as how badly it had cracked. “None of this makes any goddamn— This is just so... so—”

“Fucked up?” Ralsei finished for her.

Susie stared at him like he had suddenly grown a second head.

“It rather is.” He continued, sighing a dreaded sigh into the wind. “I so badly want to say let’s just move on, it probably didn’t mean anything, but… that would just be ridiculous. All of this is beyond reason... even I can’t make complete sense of it.”

“Did you just… swear? Rals? You absolutely sure you’re not evil still?”

He shrugged. “Um… yes? I felt it was appropriate. Everything that’s happened… it’s changed me. Changed you. Us. I see no reason to be as needlessly cordial as before, if it’s to better relay what I’m thinking. Besides, it’s not like a few naughty words here and there are going to kill me.”

“Dude. That’s badass. Please swear more!” Susie replied, struck by awe. “Wait, hang on.” A shot of intrigue streaked across her face. “...What’d he give you?”

Indicated by her expectant expression, Ralsei gandered at the two mysterious items his tormentor had left behind. “I’m not entirely sure. This one’s the shawl he’s always worn,” —He held it up for her to see— “and this odd gemstone… I don’t know why, but I feel it’s important. There’s a powerful energy ringing from its surface...”

“You sure we should keep that stuff?” Susie offered. “Not super sure ‘bout taking loot from really evil dudes...”

“He is not going to keep it.”

She looked and saw a man there.

Their form was hazy, but she was just barely able to make them out. In front of her was a wavering white vision of a man with a blunt, hardened snout clad in tanned fur pelts, with grand locks of hair willowing in the breeze. In the core of their ghostly form was a small trinket about the size of a tennis ball; specifically a wooden carving of a draconic individual.

From the sudden hit of nostalgia, Susie swore she’d seen this man somewhere before. But the details were so hazy…

Casually the man plucked the crystal and shawl from Ralsei’s frozen grasp. The prince made no attempt to keep hold of the objects, he didn’t even move an inch as they were taken from him. In fact, everything around her had ceased any indication of movement; the pillaring flames rising from the skyline had found their rage silenced, whatever breeze there had been was no longer present. Tufts of Ralsei’s hair remained inanimate, in great opposition to the usual windswept beauty she had grown accustomed to.

Susie decided that she should probably be less awe-struck and more bewildered.

“What in— Hey! G—Get away from ‘im! What’d you do?!” She cried.

The man slung the elongated threads of dark over his shoulder, pocketing the crystal in the same fashion.

She tried again for his attention, this time more callously. “HEY, FREAK. I SAID GET AWAY. Who the HELL even are you, and why is— what is—”

“You never remember the right things, do you?”

“...What?”

The man shifted up to her, bending a knee to meet her level. “There is something I must explain to you. The choices you’ve made here… have irreparable consequences. The Underworld exists as a universal constant, underlying all possible lines and realities. By slaying these demons, you have endangered every version of yourself. Do you understand?”

“Dude, what—” She shook her head, caught in disbelief. “What the hell are you even talking about?”

“There are versions of you that are paramount to the continued existence of our spatio-temporal continuum, as hard as it may seem to believe. They will hunt every Susie that has and ever will be, and will not stop until they are dust. But there is one way to salvage this, and only one way. Hell’s infernal imperators rely on memories as a beacon to locate their prey, instances of stored consciousness that denote the sights of their realm. They can sense it anywhere, even beyond the walls of their own planes.”

“That is why I must make you forget everything that has happened.”

Susie’s heart plunged into her throat like a cannonball.

“I… I have to… wait, no! NO!” Her head sputtered like a failing engine, searching for letters that made words that made sentences. “I can’t forget! I literally JUST found someone I— I just found… Ralsei...”

The man went on. “You must listen, young one. Millions upon millions of continuations follow this. Sprawling branches of time, of your experience, mirrored infinitely across the cosmos. All of them end with this. If you do not forget, you will have doomed yourself. If you do not forget, every permutation ends and will end with your death at their hands. Is there a way I can make this clearer? You must forget. I must send you back, back before all of this has happened.”

Susie bit down on her tongue, using the bitter taste of dust as an anchor to blockade the moistness behind her eyes. It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t fair that she was about to have what was the best thing that’d ever happened to her taken away like this, all because of some stupid big words she’d never understand. Everything felt like it was collapsing in on her, like the entire world conspired to make sure she’d never find the happiness she so desperately craved.

She wondered if Ralsei was onto something with the whole crying thing.

“I…”

“Please. Please, I just…”

“I don’t wanna forget.”

“You must.”

“I, can’t…”

“Do you understand that your beloved has been dealt the same fate? If you continue here, he is just as damned as you are.”

Susie blinked away the tears staining her eyes. How could she have been so selfish to not consider something like that? Ralsei was just as screwed as she was, if all of this was true.

“I cannot force you. Will not force you.”

“You must choose.”

Would it be better for them to love and die together?

Or just to live?

She had to choose.

You have to choose.

If Susie decides to remember , go to Chapter 16.

To force Susie to forget , go to Chapter 17.

Chapter Text

She knew the answer, even though it killed them.

“No, I— I can’t. I can’t, I won’t— no. I won’t forget. I won’t, I won’t, I won’t I WON’T!!! I don’t CARE that we’re screwed , or we’re gonna get hunted or whatever or some head honcho demon’s gonna crawl outta the ground and rip my guts out, I don’t CARE because I frickin’ LOVE ‘im, and I’d never, NEVER give anything up for that, i—if, if you think I’m gonna—”

Susie’s voice caught in her throat.

The man was gone.

“...Susie? What’s wrong?”

“RALS!”

She flung herself into his arms, nearly knocking them both over in the process. Hiding the tears had become entirely irrelevant at this point, if such a feat was even possible in the sorry state she found herself in. Susie felt her love’s breath hitch, her claws gripping tighter around the only thing she knew she’d always have, forever.

Hands wearily, uneasily slung around her shoulders. “S—Susie?! Are you alright? The items are completely harmless, I assure y— wait, where are— I just had them…? Where did—”

Susie bore her gaze into his eyes with claws still around his shoulders, clutched like he would disappear if she dared to let go.

“Ralsei.”

Slowly, he looked up at her.

“...Susie?”

“Never.”

“Leave me.”

No response at first, but Susie was sure he knew what she meant.

“Y’heard me, right? I said—”
“Yes, yes I, I heard you.”

“Swear.”

His beautiful face scrunched in thought for a moment.

“...Fuck?”

A reason to smile again.

“...Good enough.”

The wind blew between and through them.

Unexpected to her, a pang of realization struck the boy’s features.

“Rals?” She asked. “What is it? You’ve got that somethin’ bad’s about to happen look.”

“It’s…”

He gulped.

“It’s Kris.”

Kris…? Oh, right. Duh. Susie had completely forgotten about their existence for the past hour or so. Where the hell were they? Didn’t Ralsei say something about them hurting people? How were they gonna explain—

“We can’t tell them about any of this. I don’t know why, but I just really, really think we shouldn’t tell them.”

That was enough reason for her. “Yeah, gotcha. Lips are sealed, tighter’n an envelope. They won’t get a peep outta me.”

Ralsei straightened his robe out, dusting off the excess grime and dust from the combat that had ensued. “They’ll be here, very soon. Act natural.”

Susie parroted his motion, although the burnt clothing was going to be a bit harder to conceal. “Yep, got it. Here, let’s like— imagine we just got here.”

“Of course.”

Ralsei hastily scooted over near to her, clasping his hands behind him in that awfully nerdy way he usually did. Susie did her best to release the leftover tension in her muscles, adopting her own typical laid-back demeanor.

And sure enough, Kris arrived, hauling themselves up from a nearby manhole she hadn’t noticed. Ralsei’s vision snapped to them for a split second before shooting back forward, his face shifting into neutral so quickly it caught her off guard.

“Looks like we finally found the fountain…”

God. God, what the hell, this is insane. We’re just gonna pretend like nothing happened? Like this is all just —

An elbow struck her side.

She glanced at him for a time she wished she could extend.

...just some cracked out dream.

“Oh, right, uh,” she muttered. “Yeah, but where the hell is Kris…?”

Dreams, memories n’ reality.

She turned her head, ready to exclaim their name.

Hell’s the difference, anyways?

Chapter Text

She knew the answer, even though it killed her.

“O—Okay. Okay, just… just get it over with...”

“Then it shall be done.”

Ralsei found this to be completely unexpected.

“Agh— I— S—Susie?!” The prince exclaimed, his rump forcibly being dragged along the ground by the ironclad grasp around his hand. “What exactly oof — are you—?!”

“Put a clamp on it, nerd! I’ll tell ya in a sec,” Susie shot back, unfazed from her single-minded goal of flying down the alleyway as quickly as possible.

The prince frowned, knowing that any and all chances to be with Kris had most likely been extinguished. He had made it a point time and time again to give them a choice, because it was theirs to make, of course. But an outcome like this? It was practically unforeseeable.

What could she possibly want with me? I can’t think of much I’d have to offer to someone as… er, “loud” as her. I hope I didn’t make a mistake, healing her skinned knee like that… gosh, I should’ve asked for permission...

Soon enough, Susie came to a stop, her combat boots skidding to a stop across the junk-ridden filth of the corridor floor. She glanced in the direction they’d departed from, huffing in affirmation. “‘Kay, good. Kris probably ain’t comin’ after us by now.”

“Erm… Susie? My um— my hand.”

“Oop, yeah. Sorry. My bad, dude.” Ralsei wasn’t certain of this, but he could’ve sworn her breath went funny for a moment.

There was an interesting energy between them.

“So—” Susie began.

She stopped mid-sentence, her attention captured.

There was a small, fluorescent lightbulb, hung above the nearby dumpster and serving as one of the only light sources in the alley.

It flickered as if to imply something.

Susie stared at the lightbulb.

“...Susie?”

She kept staring, unable to remove her gaze from the broken fixture. Her breathing gradually became more ragged, claws began to tremble uncontrollably, eyes widened as if she was staring down a monster that would wolf her down if she even so much as moved. Every muscle in her body had drawn themselves taut like a wire.

Ralsei gently took hold of her limply hanging arm. “S—Susie?! What— What is it?! You're shaking…!”

Susie’s head whipped to look at him.

“I…”

“I, uh…”

“It’s…”

“It’s nothin’.”

“Just, uh, got cold, is all. Cold over here.”

“You can… borrow my scarf, if you want. If you’re cold.”

They shared a longing gaze.

Eventually,

the spark in the lightbulb cracked.

The glass shattered.

And the light within

FADED