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Ralsei was terrified.
Not that he felt like he should. He was safe. He was safe. He was safe.
But how could he be blamed? It was his first time visiting the Light World.
He soon found out that to him, the light was… too much. It hurt. It burned. It gnawed at his eyes if he dared to leave them open. It ostracised the creature from the dark, him who had never known the warmth of stars in his skies. It told him he did not belong here. At first, it made him back down and cry the pain away, his palms covering his eyes and the warm tears that fell through.
But he persisted.
He was on a mission. He wanted to know more about the reason for which he had been given the chance of existing. The fate he would be bound to for his entire life. Why was it so hard on him? Had he been too curious, perhaps? Had he taken his duties too far? Was he given the gift of being able to travel over worlds’ edge, only to be brutally rejected by the light on the other side of the door?
Nevertheless, he was determined to find out. No matter how much this world saw him as an invader that should be promptly sent back to the shadows. No matter how overwhelmed his senses were, no matter how blindly he had to navigate a world of noises and blurry hues and unfamiliar voices and unwelcoming textures and that excruciating heat and
There was a soul.
Through shut eyelids, he saw it. A faint glow in the distance. Shining in the dark. Then, by instinct, as if it were carved into his very being, he knew that light was meant to be his shepherd. He only had to follow it.
Through rocky roads, through alternative paths taken only to conceal his existence from the Lightners, through sunny clearings and magnificent landscapes he would never see for himself. He would find his way and keep to it.
_________________________________
He hated it.
He had been hiding in the same place for… oh, so long. He had no notion of time in here. He was curled up under a bed, as if cowering from some danger that he knew was not about to come anytime soon. In here, he had found more than he had bargained for. More questions than answers. More confusion than understanding.
The soul was shining, right above him. It pulsed peacefully. There was something else. Sound. Oh, he heard so many… sounds. More than he could bear. It rang in his ears, it echoed in his skull, it clamped his head like a torture device. Sometimes, he felt like screaming. He couldn’t.
Now, it was more bearable. The only sound was the quiet, comforting pace of breathing. Their breathing. The soul’s owner.
They were a child. That much he had come to understand. A young child. No… he did not understand. What was their purpose with them? A Lightner child? They were so young. Earlier, they were playing on the room’s floor, blissfully unaware of the second living being that had gone through so much effort to meet them, the one who hid in the closet.
He heard their mother, too. She had a pleasant voice. She tended to talk more than they did— for such a young child, they were oddly silent. She talked about their brother. A sleep-over. Friends. Other Lightners. School. He did not understand. The room the siblings shared. Another parent. Video games. The neighbour’s daughter. A church. New clothing. But Ralsei was young, too, and foreign to this world, and he did not completely understand. But…
She loved them.
Somehow, this felt familiar to him. He had no company but himself, and yet he understood. Like an instinct. Carved into his very being.
That would be his only answer for the day. No, there was another. As the brightness from the outside world decreased, as the Lightner stood up at their mother’s call to come down to dinner, he heard it. Kris. That was their name. The reason of his very existence. It was beyond his abilities to comprehend his role in this world which refused to host him… but he had no choice but to trust the unrelenting strings of fate that led him there.
Now, he was there. Waiting under their bed for them to fall asleep, and his chance to go home unnoticed. The uncertainty wrung his ribcage. How painful. He wanted to feel something magical about the child. But there was no connection. No connection at all. Had he made a mistake? But there was no mistake. There could not be. He felt like crying. Maybe his third or fourth time of the day. Why? Wasn’t his purpose supposed to fill him with happiness? But he only felt like he was thrown into the lions’ cage. No explanation. No guidance. It was his first time meeting other beings, and yet he felt lonelier than ever.
It took him a while to calm down. In silence. In silence, more than ever. He could not let anyone know he was there. And as the night slowly settled on Hometown, he felt it was his cue to return to the grounds he mastered a lot better than anything in this land.
He took a deep breath.
Slowly, he started to crawl out from under the bed, progressing inch by inch. Almost held his breath, too. But his efforts were vain.
He felt something grab his horns. It was rough, aggressive. It startled him. He held himself back from yelping just enough that it came out as a weak squeak, but they did not let go. He was scared. He was terrified. He wanted to call for help.
‘Azzy,’ a childish voice spoke into the void. They sounded amused. Curious, even.
But Ralsei was not having it. He was panicked, with no time to make sense out of the situation. He tore his horns out of Kris’ grasp. A shadow crossed the room at a frantic pace, soon disappearing out of sight. There was no longer a monster under the bed.
As the homely sights of Castle Town reformed around him, Ralsei only had one thought.
There was no link between him and that Lightner. There could not be. He hated them. He hated them. He hated them!
Curiosity killed the cat, they said.
It was not an idiom that Ralsei had heard, by any means. And curious, he was. In spite of his bad experience with the Light World, the thought of it always remained with him, somehow. Of course, he did not dare to go back at first. Whenever he thought of it, the memory of the sensory overload sprung up within him, making him ill-at-ease. But it did not have to be like that. He could not just remain idle and do nothing but feel down in the dumps in the middle of his castle. If he had to tame his surroundings, then be it.
Finally, he would find some use of that one pair of glasses he had accidentally dropped on the floor. Of course, the crack in the glass meant it was no use for sight, but… it would certainly allow him to navigate the sunny grounds without straining his eyelids shut. With meticulous diligence, he painted the lenses a deep shade of black, enough to block out most of the light.
That, and a staff, too. He never imagined he would need one. Of course, to a Lightner, a wizard would never be seen without one. But the rules of the Dark World were different. The task was grounding to Ralsei. Sculpting out of wood calmed him down, helped him to focus his rushing mind. At the very least, it would prevent him from hitting a tree face-first and tasting it first-hand.
Thus equipped, he was ready to venture out again. Or so he thought.
The siblings were not in their room when he reached their house. They were probably at school. He felt like it should have been a disappointment, but it definitely was not. No horn tugging. No telling their mom about strange shadows vanishing in the night. Ralsei would finally get the chance he wanted to learn more about the odd pair without fearing for his life. Not that the child actually threatened his life, but to him, it had felt all the same.
The monster swiftly landed on the bedroom’s floor with cat-like grace, using the cushions beneath his paws to keep his gait light and discreet. It would prove to be a useful ability in the future, he was sure, as he carefully trod around the room, trailing the tips of his fingers along the items and the furniture surrounding him to get an idea of the lay-out. However, his attention was caught by objects on the ground.
Sculptures… of sorts. He sat on the floor and grabbed them to rotate them into his paws, feeling every angle of them to make a mental image in his head. The material felt cool and smooth, no hard edges. Adapted for children. After a little while, he recognised the shape. There was a castle – a very asymmetrical one, but a castle nonetheless. Ralsei soon collected the little figurines that stood near the sculpture. Somehow, he recognised what they were meant to represent. Shields. Swords. Armour. There were knights. Another figurine in a long, flowing dress that felt soft to the touch. A princess, perhaps? And a larger figure, its spikes feeling a bit pricklier on his fingertip. A dragon. It was…
It was lovely. Imagination. For the first time since he had discovered the Light World… he was amazed. By something so trivial, too. But it mattered to him. He knew how powerful imagination could be, how it could build kingdoms out of dunes of sand.
He carefully placed the toys back where they were, trying to pinpoint their exact previous position. He could not let them guess that they had been moved during their absence. … Or ruin whatever story was ongoing.
And then, Ralsei stood up. And that was when all hell broke loose.
In his calculations, the Darkner had not accounted for the fact that the children were a lot messier than he thought. At least, Kris cared little for their mother’s recommendations relating to the difficult matter of keeping their room well organised. And no matter how hard he tried, Ralsei could not escape his fate. So to speak, and against his will, he was about to step right into it.
Right now, his fate took the form of inconspicuous-looking and very colourful building blocks. Dozens of them. Hundreds of them. Spilt on the floor. Everywhere.
Much too confident in his next step, he soon felt the rigid lugs formed atop the bricks press their shape into his delicate paws. It was painful, to say the least. Perhaps even more than that one time he mistook his fire magic spell for his healing spell.
The abrupt sensation rushed through his whole body, and it worsened as he slipped on the small items and sent them flying against the walls, the few lucky ones still remaining on the ground furthering his torture by pressing into him as he kissed the floor with his snout – and screamed.
Damn it. Damn it. Damn it damn it damn it!
The children may not have been here, but if Toriel was… he was doomed unless he reacted quickly.
And react quickly… oh, he did.
Ralsei scrambled to his feet, launching more of the blocks from the seventh circle of Hell into the air where he sincerely thought they belonged, and he leaped through the window, back to the outdoors.
Well, it sounded like that pair of glasses would truly be cracked beyond repair, now.
The grass was pleasantly fresh with morning dew, and Ralsei liked to feel it form pearls of water on his paw pads as he passed his hands through the green blades. He was seated among them, his back resting against the wall of the Dreemurrs’ house, one leg folded and the other relaxed. He had been there for long enough that he assumed a casual stance. It was a bit cold, the shade from the building shielding him from the sun, but nothing he could not handle. It was a break from the Dark World.
There was a window right above him. It was the one from Kris’ and Asriel’s room. It was left ajar, just enough for the Darkner to hear what was going on inside. It was his makeshift solution to his hiding problem, as he was bound to be discovered one day or another by one of the siblings if he kept so close to them. No one thought of checking behind the house. And if they did, he would hear them soon enough to beat a hasty retreat.
It’s not that he considered them as friends. They did not know each other. They would never know of his existence, he was sure of it. But… someone, even a stranger, was better than no one at all. And his kingdom felt desperately empty. Of course, it was less hostile to him than the Light World and its sun-streaks that may as well be blades piercing his eyes, but… He felt the siblings’ presence. He amused himself with their shenanigans. They made him wish he knew what having a family was like. And, though he barely noticed it, he was relieved when he learned they were doing alright.
Asriel’s voice rose from the room, showing a tinge of concern. “I’m not sure it’s a good idea, Kris. Mom will be mad if she finds out. And, uh… I’ve heard it’s really dangerous, too…”
Ralsei’s interest was piqued. Asriel tended to be a bit overzealous in what he considered dangerous for Kris, but still… It was worth listening to the conversation. To know what they were up to. Hopefully not something they would die from.
“Hey, don’t give me that look! I know demons don’t exist anyway. But… uh… that thing, I don’t like it. That’s all.”
There was a pause. Enough for the Darkner to put two and two together. For a little while now, Kris had been having a phase of passionate interest for demons and the paranormal. Though Ralsei had a vague idea of what that was, he did not believe there existed beings of pure evil, after all. Reality was not all white or all black, was it…? … Was it?
Either way, the child must have pulled the puppy eyes trick, because…
“Okay! Okay! Just this time, okay? To make up for that last round of Super Smashing Fighters. But it’ll be only once.”
He listened carefully. Kris went through their closet to grab what they were looking for, something that sounded much like a board game when they set it on the ground. Though, Ralsei expected the teeming noise of a dozen pawns being spilt on the floor as Kris emptied the box. Not this time. Only one piece fell, and they immediately took hold of it.
Minutes passed. Asriel and Kris were playing the game together, whatever it was. The Darkner could hear the plastic piece being pushed against the board, and the two Lightners muttering something about a ritual.
“Umm… Is there… anyone with us? R-Right now?”
Asriel was terrified, Ralsei could hear that much. What kind of board game were they playing that they expected a demon to play with them? It had to be a really fun game. It was not dangerous, but infinitely entertaining to the monster.
“S-See?! There’s nothing happening! There’s no, uh, demon or anything. Let’s leave it at it, Kris.”
The child emitted groans of protest and disappointment as Asriel dropped the planchette onto the board. But Ralsei had a different idea, and he was grinning at the thought of it.
His magic was weak in the Light World, but if he gathered his energy and focused enough…
It only took a minute or two before Asriel was heard screaming. The plastic piece atop the board had started moving on its own, well after the children had let go of it. It had only lasted a few seconds before Ralsei’s focus was troubled by all the yelling, but it was enough to make the siblings freak out, by all means.
Kris was bouncing on the spot with excitement as Asriel frantically folded the board game to put it back in its box and nearly throw it back into the closet.
Ralsei could not help but laugh. Loudly. He soon realised his mistake as he heard footsteps approaching the window. With his grin still plastered on his face, the Darkner picked up his wooden staff as he dove to the side, out of sight of the siblings, and back to the darkness he came from.
Upon opening the window, Kris just spotted a shadow from the corner of their eye. Enough to happily fuel their belief in demons for a while. And Asriel’s nightmares, too.
The Prophecy. It was shown in snippets to him, free for interpretation. Its images danced in the midst of the Fountain, like unclear visions. Much like the Pythia, higher powers murmured to Ralsei in ways he could barely comprehend, and the rest of the Legend relied on his own ability to make sense out of them. He was not sure he could. But he had to.
He never understood its link to Kris, either. He had tried. But no matter under what angle he looked at it— Kris was not… a hero. And he did not mean it in a pejorative way. It was simply that… well, Ralsei very much knew what it was like to have so much responsibility pushed onto one’s shoulders at such a young age. And he did not think Kris deserved that. Anything but that. They deserved a happy life, far from the despair of an empty kingdom.
Moreover, Ralsei knew the Prophecy involved a human. He had never seen a human. He had not even seen another monster before. He was not sure of the difference between them. He was not sure he cared for it. He did not know Kris was a human. Perhaps it was better this way.
He simply hoped that, one day, it would all make sense.
It was not that he rebelled against fate. It was not that he wished to refuse his prophet’s role. It was more like that he had no choice. What else could he do? He had no hint but the knowledge he had been given when coming into existence— and the soft gleam of Kris’ soul, his guide in the chaos of the Light World.
There was no meaning in revolting for the sake of revolt.
No, he did not visit Kris and Asriel because they were linked to the prophecy. He was not sure they were. For now, Ralsei cared little about a story that would only come into motion in so many years. But he had no other company. His innate link to the soul was the only red thread of his short life, and it was all he could hold onto. What meagre reward for his devotion, his commitment to acquainting himself with a world that treated him like an anomaly.
The Fountain told heroic tales of Ralsei’s importance. He did not feel important.
He realised why he felt a sort of kinship with the young Lightner despite their rocky start. They were trying to find their place in life, too, just as Ralsei was. They were two sides of the same mirror, one residing above, one residing below, and their shadows danced in concert.
Time.
For the last few years, it had been a quiet breeze. Then, it took Castle Town by storm.
Ralsei learned to value his moments in the Light World, for they soon came to an end. One day, the passageway between the worlds closed, and that was it. Just like the rest of his life, there was no explanation. No guidance. And slowly, irremediably, the light in the dark, the soul, extinguished. He would not see it again before a long, long… time.
Being locked down here was not the worst part of it. After all, Ralsei was used to it. No, the worst was… the way his memory faded from year to year. Not in a very noticeable way, but… day after day, the sound of Kris’ voice became blurrier in his memory. As if he was not even meant to have lived that long. He recorded his Light World travels in his journal, but… there was nothing to do about the rest. Like a photograph whose fading colours had been left too long in the direct sunlight, Ralsei had nearly forgotten the way the children sounded like.
It was harsh on him. Very much so. A reminder that he was never meant to be near them.
Sometimes, he questioned if his memories were even real. If he had not made them all up, curled up in a corner of his absurdly large grand hall, crying his eyes out as he listened to imaginary friends to make up for the never-interrupted silence of his kingdom.
On happier days, he imagined them growing up. He did not know what they looked like, then. He would not know what they looked like now. But he imagined they were happy.
He wondered what sort of gift he would give them for Christmas. Then he remembered they did not even know of his existence. It was hurtful.
This game of make-believe was making him sick.
But then, the storm hit.
When he had lost all hope about ever telling his carefully rehearsed Prophecy to anyone else than the front wall of his room, the passageway opened again.
And this time, he had visitors.
It was as if, in that single moment, the pain and grief of the past years were gone. The Legend was real after all. Not a vision. Not a hallucination. It was tangible. In front of him. It welled up within him, and he felt alive at last.
Then… there was recognition.
A red soul.
And for the first time… he could see the person who bore it.
It was ever… ever so wonderful to meet them.
Oh, time rushed, then. It was merciless on him. It had tortured him for such a long time, and it would keep doing so, burning the seconds as he spent them with the Lightners. He had so much to say, and so he said nothing. Perhaps they were not ready to hear, at all. Or perhaps they did not need to. They were here to save their world. Ralsei, well… despite his renewed belief in being one of the heroes of light, perhaps that was not quite true.
But he had the same doubts about Kris. And yet…
He barely believed that the armour-clad human in front of him used to be the child he knew. They sounded… different, of course, but… oh, he had imagined Kris to look many various ways, of course, and yet he was still surprised. And they were taking their role of leader to heart, too. A change of pace from a childhood in which they had always been living, more or less happily, in their brother’s shadow.
He had… more doubts about Susie, but she was far from irredeemable. After all, if the other Lightner had undergone such a drastic change, perhaps she would set herself on the right path, eventually. He… He had waited for so long, he could not let her dismantle the Prophecy like this. She… had to follow it, the same as he did. She had to!
A break.
Ralsei had pulled the brim of his hat just slightly over his eyes, in the same fashion as Kris’ hair was covering the upper half of their face. Both of them were resting against a tree, the Lightner taking small bites out of a Dark Candy. They were not much for conversation, but the prince did not mind. Besides, they had always been this way, as far as he could remember.
He was not much for conversation at the moment, either. He had rehearsed his introduction and his battle tutorial so much, he simply… did not know what to add after this. There was time, he thought. Even though it passed so quickly in the Lightners’ company… though he was excited to become their friend… he did realise they had to be very confused by this world, the same as he was when he had visited theirs.
All of a sudden, Ralsei noticed how close to him Kris was, their shoulder pressed against his. It was nothing showstopping, and yet… it evoked many feelings to him. He was not sure… which ones, exactly. They mixed together in an odd cacophony. Joy. Relief. Melancholy. Nostalgia. Affection. Reassurance. The reassurance that they were real, after all.
Kris interrupted their tasting of Dark World gastronomy for a minute, tilting their head aside in a puzzled manner. There was something unusual, a low, continuous sound that tickled their ear, and they were visibly trying to identify it. The prince did not seem to notice.
Finally, for the first time in a long while, the human spoke up.
“Ralsei, I did not know you could purr.”
Reacting as instantly as if he had just been insulted, Ralsei appeared startled, shaking his head frantically.
“W-What? No! I can’t do that. Kris, why are you— saying that?”
But he would get no answer. The sound had stopped, and Kris was already looking away, the slightest of smirks on their face.
Goal.
“No, Ralsei, you don’t understand!”
He knew they would not like to hear that. But even with this expectation… their anger was more than he had imagined. For a moment, it was as if the room around them would crumble out of sheer will on Kris’ part. And Ralsei well believed they could make that happen, if they wanted. The prince stepped back, a shiver running through his lower jaw.
“Going on and on about your legend, saying it’s better if I don’t have any control on my own life, after all. You think that’s a normal thing to believe, Ralsei? Exactly how long have you been locked up in your mighty castle? You want to be friends with me but you have no idea who I am. You don’t know shit about me, Ralsei!”
“Right,” the Darkner murmured, his throat tight as ever.
“You sound like a broken record. You do.”
Ralsei had been hurt many times in battle. Beaten, even, to the point of no longer managing to maintain his form, collapsing into a pile of clothes onto the floor. He had hurt himself, too, many times, while trying to master magic and failing, mistake after mistake giving him more knowledge about his art, bruise after bruise, burn after burn…
But never, never, never had he been so heartbroken as he was now.
Not just because Kris had said that. But because… they were not being unfair. They were not trying to hurt him on purpose. They were…
Maybe they were telling the truth.
“Kris, I… I’m just asking you to push through. Please. With time… maybe… with time… you won’t have this problem any more. They can’t stay… forever. They’re here to save the world, and then…”
“See,” Kris interrupted him, bitter as ever. “You’re not even sure.”
No, he was not.
He believed time would heal all wounds.
But he did not have time.
He… trusted the prophecy. (Did he?) If Kris did not go through this, then the balance would shatter, and both worlds would be taken away from them. (Would they?) So, as painful as it was… they had to go through with letting the soul take control. (Did they?) And one day, with the prophecy finally realised, the Light World would no longer be threatened, and Kris would be given the gift of free will again. (… Would they?)
So… why did it feel so wrong?
Why did it feel so wrong?
Why did it feel so wrong?
He could find out.
But he did not have enough time to find out.
Ralsei cradled himself to the gentle pace of a lullaby. Unfortunately for him, this worked on others much better than it did on himself, especially when the words came out so distorted and broken from his mouth. They echoed in his room, and silence answered him, just like before.
He thought his purpose was to be beside Kris, to help them to their next stage of life, to be the clutch on which they can rely until all anguish is calmed and bitterness gone. But this could not be true. That was not the purpose that the Prophecy had planned for him. It never was.
He remembered this day, not too long ago, when the halls were filled with music in celebration of the heroes’ victory over the unwanted abundance of darkness. Oh, how crowded they were then! Ralsei had never seen anything like that. It was beyond his wildest dreams. The chatter, the lights, the colours. He sat much like a ruler would, on his own, hands crossed on his lap near the central table. But his friends would not have it this way, of course.
But there was truth in that Legend. He knew there was. No, he was… confused. No, he was confident. He… He… It did not lie. The Heroes arrived, just as the Fountain showed him. A human, a monster, a prince from the dark. Everything it showed him… it was the truth. The only problem was… was…
What it did not tell him. What it did not show him. What did not matter to it.
It must have been a bet of some sort, he was sure he had spotted Susie’s mischievous grin, after all... but Ralsei would have it all the same. Kris, visibly motivated by the fact that the ambient noise would paradoxically make their conversation completely private, stepped up to the prince. Their usual facial expression was different this time. It lit up as they held out a hand towards Ralsei in the most exaggeratedly elegant way they could muster, demanding in a hushed voice:
“Your Highness, will you dance with me?”
Kris was not the only one who was tossed aside by the story.
They were not one of the Heroes; the soul was, and they were but a vessel whose aspirations were to be crushed in favour of the larger picture. Ralsei was not one of the Heroes; Lancer was, and he was but the blind leader of a faith that weakened in him day by day.
Yes, that was his link to Kris. They had grown up together, they had grown up apart. They saw each other in their mirror’s reflection, companions from worlds apart. Pulled by the same strings, they struggled to break free, but there was no liberation in sight.
Of course, what else could Ralsei do but accept? It was like a dream come true, just like the rest of this day. Well, to be quite fair, he was not sure he knew how to dance (he had longingly stared at books about the topic, of course, but he had no one to practice with but the dummy, who was definitely not a great dancer). But he would learn on the spot.
Despite the thickness of leather glove beneath the gauntlet, Kris’ hand felt warm in his, and the Darkner could not help but blush as they placed their hand on his shoulder to lead the waltz.
He had enough. He was hopeful. He was joyful. He was everything a prophet ought to be. He wanted to believe that. He wanted to believe that with time, he would accept his role as a tool of the faith, a messenger who could only repeat the same mantra.
No… not with time. He did not have time.
And his tears felt warm against his fur, they dripped down its tufts and made it a slightly greyer shade of white, they caught in his throat and they relieved him from a weight, as small as it might have been, and his sobs caught in his chest and in his limbs and…
That was when Ralsei realised how strongly he felt about the dance. His chest felt… fluttery, his steps as light as air, and it was almost as if he would take off at any moment. There was a smile on his face, too, a large smile, one that hurt his facial muscles from how much it pulled at them. He forgot everyone else around them, forgot he did not even know to dance at all, forgot he was following Kris’ steps, who by all means was a good dancer, and his face felt warm and lively, and he wanted to hide, and he wanted to be there, and he wanted to lean into Kris’ touch, and he wanted to—
“I-I didn’t know you’d learned how to waltz,” he said shyly.
“I took dancing classes when I was a kid,” Kris promptly replied.
“Oh… I would’ve never thought.” An embarrassed chuckle.
“Of course. You couldn’t know.”
And the memory faded from Ralsei’s mind. Despite how recent it was, it was starting to wither away, just like the rest. Like… roses. He had never seen one, but… he had heard enough from the Dreemurr siblings to know that they were beautiful. That they were vibrant, colourful and vivacious on their first day. And that it only took a couple more days for them to wane, hour after hour.
Soon enough, he would question this memory, too. Wonder if it had ever truly happened. He could only live it once. And he had not lived enough.
He could never live enough.
“I’m okay,” Ralsei assured.
His form was… wavering. From second to second, partially covered in darkness, or not covered at all. The dark matter on his body advanced and recessed like sea waves crashing against rocks on a coast, desperately trying to land the right hit so they could finally get over them. But Ralsei managed. At least, he managed to keep some sort of consciousness. Even if he laid practically limp as he sat against the wall of the castle. He had exhausted his magic supplies, much more than he thought he could take.
“You can’t keep it at bay for longer than a few minutes,” Kris muttered. “I don’t understand. Why you did that.”
Ralsei closed his eyes. For a moment, he tried to recall younger Kris’ voice.
He could not. Not even a single second. Not even the pitch.
“I… want to talk to you. To… Kris.”
The soul pulsated violently against Ralsei’s palm. But despite his weakness, he held on. It was as if the soul’s determination to break free was instead feeding his own resolve to keep it trapped between his fingers, his grasp firm as ever.
Kris was silent. They were waiting.
“Everything you said… it… it was right,” Ralsei breathed out. “And… I wish I had a solution. Kris, I really do. I thought about it for so long, and—” his breath caught in his throat. “I guess not everything can be solved easily.
But… legends are what they are, right? Legends. And… if I have to interpret it another way, then…
I guess I just— wanted to say… I’m sorry, Kris. I was selfish. Narrow-minded. I could have helped you with that soul earlier, I guess, but— I wanted to… buy time. More time. To spend with you. But I was wrong. It was not you. And I was not buying time. I was… just losing yours. It was… unfair. It’s unfair. I’m sorry.”
The human stared at the hand that kept the soul trapped. It still held on, but the shadows were trying to gain ground there, too, trying to run down Ralsei’s claws and knuckles, attempting to claim back the territory he was trying to tear away from the Fountain’s influence.
The prince was not looking at Kris. He was looking straight in front of him, eyes lost in the empty. But he did not need to see them. For so long, he had not seen them at all. Their presence was enough. The both of them were enough, content to exist together.
“Now that you’ve gathered all the Darkners in the old classroom… A new Fountain can be created. One that will restore the balance,” Ralsei explained with closed eyes. “For this one has grown unstable. It will serve its purpose, though. A receptacle for the soul. And as it collapses on itself and crumbles away, the Hero will pass onto another timeline. One where they are needed. You… will be free, Kris.”
He was still not looking at them. He hoped the news would bring them relief. But he did not want to find out for himself.
Their voice only rose after a moment, though, its volume as muted as usual.
“You wrote in your Manual that you were made from the Fountain.”
“I… I didn’t know you’d read it,” Ralsei laughed weakly.
“For a prophet, there’s a lot of things you don’t know,” Kris replied, gently brushing their hand against his shoulder. It was as if he… could hear the smile in their voice.
The monster opened his eyes at last, gazing down at the blackness wrapping itself around his limbs. Sometimes, he wished he were a Lightner. He wished he could gaze upon a starry sky, he wished he could see the sun and its marvellous shades of yellow and orange, he wished he could see pink skies at dawn. But one did not choose who they are in this world. And perhaps, in another life, he would have been happier. But he would never know.
“Kris, I wish I could do more. I was blind and you guided me to the light,” he said nearly breathlessly. “I-I felt alive. I was never supposed to. But I did. Thanks to you. S-So… whatever happens… I’m… grateful.”
“And I have to take that away from you so I can... be myself again,” Kris interrupted, disbelief in their voice. “You’ve got to be kidding.”
Ralsei did not answer. He had been able to keep it up this long, but he needed rest from wringing the soul out. His grasp on it was loosening. He tried to gather his remnants of energy to force a smile on his lips, looking up to Kris.
“We still have time. Just a little bit. We can… We can…”
Kris nodded. Ralsei did not need to finish his sentence.
There was a mutual understanding. For once, they understood each other perfectly.
Just this once.
“It was you who moved stuff around every year on Halloween, yeah?”
Ralsei laughed, leaning further down onto the fence in front of him.
“I didn’t think you’d… guess. E-Especially after all this time.”
“Well, I don’t think demons exist. Or, if they do, they don’t play silly pranks like that.”
Kris told him that there was a body of water facing them, just beyond the fence. It was rather still, so the sounds did not really hint towards it. Ralsei would just have to believe them for now, but he did. Kris had been nothing but earnest. Perhaps brutally so, sometimes.
“You gave Asriel such a scare. Would’ve loved having you as a friend when I was a kid.”
Ralsei sighed, closing his eyes for a second or two. “I… I would’ve loved that, too.”
“Don’t fret about it too much. Maybe I would’ve hated you as a kid, actually. You really sounded like a teacher’s pet when we first met.”
The Darkner emitted another chuckle, shaking his head. Kris did not mean it. They were trying to… reassure him, in their own way. Reassure him that this was the right timeline. The right story. That they could not have had better than that. But the both of them knew it was not true.
“Hey… Ralsei. How are you doing?”
The question caught him by surprise. Ralsei straightened his back to turn his head towards Kris’ direction, his mouth ever so slightly open to reflect his thoughtfulness. No proper answer came to his mind. It never would.
“It’s… Knowing this might be my last visit here…”
Kris honestly expected Ralsei to… be as emotional as he usually was. Maybe weep his grief away. But he did not. Now that they thought of it… They hadn’t ever seen Ralsei do that in public. And perhaps that spoke tons about him.
“Maybe… it isn’t, actually,” Kris offered. “The Legend. You said it was right most of the time, but… it was wrong about many things, too.”
“That’s what I’ll think to reassure myself when the moment comes,” Ralsei answered, a tinge of sorrow in his voice.
“But I mean it.”
Then… suddenly, his face felt cold. Very cold. And very damp. Because Kris had just splashed water on it. Ralsei stepped back, shaking the liquid out of his face. He could not help but beam.
“Cheer up,” Kris grinned.
“Says you,” Ralsei remarked.
“What? I’m smiling right now. You just can’t see it.”
“I can’t believe you’d make fun of me like that.”
“You can definitely believe that.”
“Alright. Fair.”
He wiped down the last of the water on the end of his snout, a certain warmth in his heart. Somehow, that was what he had always imagined for the both of them. Nothing spectacular. Nothing fancy. No great castle or great destiny. Just this was enough.
After a few seconds of silence, he felt another palm on top of his hand. It felt soft against his fur, soft and welcoming, and Kris’ fingers gently curled around his paw. As if to signal that they were there for him.
Ralsei noticed something different. He knew how their hand felt in the Dark World. But here…
“You’re… not wearing armour.”
“Nah. We don’t generally wear armor on the daily, here. I wish we did, though.”
“No way,” Ralsei joked, faking his disappointment.
He was surprised that they had not removed their hand yet. In fact, they both fell back into silence. A pleasant kind of silence. They admired the landscape. Different landscapes, of course. Colours waltzed together in Ralsei’s field of vision, creating a sunset of their own.
“It’s hard. To… to come to terms with it,” Ralsei finally admitted. “Kris, I… I’ve lived many lives. I’ve imagined them in my mind. They were beautiful. Actually, most… most of them looked just like us, right now. Didn’t want anything more. I… I don’t regret everything I’ve lived through. Meeting you… was the highlight of my life. And… we’ve both learned so much. But… just these few times… I imagined what it’d be like without the weight of fate on our shoulders. It was all just daydreaming, but…” He paused, a sigh escaping his lips. Kris’ palm was squeezing his hand just a little bit tighter. “I often wished I could trade everything I had for… more time. One more week. One more day. One more hour to rewrite it all in my head.
But I can’t stop time. With magic, I could do so many different things, but…” A bitter smile. “… but not that.”
Kris did not answer at first. If it were any other day, Ralsei would worry about having said something wrong. But not this time. The anxiety had vanished in this single moment.
“You’d do all of that for a friend?”
“I’d… I’d do that for you.”
“Because you love me?”
“Because I love y— Hold on! Kris, that’s not fair…” Ralsei giggled at the same time that tears welled up in his eyes. “You can’t get me to… to say it like that. That’s not fair.”
“As long as it worked.”
The prince placed his free hand on top of Kris’, enclosing it in both his paws. It was much warmer to the touch than in the Dark World, he noticed. How he treasured it, he thought.
“That’s all?” Kris questioned. “You’re not going to say anything else?”
“I…”
He supposed it was not the love confession Kris expected. To be fair, it was not what Ralsei had expected, either. But he was standing at the end of the world, and the future was veiled in shadows. The Fountain’s shadows. It broke his heart, but… what else was there to say?
“W-Well, if you were me, you’d find it very difficult to find something to say!” he protested.
“Okay. True. Maybe I’ve been harsh to you.”
“More often than you think,” Ralsei chuckled, recalling the building blocks incident. “But… I don’t mind.”
The… building blocks incident. He recalled it so vividly. Loud and clear. As if it had happened yesterday.
Kris gently pulled their hand away from Ralsei’s touch, causing him to tilt his head in interrogation. The answer to the unspoken question soon came into existence.
By second nature, you reach out to it. The light only you can see.
He felt two hands cup his face with the same slow, deliberate motions, and in his chest, his heart skipped a beat. Perhaps even two or three. Kris lightly guided the Darkner so that his body fully faced them, and their palms kept exploring his fur, inch by inch, slowly sliding to the back part of his head. Ralsei was frozen in place, suddenly having lost all feeling in his limbs.
He did not need to see to understand the feeling of being kissed. The kisses trailed along his face, steady and unrushed, and they felt wonderful. Only now did Ralsei remember to breathe, and finally, he found the energy within himself to rise his arms and wrap them around Kris’ shoulder blades, pulling them into a tentative but needy embrace, driving the kisses to feel just a little bit firmer on his fur.
This felt so much better than anything he had imagined before. Ralsei’s nose pressed gently against Kris’ cheek, and their breaths mixed in the cold weather. They were both quiet, but the moment certainly did not feel like it. Ralsei felt as if his heart would sink further down in his ribcage at any moment, thumping loudly against his chest. He was… shaking. And Kris felt it, too. Their arm snaked around his torso, as if they were attempting to help him to keep steadier.
Finally, their lips met. Chaste, tender. And Ralsei was breathless. Both of them were breathless. It felt just right. For the first time in his life, Ralsei felt like he belonged.
Their embrace loosened, but Kris took a hold of Ralsei’s paw again, and his breath hitched. They placed it against his chest, both of them feeling his heartbeat under their palm. It was fast and hasty, and it felt just right under their touch. It was intoxicating, even.
He opened his eyes again, and Kris’ hand was still against his chest. They had so much to say. They had so little to say. It ached. It ached in the most magnificent way.
“Kris, if… if… we can’t be reunited, then…” his voice cracked, the words trapped in his throat again. “Maybe… we’ll meet again. Don’t know when. Don’t know where. But… maybe we’ll meet again.”
Kris nodded. But Ralsei could not see it. So they lightly pressed their fists into his chest, thumbs lifted, and moved them into a circle shape.
Together.