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Chapter Text

It was the worst Christmas of your life.

They squeezed your hand tight, so hard that the ring they gave you felt as if it were made of thorns. They must be so afraid…

You didn’t think you could keep your promise anymore, not after tonight. You looked up at the sky, and you could swear you saw the first few hints of the sun on the horizon. You would’ve known the time had they not taken your watch. 

“ Proceed… ” It whispered again. It had been whispering that word for hours now. Did it think she could not hear it? Or was it simply commanding her to keep going? Either way, there’s not really any other choice.

You didn’t have your keys at the time, you were too young, so you used hers. You were cold, sad, terrified, but the longer you kept going the more numb you felt. You were too tired to think about what you did, to this day you still avoid the thought.

“ Proceed. ”

You snuck back inside the manor. The walk to your room had never felt so long, and the inside of it had never felt so safe. You look at your friend, you can’t tell what they’re feeling. Somewhere along the way the hair had fallen on their face covering their eyes. They didn’t seem to care enough to fix it, you only then noticed that their horns were gone too. They loved those horns, didn’t they? Did they even care anymore? 

“ Proceed. ”

They finally let go of your hand. That feeling of warm safety is slowly drained from your body. It felt scary now, sleeping in the same bed. This was meant to be a sleepover, just a fun way to celebrate Christmas. Now the thought of the holiday makes you want to cry until your tears become acid and wear away at your skin leaving only bones. Maybe then things will be even.

“ .... ”

You climbed into bed, and so did they. For a moment, you were facing them in silence, you started sobbing not long after. They didn’t care, or if they did they weren’t allowed to show it anymore. The Voice speaks up for them.

“ Don’t tell anyone about this, okay? ”

And you never did.

_________________________________________

What were you thinking about just now?

It doesn’t matter, you shouldn’t be spacing out when you have so much work to do. 

Another toy is safely deployed onto your work table, this time it’s a plushie of a strange little man in a trashcan. You don’t really understand kids these days, despite being only twelve yourself. Why would this be an appealing gift to anyone? 

You have been wrapping these presents for several months without rest, and where another person’s hands might’ve been shaking from working so hard for so long, you don’t experience such petty laziness. 

Your hands move elegantly, swiftly wrapping the present in a pretty little bow. You check to whom this is addressed to, and who it’s from, then write the details in paper. The handwriting is overly cutesy, but just legible enough to be marketable. You put the present on the nearby hatch, where it’s taken on a conveyor belt to its next destination. You feel a small sense of accomplishment everytime you complete a task, you pride yourself in being the perfect worker. No need for sleep, no need for hobbies, no need for breaks. You’re happy like this, you don’t need anything else, and you never will. 

Your name is Karoshi, as is the name of every worker in The Workshop. You have been working here for as long as you can remember.

You, like every other Karoshi, are a monochrome deer monster. Black fur, white hair in pigtails, freckles, and you wear the bags under your eyes like a badge of honor. You wear the same night gown every other Karoshi wears, since you don’t see much point in individuality these days. The one physical oddity you have above other Karoshi is your red nose. Where being different would normally be terrifying, you lucked out! The Boss shares this trait with you. Since you look more like her, she trusts you with tougher jobs. You’re really thankful for this opportunity, you wouldn’t have wanted to be discarded for your mutation. 

The day you’ve been working for has finally arrived, Christmas Eve! That means you’ll be allowed to go out of The Workshop to actually deliver presents. Tomorrow then will be Christmas, your one day off in the whole year. You don’t really like the idea of stopping your work for even a second, but Christmas is different, that’s when you get to spend time with your best friends in the whole world!

Right on cue, the last present you need to wrap is deployed onto your table safely. Curiously it already came in a small black box. It has a letter attached and everything!

“For: Karoshi 1224

From: Kris and Susie

For you! Remember that dumb promise we made? Well, we’re making it official. We saved up a lot between each other and could only really afford one. We both decided it would be better if you wore it, you’ve always been more about that sappy nonsense. We really hope you like it!

We can’t wait to spend Christmas with you!”

Your heart melts. You want to not only tear up, but break down crying on your work desk until the melting in your heart reaches the rest of your body and you become a puddle girl. You’re a professional, however, so you manage to stay rigid and Neutral.

You feel dizzy as you open the box. You almost fall from your chair, a weird feeling settling in your stomach. You quickly forget about it, what were you thinking about just now?

Oh right! The Ring!

It’s a beautiful thing, white and made of some shiny material you can’t quite identify. There’s a crystalized snowflake pattern on the top, shining beautifully against the light of the room. You can swear you see different colors reflected on it, like a prism, yellow, cyan, and purple. Immediately you try it on, it fits perfectly. 

(You equip the SnowRing.)

You feel the magic as soon as you put it on. As a Monster, you can use Magic, as a BOSS Monster your Magic is particularly powerful. You briefly wonder just what you could do with this kind of power boost.

“ Karoshi, remember to report to the Workshop Entrance to be given your Gift Sacks. Information as to where you’re supposed to go should be delivered to your cubicle in a timely manner as usual. Be quick. Christmas doesn’t arrive on its own. ”

Oh, that was The Workshop’s speaker just now. You guess all your coworkers are done with their exciting jobs! Now comes the best part!

You watch the fax machine in your cubicle print out a list of names and places to visit. Every Karoshi has a fixed set of people to visit each, and every year you visit the same four people! Your very best friends! Kris, Susie, Asriel and your sister Dess! You smile as you read their names once more. You can’t wait! Tomorrow is going to be the best Christmas ever!

You get up, and walk politely to where you’re supposed to go, resisting the childish urge to run across the halls.

______________________________________

After standing in line alongside rows and rows of Karoshi for hours, you finally get your Gift Sack. It’s pretty freaking heavy, but despite that you pull it over your shoulder and walk out without complaint. The way those double doors creak open slowly is kind of dreadful, the way the light peeks from between the doors makes you fear you may go blind. When they open all you see is a regular field of snow shining a beautiful white contrasted against the endless black skies. Every Karoshi steps out in an obedient, orderly manner. When you step on the snow it feels…Weird, for reasons you can’t quite comprehend at the moment. You don’t need to think about it.

You can see four Dark Fountains in the distance, giving other worlds shape. There’s one really close nearby, and three that are really far away. On foot the journey would take ages, but thankfully you have the latest technology in transportation: Doortals! They take you anywhere you want to go, so long as you’ve already been there before.

The door stands in the middle of the snowy field. Technicolored flames can be seen trying to escape from the other side, a sign of great magic. Before you go through it you take a look at The Workshop. It’s more like a manor really, a mansion fit for the richest woman in the world. It shines with Christmas decorations, which make it look bright against the Dark Fountain erupting from somewhere in its depths. You’ve never seen The Fountain up close, you don’t have that kind of rank.

Steadying your cold breath, you open the Doortal. Endless darkness stares at you. It’ll only be for a second, right? It’ll be like blinking. It’ll be over so quick. Just one step. One step and it’ll be over.

“I’d like to go to Prince’s Castle, would you please help me? Pretty please?” You speak politely even though it’s an inanimate object.

Surprisingly, it replies.

“Hnngngng, so..Polite…” The door says. “To Prince’s Castle we gooooooooooooooo!”

You step into darkness and-

______________________________________

You’re here, in the gem of Dark World.

“Thank you!” You say cheerfully to the door behind you. 

“Aaah!! You’re welcome!” It replies, such a cute fast travel device.

You look around you. You’re definitely in Prince’s Castle! Specifically on the second floor, where everyone’s rooms are placed in one hallway. You feel giddy walking down the stairs. The dark walls of this place, alongside the pretty blue flames illuminating it….It’s nice, warm. A perfect place to spend your day off.

You reach downstairs right as the Dark Prince, Ralsei, is mixing something in a big cauldron. Your friends sit all around the dinner table waiting. Susie is bouncing in place on her chair, clearly excited for dinner. Asriel sits on the opposite side of the table, being fifteen that means he gets grownup duties, like setting the plates. Meanwhile Kris is laying their head and shoulders on the table, probably either spacing out or sleeping. You notice quickly that Dess isn’t here.

With the best smile you can muster, you step down the steps and announce “Merry Christmas Eve!”

“KAROSHI!” They all announce at the same time, their faces lighting up like holiday lights when they see you. 

The noise surprises Kris, who snaps out of their trance so fast they fall backwards on their chair and onto their back. 

“Karoshi.” They repeat, with a wince so subtle it might as well be invisible. “Hi.”

Susie straight up knocks over a chair running over to hug you tight. Your entire body freezes, you almost drop the Gift Sack. She squeezes a bit tighter before letting go. The rest of the gang watches with varying levels of fondness or amusement.

“It’s been forever!” Susie declares, hands on her hips. “But I knew you’d come back! You always come back when we miss you the most!”

“Y-yeah!” You try to sound confident, despite the white blush on your face. “I mean, it’s my job! I’m assigned to you!”

“That’s Karoshi!” Asriel chuckles, going over to help his sibling up from the floor. “Always thinking about her job! If you ask me, you've been working too hard!”

You feel somewhat offended by the thought, but before you can comment on it, Ralsei speaks up. “Karoshi! Why don’t you join us for dinner? It’s actually almost ready!”

“Yeah! Join us!” Susie says with a hop. “Sit next to me! Come on come on come on!”

“O-oh!” You can’t help but forget your indignation entirely. You’re grinning ear to ear. “Yeah! That sounds great! Then after that we can open presents!”

You put down your gift sack gently under the Christmas Tree next to the staircase, then sit next to Susie.

“You have yours already.” Kris states simply, in a manner that might be misconstrued as rude.

You give a good natured laugh, rubbing the ring around your finger. It feels nice, like it’s right where it belongs.

“Y-yeah!” You say, sitting down next to Susie. “It’s…It’s the best thing anyone’s ever given me. T-thank you!”

Kris gives an affirming nod. You can see a hint of a blush on their cyan skin. You can tell they’re very flustered, even though they have downright perfected the quiet act.

“Hey! I helped too you know!” Susie says with a huff. “It urgh- it….Looks pretty on you?”

You put your hands on your cheeks. Aaaaaah!!! How are you supposed to react to stuff like this! You don’t know! You’re twelve!

“T-thanks! You too!” You say reflexively.

“Huh?” Susie tilts her head like a dog. “But I’m not wearing a ring, dummy!”

Something about the scene makes Asriel turn around to hide laughter, so as to not be rude. Kris is less concerned with that, showing smug amusement with just their expression.

“Y-your ribbon!” You backpedal. “Your ribbon looks cute on you!”

“Oh!” She grins widely, a blush overtaking her cheeks. “Thanks!”

“It’s ready!” Ralsei suddenly announces. 

An explosion comes from his cauldron, steam rises from it and envelops the room with a heavenly smell. Soon enough food is falling perfectly in place into everyone’s plates. Turkey, with a side of potato-chicken salad and some lasagna, and a cup of lemon soda for each of course! You can feel your stomach rumble so loudly that it deeply hurts. Makes sense, since you’re only allowed to eat on the holidays. 

You find yourself taking extra sniffs at the food, taking it all in before it’s gone and you have to wait another year. “so good…” You mutter.

“Heck yeah! This looks great!!” Susie says, rubbing her hands together. “Let’s dig in!”

“Ah, wait!” Asriel says just in time for Susie to stop. “Dess isn’t here yet! We should wait. We all need to be present before we start Christmas Eve Dinner.”

“Aww man!” Susie huffs. “You’re right. What’s taking her so long anyway?!”

“I don’t know…” Asriel looks towards the staircase with some concern. “She should be excited to see her little sister after so long, I don’t think she’d miss this…”

A sense of dread is creeping up on you. Your SnowRing feels a bit itchy. You would reach to fiddle with it but you catch the way Kris keeps looking straight at you, so you don’t.

“Maybe she chose to take a nap and ended up oversleeping!” Says Ralsei with an ever positive smile. “You know how she’s always working so hard, it wouldn’t be the first time!”

“Oh yeah!” Susie leans back on her chair, balancing it in a way that makes you a bit anxious. “We should blast an air horn on her door and wake her up then! Heh.”

“No,” Asriel sighs, he doesn’t look too relieved. “It’s fine, she should rest…I’ll wake her up in a bit if she doesn’t come down soon.”

“So what?” Susie crosses her arms, a bit grumpy. “We’re just gonna starve?”

“How about….” Asriel smiles brightly. “We open our presents early! That should give us some time before she wakes up.”

“Really?” Susie slams her palms on the table. “Let’s do it!”

“Is…” You bite your lip. “Is everyone really okay with that?”

“I say you shouldn’t worry about it, Karoshi!” Ralsei says gently. “Everyone is so excited! And besides, you’ll get to deliver Dess’s present yourself anyway, right?”

That’s true, you don’t really know what you’re so concerned about.

“Well, if EVERYONE’S excited….” You get up from your chair, your stomach rumbling, it hurts. Why does it hurt so much? “I guess I should-”

You look at the spot under the tree where the Gift Sack should be.

It’s not there.

“HOHOHO!” You hear from behind you.

You whip around to find a chubby child, with a head shaped like a teardrop, and a spade symbol on his stomach. He rides on a bike that is on fire, fleeing with the Gift Sack over his shoulder like a cartoon villain. 

“....Huh? Wha-” Susie stutters, not comprehending the absurdity. “COME BACK WITH OUR PRESENTS, YOU THIEF!”

Without much of a thought, Susie runs out the door.

“What just…Happened?” You question, before it hits you. “The presents! MY JOB!”

“Calm.” Kris states, their voice sounds soft. They squeeze your shoulder…It’s reassuring. “Let’s go.”

“Thanks, Kris…” You mutter with a weak smile. “You always know what to say.”

“So you’re going after the thief!” Ralsei speaks with a serious expression, or as serious as his fluffy face can manage. “I should warn you, that’s the Prince of Toy World! His father is extremely powerful and vicious, and I imagine so is his son!”

“Woah! Are you serious?” Asriel looks..Genuinely distressed. “How are we supposed to beat someone like that? It’s better if we just…” He shakes his head. “But Susie…She went after him! What do we do?!”

“Calm.” Kris states again, slapping Asriel’s arm to get his attention. “Will solve this. Follow my lead.”

“I…” Asriel takes a deep breath. “You’re right, now’s not the time to be a crybaby. We need to save Susie!”

“Yeah!” You clench your fist, steeling your courage. “Let’s go! I’ll-”

But Kris is already leading the way.

“O-oh!” You feel a little silly now. “Okay! I’ll follow!”

“Ah! Wait for me!” Ralsei says, following behind.

_____________________________________

“Kris, do you see the glowing star right at the entrance to my castle?” 

You turn to see where Ralsei is pointing. There’s nothing there, but Kris nods all the same.

“That’s a Save Point!” He explains, happy to play teacher. “They’ll refill your party’s energy and bring you back if you fail to defeat your enemy! So make sure to Save often, okay?”

You have no idea what any of that is about, but Kris just reaffirms their previous nod. You guess they understand something you don’t? Sure enough Kris reaches out their hand towards that spot and you feel rejuvenated! Ready and willing to take on the day!

But you’re still hungry….You want it to go away.

You all follow Kris as they lead you into Castle Town. All the kids are hiding fearfully in their houses, while a grand battle occurs in the center of town.

To both your relief and concern, you find Susie here. She’s holding her weapon of choice, a GiantHairbrush, and pressing it hard against the blade of a shimmering snake creature. They are evenly matched, with their clash being so potent it blows both of them back.

Susie nearly falls over as she yells. “GET OUT OF MY WAY!”

The snake creature huffs and puffs. “I will!! Just stop hitting me!!”

“YOU first!” She snarls. This is getting nowhere.

“S-Susie!” You call out. Instinctively you rush over to her side and let Magic flow from your hands. Your SnowRing glows, and green light washes over Susie, washing away her bruises. You silently thank The Angel.

“Wha- Karoshi!” She smiles, she’s so happy to see you! “Thanks!”

“That’s a Rudinn!” Ralsei exclaims, seemingly offended by its very presence. “A foot soldier of the Spade King! He must be part of Lancer’s Party!”

“And it doesn’t pay enough!” The Rudinn is quick to say. Grumbling. “(can’t believe I gotta fight five of them…)” 

“Um, he’s got a sword guys,” Asriel’s voice trembles, he fidgets with his StimNecklace, which looks like a little golden flower. “How are we gonna handle this?”

“Bravely,” Kris states, like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. “Won’t let them steal Dess’s gift, will you?”

Asriel’s eyes widen, as if he’s having a realization. “No….No I…” He takes a deep breath, and focuses. “I can’t let that happen!”

“You heard ‘im, runt!” Susie points a dramatic finger at the Rudinn, as everyone assumes a battle stance. “It’s time to get THRASHED!”

You’ve never been in battle before, this is all pretty new and terrifying to you. The Rudinn sends a wave of diamond shaped bullets after you, yelling as he does so. An eerie red glow envelops both him and his bullets. 

You’re about to be dusted, when Kris jumps in front of you and shields you from the oncoming bullets with their GiantEraser. You grip your chest, gritting your teeth and muttering that it was a close call.

But…It’s kind of exciting somehow?

“Focus.” Kris whispers, like they can tell what you’re thinking. You barely start muttering an apology before they turn to Ralsei and demand. “Information.”

Ralsei and Asriel had stayed behind Susie, who is slicing through the diamond bullets as they kept coming. Where Asriel is trying not to shake, Ralsei remains determined through and through.

“Right!” He nods his head. “This Rudinn is Angry! That means its Attack is higher, but it has lower Defense! We just need to be able to close the distance somehow!”

“Behind me.” They say immediately, and their party complies, forming a line. 

They rush through the bullets, holding their GiantEraser up like a beat up shield, rushing through the oncoming diamonds. You all follow behind them, each impact of the magical bullets against their shield making you fear for your life. Some diamonds rush past your side, nearly grazing you, you feel Tense. 

Soon enough Kris is right at the face of the Rudinn, and they shove their shield against his blade. That’s when they speak, barely above a whisper. “Now.”

You all rush out from behind them. Susie gets the first hit with her hair brush, knocking the Ruddin back a bit before Asriel’s StimNecklace glows, and he’s throwing a small fire ball against the Ruddin’s chest. Finally your SnowRing glows and a diagonal arc of sharp, white magic deals damage to the Rudinn. It buries its blade on the dark concrete, struggling to stay up.

“Ugh! This SUCKS!” He groans. “I need a day off…Or seven.”

“Oh!” Ralsei suddenly speaks up. “This enemy is TIRED. When an enemy is Tired all of their Stats go down! I can just cast my Pacify spell to put them to sleep, so we can end Fights peacefully! Here! Allow me!”

Ralsei blows some blue stardust from his hand and into the Rudinn’s face. Sure enough the snake creature falls asleep on the floor.

“Hmmph!” Susie grunts, unsympathetic for obvious reasons. “Serves that jerk right!” 

“I can’t believe we just won a fight…” Asriel whispers with a smile of disbelief. “Our LEVEL went up and everything!”

“Yeah!” You say all of a sudden, more excited than you’ve ever been in your life. “We just did what Kris said and…It all turned out alright!”

“Well, that’s why Kris is our Royal Tactician,” Ralsei says, pride dripping from his voice. “They can do anything they put their mind to!”

It hadn’t even occurred to you until just now. You guess Kris has to be pretty diligent at their own job if they get to live in Ralsei’s Castle. “Wow! That’s really cool, Kris!”

Kris is genuinely caught off guard by all this praise. Their usually serious expression is replaced by a quiet sort of bashfulness. Their blush is less subtle, they scratch their cheek with one finger and avert their gaze.

“Kris Kris Kris!” Susie mocks, blowing a raspberry. “I’m here too, you know! I’m not the Dark Knight Captain for nothing!” 

“You did great, Susie.” Kris whispers, their smile a bit more obvious than before. Their voice soft and loving. “I’m proud of you.”

Susie takes a step back, her face even more purple than before. You know the feeling. “Err…Thanks!” She quickly whips around pointing at the path ahead. “Come on! We got a thief to catch!”

“Oh, right,” Asriel sighs. “Let’s…Let’s go team!”

You all begin to run ahead, feeling safe with Kris leading the charge.

_______________________________________

You run up the dark rocky hills leading to the Castle Town exit. Normally this place would be quiet except for the sounds of wildlife, but all you can hear is your heart drumming in your ear. It’s not that you hate running, in fact you’re quite athletic for a Karoshi, but you still haven’t eaten in a whole year. Somehow, you still breathe, your heart still beats, and your legs still move. Your work is never finished, and so you can never rest.

Still, the drumming in your ears doesn’t compare to what happens next. You step on something burning hot, right as Kris pushes you out of the way. Then all at once you see a thin pillar of white light erupt from where you just stood with an obnoxious exploding sound, the light becoming blue as it goes out. The Magic pillar pierces through Kris’s shoulder-

“KRIS!” You can feel yourself yelling. You rush over to their side thoughtlessly.

It hadn’t pierced through physical skin thankfully, but you can hear them grit their teeth so hard to suppress a scream. Tears well up in their eyes, but even now they hold onto their courage, gripping their bitten GiantPencil on both their hands despite the pain. You don’t know how they’re so brave, they’re twelve just like you aren’t they?

“Kris, are you okay?!” You hear Asriel ask, you’re not looking at him right now.

“Focus.” Kris mutters, their eyes traveling around the black rocky fields of Dark Hill, looking around for any oddities in the blue grass. “Surrounded by mines. Support caster nearby. Ralsei?”

While they speak, you put your hands together, muttering a Heal Prayer to The Angel. Green light envelops them, and the burned irritation covering their arm washes away into smooth skin, not even a scar.

“It must be a Hathy!” Ralsei proclaims, his eyes shifting all around to try and find out her location. “They like to limit our movement by casting heart shaped mines on the battlefield! They can also heal. Usually they support Rudinns, is she alone?”

“EASY PICKINGS THEN!” Susie ROARS. “COME OUT HERE YOU COWARD! YOU THINK YOU CAN HURT MY KRIS AND GET AWAY WITH IT?!”

There’s no response. There’s just an eery, dispassionate silence….For the rest of them that is.

You’re a deer monster. Where the rest of the party looks around in confusion, your ears twitch, you hear a soft beating of a heart, followed by a sullen feminine voice whispering the words. “(must be nice…)”

You tug on Kris’s cape, which you notice is just their blankie, and you whisper. “(she’s on that tree..!)”

Sure enough she is, there on a tree branch hidden in the blue leaves. Did she think she wouldn’t stand out? She’s green!

Kris nods gently, a small cocky smirk forming on their lips. “Susie. Rude Buster. Knock that tree over.”

Susie grins. A vicious violet glow envelops her, rushing through her arm and into her GiantHairbrush, releasing a LOUD burst of Magic that seethes with ANGER. The burst becomes sharp waves, slicing through the tree so fast it creates a comical explosion, Hathy squeaks and the trunk of the tree falls over some of the Heart Mines, triggering them. Hathy follows soon, colliding against the rocky grass. 

She doesn’t get up. She just wraps her tentacles around her curvaceous body, defeated, her heart shaped head beating slowly.

“(you can’t reach me anyway…)” She mutters with a whimper.

“Oh!” Ralsei points at Hathy in an almost accusatory manner. “That enemy is SAD. That means her Speed is down, but her Defense is up! Also she loses some JUICE with every hit!”

“What’s juice?” Asriel asks with a trembling voice, which makes you glad because you don’t know either and you didn’t want to look dumb. “Sorry.” 

“It’s what we use to cast Spells, dummy!” Susie groans. “Old people, right Karoshi?”

You chuckle nervously. “Ye-yeah, so old…”

Asriel flinches and you silently make a note to apologize to him later.

“Her Speed is down.” Kris announces. “Can’t dodge. Asriel, Karoshi.”

They don’t elaborate further. You nod at the teenager, who despite his wavering will, still finds his resolve. Sharp, cold bullets manifest on your hand, while Asriel manifests small fireballs on both his hands. 

Sure enough Hathy can hardly find the motivation to move out of the way of bullets. They don’t do much damage, not with her Sadness status. How are you going to end the fight if you can’t get close enough to Pacify her? Will….Will you really have to-

“Susie.” Kris speaks, snapping you out of your thoughts. “Throw him.”

You have no idea what they mean, but Susie does. Without a moment’s hesitation she picks up Ralsei and THROWS him like a speeding bullet towards the Hathy. You and Asriel stop attacking out of sheer surprise. Ralsei screams in a high pitched tone, but right as he’s about to collide with Hathy, he breathes out a wave of blue stardust like a fluffy dragon. The mines dissipate as Hathy falls asleep, and Ralsei falls face first into rock. 

“I can’t believe you just did that!” You throw your hands up at Kris, who just wears the most insufferable grin. Susie’s snickering isn’t much better.

You and Asriel run over to Ralsei and sit him up. Cartoon birds visibly swim in his vision as he sways, clearly dizzy. “Did anyone-” He coughs, some blue stardust caught in his throat. “Aarrgh that’s so baad!”

Your prayers reach The Angel, and Ralsei is healed. He shakes his head, making the birds disperse. “Ah! Thank you, Karoshi!”

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Asriel asks, helping the boy up. He turns to the other two, looking stern for the first time “What were you two thinking? Ralsei could’ve gotten seriously hurt!”

“Was the optimal play.” Kris states with a shrug. “I’m sorry. Had to do it.”

Did they though?

“It’s all right Kris!” Ralsei laughs it off. “I trust that you’ll always do what’s in our best interest, even if sometimes that means doing something scary!”

At that moment, Ralsei turns to you, as if expecting approval. “Right, Karoshi?”

You inhale a sharp breath, and feel a slight sting on your finger. It’s gone the next moment. You ignore the weird feeling, and focus on what Ralsei actually said…

Kris would never hurt their friends on purpose, unless it was superficial and harmless, like a prank. They’re a Tactician, they know more about Fights than you do. They….They would never do anything wrong, they knew what they were doing. Ralsei couldn’t have gotten too hurt in that fall, and you could always heal him, couldn’t you? They trusted you to do that, and you did, without them having to ask. You did good. Kris is good. You hope you made them proud. 

“Well…They already apologized, didn’t they?” You say with an uneasy smile. “And Ralsei didn’t mind, so it’s okay.”

“Just…” Asriel speaks up, arms crossed. “Be careful. This is serious stuff, I don’t want anyone to get hurt…”

“You’re so sappy!” Susie says with a roll of her eyes. “But er, if you really mean that..Then I guess we can try being more careful. Right, Kris?”

Kris only nods, because no words are needed.

_______________________________________

You’ve been making your way through the Dark Hills in silence for only a little bit. You can almost enjoy this, but you can’t, on account of being under the threat of being Discarded should you fail at your job. Whatever feeling of calm you would be feeling right now is suppressed. So you don’t think about the soft breeze, you don’t think about the chirping of birds, or the way the grass feels under your hooves. You don’t even think about how you’re having such a fun adventure with your favorite people. Nope, you definitely don’t think about those things at all. That’s how good a worker you are.

“So um,” Ralsei speaks up, breaking the silence. “We seem to be running into lots of Enemies with Emotion. It might be useful to stay up to date as to what each Emotion does, so…” He pulls a MASSIVE book from his Inventory. It’s pink, with a childish hand-drawn cover. “I wrote this Manual all about Fights! It has information on the mechanics of this world, trivia about Enemies you may find, and it even comes with a handy Emotion Chart! Why don’t you hold onto it, Kris?”

(Kris learned CHECK.)

Ralsei’s voice is DESPERATE for approval, not in an overwhelming sense, but in a manner that is obvious to you. That’s how you talk when you want your Boss to like you, you guess it’s a little bit cute seeing Ralsei suck up to Kris so much. Even cuter is the look of pure despair Kris gives him when they see the absolute HEFT of that book. You chuckle quietly enough for it to be polite.

Kris takes it, though they’re not subtle about stuffing it in their inventory and just reading the Emotion Chart. They pass it around the group. It’s a cute chart! Ralsei chose to depict the information with cute little drawings of his friends. Anger (represented by Susie) beats Sadness (represented by Karoshi) beats Happiness (represented by Asriel). Kris stays in the middle of the chart, representing Neutral.

Happiness apparently increases Luck and Speed, but decreases Accuracy. 

“Your art is getting really good, Ralsei!” Asriel speaks up with a kind smile. “I’ve been seeing some real improvement!”

“Thanks!” The goat boy speaks with glowing joyous eyes. “Kris has been teaching me a lot, you know?”

“Well keep at it! I’m proud of you.” Asriel ruffles Ralsei’s hair, he seems Happy.

“Hey…” Susie speaks up with a raised eyebrow. “Isn’t our Training Ground nearby?” 

“Training Ground?” You speak up after being a bit too quiet.

“Oh right you never saw it!” Susie jumps in place, once. She sure likes to bounce. “Ralsei built us this rad Training Ground to like, practice Fighting and stuff! It’s really neat! You should come visit soon!”

“Tomorrow.” You say near instantly, and the way Susie flinches breaks your heart. “S-sorry…” You mutter. “..my job, remember?”

“Yeah, I get it,” Susie’s energy is dampened a bit, but she doesn’t seem upset. “Christmas is important!”

“CHRISTMAS CHRISTMAS CHRISTMAS!!” 

You all whip around to see a…Head, popping out of a hole in the grass. She has a long neck, but fur and cat ears. There’s a pattern on her face that looks like a club, she bares her sharp teeth, a twisted smile on her face.

“You people are ALWAYS going on about Christmas! You know what today is?” She growls. “It’s my BIRTHDAY!”

“Oh!” You say surprised. “Happy Birthday! It’s actually MY Birthday too!”

“Wait really?!” She blinks back surprised. “Darn it! Now I CAN’T attack you! We’re sisters!”

“We…Are????” You blink, confused. 

“Yeah!!!!!” She’s more relaxed now, her tone is assertive but not aggressive. Her smile is friendlier. “I’m not gonna ruin your BIRTHDAY, random Karoshi! You can pass on through! Happy Birthday!”

“Wow!” You clap your hands, feeling much more at ease. That could’ve gotten ugly. “Thank you! I’ve never actually been wished Happy Birthday before!”

“Giiiiiirl do I know the feeling!” She chuckles. “I couldn’t even celebrate my Birthday because my uncle was all like “Clover you should go ruin The Betrayer’s Christmas!” I didn’t get to open a SINGLE present!...Except one from my weird cousin, Lancer, one gift.”

“O-oh!” You gasp, indignated. “That’s horrible! What was the gift?”

“It was a shovel!” She hisses in mere recollection of the memory. “Can you believe it?! A shovel! He told me to shove off!”

“Wow,” Ralsei comments. “That Lancer kid sounds really mean.”

“SHUT UP!” She yells, loud enough for you all to take a step back. “NO ONE ASKED YOU! I’M TALKING TO MY SISTER HERE, PRETTY BOY!”

“O-oh!” Ralsei tugs on his scarf awkwardly. “Um! Sorry! Thanks?”

“(what the heck man…)” Susie whispers, no longer aware of what’s going on. 

“So um, sister…” You roll the word around in your mouth, feels weird. “Me and my friends are gonna go fight your boss before he crosses The Great Door, so um, we have to go now!”

“Oh he’s no boss of mine, but sure!” She says, amicable again. “Just go right through while I Dust your friends!”

What.

“What?!” Susie yells. “What the heck?!”

“Well you’re the Birthday Girl!” She announces. “If fighting Lancer is what you wanna do that’s cool and all, but I gotta do what my uncle tells me you know? Family stuff.”

Asriel buries his face in his hands. “(uuugh here we go again.)”

“Clover!” Ralsei steps forward. “We really don’t have to do this! We-”

“How do you know my name?!” Clover pulls back, visibly confused.

“Oh! Um!” Ralsei blinks. “I have been getting visions from-”

“YOU’RE STALKING ME?!” She hisses. “AND YOU DIDN’T EVEN WISH ME A HAPPY BIRTHDAY?!”

“Dude. What?” Susie looks all around the party. “Is anyone else hearing this?”

“That is IT!” Clover yells.

Two other heads burst from the floor, one reluctant head, and one sweet looking head. Then the floor cracks and Clover’s entire body bursts out, leaving a large hole in the ground. She lands in front of it, heads looming over the party. Her tail pointed at you all like a scorpion. A yellow aura envelops her, is it…..Happiness?

“Birthday Girl! Your friends have to GO!” 

Kris sighs. You have to agree.

Half a second later she digs her tail into the stone floor, making you all jump back. This was premeditated, because as soon as the tail digs into the ground little white balls of magic begin shooting out, erupting from her tail. The bullets approach rapidly and split into threes, effectively ensuring the way they reacted would leave them unprepared for the barrage coming at them.

“Clever.” You hear Kris state with genuine surprise, as bullets collide against them and their party, making them roll over the ground. 

(It hit right in the SOUL!)

“Kris! Susie!” You can hear yourself saying. That looked like it hurt! 

You run over to your friends as they all get up, ignoring Clover’s plea to get away from them. You’re not really listening to her. 

Everyone gets up, with collective grunts. Before a word is even spoken, Susie is firing off a Rude Buster and rushing into battle. You squeak. Your body trembles watching her swiping through those bullets, dodging through the slashes from Clover’s claws, trying to hit her with her GiantBrush. Clover is FAST, able to jump long distances to avoid being so much as Grazed by Susie’s attacks. 

Your Heal Prayer is heard, and so is Ralsei’s, both Kris and Asriel are healed. You mutter one more, healing the younger goat, though you get the sense he wouldn’t have brought it up.

“What do we do?!” Asriel trembles. “Kris?”

“Kris will know what to do!” Ralsei nods, turning to the human. “Right?”

Kris’s body trembles, their eyes are obscured by their hair. Their grip on their GiantPencil is shaking when they turn to you, they put a hand on your shoulder and squeeze, hard. Their eyes, when revealed, are so pitiful, they look so scared. They lean into your ear and whisper.

“ What am I supposed to do? ”

(Kris used Confide.)

(You are now Sad.)

Your lip trembles, your body wavers. Is this how Kris feels? Are they scared? Did you really not notice? You’re such a bad friend.

“Focus.” Kris says, taking a step back, like nothing is wrong. They look as brave as ever, even now you can’t see through their facade. You’re awful, you’re so awful. “Iceshock.”

Iceshock?...Right, that’s one of your Spells.

“H-how?” You ask, your voice cracking.

“Karoshi are you okay?” Asriel asks softly. “Are you scared? It’s okay, I’m…I’m scared too.”

“She’s distracted.” Kris says, not giving you a chance to reply. They point at Clover and Susie’s match. “Iceshock.” They demand again.

You want to say no, you want to focus on what Kris is feeling…But this is too important. You can at least be a good friend to them by doing what they say, it’s the only way you can make it up to them.

You raise your hands, numbing cold envelops your fingers. The ice first envelops Clover’s leg, making her trip and fall on her three faces. Susie barks out laughter and gets a good bonk at the center head. The ice doesn’t stop, growing and enveloping the lower half of her body. Three screams ring out, as the ice fully envelops her necks, then her heads entirely. Then everything is blissfully quiet, you feel at peace.

( It was a Moving Attack! It hit right in the SOUL!)

It’s not permanent of course, the ice shatters and Clover is panting. She looks Afraid, her fur is all wet and ruined now. She’s shivering. You feel a terrible guilt looking at her like that, she trusted you. You just can’t be trusted can you?

Kris turns to Ralsei, pointing at Clover with their head. With a nod, the goat boy runs and casts Pacify.

…Only one of the heads falls asleep. The rest are shocked, too afraid to speak.

“Um,” He turns to his friends. “A little help here?”

Knowing what’s being asked of you, you take a couple steps forward and breathe out your Sleep Mist. Soon enough, Clover collapses into cold sleep.

“Phew! Thanks Karoshi!” Ralsei speaks up happily. “The battle’s over, so it should fade soon!”

What? What is he-

(Karoshi is Neutral.)

Oh, you’re…..Well, you’re exhausted, but you’re not Sad!

“Are you okay now, Karoshi?” Asriel asks, putting a hand to your head and patting it. “You did good…But you looked a little…”

“...Sad?” You speak up, you sound Tired. “Yeah, I was…I don’t understand.”

“Huh?” Susie blinks twice. She looks ashamed she didn’t notice. “You good?”

“I’m…Fine.” You say, it’s the truth.

Kris looks at you with a nod. You see them mouth the words “i’m sorry.”

“You see!” Ralsei pushes up his glasses. Not to look cool, they were just kinda loose. “Humans can’t cast Magic! But Kris’s ACTs are good at inflicting the right Emotion! So just then, Kris was actually helping us! Isn’t that right, Kris?”

Kris nods, not elaborating further.

“Oh!” Asriel scratches the side of his head, a bit confused. “Is Karoshi gonna be okay though?”

Ralsei nods. “Emotions fade after Fights! So it’s perfectly fine!”

“Right.” Susie nods. “That’s creepy as heck how Kris just…Knows the right words to say to make us FEEL things, but I guess I trust them.”

Kris then gives Susie a somewhat creepy smile. “You love me.”

“Shut up!” Susie stomps her foot. “Don’t say weird things!”

“You literally agreed to marry both me and Karoshi.” Kris is quick to point out.

This shuts Susie up, she’s all flushed. You can’t help but laugh, even as you feel a bit dizzy, like you’re flying too close to…Something.

“I love you both…” You find yourself saying. “So much…”

“H-huh?!” Susie is caught off guard. “I-I…Me too????”

“See?” Kris sticks out their tongue in faux mockery. “I’m right.”

“Let’s GO, Kris!” She whines as she stomps off.

You just gotta move forward.

______________________________

Not too long after encountering Clover, you see it. A massive black door, outlined with gold. The Delta Rune is inscribed on it, giving off a potent Magic energy, likely a ward. Every single time you’ve seen it it’s always been closed, and today is no exception. It brings up the question of how Lancer and his teammates got here in the first place.

“Look!” Susie points forward. She takes your attention off the Great Door itself and to who’s in front of it. Lancer, jumping on the sack of gifts as it struggles to fit through a large hole in the dirt. “That little twerp must have dug his way in here!”

“He’s a little kid, right?” Asriel mentions, for some odd reason. “We outnumber him, it should be easy!”

“We shouldn’t underestimate him!” Ralsei says. “He’s royalty, remember? If he’s anything like his father….”

You’re all quiet as you ponder what to do. Looking at him he’s…Pretty goofy. His rotund body bounces on the sack like an adorable rubber ball, making cartoon splat noises every time they collide. You don’t think he’s dangerous at all.

“Maybe….” You hesitate, then speak anyway. “We could try talking to him?”

Everyone else looks at you with various degrees of curiosity and shock.

“I-I mean!” You fumble. Did you mess up? “None of the other members of his party even wanted to be here, right? Clover said Lancer’s dad made them come here….So maybe we can convince Lancer to not…To not…” 

You lose steam at the last second. You catch the way everyone looks at you oddly, like you’re some sort of weirdo. That was such a stupid thing to say, Angel you’re so-

“Good plan.” Kris is the first to state.

“Yeah!!” Asriel says with a snap of his fingers. “I don’t really want to beat up a little kid, so this is actually pretty smart Karoshi!”

“He looks like a runt!” Susie grins. “It would be bullying at that point, I aint about that.”

“Karoshi….” Ralsei puts a hand on your shoulder. “You really have a good SOUL don’t you?”

You feel an overwhelming, loving warmth enveloping you. You….You didn’t expect that. Your friends really love you, don’t they? They care about what you think, you’re so lucky….

“Ha!” Susie says, making you jump a bit. “Your nose is glowing!”

“Aa!” You cover it with your hands. “Don’t look!”

“(...cute)” Kris whispers. You want to hide your face. “Let’s go. Behind me. Look heroic.”

You’re thankful for the change in tone…Then you feel confused as to how you’re meant to look heroic. 

Kris leads by example, walking ahead with their GiantPencil over their shoulder. Susie mimics this, doing the same with her GiantHairbrush. Ralsei hides his snout in his scarf letting it blow in the wind, which adds some mysterious flair to his regal walk. His arms tucked behind him.

Asriel does surprisingly well too, his palms facing forward, with fire sparking in his hands but never truly forming, like he’s about to call on an explosion. He’s able to project confidence.

You opt for something more…Elegant. You put your hands together as if in prayer, letting your Magic glow all around you. You imagine you look like a holy person.

All of this effort is lost on Lancer, who is now slamming his little face against the bag.

“Get in!!” He yells. “GET IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIN!!”

You all just kind of stare at the little guy, feeling a bit dumb.

“Um,” You stutter. You look to the party for some kind of support but all you get are various thumbs up. You gulp. “Hey, um, Lancer?”

The little boy huffs and puffs, lying exhausted on top of the Gift Sack. He puts a finger up, not facing towards you. “Gimme a second..!”

“Oh!” You smile nervously. “Okay-”

“Second’s up!” He hops into place with a mischievous laugh. “Hohoho!! So the betrayers have finally arrived! Just as I planned it!”

Ralsei takes a step back, alarmed. “You…Did?”

“No!” He blows a raspberry, his smile not once leaving his face. “This is actually REALLY inconvenient! My dad’s gonna be super mad!”

He laughs again, much to the confusion of everyone else.

“It’s OVER twerp!” Susie crosses her arms, taking on a smug superior tone. “We already CRUSHED all your friends! Now hand back our presents!”

“Wait like all of them?” Lancer says with mild shock. “All of them? Even my cousin?”

“You mean Clover?” You can’t help but ask, then feel guilty for doing so. “Yes she’s um….Taken care of.”

“But she’s so strong and cool!” He gasps. “You five must be REAL tough! She had her special shovel and everything!”

You comprehend nothing of this kid’s words.

“They’ve been defeated.” Kris leans lazily on their pencil’s eraser, as the tip is buried in the ground. They have an air of disinterest to them. “Surrender and this may be forgiven. Keep fighting and…” They smile so subtly it might as well be an illusion. They don’t finish the threat.

This does make Lancer shudder. “Oof! You give me the shimmy jimmies! But that’s not gonna stop me from making dad proud!” 

He hops in the air, light forms beneath him creating….That bike from before, flames and everything..

“Time to stop, drop, and rock!” 

He rushes into the group, his bike leaving a trail of smoke behind. This time it’s not Kris who saves you, but Susie. She jumps in front of the moving bike and swipes her hairbrush at it, knocking Lancer back prompting him to spiral, doing donuts on his bike. He raises a hand upwards and spade shaped bullets spray like a tornado, due to his chaotic movement. 

Your hands grip each other in fear, and you close your eyes once more. You open them almost immediately. Kris is shielding you again, and Susie barrels through the bullets fearlessly, all while Ralsei follows close behind healing her injuries. He’s much more effective than you as a healer, despite your higher Magic stat. 

Even Asriel is improving. He wrapped himself up in circles of flames to shield himself from the assault, the fire so bright you can’t see Asriel behind them. 

You want to help. You want to be helpful, NEED to be helpful. You must do SOMETHING.

“Karoshi.” Kris speaks. “Watch closely.”

You focus, putting your sight on Susie and Ralsei. Lancer gets dizzy by the time Susie gets close enough to strike. She uses the flat of her hairbrush to send the kid flying into the Great Door. 

“Ouchie,” He grumbles. “Oooh nancy!”

“Bullets!” Kris calls out, and somehow the Party perfectly understands. Both you and Asriel try your own Magic assault. 

Your bullets reach him as he’s falling from the door, bike and all. Rather than try to dodge, Lancer rushes into the bullets with surprising speed, then right as he’s about to be hit he sends one of his own bullets downwards, creating a small explosion that sends him and his bike into the air. He strikes a silly pose, his tongue out, raising a hand. The bullets don’t rain down this time, they now raise from the floor catching you all off guard. 

You let out a sharp cry as sharper spades cut you on their way to the ceiling. They’re like small paper cuts, all piled up into an uncomfortable hellish feeling. Through the pain you begin praying. 

Your eyes are closed, but you can hear Lancer’s landing, amongst everyone else’s grunts. 

“Hohoho!!!!” Lancer lets out a goofy laugh. “So!! How did you like that trick? From one to ten! One is “wow that trick sucks!” and ten is “wow that trick blows!”” 

Not gonna lie, his goofy childlike nature is far more annoying when he’s trying to hurt you and your friends.

“Note to self…” Asriel mutters. “Cover all my bases,” 

The prayers reach Asriel healing him, then Kris, then Susie and Ralsei as they get close.

“Lancer sure is tough, right gang?” Ralsei smiles even as he whimpers. He wipes some sweat off his brow, ignoring the tired looks he’s being given. “Don’t worry! We can get through this Fight with just a little bit of TEAMWORK!”

“No offense, Ralsei, my man,” Susie sneers. “But that advice kind of….Sucks.”

“It’s in the Manual!” Ralsei says with a cheery voice, ignoring the dizz. “When we all feel specially TENSE, we can use our TENSION POINTS to perform collaborative moves!”

“I’m out of Juice..” You mutter. “So um, we should probably get that done quick?”

“What are you all whispering about over there?” Lancer interrupts. “Is my bike trick worthy of discourse?”

Kris takes a step forward. “Your bike trick…..”

They brandish their pencil.

“Was pretty sick honestly.”

“Aww, thanks-”

Kris rushes forward on their own, you all scream as they ignore Ralsei’s advice. When they get close enough to slash, Lancer just rains down some Spades from above. Kris anticipates this, shifting to block with their eraser.

“SUSIE!” They call out.

You see it then, their SOUL glowing a beautiful red. The same red that now envelops Susie, as her anger is given focus.

She roars once more and lets out a Buster unlike any she’s ever performed, red and hot, filled with passion. Somehow, Kris knows to dodge in time, the red Magic cutting through Lancer’s own bullets in a half second, and colliding against him as he lets out a cartoony howl.

But rather than ending there, Lancer slaps a hand to his back tire. The fire enveloping his bike glows white and suddenly BURSTS, acting as propulsion. 

“MAMMA MIAAAAAA!” He yells for seemingly no reason.

“ASRIEL!” Kris points again. Their Soul glows on Asriel and his flames become a deep red, the flame shields surround you all at the same time, Lancer collides against your shield specifically and is sent spiraling back onto the floor right as the shields drop. Then before any order can be called, Spades are rising from the floor, then falling from the ceiling, you must look like a dancing fool trying to dodge them all. So many of those get you.

“KAROSHI!” Kris demands, and their demands are always heard.

Red envelops you and it’s such a good feeling. The truest confidence you’ve ever felt, a great certainty in your core that your goals will always be accomplished. You raise your hands and with you as the conductor a miracle occurs, everyone in the party is healed.

“Agh!!!” Lancer grunts. “The power…Of friendship!!! It’s INCREDIBLE!!!”

You all turn to Lancer.

“Everyone.” Kris points to your collective enemy with a snap of their fingers. Red envelops you all.

Asriel’s flames envelop Kris’s pencil, just as your cold divine glow envelops Susie’s hairbrush. They rush together, delivering one final blow as a team. 

Lancer is knocked from his bike, which itself disappears into the shadows. He’s tumbling and spinning, all dizzy from the attack.

“Huff….pufff….” Lancer clutches his stomach. “I’m gonna curl…”

You think he’s gonna throw up but he does indeed curl up into a ball.

“Aaaagh, dad’s gonna be so mad now!!” He whimpers, sounding genuinely Sad. “I’m…I’m outta here, my insides hurt…”

You feel kind of bad now as Ralsei pacifies him. But then Kris puts a hand on your shoulder, you think the reward of their smile is good enough.

“Everyone!!” Ralsei is clapping loudly, whistling, going absolutely wild. “That was amazing!!! You’re all already so good at this!”

“HECK YEAH!!” Susie flexes her chubby arms. “That was so EPIC! Did you SEE me out there? Going all red and BOOM!!!!”

“It’s pretty incredible…” Asriel looks at his hand, flexing his fingers. “I’ve never felt so…Alive? The Fights were really fun, now that I look back at them…”

“Now you know how I feel!!” Susie chuckles. “What did you think, Karoshi?”

“Oh gosh…” You smile, your heart beats a mile a minute. “I don’t know? I was pretty scared…But I think that’s what made it…Fun?”

Kris nods in approval, they get it.

“Wait!!!” Susie gasps. “Ralsei you didn’t do ANYTHING in that team attack! What the heck man?”

“I um!” Ralsei looks sheepish, twiddling with his fingers. “I wanted to see you all looking cool….And I needed to Pacify Lancer! I couldn’t get distracted!”

“Oh!” Susie crosses her arms, thinking. “Yeah I guess that makes sense? Dang, would’ve looked cool though.”

“The presents.” Kris states. You have a small heart attack realizing you kind of forgot.

You take the gift sack into your hands, it’s still heavy. 

“Um!! Okay! This has been…Really eventful!” You have a tired smile on your face. “I’m….REALLY hungry, so-”

“SO LET’S GOOOOOOOOO!!” Susie, unprompted, picks you up, gift sack and all, and starts running towards the castle.

“Ah!! Susie!!!”

You cackle all the way back.

You get the feeling this is going to be a good holiday.

___________________________________

The food is right where you left it, kept warm and fresh by magic. Your stomach rumbles just looking at it. 

Susie puts you down on your chair and sits next to you. She groans “FINALLY! I felt like I was gonna starve you know?”

You decide to not bring up how you’re probably worse off than her in that department. “Yeah, I know!”

Susie takes a big sniff of the food at the table, whining. “I wanna start noooow.”

“Yeah but-” Something is prodding in your mind, you ignore it. “We need to all be together for this! So let’s wait for everyone else!”

“Uuuuugh” Susie’s stomach growls. REAL loud. “Stupid Christmas traditions…”

You decide to lean on her for comfort. She’s visibly flustered about this, but you continue to do so anyway. You can relish having control once in a while.

That’s when everyone else walks through the door.

“You must all be so hungry!” Ralsei says as soon as he enters, taking his seat. Kris follows after, giving a nod of confirmation. “Let’s dig in shall we?”

“...” Asriel looks at the room. He looks…Concerned. “Dess isn’t here.”

Dess?- Oh.

Right.

“Karoshi.” Kris gets up, walking towards the foot of the stairs. “Let’s go.”

“Huh?” You blink. They want to check on her? Together? “But…I’m hungry.”

Kris looks…Guilty after you say that. Regardless, they’re still firm. “Let’s go.”

“But….”

“You’re the one that said everyone needs to be here, dummy!” Susie barks out a laugh. “Come on, it’ll only take a second. She’s probably just…Playing a baseball videogame or something!”

“It HAS been forever since you’ve seen her,” Asriel speaks with a soft smile. “She talks a lot about how she misses you, you know? I think it’d be a nice surprise.”

That’s… True.

Your stomach aches so bad but….

“Yeah…” You whisper. “Okay, let’s go see her.”

Kris nods. They take your hand when you freeze in front of the staircase, leading you even as your heart is gripped with cold fear.

It shouldn’t be too bad, right? You missed her too, you’ll open the door and she’ll be there this time. She’ll be there. It’ll be okay. Dess is here. Dess is here. Dess is here. You don’t even need to check her room to know, you already know she’s here. She probably doesn’t want to be bothered. You don’t need to see. She’s here. You know she’s here. Dess is here. She never left. She’ll never leave you. She wouldn’t do that. Dess is a good person. You’re a good person. Kris is a good person.

Everything will be okay.

Her door has a baseball sticker in front, and is decorated with many of those police tape stickers, with a “Warning: Do Not Enter.” sign too. It’s cute. It’s so cute. It’s sosososo cute. It’s so cute you don’t wanna ruin it by touching it. You gotta respect her wishes, right?

“Kris I’m….” You don’t want to cry. You don’t want to cry. You won’t. “Kris I’m really hungry…Let’s….Let’s just visit tomorrow.”

Kris shakes their head. They’re….Frowning. 

“You need to do this.” They state, as certain as they always are. “I’ll be with you, okay? I’ll comfort you when you’re scared. You….You won’t be alone again.”

That…That sounds nice, being comforted when you’re so, so afraid.

“Okay, Kris, I trust you…”

You grab the doorknob, turning it slowly. 

You gently open the door.

“Dess? It’s time for dinner!” 

You freeze.

She’s there. She’s actually there. You’re so relieved that for a second you don’t notice how she looks. She’s laying on the bed, her face pressed against the pillow. Her eyes are red from crying, her face is full of snot. When she sees you she tries to sit up, and you get to see how her body shakes as she moves, the bags under her eyes don’t compliment her appearance at all either. She tries to look at you with a smile but even just trying to do that makes her almost start crying, so she doesn’t.

You remember this perfectly, you don’t think you could ever forget even as you keep trying.

“Dess…?” You find yourself saying, even though you know what’s going on. “What’s wrong?”

“.... ” Her voice is raspy as she speaks. “ ...Asriel, he-”

___________________________________

You’re back in Snow World. 

More specifically, you’re back in The Workshop. The sound of Karoshi slaving away fills your ears, you look at your work desk, there’s no assignment for you yet. For a blissful second there’s nothing you should be doing, no expectations of you.

Nothing.

You hate it.

You get up from your work desk.

You momentarily pass by the other Karoshi. You’ve never talked to any of them, not really. You hope they’re happy in their usefulness. You envy their vacant stares, their machinelike behavior. You call yourself the perfect worker, but in the end you’re just defective, you still have flaws. The others get to be so dull, without passion, without hunger or emotion, so perfect. You hate them, you wish you were born like them so you didn’t have to feel hate for them. You….

You walk upstairs.

Up the stairs, up, and up, and up.

You can see the fountain from here, it’s so close. You have no interest on it though…

You look at the snow, so far below you. It’s cold.

It’s so cold.

You just need to wake up, and then you’ll be able to work again, you won’t have to think about any of this. You’ll be happy if you do it. You want to do it. You want to do it. You want to do it.

It’ll only be for a second, right? It’ll be like blinking. It gets less scary the more you think about it.

Yeah, it’s not scary at all. It actually sounds…Fun.

You take a few steps back, then…

You jump.

You close your eyes and imagine you’re flying, that you’re deserving of heaven.

You can feel it, your father's hand in yours, leading you to your new home. Everything is going to be okay.

Everything is-

Chapter Text

“ ....Why… ”

Their eyes refused to meet yours ever since what happened.

“ Why are you being….So nice to me? ”

She didn’t understand the question. Why wouldn’t she keep her promise? She wanted so badly to not let your group fall apart, she cared about that more than anyone else. She’d be so scared if she knew the truth, she’d do something reckless. No, this secret is between you and them. You’re the only one who can help them.

You wondered if this was really them speaking, or some elaborate lie by The Voice. You had to try anyway, no matter what the answer was. You had to. You must. You owed it to them for letting everything happen, it’s all your fault.

“ I can’t understand. ”

They took a step back. It had to be them, it HAD to be.

You took a step forward.

“ I can’t understand! ”

You kept saying everything was going to be okay, that they’re safe now, it’s not coming back. You moved to wrap your arms around them.

“ I JUST CAN’T UNDERSTAND! ”

They pushed you away, and for a moment, you thought you were getting poetic justice.

You just fell on your butt on the floor, of course it wouldn’t be that easy.

She was yelling at them louder and louder. Angrier than you’d ever seen her, it was terrifying, so much so that she was becoming a stranger to you.

They just shrunk into themself, trembling, crying. Eventually she stopped yelling, you all sat on the floor. Everything was too different.

After a while they spoke up.

“ Oh…Hello. ”

Their tone was different. Polite, yet sad. They turned to face you and-

Those were not their eyes.

“ It’s ever so wonderful to meet you! ” 

You screamed.

_______________________

You open your eyes. 

You blink, the warm feeling of your closed laptop against your cheek is familiar to you, and very pleasant. Your eyes burn a bit. Your body aches, especially your head and spine, but that’s normal. Are you in heaven? Hell?

Oh, it’s just your room.

You sit up properly, open your laptop, and look at your Grounding Notes.

• Your name is Noelle Holiday, not Karoshi.

• You are HUMAN, not a deer. 

• You are sixteen years old. 

• You are awake, don’t jump out the window. 

• Magic isn’t real. Everything is going to be okay

• It’s 4 AM. Go wash up.

• Don’t jump out the window.

• Everything is going to be okay.

Oh. Right. It all comes back to you. It’s really nice of your past self to leave notes for you like that. Sometimes when you wake up you….Forget what’s real. Good thing you’re smart enough to circumvent the problem forever.

True enough, it’s 4 AM. This is the time you’re supposed to wake up, according to your mom. You usually stay up studying as much as you can, then either fall asleep on your work table or go to bed at midnight. Today it looks like it was the former. You, however, feel as awake as ever, since according to mom, you only REALLY need four hours of sleep. 

You’re used to sleeping a bit more than that, since you’re part of the track team and you need ACTUAL rest. However, Summer is starting tomorrow, and your mom knows better than to let you slack off during that. You’re so…Thankful, yes, that’s definitely the word you’re looking for.

You get up from your desk, and walk out your room. The house staff must already be moving around the manor. You go to the bathroom, intending to brush your teeth and wash your face. It’s still so…Dissonant, looking at yourself in the mirror. You have blonde hair, darkish skin, freckles, and a birthmark on your nose in the shape of a heart in a lighter tone of skin. Your eyes look clouded, and the bags under them make you look exhausted. You still put on a smile, gotta appear friendly after all.

You notice something else.

You’re…Wearing all black?

You don’t remember when you put this on, why can’t you remember?

You decide not to overthink it. It’s normal. This is normal. You just need a quick shower. A cold one should wake you up.

You really miss bubble baths.

You try not to look at your body as you enter the shower, it’s not there, it’s not there, it’s not there. It’s not there. Focus on the cold feeling. Focus on everything you have to do today. Last day of school before summer starts. You’ll probably have to do cram school again, even though you’re the second ranked student in your whole school. You’ll see Burghley there, it’ll be nice to have a friend closeby.

Asriel is coming back tomorrow.

You’re hungry, REALLY hungry. Maybe you’ll be able to eat lunch or dinner today, if your schedule allows for it. Don’t forget about visiting dad either. Maybe Kris will want to do homework together, if they’re fronting that is. Susie…..

Susie probably doesn’t hate you.

Oh, you’re clean.

Better get some breakfast then.

___________________________

“Ah! Miss Noelle! Up and about I see!”

The voice comes from a tall Japanese woman, with short hair and wearing a sharp suit. She’s putting a plate of delicious fruit salad on the table, alongside some refreshing pear juice.

You smile and nod at her. “Good morning Ms. Kyoko.” 

You pull the chair back on the large table, and sit down. It’s lonely eating at the table by yourself. You used to eat with the house staff, but that’s not allowed anymore thanks to your mother. 

“Thanks for the food,” You stifle a yawn, and take a sip of the juice. Delicious. “Did you already have breakfast?”

She gives a polite nod. “Why yes, waffles, they were nice. I must ask, are you feeling quite alright?”

You take your time chewing, enjoying every second of this food before it’s gone forever. You swallow, and answer the question. “Yeah. I had another weird dream, but I’m over it now!”

Concern flashes through her face before nodding again. “I don’t blame you for having nightmares,” She tries to give you a gentle, motherly smile. “If you want to talk, I wouldn’t mind listening.”

It’s so sweet that she cares so much. You can’t help but flush a little thinking about whether or not you’ve ever returned her kindness. You really need to do better. You don’t want to fall back into selfishness, do you?

“You’re really nice to me, Kyoko..” You lightly scratch your ring finger. “Um, you really don’t have to bother yourself with stuff like this.”

She shakes her head. “Now now, Noelle. It would hardly be kind of me to not offer my assistance where I can, right? I care about you, kid.”

You put your hand to your chest, feeling touched to your very core. “Kyoko….”

You get up, having finished your breakfast. “Okay! That settles it, I’m gonna convince mom to give you a raise and a vacation!”

She does a double take. “Wha- Kid that’s not really what I-”

“No buts!” You put a finger to your lips, smiling mischievously. “You work too hard, let me repay your kindness.”

“Noelle…” She sighs, like you’re missing some sort of point. “It’s you who works too hard.”

Huh? What does-

There’s a knock on the door.

“Um,” A part of you is really glad at this distraction. You turn to the exit of the room. “I’ll go get that.”

She gives you a strange look as you leave the room.

_____________________________________

As you walk towards the door, little inconsistencies pile up in your mind. There’s a gate preventing anyone from getting up the manor’s door, and it’s not like your mom to just forget her keys. Did one of the staff get locked outside? Or maybe Kris broke in again, you remember when they used to do that. Maybe they want to start hanging out again, maybe…Maybe everything is already fixing itself.

The knocking becomes more urgent. It’s not knocking anymore, someone’s banging loudly.

You freeze, you don’t really feel like opening the door anymore. Every bit of your brain is screaming danger.

And then you hear her voice.

“ Noelle?! Noelle are you there?! ”

She sounds just like you remember her. She must be so panicked, so scared, who knows what happened while she was away.

“D-dess!” Your heart is beating a mile a minute. You turn the knob furiously only to find the door is locked. “DESS!! DESS IS THAT YOU?!”

You’ve never been quick to scream, but right now you can’t hold anything back.

“ Noelle! Noelle open the door! I’m back home but I don’t want it to catch up to me! Open the door. Open the door Noelle! ”

You breathe out through your teeth, going through your skirt pockets to find your keys. You have them. You can save her this time. Everything is going to be okay.

“ Open the door Noelle! Open the door, it’s getting cold, it’s so cold Noelle. Open the door. Do you really hate me this much? Please! PLEASE NOELLE- ”

You insert the key. You hesitate, why do you hesitate?

“ Open the door open the door open the door open the door open the door open the door open the door open the door open- ”

You turn it. You yank the door open. Before you can even think to hug her, she jumps on you, and squeezes your neck until it snaps. 

_____________________________________

You stand in front of the doorway, blinking.

The door is open.

There’s no one there.

Of course there’s no one there.

But you heard her voice didn’t you? Why?! Why do you always fail?! Why can’t you ever be on time to save her?!

She must hate you, you know she does, she fucking hates you.

“Ms. Noelle?”

You don’t recognize this voice, it’s probably Manor Staff.

“Ms. Noelle, you’re shaking. Did you hear the voice again?”

You can’t move.

“Let’s get you inside.”

You let your hand be taken, and do what you do best: Follow the leader.

____________________________

You’re eventually snapped out of your shock by a sweet smell.

It’s cinnamon. 

You blink, when did you get back to the kitchen? Did you walk here or-

Oh! Betsy’s here, she lays down a plate of cinnabuns on your table. Betsy is one of the older Manor Staff, chubby, with wrinkles that make her look kind of mean. She’s actually a very nice person! She always makes your favorite cinnamon buns when you…Freeze.

You reach out for one, it’s hot, but you were feeling cold anyway. You take a bite, it tastes like a good memory.

You swallow. “T-thanks, Betsy. I don’t know what came over me…” You laugh it off. “I should stop wasting so much time though. I’m gonna go-”

“Study?” She practically breathes out the word? “Noelle, it’s the last day of school. You ain’t doing anything today…And after everything that’s happened, I doubt that’s what you want to do either.”

“Huh?” You nervously fiddle with your cinnabun, tearing off a tiny chunk that you eat in small bites. “What do you mean? I’m okay. I’ll just feel worse if I don’t follow my routine, you know?”

“Kid.” Betsy lightly smacks your head, not enough to hurt of course, because that’d violate the terms of her job. “You’re moving out in three days, you’re gonna want the energy. You can worry about studying when cram school starts.”

What.

“What do you mean?” You get up way too fast. “Moving? When was that decided? I know mom lost that last election but- she can’t possibly-”

She stares at you with wide eyes, and then she gives you something else.

Pity.

“Oh sweetheart…” She pulls you into a hug, you don’t fight it. “You can’t keep doing this to yourself, Noelle.”

She lets you go as soon as you begin moving. “I don’t…What?”

“You keep…” She sighs. “It’s not your fault, but you keep just…Forgetting things when they upset you.”

You stop breathing.

“I don’t-” Breathe. One, two, three, four. “I don’t know what you mean. I…I’m gonna go study now.”

“Noelle-”

“I need to catch up.” You’re shaking. “I need to catch up. I can’t fall behind. I need to make mom proud. I need to work. Don’t distract me anymore okay? Don’t talk to me.”

You regret that last request as soon as you say it. Can you ever get anything right?

“Don’t….Don’t talk to me. Sorry.”

You hear her say “We all care about you, kid.” As you leave the room.

What a waste of time.

Chapter Text

An alarm rings. Your phone is alerting you that your study session is over. Your head hurts mildly when you reach for the device. 

You smile fondly at the background, a selfie you took with your dad at the town festival last year. You smile softly at it for a few seconds, and then you check your mom’s messages. 

Mother: The Manor Staff will be putting your belongings in boxes later today.

Mother: I will be absent until the day of the move. I trust that you will be responsible.

You still don’t understand. You want to text back and ask why the hell she thinks this is a good idea when your dad is still in the hospital. Why? Why?!

It won’t matter if you do it now. These messages are from hours back, and she’s no doubt busy at the moment. Too busy for you. Too busy for Dess. Too busy for even dad. You start to feel familiar resentment creeping up on you, until you remind yourself it’s not her fault. Adult life is complicated, she’s just…She’s just being responsible. It wouldn’t be fair to make her waste her time on you, right? No, it wouldn’t be fair at all.

You need to stop being so selfish.

Mother: Your friend Kris talked to me recently. It appears they have some interest in spending time with you before the move. They insisted, rather loudly, that I was making a bad choice. 

Mother: It is to my understanding that Asriel comes back from college soon. 

Mother: I will be truthful. Your old friends have been nothing but trouble. I don’t want them to hurt our family again.

Mother: I love you, Noelle.

Mother: When we meet, I would not be opposed to you filling out a Quality Time Warrant. Of course remember to do that when your schedule is free. Your studies are important.

Mother: Good bye.

There are several bombs dropped here. Your mom hasn’t said she loves you in forever, and the knowledge of that statement compared with the other information only makes you seethe. Of course she doesn’t want you to talk to your friends. Of course she can’t even spend quality time with you without signing a freaking warrant. The only true surprise here is that Kris fought so hard for you. 

Kris….You haven’t talked to them in forever, but they never stopped caring, did they? No. You see less and less of them now that Ralsei is here, but deep in your heart you know that they’re still the same person. The same creepy, fun, beautiful person that you can trust with every secret you have. You’re more certain of that than anything else in the world.

A string of fate ties you two together.

You look at your ring, it feels so tight on you, it hurts a bit. You feel a mix of guilt, and nostalgia, a pain that’s not quite physical. It’s cathartic, you reach for your ring and rub it gently. You wonder if maybe you can keep that promise after all. 

You then think of Susie.

Susie. Strong, gorgeous, wild Susie. She’s so much braver than you can ever hope to be. She’s changed a lot, but the core of her is still the same. You wonder if she’d forgive you, if reaching out is all it would take. She cared about the promise the most out of all of you, would she jump at the chance to fulfill it? Maybe that’s all it takes. Maybe that was always all it took. Maybe this whole time your problems have been that easy to solve. 

You feel terribly excited, yes. Yes this is all going to work out. You can feel it. 

The three of you can just run awa-

You never learn, do you?

You freeze. 

No. No you can’t do that. 

You have work to do. You can’t make that kind of choice while it is still there.

You quickly pick yourself up and get ready for school.

_________________________

You quietly thank Mr. Carson as you step out the vehicle. How you got from your room to here is a bit of a blur, but you’d rather not think about that. You just know that when you blink you’re already sitting in class, listening to Burghley talk to you about the new God Of War.

You’re not really paying attention. Class hasn’t started so there’s no real need to be in your body right now. You just have to be able to make out Burghley’s words, and be able to give the right response to placate him. This is a bit mean, but you can make it up to him later. You’re just not in the mood to talk right now. 

You have a weird moment of realization as you stare blankly at your desk, wearing a practiced smile.

Ralsei isn’t here.

That’s weird, ever since Ralsei took over he’s been punctual. He’s a star student, a kind, uncomplicated person. Charismatic in that bland, spineless way that you are. Nothing like Kris or Susie. A boring person.

Well, no, that’s mean. You really shouldn’t think like that about anyone! He’s a perfectly nice person, you just wish he didn’t exis-

No- stop that. Stop. You didn’t think that. You didn’t think that. You-

You blink, when did you get to class?

_______________________________

You think about Ralsei.

You blink.

You think about Susie.

You blink.

You think about Asriel.

You blink.

You think about Kris.

Your ring feels tight on your finger.

You blink.

Class is starting? When did you get here?

You straighten your posture, keep your eyes open in front of class, and get ready for another day of-

The door gently creaks open. It looks like Ralsei’s here, that’s weird, you didn’t notice that he hadn’t arrived yet.

There’s something weird about him, he doesn’t wear that same polite smile. No he’s…Blank.

He’s not wearing the horns.

Your heart stops for a second.

All you can manage right now is a wave, they return the gesture with a wave of their own. There’s no smiles, there’s no make up, their hair covers their eyes. It’s them. It’s really them.

Ms.Alice doesn’t notice. “Oh! R-Ralsei! We thought you might not come today, is everything alright?”

Kris nods, seemingly unbothered by Alice’s assumption. 

“You probably overslept because it’s the last day of school, right?” The teacher gives them a fond smile. “We-we’re not really gonna do much today. I’ll just be passing around your yearbooks and then you can all socialize- or go home!”

They don’t acknowledge the teacher after that, instead they choose to take their usual seat at the back of the class. You keep your eyes fixed to the chalkboard. You wonder if they’re looking your way, you hope so, you really hope so.

The day is rushing by. You are perfectly still yet it feels like you’re shaking in your seat. 

All you want is to get your dumb yearbook already so you can go talk to them. However your agony is prolonged, because Ms.Alice thought you should wait for Susie to arrive. 

Susie…You should talk to her too. If Kris came back for you that means Susie might feel the same. Asriel is even coming back tomorrow! Everything is going back to normal. Like nothing bad ever happened. Nothing bad DID happen. Nothing at all.

Everything is going to be okay. Everything is going to be okay. Everything is going to be okay.

“Er, Noelle?” Burghley speaks up. He sounds concerned. “You’re….Not breathing.”

You let out the breath you were holding, then manage to breathe steady. “O-oh, thanks Burghley.”

He blinks, and whatever concern he might’ve had melts under his obliviousness. He’s grinning.

“Of course!” He chuckles, hand to his chest. “It is only so right for a bravely me, to help you breathe! Oxygen is most necessary for thinking after all!”

That gives you a chuckle. You feel more at ease now, you’re glad you’ve got such a nice acquaintance. 

“What had you so preoccupied there, exactly?” He raises a curious brow. “You don’t honestly feel nervous about your yearbook, do you?”

“Um,” You smile gently. You haven’t told him you’re moving, on account of just finding out yourself this morning. You should tell him soon.. “I’ll tell you later, okay? It’s just kind of personal.”

“O-oh!” Burghley’s eyes widen, his face goes a tad flushed. “I-I see! That makes a lot of sense.”

You get the feeling he misinterpreted what you meant, but you don’t need to clarify what you meant right this second. You tap your fingers against the wood of your desk. You hope Susie gets here soon.

__________________________________

Susie does not get here soon, she doesn’t show up at all.

You feel extremely lucid right now, which is a good thing. There’s no delay between your thoughts and your movement, even if you’re not really doing anything right now. It’s reassuring to be in control of yourself.

“Well, it looks like Susie isn’t coming..” Alice speaks in a way that makes her sound relieved. You frown. “D-do any of you want to hold onto her yearbook? To hand it to her after school.”

Burghley scoffs. “She graduated ?”

This earns some laughs from the classroom. Burghley wears a big smirk, it’s not often one of his quips lands, he must be proud.

You go to raise your ha-

“Oh! Ralsei, you’ll do it?” You turn to look at Kris, they indeed raised their hand. “Thank you so much, you’re a real star.”

Kris just gives her a nod of acknowledgement. Her gaze lingers on Kris for just a moment, you think she’s assessing the difference now. You feel proud to be the first one to notice.

You know them better than anyone else, after all.

You shiver. No. No you can’t listen to it. Shut up. 

You focus. You get your Yearbook, let Burghley sign it. You sign his. You promptly walk over to Kris, so fast that MK doesn’t get to talk to them.

“Hi Kris!” Too excited, dial it back. “Did you want to hang out today?”

There are reactions around you, but you don’t acknowledge them. Kris taps their fingers on the desk, before deciding to nod.

“Great!” You clap your hands together. “Oh, let me sign your yearbook!”

“Not mine,” They say as they get up. “Ralsei’s.”

Stupid! Of course they wouldn’t want it signed, they didn’t come to a single day of school! If it weren’t for that stupid little-

Easy breaths. Easy. Not his fault. Not anyone’s fault.

“Okay, that makes sense,” You rub the ring on your finger. The sting isn’t bad, actually. “Um, where do you wanna go?”

Kris stares at you for a while, not emoting. They’re probably just thinking on where to go.

“Old classroom,” They say finally. “Cards.”

“Oh!” You immediately know what they mean. “You want to play Soultakers?”

They nod, and this time you catch the slightest hint of a smile. You stand there, expecting them to lead the way.

Instead, they ask “That’s okay with you, right?”

You blink. You don’t know why that catches you off guard, maybe it’s the fact that no one ever asks that question.

“Y-yeah! Yeah..” You can feel your face flushing. “Lead the way Kris, you’re the leader after all.”

Their stare lingers behind their bangs for a bit, and then they lead the way out of the room. 

You wave goodbye to Burghley as you gently close the door.

________________________

You follow quietly, clasping your own hands. You breathe in every change in Kris’s body language. They slouch a bit, you can’t follow their eyes but their hair gives the impression of looking downwards. They walk with much less purpose than before, every step is a slog. They keep glancing back at you then looking away, and you respond with an encouraging smile every time. 

“You don’t have to slow down for me, you know?” You chuckle lightly. “We…Can hold hands, that way I’m not holding you back.”

A shiver runs through their entire body. Did you say something wrong…?

They do pick up the pace afterwards, you’re able to keep up. You hope you didn’t mess things up. 

You reach the old classroom’s door, something inside you gets really giddy.

“Well…Here we are,” You say, filling dead air. “We’re going to have so much fun!”

Kris looks at you blankly. You notice the way they flex their fingers, as if they’re numb, or maybe they’re trembling. Their arm shakes as they take the lead, reaching out to open the door and-

The door slams open, not by Kris’s hands, but by Susie’s.

She grits her teeth upon seeing the two of them, then that turns into a snarl and a groan, before returning to cold frustration. She’s much taller now, her hair is longer and well taken care of, but her clothes are all worn out. Her freckles are more noticeable now, and though her tall, thick silhouette might be intimidating to some, you can’t help but think she looks amazing.

She’s carrying two backpacks, one is her usual gray one, and the other is an old worn out hiking backpack.

Kris takes a step back.

Susie grunts. “Ah, Ralsei….” Susie’s gaze lingers from behind her bangs. “...The hell are you doing here?”

Kris doesn’t respond.

“...You can’t even say?” Susie’s nose wrinkles at that. “Thought you at least had more guts than that.”

Kris continues to be silent.

“...Oh.” She snorts. “I get it now. It’s you, isn’t it? After all this time…”

Kris takes another step back.

You decide to speak up. “H-hi, Susie, cool to see you here!” 

Susie turns to you, she hadn’t noticed you yet. Something in her flares up, as she has to grit her teeth to hold something back.

“Noelle.” She grunts. “...What, felt nostalgic? Wanted to take a little trip down memory lane?”

You nod. “Yes, we-”

“Shut up.” 

Your world shatters.

Susie…Susie would never say that. What? What just- that’s not-...What?

“You think I don’t see what’s going on here?” She sneers. “You think I’m going to let you take it all away?! After everything?! You’ve got one hell of a nerve.”

You feel your hands shaking, your ring finger stings so fucking bad. What is happening? Is this a dream?

“S-susie, I-” You smile, it’s strained. “I’m just- We’re just- I don’t know what you-”

“Typical,” She scoffs. “You’re still cowards, both of you.”

You..Can’t really dispute that.

“Get out of my way, nerds.”

You obey, it’s all you can do. You expect Kris to do something smart, or brave, or reckless, but they simply follow Susie’s command.

She’s gone.

When you check the old classroom, you find that it’s entirely empty.

Toy World is no more.

Chapter Text

“Where….” 

The old classroom is bare. 

The cards are gone, so are the game pieces, the boards, the carpet, the building blocks, the drawings on the wall. Everything! Everything was taken from you! Your perfect escape since childhood and it’s just…Gone.

Why would Susie do this? Why?!

“N-no…” You’re breathing heavily. It’s cold. Why is it so cold? Is it snowing? No- it’s summer. So why… “Susie would never do that..There must be an explanation to this. Maybe Susie knows, maybe we can fix it!”

You turn to look at Kris.

They look so…Betrayed. They’re shaking, like their entire world was shattered, the same as you. You don’t remember Kris EVER looking meek. This doesn’t make sense to you, Kris is the leader, Kris is fearless, Kris always knows what to do.

…Well, they’ve lied about their feelings before, maybe this is some sort of strategy?

Or maybe it changed them more than you realized.

“K-Kris?” You struggle to smile, approaching them carefully. “Everything is going to be okay…”

You reach for their hand, they let you grab it. 

They feel clammy and cold, but you’re no different. You squeeze each other’s hand softly.

They break it off first, wiping the sweat off on their pantleg. They take a deep breath…

“...Okay,” They wait awkwardly for you to take the lead. You know that’s not your job. “....”

They walk ahead, and you follow. Maybe you can help them become the person they used to be.

After all, they made you stronger, it’s time to return the favor.

_________________________

Kris stops in the middle of the hallway, staring blankly at the empty space in front of them. You wonder where they’ll lead you this time?

The hallway is full of students chatting, signing each other’s yearbooks. There’s even some tables with finger foods and such. It smells nice here, and you’re kind of hungry…

Kris bumps your shoulder with theirs, prompting you to look at Burghley. He’s going around trying to desperately get people to sign his Yearbook. 

You snap your fingers, having figured out what Kris means.

“Oh!” You smile at them. “Susie probably stopped for food, right? So Burghley probably saw her, and he’s….” 

You frown, Burghley is once again being ignored.

“Um, unoccupied,” You chuckle nervously. You should hang out with him soon, even if you’re not really friends… “Okay, what’s the plan?”

They point at you, they point at Burghley. They hold a pencil in their hand, along with Ralsei’s yearbook.

“Oooh, clever!” You watch a slight hint of a blush come to their cheeks. “Let’s do it.”

You lead the way this time, this feels familiar to you. Kris has the plan, you have the face. 

“Hi Burghley,” You say with a winning smile. “Are you okay?”

“Ah!” He fixes his posture, no longer looking dejected. “Noelle, Ralsei! It’s a pleasure seeing you two back from…Taking Souls?” He ponders this with a perplexed expression. “I didn’t think you were much of a Gamer, Ralsei! Perhaps I can join you both next time? I happen to be a “Pro””

You have to laugh a little, there’s no way for him to be a Pro when the game was made up by your childhood friend group, and he’s never had a chance to play.

“This is actually-” 

Before you can finish your sentence, Kris claps a hand on your shoulder. It startles you a bit…You guess they don’t want people to know they’re back just yet.

“Um, right!” You chuckle. “Ralsei wanted to sign your Yearbook, and for you to sign..His.”

His eyes light up. “Why of course! This is only a natural course of action, for the third best student to admire the best of the best!”

Kris and Burghley swap yearbooks. You see Kris nudging their head towards Burghley before they sign.

“Um..” You fiddle with your ring. “Did you see Susie pass through here by any chance?”

“That brute ?” 

You clench your fists. Burghley does not notice.

“Ha! That loser grabbed an entire tray of ham sandwiches and stuffed them all in a plastic bag! She just grabbed a bunch of other food too, probably to store them for the winter like the squirrel brained doofus she is!” He laughs, way too loud.

You…You don’t think Burghley is a bad person, but in moments like this you really just want to choke him until he passes out. It would not be hard.

Kris unexpectedly speaks up. “Do you know where she went?”

Burghley returns the Yearbook, as does Kris. “Who knows! Who cares! And good riddance!”

“Burghley…” You go to speak up but… “Um, we have to go, good bye!”

He nods. “See you later, fellow Gamers!”

You stand still for a few seconds, until you notice Kris is already moving.

They look tense, like they’re suppressing an urge to lash out as they walk. You struggle to remember if you’ve ever seen Kris lash out at all. They’ve always been patient.

It’s nice though, knowing they still care about Susie, just like you.

You know the two of you can save her.

____________________________

“Ham sandwiches…” You muse out loud as you leave the school. “Do you think she still has food troubles?”

Kris gives you an odd look.

“Sorry, I guess that’s an obvious question,” You chuckle sheepishly. “So um, where to?”

Kris stops walking, giving it some thought. You watch their expression shift subtly, in manners others might find indistinct.

“...” They nod to themself. “Bunker.”

You tilt your head. “The bunker?”

They pull back a bit after the slightest questioning. You blink as you realize their thought process.

“Right! She would want to be somewhere to keep the game pieces safe, and where others wouldn’t come bother her. Since we’re not….As close anymore, she’d have the bunker to herself.”

Kris snaps a finger gun, you feel a bit proud of your reasoning, even if you’re just good at reading Kris’s mannerisms.

Still, your mind shifts to how you might salvage this friendship. There’s got to be something you can do, some way to fix Susie. Make her behave like how you remember her. How she’s supposed to act. You can’t let me win.

You shiver. You try to block out The Voice’s influence. Kris already fell for it, if it has Susie then you can’t let it get you next. You need to get stronger.

Kris stands ahead, expecting you to follow. They’re clearly concerned for your wellbeing, they clearly still care about you. Even after you failed them…But everything is going to be okay, now that they’re here to lead properly once more. They just have to regain the will to Act, and then you can feel safe in their hands. You’re just…

You just need to follow, right? Kris is the leader.

Kris is the leader, Kris is the leader, Kris is the leader.

You follow.

__________________________

This is nostalgic. 

Kris leading you straight into the woods, walking silently. Were it night time, you might be freaking out, but instead you feel oddly at ease. The euphoria of having them back, the comforting breeze, the autumn colors in the trees in spite of it being summer. Hometown is on the colder side of the country, so this is not an unusual sight. 

It’s beautiful, actually. Other places have to wait all the way to halloween season to experience these beautiful nature walks, but for you this is always within reach. You really love Hometown.

…And now you’ll have to leave, because you didn’t make it clear enough, because you didn’t appreciate your home. Did you really think happy endings exis-

Kris snaps their fingers in front of your face, you blink. Huh? When- you-

You’re in front of the bunker. When did you….You must have spaced out.

“T-thanks, Kris…” You toy with your ring nervously. “..So um, are we going in?”

Kris’s gaze lingers on you for a while longer. You wonder if this is concern they’re expressing, or disappointment…

Ultimately, they reveal that to you. “..are you alright?” They ask in a low tone of voice.

“...” Are you…Huh? “I’m okay, Kris,” You smile, as soft as you can manage. “I’m really happy actually, that we’re together again…”

Kris hides their face by looking away. So cute…

After a bit more silence, they take the step forward, and reach for the bunker door.