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Susie could tell there was something wrong with Kris since they first reunited at Queen’s castle. It must’ve been something about the tension in the air around them, since their face showed no signs of change. The fact that Ralsei did not seem particularly concerned was the only thing keeping Susie from speaking up, since the prince was much more in tune with Kris’ emotions than she was.
“Hey, Kris, this must be Noelle’s room! Let’s go in and save her!” If the words ‘NOELLE’ engraved on the door weren’t any indication, Susie’s loud declaration would be enough for anyone to confirm the owner’s room. A silence fills the hall as she waits for Kris to respond, receiving nothing.
The silence wasn’t so much the problem, Kris had never been one to speak, but no footsteps echoed out to confirm they were following. Have they not moved?
“…Kris?” Susie asks, much quieter than before. She spins around to face them, freezing at the look she’s met with. Their eyes, barely visible in between strands of hair, looked off into the distance, right past Susie. It was like they could see through the door and already knew exactly where Noelle was and what she was doing.
Ralsei had noticed too by this point. Fidgeting with the hem of his scarf, he waved Susie forward, mouthing ‘I’ll talk to them,’ from what she could tell. With a huff, she turns back around to open the door. “Fine, I’ll do it myself.”
Something was absolutely wrong with them, she decided. For now it didn’t matter, as she had to save Noelle from Queen. Upon entering the room, Susie let out a sigh, no longer under Kris’ scrutiny.
She found the girl seated at the end of her bed, staring up and out of the window towards the moon. The light reflected off of her dark eyes, her shoulders slumped. She had a small frown, but other than that, looked serene.
“Uh, hey, Noelle,” Susie started, awkwardly trying to find a way not to startle her. Noelle’s ears perked up immediately as Susie spoke, and she whipped around, eyes wide. Well, that didn’t work out great.
“Susie?” Her shoulders drop and she sighs, “of course Susie’s here, this is a dream…” Susie herself discreetly smiles at Noelle’s comment. She takes a step closer, but pauses when Noelle begins trembling.
“Don’t come closer! Please!” Noelle’s voice cracks as she backs up to the window.
“Think I’m going to hurt you? Nah, it’s a dream after all, I couldn’t.”
Noelle frowns, but doesn’t say anything when Susie walks up to her and sits on the edge of the bed. She’s still quivering, although slower.
“This is a dream… Susie’s in almost all of my good dreams.. so it’s alright…” Noelle mumbles, trying to reason with herself. Each word was said more weary than the last, and her eyes drooped. She shifts closer to the other monster and reaches out.
Susie gasps as hands wrap around her waist and pull her into a loser hug. She freezes, unsure of how to proceed, and settles on staying still. Noelle’s eyes were closed, but she wasn’t quite asleep.
“Thanks, Susie…” the girl says. Her breathing noticeably slows. “…for making me feel better…”
Noelle could barely finish her sentence before her hold drops, and she falls limp. Susie, shooting upwards and spinning around, grabs her hand and shakes it. It doesn’t do much but cause blood droplets to spatter on the bedsheets.
“Uh, Noelle? Everything alright?” Her initial worry dissolved as a closer look proved Noelle to be asleep, not dead. After a pause, Susie looks down and realizes the bigger problem.
Wait- she’s bleeding?!
Susie scrambles around to find the injury, locating it quickly. Noelle’s ring, If you could even call it a “ring”, was stabbing her. It looked like someone had sharpened brambles intertwined and crudely slipped it onto her finger. Probably Queen, she figures.
The ring around Noelle’s finger dug into her fur, each thorn piercing through the skin. Susie hadn’t noticed it until now, but it looked like it’d been there a while; a closer inspection showed the fur around it had been matted from old, caked blood. Taking it off would probably hurt worse, so there wasn’t much she could do.
“…well I guess she’s fine?” Susie, finding no way to fix this, stood and began to exit the room. She paid a few glances back at Noelle before she reached the door.
She dreams about me??
“Susie! You’re back already? What happened?” Ralsei perked up as soon as the door opened, his tail wagging. Kris didn’t bother to look over.
Susie’s scales darkened slightly, and she smirked, “Nothing.”
The dismissive tone made Ralsei frown. He tapped his foot against the ground and tilted his head. “Nothing? Nothing at all?” He was quite obviously dissatisfied with that answer, but he wouldn’t be getting much else from her.
“No, and let’s go.” Susie blurted, before motioning to Kris to continue walking. Whatever was troubling them before must’ve passed, as now they had their usual cold stare. That didn’t stop Susie from thinking something was up.
——
“Noelle needs to wake up!” Susie points at Queen with a growl, her other hand hovering over her axe handle. She didn’t hear whatever conversation Queen and Ralsei had afterwards, but it was enough to convince Queen to back down. Susie sheaths her axe and scoffs. She’d kind of been hoping for a fight, if only to take her mind off of Noelle for a while.
With Queen no longer in the way, Susie split from her other two members, leaving them to close the fountain. She briskly walked back to Noelle’s room before anyone could ask about it.
Once she reached the door, Susie hesitantly opened it and called out. “Noelle?”
Noelle was awake again, and was seated at the edge of her bed, staring at the floor in thought. The only indication she heard was from her ears raising slightly in response. “I’m sorry Susie, I didn’t mean to fall asleep like that.” She says, almost in a whisper.
“It’s fine. I’m just glad you’re not, like, dead,” Susie says, then adds on, “…Don’t get used to me caring.”
Noelle giggles. It’s only for a second before she returns to her resting face. “Is Berdly okay?”
The sudden question makes Susie cock her head to the side as she thinks. “The nerdy guy? I dunno, last time I saw him was that bumper car battle a while ago. Why do you ask?”
Noelle looks up at her with cloudy eyes. Even though she was looking at her, Susie felt like there was something else behind her that the other girl was staring at. She glances backwards just in case.
“When I was with Kris, we ran into him and… Kris had told me to…” Noelle trails off, fidgeting with the ring on her finger. Susie silently wonders how that doesn’t hurt. “Ah, it doesn’t matter. This is a dream, after all! Berdly will be fine when I wake up.” She titters, keeping her smile.
Now Susie had more proof that Kris wasn’t right. What had they had Noelle do? “What’s wrong with Berdly?”
She wasn’t given an answer, as Noelle shoots up to go stand suddenly. Susie’s hand reached for her axe in reaction to the sudden motion, but she forced herself to relax.
Noelle’s breathing turned ragged and quick. Her eyes were unfocused, but filled with such a wild fervor that Susie halfway expected her to start frothing. Blood dripped from her finger, the ring on it constricting even tighter than before. Any more and she was sure the thorns would tear right through, leaving Noelle’s fingertip to stain the carpet.
“I need to go.” Noelle says, panic seeping into her voice. She runs towards the door like a shark in a frenzy, but is stopped by Susie.
“Woah, woah, hey! Chill out, you’re going to wake up soon. The nerd’s fine.” Susie pushed her back as she talked, her words not reaching Noelle at all.
“No! Kris, they-! Kris needs me!”
“Huh? Kris?”
Using Susie’s confusion as a distraction, Noelle darted for the door again, and was out before Susie could think to stop her. A flash of white light blinded her, and when she came back to her senses, Susie was alone in the room. Frost covered the window, which was certainly clear before. It was also significantly cooler.
It was only another minute before she found herself back in the light world. Her and Kris were the first ones to wake. Susie didn’t bother to greet them.
Noelle was next to get up.
Berdly never did, something no one else other than Susie seemed to care about.
Noelle smiled as she raised her head from the desk, and giggled when she stood up. It was a stark contrast from a few minutes ago, when the girl was so panicked at seemingly nothing.
“Haha! I had the strangest dream…”