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Everything was going wrong. Not only had the Soul separated from Kris, but Ralsei had revealed too much of his cursed knowledge. The Soul, and Noelle by proxy, had run off. Not only that, but the Soul is becoming more and more reluctant to leave her.
He shouldn’t have mentioned the cage.
What can he do now? If things keep going this way, things might be even worse than the original fate. What’s a cage without something to hold? It’s alright. He just needs to… Make a plan! He just needs to find where the Soul went and maybe take a calmer approach.
Ralsei picks himself off the ground, his dress rustling as he stands, scarf in hand (adorned with a new rip).
He desperately recants to himself, “Composure.” his voice is raspy. “I just need to regain my composure.”
Once again, ties his scarf back around his neck.
If the Soul won’t go back to Kris, he just needs to ease it back into how things used to be. Noelle can join the party for a bit, and maybe the Soul will see how much Kris and it need each other. At least the soul will still be there to help seal the fountains. He dusts off his dress and dabs his eyes with the edge of his scarf. He’s calm (his tugs at his scarf betraying this notion), they’ll be able to get to his original plan!
He glances around his bland room. A table rests upon the dimly lit floor, one leg is lifted by a smushed piece of cake (not like he deserved it anyway). The embarrassment of being caught staring at it would have been at the forefront of his mind had it only been Noelle whom he met that night. As his hand waves, the table shifts away into the indistinct darkness, the cups on top becoming obscure suggestions of fiction once again.
As Ralsei steps out of his room, paw by paw, he pauses mid-stride. The next fountain has erupted from the earth, and he feels the shifts in the air as things get darker yet darker, the grand fountain fluctuating as the imbalance returns.
Ralsei’s breath hitches as his thoughts run rampant.
He can feel in the dark that the next challenge has arrived, but Kris lacks the soul needed to face the next challenge.
NOW? He- He hasn’t even had a chance to fix things! He ruined everything! He just needed a few more minutes to recruit Noelle! Everyone is going to-
Ralsei breaks out into a sprint and nearly runs into Queen, his claws scraping on stone as he comes to a quick stop.
“NOELLE--T-tell” His voice catches on itself. “Fountain! Kris!”
As his tears begin to well
“I Cannot Understand You, Other Guy. Speak Up If You Are Talking About Noelle Gravy Darling”
A dam of thoughts tries to flow through a small stream of words, “I-I need to-” his voice cracks, “Su-sie! Church!”
He takes a hastened breath;
“Find Noelle! Tell her!” His attempt at composure quickly fails, “They’ll--Susie! Kris! Piercing cry! Light! Dark!”
Queen’s lisped and drunken speech interrupts his ramble, “Okay. This Is What Minions Are For.” Queen walks off, ignoring Ralsei’s cries and poorly worded explanations, and yodels for “PeEACH BOY”.
Ralsei tightly grasps his Lodestone and begins to sprint out of the castle, swaying through the hallways. He nearly tumbles down the stairs, for every step he misses, his magic compensates instead, more of an uncontrolled glide than anything like walking.
As he once again begins to touch solid ground, he continues to run, and his momentum picks up. Like a prop plane sputtering into the air, he begins to fly.
Of course, this world is next! Just as he’s least prepared to deal with it! Darkness flows past him, and the twinkle of faceless eyes is at the corner of his vision.
He catches sight of the Heros near the fountain, their distant visage of blue and purple visible atop towers of stairs and pillars, and the darkness glides past him as he shifts his flight upward.
His flight ends abruptly as he skids across stone floors. Ralsei stands up and glances at his surroundings. Chizled pillars lit by blue flames, and to his right, a blue steel gate, wide open, a piano to its side.
Ralsei wipes his tears. He’s finally back to something he knows. Everything will be fine. Noelle will come, and they can seal this fountain. He’s grateful for how close Kris and Susie already are to the fountain, but he’s hit with confusion. “Isn’t… There supposed to be more?” He distinctly remembers many musical pieces, puzzles, and various other challenges.
As he steps through a red carpet, static bristling on his fur, he once again sees Kris and Susie, and as he approaches, Ralsei catches the end of a coarse voice’s sentence “--bably in Castletown. We need to be-”
Kris abruptly stops speaking as he notices Ralsei’s approach, and Susie greats him.
“Ralsei! You’re here! We need your help! Kris’ Soul-”
“I know, Susie.” Ralsei exchanges a knowing glance with Kris, which Kris shirks away from.
“Oh- Good! Well, Kris thinks Noelle can help us get it! We’ll get it back in no time!”
Kris seems to stare into the distance, and as Ralsei turns around, he sees a familiar face. Susie catches sight of her as well. You notice as she slides a glowing screen into her pocket. You are endlessly grateful, only you know what that means.
Everything will be back under control soon. So soon. Noelle will have no problem joining the party, and maybe the Soul will understand that this is a way to help everyone, and perhaps once it gets used to Kris again, everything will go back to normal, and they’ll have the strength to fight fate once again.
"Shit- Is that- It is! Kris, Get up! NOELLE! HEY! NOELLE!"
Ralsei notices as Noelle’s eyes dart around, and he’s worried he might not have a chance to try his plan.
"Noelle! Shit, I'm- we're really glad to see you, uh- This is...This is another dream! Yeah! You're dreaming, and-"
"Y-You don't have to say that anymore! I know enough, uh- someone told me!"
Ralsei’s heart tenses as the Soul begins searching for a way out.
"Right! uh- Look, this is really, really important! Did you find it?!" Susie plants a hand on Noelle’s shoulder, and Noelle’s fear-struck expression seems to ease up, subsequently causing a sigh of relief from Ralsei.
"I...uh- kinda did? But-" will Noelle tell her? Oh no.
"Great! Kris was telling me that it probably did go to the castle, but that you would be better at getting it since it wouldn't run from you, and-"
"T-The...Soul?"
Everything’s already getting worse. The Soul’s only going to get more suspicious, and its going to abandon them, why did he think he could fix things?
"The soul- Robot thing! It- It looked like a soul, right? It-"
The atmosphere turns cold as susie puts another hand on Noelle’s shoulder, and speaks sternly.
"Noelle! Do you have it or not?! We need it! Kris is going to-"
No! He has to step in! The Soul’s already agitated, it won’t care if the same approach is taken! He can’t let things be ruined again!
Ralsei shouts across the room, shifting the attention onto himself. "They aren't going to die!"
His sudden movements shake his glasses off the brow of his nose, and he barely catches them. He needs composure. He can still fix things.
"Just...listen to them for a moment, Susie! Please! We need to find a way to work together here, or none of us will be-"
Kris’s stern voice cuts across both the room and Ralsei’s hope.
"...Them?"
Kris stares at the pocket where Noelle’s phone is hidden. Ralsei’s thoughts run a thousand miles: He knows. Kris pulls themself off the ground with their sword’s point, grinding away old stone from the floor as they rise.
" ...Them?" Ralsei flinches at the anger in Kris’s voice. He messed up. Again. He’s useless. He’s ruined everything. He scrambles for an excuse, an apology, anything to stop everything from getting worse.
"Kris- Kris, wait!" Ralsei steps in front of Kris, trying to hold them back, make them see reason. His voice is soft and meek. "I- I understand your anger, but-"
Ralsei’s firmly held arm is easily pushed away as Kris grumbles out yet another firm statement, pointing harshly at Noelle and the Soul.
"It has her."
Ralsei can’t do anything as Noelle is struck with fear, and Susie’s friendly grip turns hostile, Noelle struggling to get away.
"S-Susie, please!" Ralsei can barely bear to listen as Noelle continues to beg. "I can explain-"
"Shut it, Bodysnatcher!" Ralsei’s heart drops as Susie shouts. "I got it still, Kris! Hurry your ass up!"
Kris steps past Ralsei like he isn’t there, sparing a glance of anger at Ralsei for hiding where the Soul was. Ralsei shuts his eyes and covers his ears. He can’t do anything. He hears mumbled begging until a shriek cuts through the haze.
"They've been a better friend to me in two hours than you have in four years!"
Ralsei once again looks upon the situation, Kris now only a few paces away. He tries to say something, to refute anything, but his throat closes up. Susie seems just as shaken as you, but for different reasons.
"...Noelle?" You watch as gears turn in Susie’s head. "...What the hell is it doing to you?! It-"
"They haven't done anything to me!" Noelle keeps yelling. Ralsei can’t look away. "They just want to live! They...They've listened! They've looked out for me, they've talked to me, they-"
A pause emerges, and a dam of pressure is released.
"They told me what you've been doing to them!"
Kris finally falters, and Ralsei sees as Kris’s lies start to fade away. Ralsei needs a new plan, to do anything, something, but he can’t think of anything. Noelle continues to rant, speaking of Kris’s detachment and the Soul’s kindness. Ralsei wishes he could explain why Kris has been this way, but his words continue to be blocked.
Noelle’s finger crushing into Kris in anger, armor crumpling through its immense force, and Ralsei is broken from his haze to run over and help Kris back up. Ralsei’s magic stitches through their flesh; he blends away the damage of the armor into the obscurity of the dark. Neither Kris nor Ralsei could bear to look at Susie as she tried to ask Kris for explanations, anything to indicate she wasn’t lied to. Unfortunately, Ralsei’s been just as truthful as Kris has been. Ralsei tries to focus only on healing, trying and trying to block out the painful apologies of Kris toward the others.
There’s no chance for things to get better now, for the Knight has arrived. Darkness roars through Ralsei’s soul; he can feel the shaking of the world as it approaches. Why now? They don’t have the strength. He can’t do anything.
What happens next is a blur. Panic. Fleeing. Chaos. Ralsei can barely process as Kris’s arm raises to Noelle. Susie can’t do anything as Noelle falls into the darkness, and the knight pursues. Ralsei can only hope the Soul can escape. That Noelle can escape. You try to call for them as they fall, in a desperate plea, but nobody came.
Now, all who’re left on this platform are the three Heroes. Ralsei can’t get his bearings.
Susie speaks up, “Kris. Say something. Explain anything”
Kris can only shirk away. Despite Ralsei’s attempt at healing, the lack of Soul, and the accuracy of the damage, Kris hardly fares better than initially. Kris shambles away, and Susie can only watch. She tenses as if she’s going to grasp her axe, but she instead only glares and turns around. “Enough of this prophecy bullshit,” before walking down the stairs.
Kris only continues, unspeaking, clearly shaken to their core. Ralsei tries to explain himself: “I’m sorry, the soul, it-”
“Shut up.”
“Kris, I was trying to fix-”
“Shut up.”
Kris shambles away, and the only thing Ralsei can do is follow and try to keep Kris alive.
Everything’s ruined. Every time Ralsei has tried to fix something, it gets worse. He tried to use kindness to avoid a bad end, and now the prophecy is leaving his grasp. He tried to forgive King, and they nearly died. He tried to convince the Soul, and now everyone is apart. Ralsei just needs to be strong. Maybe everything can be fixed. He just needs to keep following Kris. He can only hope Noelle is strong; clearly, Ralsei shouldn’t be trying to change fate. In the future… He’ll leave it to someone more than an object.
The blue glow of sconces illuminates their path as Ralsei pursues the shambling Kris, tears staining his fur, and the sound of a beating heart clouding his hearing.