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It was a crisp summer morning in Hometown, and most of the small town had yet to stir from their night's rest, as the sun had just begun to come up from the horizon. The rustle of leaves and chirps from the birds that laid upon them was the only noise to be heard.
The sun peeked through the blinds of Kris’s window, it seemed the light of early morning had finally come to claim them. Any other day they would have awoken groggy, with their oily hair plastered on their face from tossing and turning. Not today though, today was a very important day, and they’d rather be caught dead than sleep in and miss it.
Kris had already awoken about an hour before the sun had risen. They were busy getting dressed and cleaning themselves up. They combed through their hair, taking care to remove any stray fur from their head. It was a standard ritual for them during the summer, as their mom and Asriel both shed their excess fur around this time.
After plucking the last white tufts of fur from their comb, they sat it down, and grabbed the bottle of apple scented perfume from the sink. They took great care to spritz just enough over their clothes for it to last throughout the day. With that, their morning routine was nearly complete, so they took one last look in the mirror.
Between the bangs that covered their eyes, they saw what was unmistakably them. Donned with their signature green striped sweater and brown pants, and a deceivingly deadpan expression, Kris was finally ready to start their day. Their right hand came up from their side, and they shot a finger gun pose at the mirror, finishing it off with a bang. They scoffed at their antics, and left the bathroom to finish packing their stuff.
As they walked down the hall and made their way into their room, they took a moment to breathe in, and sighed. Just a little more prep, and they could head downstairs. They looked to their bed, and on it lay an assortment of boxes, each individually labeled and taped shut, save for a single one that had still yet to be packed. They took a marker off of the night shelf by their bed, and started writing on the leftmost flap.
“Clothes.”
As the word left their lips and found its way onto the box, they put down the marker and made their way to the closet. Inside was a large collection of identical sweaters and pants, and a few other outfits. If it were up to them, they would have just worn the same outfit they always have, but Toriel insisted they get at least a few different outfits.
They folded each individual sweater and each pair of pants, leaving them neatly in a few piles by their feet. As they finished off their swath of identical clothes, they moved on to the new outfits they had tucked away in the corner. It wasn't much, just a couple white T-shirts and some dark blue shorts that they hardly wore.
Kris brought the stacks of clothes to the box on their bed, and packed them neatly in. They grabbed the tape lying on top of the other boxes, and pulled it across the flaps, leaving their clothes sealed away until further notice. They tore off the excess tape sticking off of the sides, bundling it up in their hands and throwing it into the trash.
Finally, their packing was done, there was nothing left to do in their room for now. So they left, and as they went out their door, the scent of breakfast being made provoked their stomach into grumbling.
When they made it down the stairs, Toriel was busy making bacon and hash browns for the two of them. The smell of pork permeated through the kitchen, a stark contrast from the usual smell of butterscotch and cinnamon.
“Good morning my child.” She looked at them as she spoke over the sizzling of grease on the pan. “You are finished packing, are you not?”
Kris nodded to her, and walked into the living room to take a seat on Chairiel. They laid back into the cushions, practically sinking into the embrace of the beloved living room chair.
“Tomorrow is a big day for you, Kris. It feels as if it was only yesterday that your brother was going off to college.” Toriel turned off the stove, and started distributing the food onto plates for Kris and herself. She brought the food into the living room, and saw Kris sunken into Chairiel.
“I suppose this means you will not get up for your food?”
Kris attempted to shake their head, but alas, the comfort they felt made it too much effort to move. Chairiel had claimed another victim into its cushions. “Comfy.” Was all they could muster as a response.
“I see, I shall leave it on your lap then.” She sat the food down onto their lap, and she took a seat beside them in the other chair.
The two sat in silence for several minutes as Toriel ate, though Kris had yet to touch their food. Eventually, Kris managed to gather the strength to unsink themself from Chairiel. They played with their food, flipping their bacon back and forth, watching as the drops of grease flicked onto the plate below. They raked their fork through their hash browns, pretending as if it were a field to be cultivated for their bacon citizens. The hashed homestead would soon become a city if they kept this up.
“Is something the matter, Kris? You have hardly touched your food.”
Kris sat their fork down on their plate, and took a moment to process the question. They didn't think anything was wrong, not at all. All things considered, today was going to be one of the best days of their life. Finally moving from Hometown, going out and seeing the world with Susie in tow, it was all good, right?
“My people need me”
They pulled one of the bacon slices up, and danced one slice around a bit, making gibberish noises with their mouth as it “walked” across the plate. It made its way to the field of hash browns, and they dropped it face first into the pile with a plop, and a “kerplow” from Kris.
They looked to Toriel, expectantly waiting for her reaction. What they got was a confused eyebrow raise, and a stifled chuckle from their mother.
“Come now Kris, this is getting out of ham-d!” She laughed at her own joke for several seconds, and got up to put her plate in the sink. “If you do not wish to eat, that is alright. Just leave it in the fridge for now.”
Kris did as they were told, and found the strength to finally get Chairiel to release them from its grasp. They walked over and pulled open the fridge with their free hand, sitting the food on the middle shelf. Reluctantly, they waved their citizens goodbye, and closed the door.
They left the fridge and went over to Toriel, tugging on her robe to get her attention. She looked down at the human. Even on the cusp of adulthood, Kris was still several feet shorter than her.
“What is the matter, Kris?”
Kris looked at the door and pointed their right hand at it. “Going out now, Susie is waiting.”
“Of course, my child. Do not forget to put your boxes in your truck before you go to bed.” She took her left paw and ruffled it through Kris’s hair, taking care to not make it too messy. They responded with an awkward noise from their throat, and a sudden shaking of their head, like a dog that had just got out of a bath. They walked off to leave out the front door, but stopped when they heard Toriel speak again.
“I love you, my child.”
“…Love you too, mom.”
With that, they found themself standing out on their front porch. The summer air felt more like a day in late spring, with the wind blowing and the temperate climate lending itself well to an enjoyable day. The sky was clear as can be, and Kris noticed the split rays of light shining through the forest surrounding their home.
Despite the beauty surrounding them tempting a longer gaze, they had to get going to the school. Kris started the trek across hometown, making their way down the driveway. They couldn't help but wonder what exactly Susie was planning, she wanted to “keep it a surprise, you dingus!” as they remember her saying.
They passed by QC’s diner, and despite not opening for another hour, they did notice someone cleaning up through the windows. The march of business carries on no matter the hour, Kris surmised. Though they doubted the same went for the shop next door, given it was run alone by a janitor.
Further through town they went, until they finally made it to the front entrance of the school. The doors were locked, as per usual during the summertime, but that would not deter them. They kneeled down to the stone pathway just in front of the door, and shimmied the brick on the top right corner, pulling it up on one end. Underneath lay a spare key, one they had managed to snag from Toriel several months ago.
They inserted the key into the keyhole and twisted, popping open the door with a single flick of their wrist. They went in and shut the door behind them, taking care to lock the door before they left for the supply closet.
Seeing as everything was secured, Kris walked forward through the main hall, and found themself waiting in front of the dark purple doorway. This was it, whatever great surprise Susie had been waiting to show them was about to make itself known. They took a step back, and dived into the closet, falling deep into the shadows below.
A magical white light slipped up through their body, changing their form into the blue knight they had grown accustomed to being. They made sure to do a cool pose as they landed, just in case anyone was looking. Nobody was however, so they got up from their kneeled stance, and continued onward into Castle Town.
As they entered the plaza of Castle Town, they noticed the lack of darkners populating the normally busy hub. Without the usual murmuring of the crowds filling the air, they could hear a faint echo coming from somewhere. They listened closer, and realized It was a gentle waltz echoing from a piano, likely somewhere in the Castle itself.
Onward they walked, following the sound of piano, out of the central plaza, and to the patio in front of Ralsei’s castle. There they stood for just a moment, atop the delta rune etched into the stone path. The gates were wide open, and the flicker of blue flamed candles slid out from the windows. For just a moment, they thought they heard someone whispering, but as they went inside and looked around, there was nobody there.
Something was off, but they couldn't quite put their finger on what. Everything was normal inside the castle lobby, save for the silence that had found its way in, only broken by the waltz that guided their movements. It was coming from upstairs, becoming clearer and clearer as they climbed upward.
They made it to the top, and listened once more, finding themself right outside of the stairs to the roof. Whoever was playing the music was waiting just above them. The hall was dark as could be, not a shred of light came out from the doorway. Quite the opposite in fact, it was as if a fog of darkness was leaking outward.
Despite the fear that was building in their chest, Kris carried onward, summoning their sword and shield, braving the darkness. Though they could not see but a few feet past themself, the piano waltz guided them through the fog. Finally, just as they thought they were lost, they saw a shining light on the center of the roof, revealing the dark prince.
“Ralsei.”
As soon as he heard Kris call his name, Ralsei stopped playing the piano. He did not move, nor did he speak even a single word for several moments. Finally, he turned around, his head bent down into a scowl. The light coming from above left his glasses covered with a glare, making it impossible to see his eyes.
“We’ve been waiting for you, Kris.”
Suddenly, a flash of multicolored neon lights came from the dozens of stage lights hanging high above their heads. With the darkness blown away, Kris could see off the edge of the roof, several dozen feet ahead of them. There was an assortment of tables and chairs in the space behind Ralsei’s castle, some of which were already filled by darkners.
Ralsei got up from his stool, and came over to Kris, bubbly as ever. “Surprise!”
They smiled at him while trying their best to look past, and pick out anyone they knew from the growing crowd below. “This is part of Susie’s surprise, right?”
He nodded in response, and Kris noticed a blush on his cheeks. “Yes, sorry about the scary introduction, Susie said you would like it. I hope I didn't scare you too much.”
“Not at all.” They stated. “Too fluffy to be scary.”
Before Kris could get a better look at the festivities, they heard someone trying, and failing to sneak up behind them. They squinted a bit listening closely, and then turned around as fast as they could, only to find it was Susie.
“Dammit Rals, you were supposed to keep them distracted!
Ralsei rubbed the back of his neck and looked awkwardly to the side. “Susie, you know Kris is too observant to fall for that.”
Susie shot Kris a stare, and they shrugged in response. “You walk loud.”
“Yeah whatever Kris, you keep telling yourself that.” She said sarcastically while going to their side, and throwing her arm over their shoulder. “So, what do you think?
They took a moment to process it all, looking up at the glistening skyline. The stage lights were fastened to a purple metal scaffolding shaped in an arch, curled around a sign high above the roof of the castle. “Lightners Live!” It said, Bursting with a neon fuchsia gleam.
They shimmied out from under Susie's arm, and threw both their hands into their air with a rock on gesture. Without missing a beat, Susie joined them by playing an invisible guitar, making fake guitar noises as she played. “Hell yeah dude, we're gonna rock it like there's no tomorrow!”
Ralsei decided to join in on the bit, and he hummed along to Susie's imaginary guitar. Though it wasn't long until Susie had enough of the joke, and promptly smashed it to invisible pieces. Kris took the opportunity to make a “Kaboom” sound in her stead, leading to both Susie and Ralsei laughing at the entire ordeal.
“Alright alright, enough screwin around! We gotta get ready! Kris, you're coming with me!” Susie grabbed Kris by the hand, and practically dragged them across the roof, and down the stairs. Kris assumed she needed to grab a few things, though she hadn't said why they were going down there. They swore they heard Ralsei yelling for them, but there was no stopping Susie by this point.
The duo found themselves back in the bedroom hall, but not for long, as Susie was still on the move. Kris was doing their best to keep up, but they gave up when they saw another flight of stairs in their path. So instead of continuing to run by her side, they jumped up and sat on her shoulders, holding onto her tightly so as to not get thrown off.
Surprisingly, Susie didn't have a sarcastic quip ready for such an action, so she stayed quiet. The only noise coming from her was her elevated rate of breathing, and the stomps each foot carried with them.
Another flight of stairs had come and gone, and the two had nearly reached their destination. Just another door at the leftmost end of the hall, which Susie kicked open. She then threw Kris off of her back, and they did a flip, before landing with yet another stylish pose. Their arms crossed, back turned away from Susie, and their head turned to her, with one of their scarlet irises peeking out from their hair.
Susie took a moment to catch her breath, and laid up against the wall beside her, taking a look into Kris's eye. She turned away from their gaze, a small smirk on her face.“You can stop showing off now, dork.”
Kris listened, and promptly sat down on the floor, examining the room they were in. It seemed Susie had brought them to one of the castle's walk-in storage closets. The room was lined front to end with cabinets filled to the brim with things they had yet to see. Several wooden bookshelves were on the far end of the room, though Kris had never bothered to read any of their contents.
“Why here?” They said, as Susie had still yet to say anything about what was going on today. They had already pieced together an idea of what it was, obviously a concert of some kind. They were not sure where they fit into it.
“Alright, so you know what's happening tomorrow, both of us do. I'm excited as hell to move, but…” Susie stopped mid sentence, trying to articulate what to say. She looked to the floor, downcast as she continued speaking.
“Look Kris, Ralsei doesn't show it, but I can tell he's down about us moving away. I'm gonna miss him, and I know you will too.”
Kris nodded in agreement. “It crossed my mind.”
Susie averted her gaze from the floor, and opened up one of the supply closets “Good, I figured it had already, so that's why…” She pulled a few parts to her drum kit from the closet, and sat them on the floor.
“I want to rock it out with him one last time.”
Kris got up from the floor, gave Susie a thumbs up, then went to her side by the closet. They gave her a weak punch to the arm, and started digging through its contents with her. As the search continued, Kris started to lose themself in thought, bored by the mundane task.
Their mind wandered to thoughts of tomorrow. Going off to college halfway across the country was already a huge change for them, but having Susie as their roommate was never something they expected. She never seemed like the type to further her education, but when Kris had mentioned that they were going to move away for college, she quickly turned things around at school.
Before they knew it, Susie, alongside themself, had been studying late into the night right here in castle town. They had helped Susie catch up on the years of flaking class, Even Ralsei would step in on occasion and help as well. With the three of them working in tandem, Susie had managed to pass the placement tests, even with the cards stacked against her. Kris still remembered the fierce look in her eyes as she pushed through all nighters with them, they had never seen anything quite like it before.
The thought passed as the pile of junk they both pulled from the closet revealed Kris's guitar. It was a white electric guitar, with dark blue strings reaching all the way to its light blue tip. They rotated it around in their hands, getting a feel for the instrument they hadn’t touched in months. As they spun it around , they heard the pick fall out from the inside of the guitar, and they promptly caught it with their left hand.
Susie eyed the guitar, and she got an idea. She grabbed the cable sticking out from the back end of the guitar, and dragged it out. She brought the plug end to the wall behind the cabinet, and spoke. “Kris, I think there's an outlet in here, you better not be rusty.”
Kris gave her a thumbs up, and she plugged it in. They pocketed the pick for now, it wouldn't be needed quite yet. Just as they heard a pop come from the guitar, signaling that it was on, they let their hand glide across the strings. A gentle strum let out from its built in speaker, filling the room with its nostalgic chords. They took a moment to adjust a few knobs on the guitar, before continuing with their practice.
Susie stayed quiet as Kris started playing a song they didn't recognize. At first, they missed a few notes, restarting and doing their best to remember how it went. As they tried again and again, finally they had landed on a successful run of the song.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScvinHlchWs
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They strummed over each note with grace, and they hummed along to the song they had known since they were a kid. One that brought back memories of a time long past, when they and Asriel would spend hours together playing games in their living room. Nights where mom would scold the two for raiding the fridge in the earliest hours of the morning. A time where a red horned headband still sat atop their head, before they had learned the truth about who they are.
Their playing slowed as they reached a bridge within the song, and more thoughts and memories flowed through them. Memories of Asriel first getting his computer, and showing Kris the wonders of the internet. When Asriel first learned basic programming skills, Kris watched as they created magic before their eyes. Entire worlds just like the ones they spent so much time exploring in front of a television, right at the nubs of his brother's paws.
Another set of memories came as the song went on. The time Asriel first went off to college, ready to study and become a proper developer. They saw the look on his face knowing his career could make those ideas come to life. They felt the pang of loneliness as his car left the driveway.
Then came the memories of a red soul that guided their movements through the absence of their brother. A soul that was still with them now, guiding their fingers through each and every chord. It had taken them a long time, but Kris had finally found a sort of symbiosis with the being always right by their side. The strings that once pulled them along were now just a gentle nudge, guiding them through whatever path they chose.
With that, their song had come to a close. They sat down the guitar on the floor, and looked at Susie, noticing her dumbstruck look. Maybe they had gotten a bit carried away.
“Dude, how do you do that?”
“Lots of practice.” They replied. They noticed the look on her face had yet to change.
“Not the guitar, dumbass! The red thing that was behind you! Shit, how do I even describe it?”
Susie got up and paced back and forth next to Kris, mumbling to herself. Kris couldn’t make out much other than an expletive or two, so they just stood there waiting for her to figure it out herself. They had already told her about their soul, but they couldn't recall ever having it form outside of them before.
“Ok so, you know that dorky anime that Berdly likes? There's that one with the really muscular guys, and they have that big ghost thing behind them that fights for them?”
“Those are stands, Susie.”
She grabbed their right shoulder with her hand and shook them a bit as she continued. “Yeah yeah, screw what they’re called, you had one! Can you do that again?”
They shrugged her hand off of them. “I’ve never done it before.”
They stepped over the wire hanging from their guitar, and followed it to the wall. With a pull and a pop, the socket fell from the outlet, and they wrapped the cord around the head of the guitar. “We should get ready.”
Susie followed their lead, and she stacked her drum kit into her hands, carrying it with ease.“Alright… But Kris, you GOTTA do that during the show, the whole town would eat that shit up!”
As they were hanging their guitar on their back by its lone strap, they thought about what had just occurred. Clearly there was still a lot they didn’t know about their soul. It very rarely spoke to them unprompted, and it had been awfully quiet the past few months. Their past self would call them crazy for feeling it, but they had grown to miss its playful banter.
“I'll try.”
It was the only response they could muster for now.
The two both left the storage room, and made their way down the hall. Eventually they reached the stairs leading to their rooms. Kris noticed that Susie was struggling with carrying her drums, the stack in her hands shimmied left and right in a cumbersome fashion. They took the initiative and grabbed the two topmost drums, holding them both under their right arm.
“Thanks, that was kinda pissing me off.” She said as she did her best to carry the load upstairs. Kris followed suit close behind her, leaving one hand free just in case she were to drop anything. Luckily, her grip stayed firm on the kit, and they made it just outside of their rooms.
“I'm gonna go get changed, you still got that fancy outfit?” She asked them, motioning her arms around her neck. “You know the one with the pink part right around here?”
Kris winked at her. “What, you want to see me all dolled up?”
“S-shut up Kris, it's for the concert! Now don't keep everyone waiting!” She gave their shoulder a not so light punch, and she ran into her room to get changed. They did the same, pulling their door open with their free hand, and shutting it behind them.
They sat down on their bed, laying their guitar down longways by their side. It deserved to rest after such a show, and Kris had work to be done. They got up and went to their closet, ready to take a look and decide what they wanted to wear for their performance.
The closet was filled to the brim with all sorts of clothing. As they slid the outfits from one side of the rack to the next, they came across several potential fits. A replica of their light world outfit, only changed in color to better reflect their dark world form. Or perhaps they could be a bit more silly, and wear their old cowboy outfit. They shrugged off the idea for now, as this was meant to be a special performance.
Further along the rack they went, stumbling upon their old striped suit and pants, it even had the fedora of the same pattern stuck right between the neck hole of the suit. While they considered it as an option, they felt something from it was still missing the flair of a rock star. The search must continue, they surmised.
Reaching the rightmost end of the rack, they had found something they remembered fondly. It was a white overcoat, with a fuchsia neckline dotted with white specks across its pointed interior. Sticking out from its underside was a pair of blue heels, all together as one package straight from the 80s. This was it, this was the one they wanted.
They pulled it out from the closet and laid it on their bed, taking care to not leave any wrinkles or folds on it. Their hands came to their shoulders, and they removed their shoulder pads, then undid the buckles from their chest piece. Soon after, their boots and gloves were also left laying on the floor, as well as their scarf, leaving them with nothing but their black bodysuit.
They picked up the outfit from the bed, and slipped their arms through the sleeves of the jacket. The bottom of the coat flowed outward as they adjusted it to their comfort, and its fuchsia points sparkled with fervor. Finally, they slipped on their heels, and took a bold step forward, posing for nobody but themself once more. It was perfect.
Just then they heard a knock at their door. They’d recognize the heavy loud thumps anywhere, Susie was there. She opened it not long after she finished knocking. “Alright I'm coming in, you better not be naked!”
They were in fact, not naked. Though they were caught right in the middle of a badass pose, with Susie staring them down. She had changed clothes as well, though not nearly to the extent Kris had. If they hadn’t spent so much time around her, they wouldn't have even noticed the extra spikes on her armbands. Given she was just standing there, they seized the opportunity at their doorstep.
“You like what you see?” They said, flipping their hair and revealing both of their eyes for a split second. She reacted with an eye roll and a scoff. “Nothing I haven't seen before. C’mon Kris, let's get back upstairs.”
Kris finally relented, sighing as they grabbed their guitar off the bed. They followed Susie out of their room, and the duo walked across the hall, headed for the roof. Before they could finish the trek in silence however, Susie spoke up at the top of the stairs with a blush speckled on her cheeks. “By the way I uh… yeah… I do like what I see.” She had said that last part quietly and quickly, but not enough for Kris to miss it.
They didn't say anything, but on the inside they were happy to hear it. A small smile was left on their face as the two made their way back to the roof. They both saw Ralsei setting up the final decorations on the stage, the one currently in his paws being a large banner that said “Farewell lightners” in large bold red letters. He stood high atop a ladder, doing his best to tie the leftmost end onto the scaffolding holding up the stage lights. Ralsei took notice of the two, and finished tying the banner. He slid down the ladder quickly, holding tight to be sure he did not fall.
Unfortunately for Ralsei, his paws had gotten slightly burnt from sliding down so eagerly, and he shook his paws like he was trying to dry them off. Susie noticed him wincing in irritation, and took action.
“Hold on Rals, I gotcha!” she said as she charged up a healing spell. A small green orb shot out from her hands, and split in two as it slid up Ralsei’s paws. The light dissipated just as quickly as the pain did, and he was left standing there, paws fully healed.
“Thanks Susie.” he said before gesturing at the sign he had just set up. “So, what do you two think? Is it festive enough? Thematically appropriate?”
“It's familiar.” Kris said, before Susie could get a word in. They walked up to the side of the stage, and slid their guitar and its accessories up onto the floor. They hopped up onto the stage, swinging their legs up over its side, just barely making the jump. They motioned for the two to follow them, leaving Susie and Ralsei to follow suit. Susie gave him some assistance getting up onto the stage, tossing him with little effort. She made it up herself moments after he landed.
The three worked in tandem, all setting up their respective instruments to the audio equipment backstage. Kris handled the wiring, of which Susie was thankful for. She was never one for precision, especially something that required smaller hands. That was Kris's department, their steady hands made quick work of the dozens of audio jacks that were now hooked up.
Seeing as everything was ready, and the crowd below had finally converged, the trio took their places on the stage. Kris plucked their guitar a few times, making sure one last time that it was in tune. Ralsei followed suit, giving them their sheet music, first to Kris, then to Susie.
“It's a harder piece, but I believe if we do our best, we can play it.” He said, positive as ever. Though Kris could tell he was nervous, as they felt the same way. They didn't have a chance to vocalize their feelings however, as Susie snatched the mic right out of Ralsei’s paws.
She got up from her drums, and pointed out to the crowd forming around the castle. “ALRIGHT CASTLE TOWN, ARE YOU READY TO ROCK?” She yelled, getting an equally excited shower of screams from the concert attendees. She wasn’t going to be satisfied with just one uproar though, so she called out again. “CMON, SHOW US SOME REAL EXCITEMENT!
The crowd roared with excitement, though one voice in particular stood out to her. Lancer was in the crowd, sitting high atop it all on his little throne towards the back. He bounced up and down, yelling out to her, cheering her on, much to her enjoyment. It wasn’t gonna get better than that, she thought.
“NOW THAT'S WHAT WE LIKE TO HEAR! HIT IT RALS!” She yelled to him, giving him the mic back, and quickly running to her drums. She waited patiently for her time to shine, and the stage lights began to dim. From atop the darkened stage, Ralsei’s voice shone through it all.
When the light is running low, and the shadows start to grow…
And the places that you know… seem like fan-ta-sy…
His voice remained steadfast, unwavering despite the immense pressure being watched by so many darkners weighing on him. The lights slowly lost their dimness, glowing brighter as the lyrics came and went.
There's a light inside your soul, that's still shining in the cold…
With the truth, the promise in our hearts…
Don't forget. I'm with you in the dark!
With that, the concert had truly begun. Fireworks shot out from across the edge of the stage, flying high above castle town, and bursting into a cacophony of various colors. Susie yelled out in excitement, and continued the assault on her drums, giving it her all as the song began to pick up the pace.
The same could be said for Kris as well, the energy they put into each strum shot out to the crowd below, emanating a certain feeling. They felt it in their chest, a familiar sensation resonating with a certain power, one they had not felt in a long time. The feeling only strengthened as Ralsei continued onward with his lyrics.
Once a humble town, now a shining city!
If i could i would, go with you three!
Its where i wanna be, the friends you want to see,
A thousand worlds all calling for me!
The emotion in his voice was not lost on the others, nor on the crowd of darkners cheering him on. Ralsei was putting everything he had into this, as were Kris and Susie. The thought of this possibly being their last song made them bring forth the best they could offer. Still, there was one more person resonating with the same feelings, hidden from view, yet there all the same.
All thanks to the three, heroes beside me,
A world just for me, and if I can't see,
The places that you go, the people that you'll meet,
I can be with you, in the dark!
As Ralsei had finished the first half of his lyrics, the power resonating within Kris's soul was finally shining through. They went forward to the very front of the stage, taking on their guitar solo with everything they had. Their body began to glow with a bright red aura, and their soul came out from within them.
It was surrounded by a glowing red human silhouette. translucent, but clearly made to resemble Kris themself. It carried a guitar just like Kris's, and it had full intention of using it. As if they were one, Kris and their soul played the solo together, glowing with an incredible power that had more than once saved the world. They were back to back, both guitars echoing their own unique tone, of which harmonized into a beautiful sound neither could create on their own.
When the stars begin to fade,
And the silence starts to weigh,
And the roads you used to stray,
Seems like memories…
Susie beat down on her drums as best as she could, managing to keep pace with the others. She may not have the raw power Kris and their soul exuded, or the talented singing Ralsei had, but she was still the backbone of this concert. Despite the aching in her arms threatening to keep her down, she pushed forward, knowing that she had to keep going for them.
There's a glow behind the tears
That’s still fighting off your fears,
With the truth, Which shall guide you the way…
Don't forget, I'm with you in the dark!
The last of the song's lyrics finally made its way outward, alongside one final push from Kris and their soul. Their guitars played the final solo with fervor, each note stretching on and stopping just as fast as it started. A bead of sweat ran down Kris's head, but they pushed onward to the final strum of their guitar. It resonated across the entirety of castle town, leaving the concert in a moment of pure silence. Kris fell to their knees in exhaustion from the intensity of the solo. Their soul, having done its part, went over to Kris. However, before its form had fully faded into its red core, it offered its hand to Kris to help them up. As Kris was pulled up by their soul, it fell forward into them, its form dissipating back into its host.
Kris’s breath hitched in and out while looking down at the crowd, doing their best to come down from the intense guitar shredding. They shot their hands up into the air, and made a rock on symbol, causing the crowd to break out from its stupor. They burst into a mixture of starstruck cheers and clapping.
Ralsei left his mic on its stand and came to Kris's side. “That was… amazing, Kris!” He spoke with reverence, completely astonished by the display Kris and their soul were capable of.
“Thanks.” they said between breaths that had finally begun to slow. The dull fatigue in their arms was finally catching up with them, and they took the guitar’s strap off of their shoulder, and sat it down. They stretched out, finally able to release the built up tension in their body.
Unexpectedly, they felt large hands grab them by their underarms, and before they could realize who it was, they found themself several feet in the air, and then in Susie’s arms.
“HELL YEAH KRIS!” she yelled as she threw them upward again, despite the same fatigue in their arms also affecting hers. “I told you that soul shit was gonna be awesome!” She caught them again, and given the nauseous look on their face, she stopped there. “Uh, don't puke on me dude.”
They gave her a shaky thumbs up, and shimmied their way out of her grasp, landing firmly on their feet. They grabbed their guitar off the ground, and turned to the others. “We should clean up.”
“Yeah alright, Ralsei, you gotta help me take this stuff apart.” Susie said, with Ralsei following along happily, bending down to fold the drum kit up into a more movable form. While those two were busy cleaning up, Kris went forward to the front of the stage, looking down from the roof of the castle.
Hundreds of darkners were still present, dancing and partying like there was no tomorrow. Shadowmen and Tasques playing together with a comically sized ball of yarn, the Swatchlings taking turns drinking from the ever intimidating water cooler, and so on. Even Seam, the former recluse, had finally found it in him to join the festivities. He smiled wide as could be, as he once again beat the Addisons at a game of poker.
They hoped their absence wouldn’t be too hard on the dark prince, Ralsei had grown so attached in such a short time. It was something they had worried about for several weeks before telling him the news. Despite everything, Ralsei had taken it in stride, which came as a relief to them. Given the care they had taken to populate Castle Town, Kris knew he would be in good company for a very long time.