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They're in battle when it happens. A seemingly ordinary encounter with a bunch of interestingly named darkners—Kris hadn't bothered paying attention to the check, Angel, they wish they had. Too busy thinking thoughts of loathing, of their own hatred for how the world seems to pass by around them, how they can do nothing but be a puppet, a liar.
Ralsei had to leave temporarily. Just them and Susie. Susie—God, she's so perfect, so truly free, to be herself, to say as she pleases, to grow and to change, both herself and the story-
Kris wishes they could be like Susie. Be themself, unapologetic and free, to spend each day like their last and speak without a care for the things they must do or the guilt they hold. But alas, they cannot. The strings that hold them down are all entirely self-imposed, and so, their burden to bear until the bitter end. Kris imagines themself on their deathbed, unable to voice a single one of their slew of regrets.
It's in the middle of these sullen musings that it hits them.
They aren't entirely sure what exactly just happened at first. There's a gush of light swelling up and their chest tightens, and the next thing they know, Susie is at their side, lips pursed worriedly, screaming—"Kris! Kris! What happened?"
Her arms fly up to make a sphere of familiar, glowing light, no one's but her own. She doesn't need the Angel's power, God, they love that about her. They wish—
"What I wouldn't give to replicate a fraction of your strength," they say. Except- they hadn't meant to say that. The words just- slipped out of them, without meaning to, they-
"I didn't mean to say that," the words fly out of them, again, a hand smacking itself over their mouth in an attempt to cover up, do something, anything but this absolute mortification. Susie's face flushes a burgundy red, and it's just— "It's adorable when you blush like that."
What. The hell.
Susie blinks, slow and catlike, and that too is adorable, but—
"...Then again, what about you isn't adorable?" They say, mouth running like a motor, and seriously, what is going on? Is this the soul's doing? A flurry of embarrassing choices made for them out of some sort of- twisted need for revenge?
But the soul's sentences are never this long, this expressive, and certainly never this honest or accurate towards how they feel.
“I am not adorable,” Susie huffs with a pout, face flushed as she looks to the side.
Kris's hand flies to their chest in a desperate attempt to figure out what's going on there, only to find the thrum of that angelic heartbeat suspiciously absent. They look to see the battlebox.
The soul isn't there. Instead, it lingers slightly outward, seeming awfully confused—or at least, that's the emotion Kris can vaguely make out on them. It's kind of difficult to judge the emotions of a literal floating heart.
Speaking of the soul- Damnit, they could end up admitting the truth about everything any moment now. They’ve been trying so hard to keep it all secret throughout all the things they’ve been through, through every moment of weakness, of carrying themself to sleep at night and wishing that even one person to bear their pain with them, it can’t end here, it can’t-
"Hey, uh... Kris?" she says, anxiety over their well-being seemingly enough to make her forget her own embarrassment at their words. "You good?"
Are they good? Why—
"Of course not!" they snip, in spite of themself again. "I can't control what I say. Every single thought comes rushing out like water from a broken dam. How could I possibly-"
Susie, eyes widening, clamps a hand over their mouth, taking a few seconds to contemplate everything they just said in their continuous fits of honesty.
After a few, long seconds of silence, she speaks.
"Kris, dude," she says, voice eerily emotionless. For someone as expressive as her, that can't be a good sign (thank goodness her mouth is muffling them right now, they don't know how they'd explain away this line of thought without looking like a creep). "I think you got hit by some kinda truth spell."
Oh, uh, well...
"I feel stupid for not realizing that earlier," Kris says, then realizing- "Why did you take your hand off my mouth?"
But then, their eyes drift to Susie's widening grin, promising—
"The look on your face promises nothing but trouble," they say bluntly. Goddamnit- "Curse this wretched truth spell."
"You know, Kris..." she says, but of course—
"You may not be under any spell, but your expression tells me everything," they say unwillingly. She looks— "You look like a kid on Christmas."
Susie pouts at that, and damnit, it's-
This time, at least, Kris has the foresight to slap a hand over their mouth and choke down the 'so cute' that tries desperately to escape until it dies in their throat.
"Buzz off, dude," she says, before continuing. "You're always all stoic and quiet and- well, I mean, there's nothin' wrong with that, I-"
"I know you're thinking something self-deprecating," they say, this sentence unfortunately too long to stop from slipping out. "...don't. You of all people shouldn't be deriding yourself so freely." And then, their wretched motormouth continues, in spite of how they try to shut it up, a hand splayed over their face. "You're..."
No, no, they're not telling Susie she is hope and freedom incarnate to them, that much is too far. Well, all of this is too far, farther than anything Kris would ordinarily dare say or even think about saying, but this is definitely too far. Kris grabs the flat soda from their inventory—Wait, they can do that on their own now? And proceeds to down it, guzzling and filling their mind with thoughts about—
"Soda," they say. "I... like soda. There's so much to talk about. It's. Fizzy. And so. Very. Interesting."
Susie raises an eyebrow at this desperate attempt to change the topic, a grin splaying outward that lets them know—
"You're never going to let me live this down," they say aloud, again, taking a second to thoroughly curse out this damned truth spell. "Are you?"
Susie shakes her head cheerily.
"Nope!" she says, letting out a mirthful sigh. "Man, I wish I had a phone so I could record this shit. Damn, this is good. I'm never taking you seriously again, y'know that?"
The immediate thought that comes to mind is—
"You don't have a phone?" They say.
Susie startles at that, before looking away in shame.
"...Well, uh-"
"I'll get you one." Again, the words slip out of them before they can hold it in. "And I know you don't like getting help but consider that you've already helped me out more than I can possibly put into words just by being—"
In a fit of shame, Kris shoves their scarf onto their mouth and ducks and hides.
"...Ralsei- is, he’s looking for us," they say, voice colored by shame. "We should go."
Susie looks very, very interested in what they were about to say.
"Nah," she says. "Why don't you, uh, talk a little more about that, Kris?"
It's actually a little bit surprising she wants to hear more about this at all, considering—
"Your self-esteem issues already make it difficult for you to accept the positive impact you make on other people's lives," they say- God, what the fuck is wrong with them? Kris is going to crawl into a nearby hole and die. Scratch that, they're going to shoot the soul—take it out with them.
Surprisingly, though, Susie doesn't smack them in the face for saying that. She just—
"Of course I wouldn't smack you in the face for saying that," Susie says, and... damnit, they said that aloud too. "Yeah, you did," she responds, to the inquiry that should've been in their thoughts, would've been, were it not for this accursed honesty spell. "Dude. Calm down. Everyone psychoanalyzes shit in their head sometimes. It's okay. You're not, like, special, or something, for thinking thoughts about other people. I think about how you hate yourself too much all the time!"
"What." That's all Kris can say in response, and Susie only meets them with a shrug.
"I'm not ashamed of it," she says. "It's true. You're so- so- nice, and calm, and cool and shit, and- seriously. You don't give yourself enough credit. Man, what'd I ever do to deserve someone like you?"
Kris thinks about how—"I should be the one saying that." They think about how—"If only you knew the truth..."
Susie's eyes widen minutely at that, not in typical fashion. Rather, she looks confused, worried, even.
"And, uh," she says. "What's that s'pposed to mean?"
Kris sighs. They can already feel the compulsion to speak their mind, to be free, liberate themself of the lies they have told, finally answer their own pleads from a night ago—have their burdens shared with even a single soul. Susie is the most likely to understand. She is kind, and she is goodness, even to those who do not deserve it.
But Kris is nothing if not all too aware of their circumstances. They know these truths are simply ones that cannot be shared. They have obligations—to Carol, to Dess, to Noelle. To every person they have hurt with their own, selfish nature. And no matter how innately good Susie is, the things they hide are too much for even her to understand.
More than that, it simply isn't their place to burden her.
So Kris steels themself, and looks at the map. Thinks of the objectives at hand.
"We don't have time for this," they say. They aren't lying. "Let's go find Ralsei."
And they push down the bile in their throat at the sight of the hurt that flickers in Susie's eyes, pretend they haven't even noticed it at all, because they just know that the moment they do, they'll voice it, and all the truths will come gushing out from there. Their allegiances, their possession, the selfish feelings for her they know they must hide.
"Yeah," Susie says, looking all too ashamed of herself. "I, uh, pushed it too far there. My bad."
It isn't her bad, it's theirs—Susie lets out a little scoff and Kris realizes they've said it out loud. She's too good, God, she's too good.
"Am I?" she says, disbelieving bordering on derisive. Kris gives her a little snort in response.
"You are," it's the first thing they've said since that damned spell hit them that they can really, truly say they would have said even without it. Susie is unequivocally too good for them, beyond their reach, and that is why they can never act on their urge to pursue.
Susie's eyes narrow.
"...What do you mean, 'urge to pursue'?" She says. Again, Kris realizes they've said that out loud.
She’s catching on to them, they realize. She’s not stupid, despite what far too many people—including herself—have told her, and so, she’ll realize exactly what they’re hiding. Damnit, damnit, damnit-
“Like, uh…” she looks genuinely puzzled, and Kris can’t help but internally sigh with relief. Right. Her self-esteem issues are far too severe for her to possibly comprehend the idea of anyone liking her romantically.
“What.”
Her face is cherry red, and Kris realizes, much to their own chagrin, that they’ve spoken aloud.
Kris focuses their thoughts on a particularly interesting tree. It’s a very interesting tree. So, so very interesting. They like the colors. And the leaves. Very good leaves. The leaves are red like Susie’s face whenever they manage to catch her off-guard and it’s so very endearing and-
"Hello!" Ralsei says. Oh, Ralsei, thank the Angel. "I didn't, um, think you'd be quite so enthusiastic to see me, Kris!"
"Kris got truth-spelled," Susie says in a rush. "By those enemy... things."
Ralsei raises a brow at that, fiddling with the hem of his dress.
"Truth-spell?" He murmurs, mumbling things Kris can't make out to himself before shaking his head with a sigh. "Never mind that: I'll heal you up! Hopefully you didn't say anything too embarrassing, aha..."
He gives Kris a look and they can sense the hidden inquiry, meeting it with a shake of their head—they didn't give away anything about their plans, no matter how close they came to succumbing to temptation.
With a snap of his fingers, the spell is undone—and Kris reels as the soul is slammed into their body.
Ralsei lets out an apologetic wince.
"Ah, sorry, Kris! I know it can be a bit startling. Are you alright?"
> Yes
> No
The soul picks for them. Again, back to routine. Ralsei puts on his typical, kindly voice—the tone he takes whenever explaining something to the angel.
"Kris was hit with a strange sort of spell," he says. "Susie, you claim it was a truth spell, but I'm not quite sure about that. Could you describe the enemy to me?"
"It was, uh, those puffy looking things," she says. Ralsei raises a brow.
"The Dandylyons?" he says, with an inquisitive tilt.
"Uh, yeah, I guess."
"They don't cast any truth spells!" Ralsei says. "If the target has used the Blow Wish act, the Dandylyon's spell will grant them whatever they desire!"
Kris realizes at the same time Ralsei does, considering the pitying look he shoots them. They look away and glare into the ground like they're willing it to burn.
"Kris, uh, didn't exactly seem all that happy to me," she says. "Maybe that thing should've given 'em a Nubert plush or somethin'. Or even a Susie plush, since they gave the one they had to me!"
Ralsei laughs, and Kris can't help but smile as well—they really would prefer a Susie plush to that whole ordeal. Susie looks at their expression and grins.
"...Heh, got Kris smiling," she mutters to herself, as they go.
They march on in silence—no downtime to address the events that occurred under the influence of that spell.
But regardless of what will happen once they do, Kris knows things have just gotten far more complicated.
What they can't tell, however, is if it will be for better or for worse.