Chapter Text
Kris threw me in their room in the dark world before leaving me here. Closing the pull-door behind them.
‘Wonder what they’re gonna do this time… At-least no fountain has opened today… It’s nice to have a break since the titan and all.’ Even as someone who could load and save, that fight felt… intense. It was cool, yes, but still draining nonetheless.
Not to mention the prophecy’s ending and Ralsei’s and Susie’s reaction…
‘Kris could read it. But it was out of my area of view… God do I hate these… mechanics sometimes.’ Even now, I could still see myself from the same point of view, floating around Kris’s room.
Minutes pass as I relax, my cages… ‘No. No I shouldn’t call them that. If anything, I’m their cage…’ A pang of self-disgust and shame welled up at the thought of even trying to call Kris a cage.
Poor kid can’t defy the ‘mechanics’ when I’m in them. Sure, I can’t either, but for them… It’s like they’re a puppet. They I never asked for this.
…
… Lets not think about that anymore.
‘Well. I’m in the dark world now, and Kris hasn’t learned any magic… Technically, if I flip myself upside down, I’ll be kinda like a monster soul, right? Maybe I can cast magic then?… Well, that whole unleash and banish act sure looked like magic… Wonder if I can do something else with the light?’ I concentrate. Feeling my being well up with determination.
Then.
A small ghost hand.
‘Oho! Hell yeah!’ I fist pump the air with my new limb and an idea enters my mind as I look at the door.
‘Oh, Kris… You’re gonna get pranked so hard you little shit!’
I open the door slightly ajar and stand behind it.
If I had a mouth, I’d be giggling.
>> -- >>
After a while, Kris shuffles back into the room awkwardly, only to pause.
I fly up exactly at the same time they slam the door shut behind them, panicking.
Frantically, they look around for me. Tearing through their closet, under their bed, in the manual…
I’d laugh if I had a body. But I didn’t.
So, I opened the door while they were busy and left, making sure to shut it behind me.
>> -- >>
Wandering around castle town as a soul was… weird.
Some enemies recognized me, but had no idea what I was except the thing the hero had fought them with.
Except…
>> -- >>
“Woah, Tenna is that the [[HEART-SHAPED-PILLOWS]] From the [[BLUE FLAME LIGHTER!]]?” Spamton asks as I creep into their rooms through an open window.
Tenna, in an apron, and cooking, looks over at me blankly.
Their shared room seemed to be like Krises and Susies. But there was an oven here, and everything was either salesman themed, or TV themed. With only one bed.
“Uh… What are you doing here… Whatever you are? Shouldn’t you be with Kris right now?” Tenna asks me hesitantly. I wave goodbye and leave the two of them alone for now.
Spamton waves back while Tenna comments about how weird what happened was.
>> -- >>
King was dumbfounded as he stared at me.
“So… Your vessel finally died, huh?” He smiles at me from behind his bars after a few seconds.
I stop and stare, curious as to what he has to say.
“Of course they would. You faced the knight, didn’t you? Still… I hope that purple girl is okay though… Lancer would be very sad if she died. Now, I must find a way out of this prison if you’ll excuse me.” …
As long as I wasn’t breaking down, Kris wasn’t injured yet, even if they were out of breath, so I wasn’t really worried by his taunt. And besides, even if I did get damaged, I could just run back to Kris. I can sense them but they can’t sense me after all.
I flicked the Ex-Lings forehead and left.
>> -- >>
The most surprising thing was running into Ralsei in a hallway.
The poor goat boy damn near had a heart attack as he found me.
“y-You! wh-What are you doing out of Kris?!” I stare at him quietly, unsure of what to say, before remembering that I had hands. And Kris knew bits and pieces of sign language. Which meant, I knew sign language.
Easily enough, I made a second hand and signed to Ralsei.
‘My name is Stem. I’m pranking Kris, they’re Okay. Me not cracked. If I crack, Kris is Bad.’ I sign, and my fluffy boy breathed a sigh of breath, revealing he can thankfully understand me.
“wh-While I do understand your uh, curiosity. I-I ask that you control yourself a little, especially when the safety of my friends is involved.” I freeze for a moment.
‘My friends too. Susie. You. Kris. Me try to be good. Me not mean harm. Me just want to move. Have some fun. Me can go back any time.’ The restraints of Kris’s knowledge of sign language were starting to show as I quickly signed.
I knew he knew about me and Kris being separate after all, so I didn’t mind telling him a little more about how it worked.
Ralsei stares at me for a minute, looking a little… guilty? Sad?
“Yeah… Friends…” …
‘What do you mean? Did I do something wrong? What happened?’ Ralsei looks at the ground after reading my frantic hands. I move my hands to his line of sight in retaliation.
“You… don’t have to hide it anymore, y’know? Kris… Kris already told me about you.” …
‘What?’ Is the only thing I can sign back.
“I know… I know the world is like a game to you… I know you’re only playing nice because it’s interesting for you… It’s fine y-Y’know. You don’t have to hide it! You don’t have to…” He takes a deep breath as I stand completely still.
“I know my words mean barely anything to you… If they mean anything at all… But I-I want you to know that your actions matter. Okay? I-It might not feel like it at times … I don’t know the specifics of how exactly the world is like a game to you, but I know that you view us as game characters.” My hands dissipate as I feel myself growing weak. Kris’s timer already starting to run out, but Ralsei hasn’t noticed my determination dimming.
“Please… Just… I-…” He takes a few seconds to gather himself, closing his eyes before looking up at me.
“Your choices matter. To me, your words have always mattered. Your actions have always mattered. Our talk after Susie saw the prophecies end, the hugs you gave me when I taught you how to fight with the dummy… The plushie you gave me… I still remember all of it… So please. e-Even if you discard me after this, o-Or whatever you do with me. Please… Just treat Susie and Kris nicely, okay?” Another deep breath. A crack forms inside my body, hidden from Ralsei’s sight.
He reaches out a paw hesitantly to grab me, his expression smiling, but not genuinely.
…He was covering up his emotions again. After I told him it was Ok not to smile around me.
I could feel something shatter in me. And I knew it wasn’t my body.
With quick strides, Ralsei delivered me back to Kris’s room, which was still a mess as Kris was now looking in their mattress. Breathing heavily.
“k-Kris! I-I found your … soul.” Kris turns to Ralsei before reaching out a hand.
The goat hands me to them and in a second, I was back inside.
I felt my knees give out now that I was in a body again.
“k-Kri- Stem… Do you want me to leave-?” I reached out a hand grabbing Ralsei’s sleeve quietly.
He seemed a bit uncomfortable, but I just stayed quiet as I looked at Kris.
They, who did not have a soul, had the empty outline of one in this … realm.
‘What happened to not telling anyone?’ I asked. Feeling rage flood through me.
Silence. Smug silence.
‘What happened to not spilling each others secrets?’ A pause, and I could feel their dread now.
‘What happened to not lying to each other? I kept quiet about you working with the knight. I kept quiet about you making that dark fountain. I kept quiet about what happened in the forest that day! What happened to our promise? WHAT HAPPENED. TO TRYING TO BE FRIENDS?! YOU GO BEHIND MY BACK, TELL THEM I’M SOME KIND OF… MONSTER THAT DOESN’T GIVE A DAMN ABOUT THEM?!’ I could feel Kris’s horror as my soul glowed with red.
‘…I could’ve made you freeze every darkener with Noelle in chapter 2 and shatter them, You know? I could’ve made Susie hate you. You know! I could’ve- I could’ve-’ Static encroached on my mind as it felt like the world around me was collapsing.
‘… You’re not worth threatening.’
Then I … breathed in.
“…help me clean my room, rals… please” I mutter, voice monotone.
Ralsei nods, relieved at the awkward silence between us being broken as I let go of his sleeve.
>> -- >>
I thought cleaning would help calm me down before I did anything stupid.
It didn’t.
Ralsei… Always went to the other corner of the room whenever I worked on something near him.
He hasn’t talked to me once since we started.
He hasn’t… He hasn’t even smiled genuinely once.
He stood completely still when I hugged him too…
I felt hollow when I was done.
“All done!… c-Can I go now… Kris- I mean, Stem?” He seems hesitant to say my name when talking to me.
It was the final straw for the anger to come rushing back.
“Why?” He freezes at my words.
“Why… what?”
“Why do you hate me?” I look up at him, his fake smile falls for a minute, for confusion.
“i-I don’t hate you-?!”
“DON’T FUCKING LIE TO ME!” I screamed. Feeling Kris trying to fight back.
They fail. I’ve never genuinely tried resisting them trying to take control back. Always telling myself that at the end of the day it was their body. And their secrets. Not mine.
Never Mine. Never my body as well. Never my life as well. Just theirs. Always just theirs.
“I-I always- I always try to pick the option you want! t-To comfort them when-When they’re sad, t-To help them when they’re struggling. To make them happier around us! So, why? Why do you hate me? I know I don’t do everything exactly how you want, b-But we’re not the same person! i-I can’t read your mind Kris! I-I can’t…” Ralsei steps back as I stand up, holding my head in my hands as I feel tears start falling.
“k-Kris? I promise, Stem! i-I don’t hate you! I-I don’t think I could hate you! I-I-” He tries to comfort me, but I could only feel more rage.
“I’M NOT TALKING TO YOU!” He flinches back onto his butt.
It hurts me to see him back away more than the fall probably hurt him.
“KRIS! ANSWER ME YOU BITCH!” I could feel fear and indignant rage coming from the empty soul.
“I HELPED YOU MAKE FRIENDS! I DID EVERYTHING YOU WANTED! I NEVER TRY TO BE MEAN! I LET YOU THROW ME AROUND LIKE A FUCKING STRESS TOY WHENEVER YOU WANT ME OUT OF YOU. I DIDN’T SAY ANYTHING WHEN YOU HIT ME WITH A HOCKEY PUCK, OR THE HOCKEY STICK. I DIDN’T EVEN TRY TO GET BACK AT YOU AT ALL! SO WHY?! WHY THE FUCK WOULD YOU DO THIS TO ME WHEN WE FINALLY HAVE FRIENDS?! WHY DAMMIT?!” Red and tears clouds my vision as I feel my strength leave me.
I knew no matter how much I yelled, I wouldn’t be able to get a response.
No matter how much I tried, I wouldn’t be able to understand them.
So… I did something else.
-50 HP
150 HP Remaining
I slapped myself. Somehow, I did a ridiculous amount of damage.
“ANSWER ME!” Pain grounded me a little. But only made me more angry.
-60 HP
90 HP Remaining
“SPEAK DAMMIT! I KNOW YOU CAN FUCKING DO IT!”
-70 HP
20 HP Remaining
“STEM, STOP!” Ralsei tackles me to the ground, holding my arms with his scarf as he looks down at me, tears welling up in his eyes.
“Y-You’re hurting yourself! Stop it!” He begs, quietly.
I stop struggling.
He lets go of me after a few seconds, looking down at me as I sat, kneeling on the floor, crying like a child.
“I-I-I” I stuttered, unable to get my words out as I felt Kris trying to take back control again.
The anger flared up again at their obvious attempt to capitalize on my weakness.
“N-NO!”
“Kr- Stem?” Ralsei asked again, scarf ready to move.
I held my hand up, and as soon as I did, he tried to stop it with his scarf.
But he was too slow, only able to watch in horror as I dug it into my chest.
“YOU KNOW WHAT?! SINCE YOU HATE ME SO MUCH! GOODBYE KRIS! HAVE FUN! TRY SEALING THE FOUNTAIN ON YOUR OWN ASSHOLE! I’M DONE! I’M DONE TRYING TO PLEASE YOU! I’M DONE LISTENING TO YOU MOAN AND GROAN ABOUT HOW YOU NEVER GET CONTROL WHEN I NEVER ASKED FOR ANY OF THIS! GOODBYE!” I rip myself out, and before Ralsei, or Kris could stop me, I fly out through the open room door and out into castle-town.