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“Kris…”
Their vision swam, their body weak. being wracked with wave after wave of shivers as the solidness of the ground beneath their booted feet was feeling less and less tangible.
They couldn’t faint. What would even happen if they did? Would it gain even more control over them than it already had? Whatever Kris did, they had to stay upright. They couldn’t risk what was already happening getting any worse.
“Kris…I…”
That voice.
The voice so frail and broken, unrecognizable from how she sounded before, was the thing that reminded them that the worse had already come.
The world faded back into view as they made themself regain focus. In front of Kris, a blood trail in the snow. It drew their gaze upwards, and then their eyes landed on the ice mass that was left in the aftermath of the reaping.
A shadow could be seen within, beyond its glassy nearly opaque surface. Tall, antlered, helmet previously abandoned. They said they’d help her. They promised.
“…Did…I do it…?” Noelle’s soft voice came from their side. A selfish part of them wanted to look away, to avoid seeing the damage that has been caused from what they perceived as their past choices, but they turned to her nonetheless. Golden curls flowed out of the white hood that shrouded her face, palms pressed down to the icy ground in front of her, which exposed the white-blue-black frostbite that was beginning to spread up her arms from her hooved fingertips. The thorn ring wasn’t making her bleed anymore.
“Am I strong now…?” She asked shakily as her head dropped further forward, the audible tearful sound to her voice making Kris’s gut twist.
“Was that enough…? Are we done?”
Neither Kris nor the SOUL could prompt a response for this. Noelle was more than strong. As she continued to fight, the cost of her most devastating spell got smaller and smaller, until she could nearly just cast it at any time with just will. Now with the ROARING KNIGHT’s death, it grew beyond that.
But the restlessness they felt inside the CAGE that was their ribs…they could sense it wouldn’t be enough. The King of Flowers was not enough, the Dragon was not enough, and the bringer of the apocalypse and villain of the prophecy was not enough.
And so Kris knew that it wasn’t done.
The most they could pray for was an ending. A death.
Kris came back to consciousness with a gasp of breath, face pressed into their pillow–damp with tears–as they began to hyperventilate. Even back to reality, they couldn’t unsee the bleak landscape, the red on the ice, the necrosing hands of the girl they’d cared deeply for since childhood. And their panic was only increased when they reached out their arm to the other side of their bed, and found nothing but an empty space.
Tears blurred their vision. They couldn’t feel her, couldn’t see her. Where was she? Their frantic mind was still nightmare-muddled to the point of irrationality, immediately coming up with the worst, most horrifying possibilities of what could have happened to her.
They immediately scrambled to push themself up, calling out “Noelle?” in a voice that came out as barely anything but a shaken rasp. They were fully convinced they would never see her again–that she was either taken during the night. Or worse, that she was never there in the first place.
…Thats when the door opened, warm light from the hallway flooding into the room. Kris’s teary gaze snapped up to Noelle. Their girlfriend was just staring back at them, cup in hand, large sweater draped over her tall body…looking entirely unharmed. “Kris?”
They blinked at her. “What…are you doing.” Kris questioned, still confused and processing.
“I couldn’t sleep, soooo I got up to go make cocoa.” She lifted up the mug a bit to show it to them, offering a sheepish smile. “Faha…uhm, sorry If I woke you up?”
I’m an idiot. “Oh.” They said dumbly, quickly wiping their eyes and avoiding her gaze. “No. You didn’t… I’m sorry.”
Kris made an audible sniffle, and Noelle seemed to take notice of it, smile falling and ears drooping slightly. “Hey,” She was immediately making her way beside them. They could feel the mattress dipping slightly when she sat down. “Did something happen…?”
Kris glanced up at her,the side of her pretty (but concerned) face faintly illuminated in gold, before looking away. “...The dreams again.”
Noelle’s expression immediately softened in understanding as she fell silent. They were tired of having to tell her about this. And they didn’t get how she wasn’t tired of hearing about it. It had been two years since all of this was over. Two whole years since they banished it, two years since they were shown these things that just wouldn’t leave their head. How much longer was she going to be able to tolerate this?
“I’m sorry,” They weakly repeated again, hands balled into fists in the bedding. They suddenly felt like they were going to cry again…which wouldn’t fix anything. Stupid. This was stupid.
“Why are you apologizing?” The hot chocolate was immediately set aside, Noelle instead holding their face and bringing Kris to look up at her. “Gosh, Kris. You know it's not your fault.”
“...just wish they would go away,” They mumbled. The cold of her hands was always somewhat soothing to them, but they still pulled away, shaking their head.
“I hate this. I hate upsetting you.”
“Again, this is not your fault.” Noelle brushed hair out of their face, voice sweet and soft. “And it's what I’m here for. I want to help you through whatever this is…”
“Two years, Noelle.”
“I’d be here for a hundred more.”
She met Kris’s eyes with pure resolve, and they let out a loooong, tired exhale. She just wasn’t going to let up, was she.
“That’s dumb.” Their words had no real bite to them.
“It’s not.” Noelle huffed in the same mock-indignant way she usually did when they messed with her, causing a small involuntary smile to break out on their face for the first time. “You’re du-…silly.”
Before Kris could torment her further (now for her inability to use mean language towards them), she was suddenly wrapping her arms around their shorter frame, pulling them in for a tight squeeze.
All words were lost to them now, and when she tilted her snout to kiss the side of Kris’s head…they knew they were done for. They sighed, hands moving to her back for a weak embrace in return as they slumped all their weight against her.
“Anything else I can do…?” Noelle whispered, just loud enough for them to hear. “There's more cocoa. I can grab you some.”
“Mmph.” Kris buried their head in her neck. Their exhaustion was becoming pretty clear. It was the middle of the night after all. They probably wouldn’t be able to finish any hot chocolate that was brought to them right now, to their despair. “…nooo. Bed.”
“Okay.” Noelle chuckled, a soft ‘fahaha”, before pulling back the blankets so they could both get back into bed, and wrapping her arms around them from behind once they were cuddled up. “Like this?”
They closed their eyes. Kris could already feel themself falling asleep, the world around them fading into a comfortable, soundless blur. Except Noelle. “…s’fine, Elly.”
“Just fine?”
They grumbled, “I am very comfortable.”
Another laugh, and she nestled closer, letting out a deep exhale as her chin rested atop their head. “Night, Kris.”
They both drifted off. No blood or snow tormented Kris during the night this time. It was just a comfortably empty dark that seemed to stretch out endlessly in their state of unconsciousness.
…
Though, Noelle forgot about her hot cocoa on the bedside table. She was definitely going to regret that in the morning. What a waste.