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"Kris...
Thanks for walking me home"
These were the last words that Kris heard from Susie after what had been a very long day.
To some extent, Kris was uncertain when this day began and the previous one had ended; they had been up all night and could only get a meagre hint of sleep on the benches by the lake while Susie and Noelle talked on and on.
The benches had been so very uncomfortable, but Kris Begrudgingly admitted they were better than nothing.
It had taken them through so much today, from the festival where It had insisted on talking with everyone, to the dark world where they had been made to run around for what felt like hours, scrounging every last inch of the place. Now, It was rightfully contained within this small orange balloon, a grace that Kris knew could only last so long before everything was to be set in motion again.
As Susie receded into the shadows and the closet door swung closed, Kris felt a sharp tug and, to their horror, saw the balloon containing It slip from their grasp and pass through the great doors just before they closed.
Instantly, Kris leapt for the balloon's string, but they were too late as the string once again slipped out from their grasp and between the crack in the door. Their hand slammed uselessly into the sturdy wooden door, the boundary between light and dark.
How could they have been so careless? Kris thought to themself.
They had been so close to a perfect day and, at the last possible moment, something had gone wrong!
Well, that wasn't quite right, Kris mused. Susie did get their hands on that shelter code earlier, which, ideally, wouldn't have happened at all. Still, that was recoverable, perhaps It's escape was salvageable too.
Mustering up all the bravery they had left, Kris carefully opened the door and slipped in, hoping that It had not gotten too far.
As Kris tumbled through the air they noticed that something was off. Their dark-world outfit was different this time, the cape usually so vibrant and red had turned a muted blue matching the rest of their costume and their chest plate that used to shine from within now was matt and dull.
Kris could not dwell on these things as once they got up, their attention was drawn to a large crowd in front of the castle, centred around Susie, all asking her: how her date with Noelle went, how she got through the latest dark world and many questions besides. This appeared to be exactly what she was looking for, relishing in the tales of her heroics through many tough fights and challenging foes. Kris hoped that this would keep her and Ralsei distracted for a little while whilst they retrieved It.
Kris's attention was then drawn to a figure standing in the centre of the town that was vaguely humanoid in shape, in a way that none of the flowers from their last adventure had been, matching Kris's proportions almost to a tee. The main differences were that the form appeared to be entirely orange from head to toe and missing every facial feature otherwise possessable.
As Kris approached It (for they presumed that this unfamiliar darkener could be nothing else) It appeared to see Kris's approach, despite having no visible eyes (though Kris noted that that had never stopped any other darkener from seeing), and reached out It's hand towards the place were under normal circumstances a light that only they could see would be present.
Kris saw It dash off towards the chapel a move which they followed promptly.
To their mild surprise It was not attempting to hide in here but instead had sat down in front of the piano and was playing music, nothing cohesive or resembling any song, just notes scattered here and there.
How Dare It.
The piano was Kris's thing, the one thing in this whole world that they knew they could do better without It's "help" and here It was, was It trying to replace them? Did It think that, now It had acquired some form of independence, It could just do all the things Kris was supposed to do without their help?
In one fluid motion Kris drew their sword and before It even had a chance to react, they popped the fragile vessel It had inhabited with just one stabbing strike from their blade.
Kris saw It bolt into the TV building a motion that they quickly replicated.
Once they had entered they saw the door to the Mike's room hanging a jar, with a voice coming from inside.
As Kris approached they began to make out a rant of some kind coming from within.
"And another thing! We don't get any respect from the higher ups! Always telling us to do this and that never giving a moment of recognition for our actions! Just Mike do this, or Mike go there, always where is Mike and never how is Mike!"
Kris didn't want to admit it but in some ways Battat's rant resonated with them, always being told what to do whether for the plan or just by It, they never got a moments rest always needing to be alert for the next chapter of the plan to unfold, they knew that even the slightest possibility of error could have disastrous consequences for everyone.
As they peered into Mike's room they noticed It looking... sympathetic? or at least as sympathetic as that body could with the lack of facial features.
Then Kris saw It recognise their presence and they knew that they had to be quick. So they drew their blade and plunged unto the chest of It's form, bursting the facade It had put up.
Kris saw It sneak into the TV building, had they not been on high alert they may have lost It, a frightening thought.
As they entered the building they noticed nothing askew so despite their initial plan of remaining un-noticed by anyone they asked a pipins on the front desk if anything had been in here.
"Oh yes, some orange darkener popped in to the performance area, they looked to be heading towards the raise up your bat door"
As much as they wanted to berate the pipins for mistaking It as a darkener, they had bigger things to worry about, like the strange sense of Deja-Vu as they looked towards the mike door, had they already been here?
Brushing that aside they entered the staging area for the song, and were immediately whisked away by the darkener crew and shoved into costume.
As the performance started up they noticed that while they were in their normal position on guitar. It had somehow managed to be assigned to drums, wearing an outfit only slightly less orange then the tone of the vessel It inhabited.
The notes started coming and Kris panicked, they had never done this performance without It's guidance, sure together they had managed a T-rank (after an embarrassing number of tries) but Kris knew that was mostly down to Its timing and rhythm, so as the first few bars played they found themselves dropping notes here and there still recalling somewhat how the song had gone.
They stole a quick peek to their right to see (and hear) It's attempt of the drums, It was certainly better than Susie's first attempt back in TV world but that wasn't saying much, the notes came fast and It appeared to be unused to the specifics of the drum set's controls frequently missing the brown lines and sometimes playing slightly off beat.
Kris took some solace in the notion that It was also struggling here, and returned to attempting their own part.
Due to Ralsei's absence a demo track took the third slot and the original lyrics were in full swing here, Kris hadn't heard these lyrics in their entirety for a long time, seeing them only on the prompter while Ralsei sung their own version, this was nostalgic in some sense to hear these lyrics again, reminding them of a bygone time. An Ironic sentiment since Ralsei's modified lyrics were a lot more cosy.
As the song drew to a close, the final score was tallied up, they had achieved a B-rank together. certainly not their finest performance but they were oddly proud of both of them for adapting so well to their unfamiliar settings.
Kris walked out of the performance door with their drumming companion following besides, for a moment Kris wanted to forget the discourse that had separated the two of them, however looking within the orange form, rounded and plump, they saw the glow coming from within and knew of their aim.
The final expression that donned the balloon's non existent face, was one of joy as It burst into a thousand shreds.
Kris saw It sprint in the direction of the castle, this was bad, if It reached Susie there was no telling what damage would be done, with all of their remaining strength they rushed towards It.
luckily Susie was entering the castle with here entourage so Kris still had time. They drew their sword knowing that if It reached those doors there would be no turning back.
As Kris prepared to strike It turned around and...
Time stopped
What? How? It wasn't supposed to be able to...
Kris heard a familiar sound, and out of the corner of their eye saw.
Oh It just opened the menu.
As soon as they had thought that, they felt something that could only be described as a rapid vertical oscillation.
Wait, They thought, Can you read my mind?
The oscillation became louder as if someone was nodding rapidly.
Kris now had a theory and to test, they asked (or rather thought about asking): Are Asriel and Ralsei the same person?
The movement suddenly switched to a motion that felt more side to side, despite Kris having no prior frame of reference for these mysterious feelings, They could tell that something was being communicated here.
Okay, They mused, if It really can read their thoughts and was answering them, with this roundabout method, what should they ask of It? How about something that they had wondered for a very long time.
Are you a time traveller?
A gradual yet deliberate up and down motion followed.
Is this your first attempt at getting away from me?
Side to side this time, but with a melancholy slowness.
How many times have you tried from here?
Kris counted the blips of sound, 1... 2... 3... 4.....
You know that you can never be allowed to escape the path?
Up... and down. And It knew why, or at least It would soon.
No matter where you run, what path you take, The prophecy will be seen through, and I will ensure its success. Running only delays the inevitable, there is no escape from the cage.
With the movements stopping Kris took a moment (of which there were plenty) to observe through stilled eyes. Their hand and blade stood mid swing, inevitably going to burst the form ahead of them the moment time restarted. For that figure remained, still as anything else, with an orange hue still emanating from the centre where a great light was contained.
Finally Kris asked: Are you going to go back again?
To this no movement occurred, and, after a long pause, time restarted.
Kris's blade finished the trajectory and burst the soul out of It's temporary vessel, the sound made wasn't loud enough for anyone else to hear, they were all inside.
Solemnly Kris griped the floating soul and made their way back out of the dark world.
Could It still hear? Was It even still here? Kris knew that as much as they didn't want to admit this, It was more than just the red soul. But as they entered the night and reinserted their soul they felt no presence within themself but their own.
And that terrified them.