Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

This was stupid. All of this was so horrendously stupid, but Noelle didn’t have another choice but to keep on walking! The first rickety bridge that loomed over terrifying water scared her half to death. She clung to the ropes on the side with all of her might, and tried to keep her legs from shaking.

Then, the rest of the Roaring became clearer. She couldn’t exactly see the things looming in the dark, but she’d been outside when it was still a bit brighter. Titans loomed on the horizon, and every time one of those stars turned in her general direction, she dropped to the ground in fear.

It was slow-going.

Before, she supposed that it had always been fine whenever she went and did something that scared her. As long as someone would be there to comfort her, she never really minded it all that much. Maybe that’s why she kept throwing herself at more and more terrifying things after Dess left. She hoped that someone… anyone would be there to comfort her.

However, now that she had frozen the Shelter door and gone off on her own, no one was around to do that very thing. The glasses on her face might’ve counted, but honestly, he didn’t really… um… comfort her at all???

When Noelle panicked and dove behind one of the large railings on the stone bridge in response to a Titan looking her way, Spamton unhelpfully shouted, “[S rank] THINKING! YOU WOULDN’T WANT ONE OF THOSE [shadow of the backside of your mind] TO MAKE YOU [turn the DS sideways].”

“What are you even saying?” Noelle whispered, hoping and praying that the thing that looked her way couldn’t see her. She stayed on the ground for an entire minute before finally managing to creep back up. Only when she saw the Titan shambling away did she finally breathe a sigh of relief. It… it really was far off. It probably… maybe… couldn’t see her??? She didn’t know how they worked! She hadn’t fought one of these before!

Ralsei seemed to think that they were incredibly dangerous when he yelled at everyone about the Roaring, so…

Part of her wondered if she should just turn back and wait at the Shelter. It wouldn’t do her any good, because she’d frozen the door. What if… what if Ralsei came back and could just… thaw it out for her? She saw him using a little bit of fire when he got mad at her, so the least that he could do was actually use it to open up the Shelter again! But then he’d probably give her another rant about how she couldn’t do this and how-

“DON’T TELL ME YOU’RE [abandoning playable area]!” The glasses chastised when Noelle stole a glance back at the lighthouse for a third time. “YOU STILL NEED TO [become stronger]. YOU STILL NEED TO PROVE YOU’RE NOT JUST A [little sponge] WHOSE [lost control of your life]! IF YOU DON’T, NO ONE’S GONNA HELP YOU!”

Noelle grimaced, turning her head back in the direction of the large buildings far away. Cyber City was her destination according to Spamton. Still, she’d had more than enough of people telling her what they thought she should do. The way Spamton sounded, it seemed like he wanted to do that exact same thing. “What are you even doing this for? Why do you wanna get to the city so badly?” Everyone usually had some reason why they were pulling her around. Maybe this time, she could figure it out before worse things happened.

Pupils appeared in the glasses, distracting Noelle with the way they moved around in her vision. Spamton laughed, “I’VE ALWAYS BEEN WILLING TO HELP A [little sponge]! KRIS DIDN’T ACCEPT MY [generosity]. NO ONE ACCEPTS MY [generosity]. I’M ONLY TRYING TO [answer call], BUT I’M TREATED LIKE [Dlc]!!!”

So… he claimed that he was just doing this all out of generosity? Noelle didn’t buy it. “L-last time I accepted your ‘generosity’, you nearly broke my computer!”

“IT COULDN’T HANDLE [the smooth taste of] SPAMTON G. SPAMTON!”

“AND-” Noelle interrupted him before he could insinuate further that breaking her computer was normal. “I’m done with getting dragged around! I don’t have to take you there either! I can… I can make it on my own!”

The pupils in the glasses shook, like they could stare back at her. “YOU DRIVE A HARD [bargain]! YOU REALLY WANNA CALL YOUR OWN [shots]? THAT’S A BIG SHOT MOVE! BUT CAN YOU REALLY [handle the heat]?”

Noelle took off the glasses, making Spamton face her. “Just… just tell me why you want me to take you, and I’ll do it! That’s…” She took a deep breath, remembering all of the times people refused to tell her why. Maybe, she would’ve stayed behind if Kris just told her why they didn’t want her coming along! She didn’t think about the fact that she absolutely would have come anyway, but it still would’ve been nice to know. Noelle steeled herself, once more demanding, “That’s all I need to know: Why.”

“I TOLD YOU! I TOLD YOU! I WANT THE SAME THING YOU DO! [Communion] WITH [Heaven]!” The glasses hazed over, like static on a TV screen had formed inside the lenses. “It’s… personal…” The static vanished, Spamton once again laughing, “TRUST ME [WHITE CLOAK], MY PLANS ARE [sales down the drain]! EVERYONE I KNOW IS [dead]. I COULDN’T GET [good deals] OUT OF MY [commemorative ring] EVEN IF I WANTED TO!!! AND. I CAN’T. LET. THAT. [Clown around town]. STEAL THE SHOW!!!”

Ugh, she was getting a headache again already. Still, Noelle thought she got… some of that. He was… admitting to having plans… but he couldn’t use them? It seemed that he at least wanted to talk to the Angel, so… “Why do you want to talk to the Angel so badly?”

The pupils in the glasses shook. “THAT [slippery snail] BIG SHOT ME IN THE [heart-to-heart]! I DON’T WANNA TALK TO [Heaven]! I WANNA TALK TO [the man in charge].” He laughed again, “YOU CAN HAVE [Heaven]. I COULDN’T BREAK MY OWN STRINGS, AND THAT WON’T [update complete] TODAY! [HEAVEN] CHOSE A DIFFERENT [CAGE]! THAT [prince alone in deepest dark] HAS THAT [SOUL]!”

Wait, hold on- “What do you mean Ralsei has… what do you mean the Angel chose a puppet?”

“NOT NOW! THAT [light inside your soul] STILL WANTS TO BE A [heart] ON A [chain]! THE [Communion] WILL TELL YOU MORE!”

Noelle breathed a sigh of relief. At least something else hadn’t been hidden from her. If Ralsei just… had the Angel this entire time, she didn’t think that she would be able to take much more of this. Still, no wonder Ralsei defended them. For some reason, it seemed like the Angel was just going to… hang out with him? Kris got their own soul back, last Noelle heard from them in sparse talks which really freaked her out, so she wondered why the Angel would just…

Right. She could answer all of this if she could just find… whatever it was Spamton needed her to find. Noelle put the glasses back on, deciding that she’d rather keep going than grill him further. Still, she asked, a bit unsure, “So… we’re going straight to whatever can help us talk to the Angel, right? No detours?”

“UNLESS YOU WANT MY [commemorative ring]!” That was the ring that he mentioned that he could… benefit from her having, right? Before she could ask, Spamton explained, “YOU DIDN’T [become stronger] ENOUGH TO USE ITS [fatal]. CAN’T MAKE ANY USE OF THAT FOR MY [extended payment plan]! THAT WENT DOWN THE DRAIN [long ago]. IT CAN HELP YOU [become stronger] IN OTHER WAYS.”

Noelle shouldn’t ask, especially with how terrifying it sounded, but she did anyway at the mention of becoming stronger. That was… what she wanted, right? To be useful? Noelle questioned, “How would it make me stronger?”

“YOUR [Magic]. YOUR [tired of always getting exhausted]!” Spamton laughed, “WANT TO CAST MAGIC [50% off]? PUT ON THE [commemorative ring]!”

It… would help her cast easier? Noelle hated to admit it, but healing Susie and summoning ice both drained her in ways that she didn’t expect out here. Back in other fights when the Angel was around, it all felt so easy to do, like she could cast forever if she wanted to! Now, it weakened her too much. She couldn’t let that happen again, or Ralsei would probably bring up that she wasn’t at everyone else’s level yet! “Where… would it be?”

“IN [my house]!” Spamton’s pupils once more appeared, fixating on something far far in the city. “I’LL [Leader. Commands]!”

Noelle… didn’t know if she would use something like that, at least not with Spamton around. But, if it would make her more helpful…

She let him lead the way.

The journey was far longer than Noelle thought it’d be. At least, she didn’t get hungry or thirsty that quickly, but the bridge seemed to stretch on endlessly! She was… beginning to realize why everyone else was out here for days. The town had gotten way too big, and over and over she had to stop herself in her tracks when a Titan looked her way. They never got close, shambling around in odd directions, but Noelle couldn’t help but feel like they could always see her.

On the way to Cyber City, she began to wonder if Dess was somewhere out there too.

Noelle wondered if… if she might catch a glimpse of her.

Her hooves carried her deeper into the Roaring. Somehow, the cold of the world around her calmed her down just enough to not constantly shake. Every now and then, the ground trembled when a nearby footstep shook the world.

Nothing found her. Nothing found her! Noelle managed to get into the outskirts of Cyber City, and as soon as she couldn’t see the Titans anymore thanks to the large buildings, she felt far more confident. Granted, she lost some of that reverie when she saw most of the buildings entirely toppled over, but that was fine! Surely, lightning didn’t strike twice!

See? This was simple! She could handle this! It wasn’t dangerous, and she wasn’t a liability!

Spamton guided her through the winding city. An alleyway that Noelle recognized gave way to a dumpster. She remembered Kris walking back and forth in this alley for a while, but never really questioned it. It was just… one of those “Kris” things that they did, but also…

It wasn’t, was it?

At that point, the Angel would’ve been around. Ever since school on Thursday, Kris had been… different. Noelle finally having an answer to that… knowing all that they had said and done… put a weird pit in her stomach. Kris didn’t say anything in the argument that Noelle had with Ralsei, but they also went with Susie and Ralsei anyway. Did that mean that they didn’t see what was so wrong about all of this? The Angel threatened her! They threatened mom! Kris always talked to mom at the Shelter, so why were they still going with everyone else and not telling Noelle?

Maybe mom had gotten to them? Maybe. Maybe. Maybe. There were too many maybes.

Don’t think about it now, Noelle! Answers would be coming soon! Instead, she should focus on making sure that no one left her out of things again. If she could just prove that she was capable enough, then they wouldn’t leave her behind! Noelle lifted the lid of the dumpster, hoping to find something useful on the inside. The pupils on the glasses zeroed in on something resting on top of a pedestal of absolute garbage.

Oh.

Noelle eyed the ring on her own finger before staring at the object just an arm’s length away. It… almost looked like a ring, if not for the thorns poking dangerously out of it in every direction. She focused her vision instead on the glasses in front of her, muttering, “I… don’t think I can wear that???”

Spamton laughed louder than he usually did, “YOU CAN [Equip] WITH A LITTLE [brute force]. BUT FINE! DECLINE MY [generosity]!”

Bile rose up in Noelle’s throat at the thought of even trying to put that on, but she managed to force it down. Even this close to the item, it felt strong. She couldn’t wear it, but maybe she could find a way to make it useful in another way? Carefully, Noelle reached in with her fingers outstretched, trying very hard not to accidentally snag one of the large thorns.

She had to settle for lightly pressing her fingers against some of the spikes. It didn’t hurt her all that much, but she practically dangled the ring out in front of her while lifting it out of the dumpster. 

Well, she could save it for later. Her cloak did have pockets! 

Noelle stashed the item, breathing a sigh of relief now that it was gone. “Can it… be used for anything else other than… actually wearing it?”

“KID, I’M NO [Fuse Items]! IF YOU WON’T [Equip], THEN DON’T WASTE YOUR [RAPIDLY-SHRINKING] LIFE! THE [Voice] RUNS OUT EVENTUALLY! WE NEED TO FIND THE [Voice] SOON.”

Noelle didn’t waste any more time at the dumpster. Honestly, it smelled atrocious, and she was only thankful that the glasses didn’t smell the same. Or… maybe they faintly did. Noelle couldn’t tell if she got the smell permanently stuck in her nose, or if she’d now been made aware of Spamton’s… existence.

Buildings gave way to a familiar castle that seemed far more friendly than anything else right now. However, when she entered, there were no Swatches or sounds of haughty laughter coming from elsewhere within the halls. The mech had entirely disappeared from the palace. Its flashing lights had gone dark. Decor seemed to have entirely lost its luster.

Noelle didn’t have much time to look as she was immediately dragged off into a hallway somewhere to the right.

“IN THERE!” The pupils twitched over and over again in the direction of a door at the end of a hall that stood ajar. It… was really dark in there! “MY [workout ready body] CAN [start the transfer]!”

When Noelle tried to spot anything through the door from where she was standing, she only saw an empty abyss inside. If she strained enough, she could maybe hear the dripping of water somewhere within, but she didn’t know if that was just her hearing the ocean from far away. “A-are you sure?” Noelle stared at the door like something would jump out at any moment.

Unfortunately, the pupils only silently twitched at the door.

Noelle took a deep breath. She had to do this. Not only would it prove that she could help without needing anyone else’s permission, but she would be able to talk to the Angel. That was important, right?

Slowly, Noelle pushed open the door fully. It creaked on its hinges. Carefully, she walked down the stairs, and finally did hear the sound of water somewhere down below. She couldn’t see it, and didn’t have any light to guide her right now. Her magic didn’t really glow all that much, and the moment she tried to maintain a healing spell in her hand, she felt her arm beginning to go numb.

The pupils in the glasses drifted to her left. This place looked entirely abandoned. Dess always talked about trying to find some cool, abandoned buildings to explore when she took Noelle to a city. There weren’t many abandoned places in town… except for…

Well, the Shelter wasn’t abandoned anymore. Noelle wondered what made it so terrifying to everyone before Dess went missing, and why it had suddenly become her mom’s safe-haven against the Roaring. She didn’t have answers to those questions, and doubted that mom would ever answer. Still, the thought of this place being something that Noelle could’ve stomached helped her press on just a little more in the quiet. She nearly tripped when railways showed up, but managed to regain her footing and not lose the glasses.

A loud and grating voice immediately echoed from the glasses, startling Noelle while Spamton said, “WE’RE ALMOST TO [the big one]. I GOTTA SAY AS AN [HonestMan] THAT YOU KNOCKED IT [out of the park]!” 

Noelle had to root herself to the ground to not fall over again, but laughed sheepishly. “Um… thank you???” 

“BUT ONE MORE [Deal]!” Instead of looking outward, the pupils seemed to almost invert, staring in at Noelle instead. “YOU KNOW WHAT I’M [making] FOR! YOU KNOW WHAT I’M [search on the web] FOR! BUT YOU… WHAT ARE YOU [losing it all] FOR?!”

Well, of course she knew why she was out here! She-

The glasses cut her thoughts off immediately with a loud cackle. “JUST KIDDING! I ALREADY [know everything]. TAKE IT FROM ME [WHITE CLOAK], NO ONE’S EVER GONNA [answer]!”

Noelle blinked a few times, fighting off the confusion just enough to ask. “What do you-”

“DO YOU REALLY THINK CHASING YOUR [Lost Friends] WILL KEEP THEM FROM LEAVING YOU IN THE BOTTOM OF A [dumpster]?” The voice laughed. It laughed. It couldn’t stop laughing. “YOU CAN GIVE THEM [Deals]. YOU CAN GIVE THEM [the big one]. YOU ALREADY [LOST] THEM WHEN YOU TRIED TO SEE TOO FAR.” The pupils zeroed in on her even closer, scrutinizing her. “YOU’RE TRYING TO GET [Big] AND CAN’T SEE YOU’RE STILL STUCK ON [silly strings].”

“I-” Noelle struggled to get even a word in, but the moment she had a chance, doubt started to creep up against the backside of her mind. “I KNOW that they don’t think I can help, but I’m showing them that I can right now!” Surely, her friends wouldn’t leave her behind, right? Susie definitely wouldn’t! Even though twice now she’d been left at the Shelter, that didn’t mean anything. “It’s just… they think I need to be protected, and I don’t need to be protected!” 

The pupils inverted again, looking forward. “[Can’t blame a BARK for tryin’]! IT WON’T BE MY [problem] when I’m [rock and stone]! I’M JUST LOOKING OUT FOR THE [little sponge] THAT USED TO BE MY [#1 customer]. WHEN YOU’RE [Crying] IN A [Broken home], YOU’LL WISH YOU LISTENED TO YOUR OLD PAL SPAMTON.”

Her home wasn’t going to be broken after this! Dess was still out there and would come back! Dad was still recovering! Mom… would probably stop being like this when Dess came home. That was when it all went wrong! What did a pair of glasses know? “I… I don’t need you for this! I can just leave you here!”

“WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU’RE [friend request declined]? WHAT WILL YOU DO WHEN YOU BECOME A [Side-Character]?” Pink and gold invaded her vision, coloring the world around her. “WILL YOU BE [stronger] ENOUGH TO STAND TALL AND SEE PAST THE DARK, OR WILL YOU STAY ON YOUR [silly strings] FOREVER?” The glasses laughed, the sound echoing endlessly through the hallway. “WHY MAKE THIS ABOUT [three heroes]? YOU DON’T NEED THEM. YOU NEED TO CALL YOUR OWN SHOTS!”

“Because obviously they’re my friends!” Noelle shouted back, trying to drown out the echoing laughter with her own voice.

“SURE, KID! BELIEVE WHAT YOU WANT! BUT THINK ABOUT HOW YOU WANT IT TO [The End].” The echoing laughter stopped entirely, like the glasses had silenced the laughs that it had already let out. “THEY’RE FIGHTING FOR [Survival Mode] KID! WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THEY MEET A…” The glasses turned to static, a voice causing Noelle’s blood to run cold. “... can anyone hear me? Help…”

Noelle yanked the glasses off of her face immediately, turning them around like Spamton didn’t already see her. “So you DO know about Dess!” She shook the glasses vigorously, honestly not knowing if that would make him nauseous. “You promised to tell me everything you know about her, so-”

“WE’RE HERE.”

Noelle stopped in her tracks, staring out at tracks that stretched outward towards a giant, forgotten city. Well, it might’ve once been a city. Rooftops shaped like strange faces had been submerged in an inky ocean. This deep in the Dark World, the area had entirely flooded. Noelle could see waves crashing up to nearly spray water on the small stretch of track that she had before the open abyss.

Three carts sat close to the end of the track, with a large suit positioned on top of it like they’d carried it all the way here.

The suit… lacked a head.

“IF YOU WANT TO REACH [Heaven], YOU’LL HAVE TO [transfer] ME TO MY [workout ready body.”

Angrily, Noelle snapped back to where exactly her mind needed to be. She turned back to the glasses, shaking them again. “I’m not helping you with anything else until you tell me what you know about Dess! That was our deal!”

The pupils in the glasses twitched, and Noelle couldn’t tell if he was offended or oddly happy. “YOU DRIVE A HARD BARGAIN, KID! BUT DON’T [expect me to feel guilty] WHEN YOU DON’T LIKE THE [answer].”

“I’m not helping you any further… until… until you tell me everything!” She was yelling at a pair of glasses and felt ridiculous, but surely now someone had to tell her SOMETHING!

Finally, the pupils settled down. The glasses fogged over as normal with nothing in sight, but he continued to speak. “I DON’T KNOW EVERYTHING! YOUR [lost girl] HAS [lost control of her life]! WHAT DO YOU THINK THE KNIGHT IS?”

That, Noelle could figure out by this point. “But you had her voice!” Why was Dess crying out? What was crying out? Mom lied to Noelle about where Dess was! Noelle knew that by now! Mom let her believe that Dess was just gone when she was involved in a plan with all of this at its core. But… that voice didn’t make sense. It didn’t…

“SHE’S [taking a vacation straight to hell] KID! SHE’S-”

“Can you just tell me instead of sending me in circles!” Noelle shouted, finally being fed up. Over and over again, he was dragging her in circles, and all of his quirky little references were beginning to drive her up a wall!

The glasses zeroed in on her, pupils staring at her. Words came out, like they were strained and with far too much effort. “She’s… out there… somewhere…” The glasses took a few seconds of silence, building up the energy to go again. It all shattered instantly when his cackling voice came back, “YOU WANNA [Find Her]? SHE’S OUT THERE [Making]. SHINE A BRIGHT LIGHT AND SHE’LL [come running]. BUT IF YOU WANNA [Find Her]...” The glasses fogged over with static again. “WHERE? WHEN? HOW MANY? WHO KNOWS! DON’T BE MAD [deepest dark] FILLED THE GAPS!”

Noelle… still didn’t understand any of that. Shining a bright light would bring Dess to her, but Noelle didn’t have anything like that. Then he started talking about multiple? “What do you mean how many?”

“YOU’RE ASKING ME?” Spamton laughed, cackling again like he found the prospect hilarious. “I DON’T KNOW HOW TO [clip out of bounds] KID! I DON’T KNOW WHAT HAPPENED!” His pupils once again flicked to her, like the glasses suddenly focused entirely. “NOW, [Accept the Deal]!”

Did he really not understand what he was talking about? Noelle wanted to be more frustrated. She was more frustrated. “You can’t seriously NOT understand what came out of your own…” She squinted at the glasses for a bit longer. “...mouth?”

“IT SOUNDED LIKE THEY WERE TALKING TO YOU,” Spamton said in a level tone before cackling again. “BESIDES, YOU’RE IN [checkmate]! I GOT [0 left]. NOTHING ELSE TO SAY! [Don’t you have anything better to do]? YOU CAN’T SPEAK TO [HEAVEN] WITHOUT ME, AND I’M [raring to go]!”

Gosh… dang it. Over and over, she tried to scramble for something else she could pick at. She couldn’t tell if he really didn’t know, but surely he would have told her more to keep her off his back! Noelle didn’t know, but…

…Maybe… someone on the phone would know more.

Sighing in defeat, Noelle put on the glasses again and moved closer to the three carts. It was supposed to help, but… Noelle only saw a suit of armor. “How… how is that supposed to help me… communicate with them?”

As soon as she finished the thought, Noelle’s phone began to crackle in her pocket. She’d nearly forgotten about it, but remembered Kris’ phone not working here, so she didn’t give it much mind. The moment she withdrew it, it began to spill out the most grating noise that she’d ever heard. Noelle shrieked, nearly fumbling it before muffling it in her cloak.

“SEE? [HE] CAN’T [Answer Call]. YOUR PHONE IS TOO [rigid]. YOU NEED SOMETHING [in deepest dark]. BUT I [transferred] MY SHOP. MY [ITEM]. MY PHONE.” The glasses began to float off of Noelle’s face, and before she could catch them, they zoomed towards the body. For a second, she thought that they would just instantly fuse with the body, but the lenses of the glasses aimed at a central, triangular panel that had come loose. “UNPLUG THE [Key Item] AND THEN [reinsert disk]. I’LL BRING IT BACK OUT! IT’S JUST THAT EASY!”

She still wanted to spite him. Noelle oh-so wanted to get back at him just a little bit. But… if the Angel really couldn’t communicate through an actual phone, then what choice did she have? She’d already come this far.

Slowly, she crept up to the machine like it would reanimate and grab her. The loose panel came undone quickly, a floppy disk poking out. Well… okay. She could just… pull it out.

The moment she dislodged the disk, the glasses suddenly peeled away. Noelle caught a glimpse of something moving towards the disk when the glasses were just wiped clean from the air, like a wipe had cleaned a surface that didn’t exist.

“Um… Spamton?” Noelle called out, still holding the disk. No response came. Hastily, she tried to remember what he said. Just… put the disk back in! That should help! That should fix this! 

The disk slotted right back into place, and the machine began to whirr to life. Yellow and pink eyes flashed as a shadowy head melded into place where there wasn’t one previously. Green strings lurched down from the ceiling, lifting the armor into the air.

Noelle was dwarfed by the height, and began to tremble when she realized what she might’ve just done.

However, the thing did not attack her. It… was wearing Spamton’s glasses. Only when his voice came out did Noelle realize that it was him. “YOU DID IT! NOW WE JUST GOTTA [WR any% speedrun] BEFORE I [Condition: Petrified]!”

She had so many questions. What happened to you? How does this work? What are those strings? However, all of those questions were dashed when she saw Spamton’s colors begin to mute. Stone weaved its way up his legs at an alarming pace. Didn’t… someone mention something about Darkners turning to stone? Ralsei! Ralsei did! That meant-

Ignorant or uncaring about what was happening, Spamton called a large phone on a string down that looked like a stereotypical wall phone. It dangled from one lone string, slightly swaying before he caught it. A ring began to play while stone already surged up to his waist. 

He wasn’t going to last long at all! Noelle yelled, “You’re… you’re going to turn entirely to stone! You can’t just-”

Something crackled through the receiver. The sound of static filled the room, making Noelle cover her ears for a moment. And yet, as she strained, she heard words. Words that gripped her very soul… words that weren’t meant for her… spilled through the receiver.

“ARE… WE… CONNECTED…?”

The words hung in the air for only a moment. The room shifted. Noelle began to shiver.

However, Spamton acknowledged none of those things.

Spamton’s face turned a deep crimson, sheer RAGE manifesting in smoke from the top of the machine while stone reached his shoulders. “YOU ONLY [answer call] WHEN I’M USEFUL? THEN LET ME GIVE YOU [my professional advice]!” He held the phone up to his mouth, beginning to scream, “[HATE. LET ME TELL YOU HOW MUCH I’VE COME TO HATE YOU SINCE [THE KNIGHT WHICH MAKES WITH BLACKENED KNIFE]. THERE ARE 387.44 [PIPIS] IN THIS [cungadero]].” Stone started to rise up to his mouth. “[IF THE WORD ‘HATE’ WAS HATCHED FROM EVERY [PIPIS], IT WOULD NOT EQUAL]-” Stone seized his lower jaw. It strangled him. The rage on the salesman's face instantly became solidified as it wrapped over his head.

It had gone silent all over again, a lone phone hanging from a thread.

“Spamton?” Noelle called out again, once more receiving no response. Why… did that happen so fast? Ralsei didn’t turn to stone like that at all! He seemed perfectly fine going out into the dark! Why did…?

Noelle was alone.

Noelle was deep in a Dark World that she barely memorized when she was here last on account of thinking it was a dream. Where was she going to go? What was she going to do? He just… let himself get turned to stone! Did he know that would happen the whole time? What was…

“YOU… ARE NOT… ALONE…”

The voice crackled through the phone’s receiver. 

Noelle started to tremble. No one could comfort her anymore. No one could even fill the silence for her anymore. Worse, this didn’t sound like the Angel. This sounded too different. The words clawed into her head in a way that she couldn’t place, like they were trying to get out the moment she heard them. “Who… who are you?”

“A MERE OBSERVER… OF YOUR WORLD’S… FATE…” The voice twitched slightly, like the static wanted to falter and die out. “I TRIED… TO SEND… AN ANGEL… WHO HAD THE RESOLVE… TO CHANGE FATE…”

Terror started to be burnt away by understanding. This… was what Spamton was talking about! She couldn’t talk to the Angel, but she could talk to someone close to them. But… she couldn’t focus. She could barely breathe. The ocean waves nearby scared her more than she cared to admit, and the voice kept getting nearer and nearer. She didn’t know what she was doing!

“YOU… ARE NOT… IN DANGER…”

The words still clawed, but the tone didn’t match. If Noelle didn’t know any better, she’d almost start to think that it was… trying to calm her down? Why was it trying to calm her down? The confusion was enough to slowly bring down the nerves in her body. No one was around to comfort her, but she clung to that bafflement for as long as she could.

She tried to wrest her voice under control, once more asking, “Y-you… know the Angel, right?”

“I CALLED THEM. I… SEARCHED FOR… THEM… AS THEY SEARCHED… FOR ME…”

Noelle slowly began to rise back up to her full height, managing to stabilize her nerves the slightest bit. There was still someone else here. Even if it was terrifying, the words still answered her clearly. For once, it seemed like she was being answered clearly. “I… have a lot of questions about them.”

“YOU MAY ASK… BUT WHILE… WE STILL HAVE… TIME…” The voice did not allow for her to ask immediately. “YOU MUST… BRING THE THREE HEROES… HERE… THEY ARE WHO… I MUST CONVENE WITH…”

The feeling of actually being useful for once and listened to was instantly drowned out by not being enough. Of course, she still wasn’t enough, even after she’d gone through all the work to get here! Indignation started to spark, even in the face of the terrifying voice. “Well… y-you’re talking to me right now! I’m the only one who’s here, and I’m getting answers!” 

The voice paused. “MY APOLOGIES. IT HAS BEEN… A LONG TIME SINCE I HAVE… SPOKEN WITH OTHERS BEYOND THE ANGEL. THIS BRIEF COMMUNICATION IS… TRULY EXCELLENT.” Somehow, that same strange itch in his tone came back. Despite the voice barely changing, it sounded apologetic. “OUR SITUATION IS DIRE… BUT I AM SURE YOU HAVE QUESTIONS… INQUIRE…”

As soon as she had permission, Noelle’s thoughts scrambled. Where should she start? All of her questions were about the Angel, and this is why she came here, so… “W-what even is the Angel? Like… I’ve read all of the… really scarce religious things we have about them. But like… everything I’ve seen about them is so different… from how they actually are.”

“I HAVE SPENT… SO LONG ATTEMPTING TO UNDERSTAND… THEIR NATURE. AND YET… I STILL… KNOW SO LITTLE…” The voice trailed off into static for a moment. Thinking. “AS MUCH AS… THIS WORLD… ATTEMPTS TO CREATE DISTINCTIONS… THEY APPEAR TO ACT… VERY SIMILAR TO ALL OF YOU…”

Yeah, Noelle noticed that. The Angel was planning road trips. It terrified her when their soul just launched into her and- “What’s the deal w-with the soul then? That can’t be good, right? They just…” Noelle was stammering out questions at this point, but she worried she’d run out of the nebulous time that the caller mentioned. She needed information to bring back to everyone else, to prove that she could tag along with them! “They took control of me!”

“IT IS HOW… THEY INTERACT WITH YOUR WORLD…” The voice’s words grew slightly more punctual. “THEY WERE MEANT… TO CONTROL… A BODY OF THEIR OWN. YET… IT WAS STOLEN.”

Without thinking, Noelle muttered, “That weird body…” She remembered seeing that in her mom’s office, a piece that didn’t quite fit. “Th-then if they’re so much like us, why did they threaten mom? Why did they threaten me?”

“IS THAT NOT… LIKE ALL OF YOU?” The voice through the phone sounded perplexed by her answer, hesitating for a moment longer. “YOUR WORLD’S HISTORY… INTERESTS ME. FRAGMENTS… SLIP BETWEEN THE CRACKS. THE GIRL… SUSIE… THREATENS THOSE CLOSEST TO YOU AS WELL…” The phone swung on the line precariously. “WHY DO YOU… ACCEPT HER… AND YET TURN AGAINST THEM…?”

“I-” Noelle glanced away from the phone, staring at the ground. “Because Susie is different! She’s not… this all-powerful being! She’s not even that mean! She’s just…” Noelle remembered Susie threatening Kris… saying that someone would make them disappear. Noelle hid in a locker and secretly wished that Susie would threaten her instead. Did… the person on the phone somehow know that?

The man on the other side let her think long enough for those thoughts to hook into her head. “ALL-POWERFUL… AND YET THEY ARE GONE. I QUESTION… YOUR IDEA OF POWER…” The voice’s words invoked a memory of Susie accusing Noelle’s mom of killing her best friend. “THEY ARE NOT MALICIOUS. THEY ARE NOT CRUEL. HOWEVER… THEY LOVE THIS WORLD… AND WOULD DO ANYTHING… TO PROTECT IT…”

But, Noelle could still feel the darkness weighing her down. Waves flooded Hometown entirely. Even this city, something that had been so spectacular when she was dragged in for the first time… had gone entirely silent. “If… if they’re threatening people, and this is what happens… then I don’t believe you.”

“YOU… HAVE PUT MUCH BELIEF… IN THIS IDEA OF A THREAT. HAVE YOU CONSIDERED… YOUR OWN FAMILY’S HAND… IN ALL OF THIS…?”

Noelle’s resolve began to break. The Knight fought and hurt everyone so many times, but that was Dess in there. There was no way that mom was actually fully in the right here, but that question still lingered in her head. What would Noelle do if someone threatened those closest to her?

The voice had another moment to speak. “I WILL ALLOW YOU… TO THINK OF THAT ON YOUR OWN. AS FOR THE ANGEL… EACH DARKNER… WAS SPARED. NO LIVES… WERE LOST… BEFORE THE ROARING… THEY EVEN ATTEMPTED TO… BEFRIEND YOU WHEN THE TIME CAME…” 

She remembered being included in the talks about the road trip. She remembered how normal they sounded. But how could she believe all of that when they were going behind her back and making threats? At least with Susie, that was always just her personality! A gruff exterior! Something that could easily be broken away and didn’t come with any actual stakes!

“THEY SWORE TO PROTECT YOU… AS WELL…”

Noelle sucked in a breath, her hand moving to grip her cloak tighter. When… did they ever do that? Noelle certainly hadn’t seen it, even though they went to her in fights.

“YOU NEED ONLY… TO ASK… THE PRINCE.”

No one could tell her things straight. Over and over again, she was being dragged to different people and never being told things. “Why can’t you just tell me, if you know that they said that?” 

“YOU DO NOT… BELIEVE ME,” the voice stated clearly, halting Noelle in her tracks. It… had mentioned clearly that the Angel swore to protect her, and she didn’t believe that, did she? “IN YOUR PURSUIT TO REMAIN UNHARMED BY FALSEHOODS… YOU ARE BEGINNING TO BREAK BONDS.”

She wasn’t. It was just that the answers were so obtuse! How was she supposed to parse any of it when no one would explain things clearly? Noelle grit her teeth. “H-how do I know that bringing Kris, Susie, and Ralsei here isn’t just… some kind of trap?” She had no reason to trust this voice! Spamton had already turned to stone, so why would she willingly trust this voice?

“IT IS… YOUR ONLY HOPE… OF SURVIVAL. THE ANGEL MUST RETURN.” The voice stated the last part clearly, static almost bleeding away. “DO NOT… DENY THEM THE CHANCE… TO KNOW THEIR FRIEND IS ALIVE.”

Why was it making this sound like it was her fault? “I…” The voice sounded like it was trying to guilt her into doing it! Besides, how did the Angel have such a strong grip on everyone else? Why did Susie pull away so quickly when Noelle started asking questions about the Angel? It wasn’t her fault that she hadn’t been told anything! It wasn’t her fault that she hadn’t been brought along!

As if being able to sense her thoughts, the voice answered on its own, “YOU KNOW LOSS WELL. WHAT MAKES… HER LOSS OF THE ANGEL… ANY DIFFERENT?”

At the Shelter, it always slipped off the tongue so easily that the Angel had perpetuated everything that was going on right now. Mom said it the most when she talked about the prophecy. The Dreemurrs started thinking the same when they just needed something to blame other than themselves about why the world had gone so wrong. They were supposed to be… a large prophecy figure. Mom always listed so many things that they were supposed to do, and Noelle never got to know the Angel well enough to figure out if that was true or not. It didn’t help how little was actually known about the Angel in general.

She knew nothing about them, other than the fact that Susie and Ralsei lied to her about what they did. That was the part that stung. All of her curiosities about the Angel began to rise up more and more every time she wondered just why everyone would lie to her. What about the Angel was important enough for everyone around her to lie to her over and over again?

She didn’t want to be angry with Susie. She didn’t… Maybe she’d pushed too far, but she was just tired of all of it. How could she not be? Every stone uncovered was another question as to why she was left out of the loop. Why was she always wrong for being mad every once in a while?

The voice was right. She didn’t trust it. But maybe, she could just get something else from it while she was here. Maybe, it could tell her something that would make her want to believe it.

“If… if I help you, then at least tell me something.” Noelle built her resolve again, even though all of her thoughts still rattled aimlessly through her head. The voice spoke like it knew of her loss. It spoke like it knew too much about her. She focused on one of the only things Spamton told her, questioning, “What… happened to Dess?”

The voice paused. Longer than it ever had before, it didn’t say a thing. Noelle started to get worried that she had somehow lost connection before it finally spoke again, “THE SAME THING… THAT HAPPENED TO ME… AND YET… INCREDIBLY DIFFERENT.” The voice crackled through the phone, not too dissimilar from the way that Dess’ voice somehow spoke through the glasses. “WHAT REMAINS OF HER… WAITS IN THE DARK. IT TORMENTS. IT CREATES FOUNTAINS… WITH BLACKENED KNIFE. HER CHOICES… STILL MATTER. HER DECISIONS… STILL AFFECT THIS WORLD. ALONG THE WAY… SHE LOST SOMETHING.”

Noelle’s voice began to die in the back of her throat over and over again. Even worse than last time, she hardly understood what the voice was saying. Both he and Spamton sounded so obtuse about it instead of just telling her what was going on outright! “H-how do I help her then?!?” Noelle asked, “Mom… said that everything would be fine when the Roaring ended. Surely that means… I can do something!” She didn’t really believe that at this point, but she still clung to the possibility that Dess could be fine. Even if…

“YOU ARE UNABLE.”

The voice uttered the words plainly, like they were too unfortunate a truth. Noelle felt something within her begin to freeze over entirely. No, that couldn’t be right. Noelle shook her head, arguing with a phone that probably couldn’t see her. “You… you’re wrong! If she’s… still out there, then I can-”

“YOU ARE UNABLE. YOU WILL PERISH,” the voice stated plainly yet again, growing louder. “THE ONLY BEING CAPABLE OF REVERTING… ALL THE TRAGEDY THAT HAS BEFALLEN YOUR TALE… IS THE ANGEL.”

Noelle’s hand clenched into a fist, beginning to shake while she whispered, “Why?”

“YOU CANNOT WALK WHERE THEY MUST. SHOULD YOU WISH… TO SEE A BETTER ENDING… YOU MUST GUIDE THE HEROES HERE.”

How could she trust that? The voice didn’t give her clear answers. She came all the way out here, and she still wasn’t any closer to personally understanding any of this! Anyone could just claim that the right thing to do was bring her friends here, but how was she supposed to actually know?

Noelle went rigid when something in the room began to change. The air grew heavier. The waves moved erratically.

As if she was underwater, the darkness rushed through her nostrils. It was just air, and yet her entire body felt weighed down. Crushed. Instantaneously, and with no warning at all, the world felt like it shuddered.

“What’s happening???” Noelle called out to the voice, hoping that it was still there.

For a while, the static was all that she heard. Again, she thought that she had been left alone in the dark. Worriedly, Noelle began to glance around the room. Had the call been lost? What changed? What caused it to-

The static grew thicker than normal, masking the voice. However, Noelle could still understand it for now. “THE ANGEL… HAS PERISHED ONCE MORE…”

Noelle managed to clear her head just a little bit, only for her head to whip around to the phone. “They WHAT? What do you MEAN ‘once more’?”

“THE WORLD WILL GROW DARKER… EVERY TIME THEY DIE.” The voice grew more urgent. “DANGER APPROACHES…. FIND YOUR ALLIES. THEY WILL… SOON BE IN… SIMILAR DANGER…” The static began to grow, the voice starting to fade. “STAY… QUIET…”

“Wait, what???” Noelle shouted to the phone, only to receive no response. This time, she wasn’t going to be tricked. The voice… would be back! She wasn’t going to say that out loud, especially when she could still hear that last command echoing through her head. What did he mean by stay quiet? What danger was…

“THE BRIDGE… NORTH…”

The phone went silent, static cutting off.

Noelle froze. Again, she started to become afraid all over again when she was alone. What did… the voice mean that the world would grow darker when the Angel died? They did die??? Multiple times?

That voice in her head that sounded suspiciously like Ralsei told her that she was out of her depth.

Focus. Focus. Noelle could still do this. What was the last thing he said to do? She needed to find her friends. That was right! That was what this was all about originally, and she got sidetracked by Spamton!

But… where were they?

Noelle could figure that out while she got out of here! The phone continued dangling from above, ready to be used again. Spamton’s statue loomed over her, reminding her that she did come in here with someone and would now be leaving without him.

He came all this way… just to yell at the voice on the other side of the phone.

Well, he also left her with something else. Noelle had to remember the ring in her pocket. If it could help her cast better, then she might need it. She wasn’t going to be useless again. So, with her hand close to the ring in her pocket, she began to leave the scary hallway.

Roars sounded off in the distance. The darkness kept growing thicker. Even the bright lights that used to flash in Queen’s Castle had gone out. The place was far too eerie, and when Noelle walked out into the main room, she felt a shiver go down her spine.

Just as quickly as it came, that suffocating feeling lifted. The darkness started to lift just a little bit, but Noelle couldn’t tell if it stayed darker. The room definitely seemed-

Noelle held her breath, diving back down the hallway.

Do not shriek. Do not make a noise. That was what the voice was talking about when he said that she was in danger.

The sound of tearing echoed through Queen’s empty castle. Noelle put a hand over her mouth, keeping the other wrapped around the ring in her pocket. It started to pierce her a bit, making her wince while she tried to hold her breath.

The air by the door began to distort. Noelle pinned herself further against the wall. Hopefully, it wouldn’t see her. Hopefully, she hadn’t already been spotted. A shadow started to rise up in the backside of her mind. It started to claw at the back of her head. It-

Darkness stared at Noelle, covering what used to be a face and leaving it entirely empty.

Like a deer in headlights, she froze. Of course she did. She got too caught up on the details, she supposed. She’d seen the Knight before. She knew what it was. However, she’d never been this close. The antlers were always a dead giveaway. But… everything else about her was always so wrong. With all the words that came from Spamton… and all that the voice had said… Noelle wondered if it had ever been Dess under there.

The voice said that her choices were still hers.

However, when a blank face stared at Noelle, she couldn’t help but want to scream.

Eyes riddled all over the Knight’s body zeroed in on Noelle. For a second, she thought something terrible would happen. Then, with the eyes still open, all of the wounds in the darkness began to slowly close up, leaving nothing but the dark exterior of the Knight to stare at Noelle.

The Knight hovered, watching her.

It didn’t attack. It didn’t move. Arms hung limp in front of the Knight while it stared, lacking that one spot of light that usually showed its expressions.

Noelle slowly brought her hand down from her face, releasing the ring. Her hand came out of her pocket still stinging. Every part of her body urged her to run, but she fought that down. She never got to really see the Knight this up close before, but now that she could… some part of her stupidly tried to reach out.

“D-do you… recognize me?” Noelle asked, not knowing what was happening. From what it sounded like, Dess was part of mom’s plan. That had to mean that she did recognize mom, right? But now, with how much it looked like she’d changed… Noelle wasn’t sure. 

Slowly, the Knight’s empty face moved to look at the hand that just left her pocket. Beads of red formed where the thorns had gotten her.

“S-sorry! I’m not hurt, I’m just-” Noelle started to feel something stinging in her eyes. Could she be heard? She hoped that she could. “Are you-”

A hand lunged out for her wrist.

Noelle shrieked, immediately trying to pull away as something began to take away from the light that welled within her. The hand dug into her far too much, and as she tried to pull away, the Knight’s grip did not budge.

Noelle pulled again, pleading, “D-Dess! You’re hurting-”

As if the name meant nothing to it, the Knight lifted the bloodied hand. The empty face observed it for a few seconds before slowly turning down to a red patch bleeding through Noelle’s cloak.

The Knight’s other hand drew forward, plucking something out of Noelle’s pocket with far more care than the other hand that had her ensnared.

Pain continued. Noelle brought her other hand back, ice beginning to crackle at her fingertips. “I-I don’t want to attack you, but if you… if you don’t let go… I’ll…”

The empty face turned towards Noelle’s attacking hand. As if something had gotten through, or perhaps out of doing what it wanted to do, the Knight released her wrist.

When Noelle finally gripped her wrist, she saw that the color of her fur had been entirely drained. Desperately, she cast her own heal, managing to bring back feeling again.

However, as she looked up, she realized that her pocket felt a little lighter. 

In the Knight’s claws sat a ring made of thorns. The empty face tilted the object over and over again, inspecting it for just a moment. 

Wait, no-

The Knight snatched the ring fully into its hand. The empty face took one last look at Noelle before the darkness began to grow once more. The once rigid form of the Knight morphed, flying out the door in a streak of black.

The darkness kept growing.

Noelle had just lost the one thing that could help her even the playing field. What did it mean that the Knight had it? What did-

Focus, Noelle! She lived! She survived! She just… she just had to keep going. She just had to find her friends. If they were in danger like the voice said, then she had to keep going.

For too long, Noelle stayed rooted in place, thinking about the empty face staring at her bloodied hand.

The first moment things went wrong wasn’t even from the Pure Crystal.

Well, things had already gone stupidly wrong. Susie wasn’t going to deny that after seeing the prophecy just casually floating in front of her. Of course, it still had to be there. Of course. Even after all of the suffering that the Roaring already brought on her and all of her friends, it wasn’t enough for that damn prophecy. There had to be just one more tragedy, one more thing to make sure that the three of them never saw the end of all of this.

She wanted to break it apart with her bare hands, but it would always appear somewhere else.

Susie didn’t have time to get far, because everything went to shit well before they even got out of the church.

Somewhere, in the distance, the ground started to rumble. With the church no longer separated from all of the other Dark Worlds, it was easier to see far out. All three of them ran to see what was going on, but Susie had already felt something like this before.

One of the Grand Doors had opened.

A large Dark World burst through the waves far off. It was too dark to make out the details, but a new silhouette was made. Everything in the Roaring could probably see it. The Titans hadn’t come to Toriel’s house when the Knight wrenched its door open, but that was far off across town. This new Dark World opened in the center, not too far off from where the northern bridge ended.

No one asked what happened. Susie already had an idea. The Knight figured out it could open Kris’ door, so what was stopping it from doing it again? 

Ralsei stared at the Dark World, breathing deeply to try to calm himself. “I… suppose who we’re going to help first has been decided for us.”

Kris nodded, the path being clearly set by them. “Might’ve run out. Had no other choice,” they reasoned, putting their hand on their chin, “Left the door unlocked last time. Knight would’ve done it sooner if it could.”

“Are we sure about that?” Susie didn’t buy it. The way it flung the door open was brutal, like it didn’t even matter. “There’s another thing that’s weird. Like… it’s clearly getting darker, but… do we even know if the Roaring is getting bigger?” She started looking out on the horizon wherever she could, counting the Titans. “The Knight hasn’t even made more Titans… unless it’s fighting us.”

Ralsei’s head sank slightly into his scarf. “I… haven’t sensed any other fountains being created. But… you’re right. It would be quite easy to keep making them. How long it would take to cover the world… I don’t know.” His hand moved under the Shadow Mantle, no doubt hanging onto the Pure Crystal. “I don’t want to imagine why the Knight hasn’t started doing that yet.”

Almost a bit hopefully, Kris mentioned, “Could mean she’s still there. Aware. Doesn’t want it to get worse.” They tried to cling to the idea in a way that made Susie’s skin crawl. She didn’t have any love for the Knight at all like Kris did. “It stopped attacking. At the bridge. Might recognize us.”

Susie scoffed at the thought, “It sure didn’t take it easy on us. The two of us nearly died last time we got in a fight.” Honestly, Kris sounded like they needed a win in all of this, but Susie wasn’t just gonna sit here and act like the Knight didn’t drag Ralsei through the damn floor.

 “It also…” Ralsei brought the Pure Crystal out from under the mantle. “It also tried to take this. With that… and with how much darker it gets when the Angel’s light goes out… I’m worried that the Roaring being contained isn’t actually something that is helping us.”

“Well duh.” Susie gestured out to the horizon. “Can’t exactly save anyone outside of town who gets wrapped up in all of this.”

Ralsei shook his head. “The Titans are wandering, but they also seem to be searching. Whenever they see the Angel’s light, they always come looking. It seems like…” For a few more seconds, Ralsei thought to try to put the pieces together. “...like we’re being corralled. With how large the Roaring already is, if we managed to somehow leave town through the dark, the Knight would… likely struggle to find us. It would struggle to find what’s left of the Angel.”

That… kinda made sense. Susie still had a problem with it though. “Then why the hell did it open the door to Kris’ house? We were pretty much sitting ducks until we had a path into the studio.”

It was Kris who answered, something breathy creeping its way into their voice, “Knew you could escape to the Light World. Didn’t have another option.” Their eyes vanished further under their bangs. “Might’ve known I was in there too. Keeping me from getting to you fast. Has to be smart for that. It is smart.”

Ugh, well they weren’t going to get any closer just sitting here. Susie gestured out to the Dark World again, getting things back on track. “Well, we don’t have time to sit around and think about it all day. Let’s get whoever the hell is going to be a thorn in our side next.”

“Was Catti’s Grand Door,” Kris muttered.

Susie instantly disliked her odds about anything being normal at all during this rescue mission.

It took not as long to get down the bookshelves, considering the three of them could just jump down a lot of the sheer drops. Susie sometimes forgot every now and then that she wouldn’t shatter her ankles when she did that. 

Things didn’t go wrong for a while after that. The Titans were still pretty much scattered. The Angel hadn’t started shining like they did sometimes, so they never really had a point to focus on. Of course, the luck couldn’t stay that way. A lot of them had started to look towards the new Dark World that opened up, and slowly began to walk in its direction.

That put the three of them in a race. Great. Well, as long as they could get one house to safety, that was a win. They just had to take this bit by bit.

The boat ride up north continued. A large, spiraling tower eventually started to become visible the closer they got to the new Dark World. The Dark World looked pretty sprawling in general, but the odd tower stuck out like a sore thumb. Susie thought it looked like a Wizard Tower or something, but Kris corrected her about it actually being a Witch Tower. Huge difference apparently.

When they finally got to the Dark World properly, everyone knew they’d have to be fast.

People barely said anything except for hoarse whispers from Kris to tell them where to look. Actually exploring the new terrain started to take a while. They had time while the Titans crossed the ocean, but Susie didn’t like how long this was taking. The silence started to last long enough for her own thoughts to start running wild.

How the hell would she do this right this time?

Catti already didn’t like her, but Susie wasn’t really worried about that part. The whole damn town could hate her for all she cared. No. What Susie really needed was to actually oust Carol this time. She just… didn’t know how at this point.

If anyone was gonna be on her side, it was the Dreemurrs. Surely, they’d actually care that all this prophecy stuff put Kris in danger. She still wanted to kick herself for not just telling them the whole deal sooner, but what the hell was she supposed to do? They were out in the Roaring! Kris and Ralsei both needed her to be with them far more than the Dreemurrs needed stuff explained! It wasn’t like Asriel was going to listen to her anyway!

Officer Undyne might’ve been a better bet, but it turned out that the police chief only remembered that she was a delinquent. Susie thought that just maybe Undyne would stay mad enough at Carol to start crushing skulls, but Undyne folded the moment Asgore vouched for Carol. Kris’ dad being the police chief before meant that Undyne would just… listen to him over anyone else.

And that dumbass still kept trying to justify what he and Carol did.

Not even Noelle was on her side. Noelle! She had talked to the Angel, and still thought that Carol was right about them! Every talk just started to feel more uncomfortable than the last. Noelle wanted to hear about all of the Dark World stuff. She wanted to try to comfort Susie with all that was happening. She asked over and over again how to help…

All of that was nice, but how the hell could Susie just accept that… knowing what Noelle thought about one of her best friends?

Susie didn’t even know if they were okay. Twice now, they’d gotten hurt enough for the light to go completely out. They were alone when she promised them that she wouldn’t leave them behind. Now, whenever they got back, they’d see nothing but people blaming them for things that they didn’t even do.

Noelle knew them.

Sure, she didn’t spend as much time around the Angel as everyone else, but Noelle KNEW them! What was it all for? Did it really matter that much that they threatened Carol? Susie did that to Kris more times than she could count, but somehow Noelle still liked her. Susie punched Carol in the damn face in front of Noelle, but somehow that was still fine too! Why was Susie different? Was she any different, or was she missing something?

Every day, Susie wondered how the hell Kris even decided to be friends with her. She’d cling to that forever, no matter what a stupid prophecy said. Still, she knew what it was like to think about that all too much. She’d done the same exact thing to Lancer too, nearly killing him in the bottom of a prison. 

She wasn’t any different from the Angel.

Everything they did haunted them too. Every time the Angel brought something up that they did in the past, they tried everything in their power to convince Susie that she would be fine just throwing them away now.

It didn’t make sense for Noelle to treat Susie any differently.

…okay, where the hell was Catti and her family?

They searched for a while. No sign of any other Lightners came. Over and over, the three of them managed to spot all of the Darkners that weren’t so lucky. Stone statues littered this Dark World, and Susie didn’t miss the way that Ralsei tried to avoid looking at all of them.

None of them would be movable. Susie already failed that with Ralsei, and he weighed basically nothing usually.

After what seemed like hours, Kris finally came to a stop deep in the Dark World, frowning. “They’re not here.”

Ralsei tried to ignore the loud sounds of footfalls growing closer and closer. “Are… are we sure? They could’ve… wandered anywhere in the Dark World, and it did take us a while to get here. We might just… have to keep looking until we run into each other.”

They’d gotten close to the edge of the Dark World, considering Susie could hear waves crashing against a cliffside nearby. Over and over, the sound of stomping echoed through the dark. It’d be stupid to leave anyone out here. They’d get chewed up and spit back out by the Roaring. But, now that she thought about it… “...How do we not know that something didn’t already happen to ‘em?”

Kris frowned, turning away. “Nothing did.” Even though Susie couldn’t see their face, she could hear the way they grit their teeth while they talked. “Can’t. Not included in the prophecy. Doesn’t work like that.”

Ralsei opened his mouth like he wanted to say something, but he thought better of it and turned away. Hell, even Susie knew that Carol’s whole plan might not actually work like Kris thought it would. Yeah, the worlds would be saved, but did that really mean everyone but the three of them and the Angel would be fine?

Still, Kris’ head started to lower when they got no response. It didn’t matter if the two of them said anything or not. Kris could tell exactly what was on their minds.

Susie stepped forward, putting a hand on their shoulder and trying to grin. “Well, we’ll keep looking for 'em, ‘k? They gotta be around here somewhere.” Trying to lighten the mood, she punched their shoulder. “Catti has gotta be smart enough not to go in the water, right? I saw her actually hiss in the rain once.”

Faintly, a smile started to barely inch onto their face. They nodded, turning to Ralsei. “Titans. Getting closer. How much time?”

Ralsei had taken to looking in the direction they all came, sighing, “I… I don’t know. We’re already pushing things by being here, and the longer we stay here, the… more chances there are for something to go wrong.” He clutched the Pure Crystal. “With the Angel’s light going out earlier… I’m worried that they’re still in some kind of danger.”

Kris nodded, steeling themself. “Then we go fast. Double back. Try to catch them on the way.”

They only got a few steps before Ralsei’s fear came true.

A flicker of light, a surge of something faint, and then all of it sputtered out entirely. Susie whipped her head around, and only saw Ralsei holding a dim crystal.

For the third time, the Angel’s light had completely gone out. Ralsei’s eyes began to dull. The panic the last two times came immediately, but this time, he only looked sad. Exactly as he said it would, the Angel had fallen again. Ralsei took a deep breath, trembling while stone started to take hold. 

When Ralsei noticed Susie and Kris watching him, he tried to force a smile. “Don’t… don’t worry about me. They’ll come back.” His smile barely even lasted for a few seconds while he watched the crystal. “I know… better than to doubt them by now.”

Titans began to roar again. The world grew just a bit darker. Susie didn’t like just standing here while Ralsei turned to stone, but neither she nor Kris could do anything about it. They just had to wait. But still, while the darkness grew thicker, Susie questioned, “Why is it… getting darker every time?”

“I’m… not entirely sure, but…” Ralsei shut his eyes, recalling something that he didn’t want to. “‘A countdown to the earth’s expire’ seems like it could… fit.”

The light began to bloom once more in Ralsei’s palms. The darkness lifted only a little bit. Stone around his body cracked and crumbled away. That time, they didn’t take long. It was stupid that Susie was starting to time it now in her head. Them getting hurt that badly… or worse… shouldn’t even be timed. It shouldn’t have ever happened at all. “This pisses me off,” Susie mumbled, crossing her arms and trying to mask it as protecting herself from the cold.

Kris tilted their head in silent question.

“They’re out there getting hurt, and none of us can do anything but just hope that they get back up again.” Susie stared up at the blackened sky, her claws digging harshly into one of her arms. “If I ever get my hands on whatever’s doing that to ‘em, I swear I’ll-”

“Susie.” Kris put their hand on the side of her arm, getting her attention before she could yell any further. Their eyes trailed to Ralsei, seeing that he had fully risen to his feet. “Need to keep going. Before anything happens again.”

She hated that they were right. All she wanted to do was yell, but as Asriel clearly showed her earlier, yelling only attracted more Titans. So, she stifled it. But, when she got her hands on whatever was doing this to them, there’d be hell to pay.

Susie glanced at Ralsei, making sure that he was fine too. For a second, she thought that the stone took a bit longer to vanish, but he rose up to his full (small) height without much issue. He didn’t let go of the Pure Crystal though. Even though this had happened three times already, he still must’ve not been able to shake off that feeling of them being gone.

There was nothing left to do but continuing to look.

A few minutes passed. Titans grew nearer. The world stayed dark.

Ralsei fell out of step a second time.

Never before had the Angel’s light gone out twice in a row. This time, he gasped behind her, nearly tripping on his own feet while one of them suddenly became heavier than the other. Susie managed to catch him before he toppled over entirely.

“...They’re up against something bad,” Ralsei whispered, trying to keep his breaths even while the world began to shudder even more. “I’m sorry. If I can’t… move, then w-we might get a bit held up.”

Kris glanced at Ralsei before looking back at how much more of the Dark World there still was to cover. They started bouncing on their feet, progress halted. “Not your fault. Can’t control what’s happening.”

Where the hell was Catti? “Isn’t her family, like, loud?” Susie questioned, starting to see the same problem that Kris was. Beyond the Angel getting hurt, beyond her friend being turned to stone, this was going to make sure that a Titan or two reached them if they stayed for much longer. They needed to think of something. “If they’re here, then we’d hear ‘em, right?”

Kris anxiously ran fingers through their hair. “Think so…” They started to run over their options, and frowned the more and more they talked. “Can’t search forever if this happens again. Titans getting closer. Have to try something else.”

“I-It’ll be fine!” Ralsei stammered, the light flickering again in his hands. Stone started to recede, but it was noticeably slower. Susie stopped being able to see the grey bridges stretching across the land. Still, Ralsei managed to push himself to his feet even though the stone hadn't entirely broken away yet. “Th-the Angel will be fine. We just have to keep going.”

Except… Susie could still see the stone slowly receding. The last few times, it crumbled away. But now, even she could feel the darkness trying to crush her. “Ralsei…?” When he saw her staring at the stone, he followed her gaze, his eyes beginning to tremble.

That was enough. Susie immediately picked him up off of his feet. Sure, he might get heavy for a bit. Yeah, she ran the risk of dropping him by accident. But right now, they needed to go fast.

Kris pointed in the direction they came, commanding, “Need to find somewhere safe. To hide.” They took off running, and Susie immediately ran with them with Ralsei in her arms.

With the stone finally dissipating entirely, Ralsei considered his own options. “I-I don’t even know if I can get us out of here. If this happens again while we’re on the water, then we would… be stuck over and over again.”

Those two were usually the ones who actually planned, but Susie had concerns of her own. Despite not being able to see anything else in the distance, she saw a silver light beginning to peek through the dark. They didn’t have much time. “It’s either get stuck on the water or get stuck with Titans!” Somehow, both of them were equally terrifying ideas. 

Wind began to whip around them while they ran. Where would even be a good place to hide? They didn’t know this Dark World in and out, and a giant tower sticking out of the middle of nowhere was probably the most obvious hiding spot ever. Kris seemed to be going back in the direction of the boat, mentioning, “Boat has floated before. Better than dealing with Titans. Can get away. Angel doesn’t stay gone long.”

It was their best bet. Hopefully, they’d find Catti and the rest of her family on the way.

They didn’t.

Over and over, the light went out. Susie struggled to keep carrying Ralsei, having to drop him a few times despite her plan. At least this way, he wouldn’t be exhausting his magic early. They’d probably be dealing with Titans soon, which meant he was going to struggle with the boat. Who cared about whether or not it wasn’t efficient enough? It was better than standing there and letting him petrify over and over again!

Other than the waves, other than the sound of their labored breaths, and other than the sound of Titans getting closer and closer, the Dark World remained eerily silent. They did not find anyone who they were supposed to. They could barely see anything anymore. First, Susie couldn’t see the distant bridges. Then, even the Titans’ silhouettes in the dark became hard to spot. Susie couldn’t even see distant markers in the same Dark World that she was in. Their world was being covered in darkness.

“Th-that was longer than the last time.” Ralsei stammered, being lifted off the ground after his petrification began to revert in an agonizingly slow fashion. The difference had become all too obvious now. The stone no longer crumbled away whenever the Angel came back. It crept slowly out of Ralsei’s fur, finally releasing him after a struggle. Ralsei glanced around, making the same observation that Susie did. “It… sure has gotten a lot darker, hasn’t it?”

Susie eyed the Pure Crystal for a little bit longer, trying to keep herself calm. They were almost to the boat. “Yeah, but… y’know, it’s better than you or the Angel getting hurt.”

“I just worry…” Ralsei stared at the light a little more before tucking it under the Shadow Mantle. “It’s… a lot easier to see a light when every other light is off. I’m worried that the Titans could… see us soon without the Angel shining too bright.”

Great. Their one advantage could just go away. If they couldn’t go through the Roaring without Titans always knowing where they were, then none of them had a chance. All it took was for the Knight to get a read on where they were, and they would be having to go lick their wounds somewhere.

And still, they kept running.

That’s all they could ever do now: run.

The rescue mission didn’t even do anything. By the time Titans are making their way into the actual Dark World, they’d made it back to the boat. There was no sign of any other Lightners, and Susie didn’t even wanna think about what could’ve happened to them. There was just nothing. 

“So… what? Do we try another Light World?” Susie questioned, setting Ralsei down into the boat. All of that time, and they had nothing to show for it. 

The looming star not far away enough drew Kris’ attention. “Can go somewhere else. Maybe the apartments. Or back to the Shelter to wait this out.” There was a reason they came to the central neighborhood first, but now that all the Titans showed up, those plans were shot. “Can’t stay here.”

As Ralsei got situated at the front of the boat, he didn’t look at the two of them while apologizing, “I-I really am sorry, Kris. We would’ve had more time to search if I didn’t…”

The apology wasn’t for Susie, but it was one that wasn’t needed anyway. “You’re fine, dude. Not your fault the dark actually just turns you into a statue.”

Kris nodded, but they did stare back at the Dark World, even as the boat began to take off in the opposite direction. “Just don’t understand where they went.”

There was an obvious answer, but Susie couldn’t say it right now. If this damn prophecy was going to mark the three of them, then it could at least keep up its end of the bargain for everyone else until that time came! Not that it was going to come, but come ON, could they just have anything good?

They’d just have to try again. There wasn’t another option. No matter what, the three of them were the only people who might actually stand a chance in the Roaring. Carol might, but Susie would bet that Carol wouldn’t lift a finger to actually go out and help anyone else in the Roaring. She probably thought that it’d all turn out fine, because a stupid prophecy vaguely said so.

The boat skipped across the water, heading south next to the bridge. Titans fully crashed into the Dark World that the three of them had just left. Even though Ralsei had to stop so many times, they’d managed to make it through. At least, this probably meant that all of them could go for a round two at the apartments. The waves were getting higher and higher with the Titans around, but Susie was gonna count her blessings that no Titan Spawn had started showing up out of the water.

Of course, the luck couldn’t last.

Just like Ralsei warned them, the boat careened into the water when stone wrapped around his body. Once again, the Angel’s light went out. Once again, the world became darker.

Without thinking, Kris grabbed Ralsei to make sure that he didn’t fall over. Susie clawed the sides of the boat to stabilize herself while it splashed into the water. The droplets touching her skin didn’t do much, but she always felt something static whenever she got hit. It never lasted as long as those stupid attacks from anything Titan-related, but that wasn’t the point.

The boat started to rock precariously, going up and down the waves. It… it was fine. Susie tried to lean her weight against it to keep it from tipping over entirely. They’d done this before back when there were three other people on board. It’d be fine.

Stone began to collect around Ralsei’s body a lot faster than usual. It wasn’t anything that he wasn’t used to at this point, but he still called out, “I-Is everyone okay?”

“You okay?” Kris asked immediately to Ralsei in return, kneeling down to lower their own center of balance. They only had one hand, and it was being used to hang onto their friend at the moment. “Stone’s bad.”

It was higher up than Susie had ever seen it. The dark was only going to get worse.

“I-I’m fine, just…” The light flickered back on, Ralsei not even giving himself time for the stone to leave before he began channeling magic again. The boat almost lifted out of the water before crashing back down. The stone still hadn’t receded enough for him to start casting again. “It’s just starting to get worse, I think.”

The stone had slowed to a crawl. Thankfully, the boat was at least well made, and it didn’t look like it’d tip over anytime soon now that they’d gotten it under control. Susie stayed at the back to keep it stable, no matter how much she wanted to go over there and get a look at Ralsei’s face herself.

“Can go to shore if you need it,” Kris offered, pointing up at the bridge before immediately steadying Ralsei again with their hand. “Getting bad. Might have to keep walking. Water isn’t good.”

Almost instantly, the Angel fell again. Their light wisped out. Without the stone even fully going away, Ralsei let out a strangled noise. It started to crawl its way back up at a rapid pace. “H-hold the crystal away from me, okay?” He asked Kris, taking it in his hand and offering it outward. “I… I don’t want it to risk it getting stuck to me if this gets bad enough.”

“Hey! You need that!” Susie shouted before he could do anything stupid. “Don’t put it further away-”

“It’s just a precaution!” Ralsei hastily explained, but his hand was trembling. “If I do turn into a statue, I don’t want…” He trailed off, but Susie already knew what he was thinking about. If the crystal was gone, that was the last connection with the Angel gone too.

Slowly, Kris lifted their hand off of Ralsei to grab the crystal itself. His arm got locked in place soon after, the stone weaving its way up to his neck. Kris’ eyes flashed under their hair. “What do we do if it gets worse?”

Ralsei took a breath, trying to ignore the fact that his body was locking up more and more. “I… I don’t think you can do anything. The Angel’s light… and their soul was really all that was protecting me. I-If I fully petrify, then…”

The light came back. Susie couldn’t see the bridge above them anymore. The darkness was closing in too much. Her magic felt like it was tightening, even without a Titan close enough for that to happen.

“Their soul helped…” Kris mumbled to themself.

But of course, the Angel was somewhere far away, and neither of them could do a damn thing about it.

Ralsei tried to cast again when the stone receded down to his knees. The boat started moving through the water again, but he didn’t seem to have the strength to actually lift it. 

Susie would count their blessings that he didn’t, because the light went out again not a few minutes after the last time. They were fighting something that was knocking them down over and over again. A shadow began to crawl up in the backside of her mind again. If she just hadn’t shoved that soul into a damn Titan, then maybe they’d still be safe here. If she just didn’t push them to keep going, even when they were panicking about their ability to rewind time being gone, then it all would’ve been fine.

Every time the light went out, the weight on her shoulders increased more. Every time the light went out, she got closer and closer to losing Ralsei. She couldn’t even do anything about it. She couldn’t fight the problem. She couldn’t talk down the problem. The problem was him turning to rock.

A light turned their way.

It wasn’t a comforting one. It wasn’t one that Susie sometimes felt in the most desperate of moments. Instead, the star of the closest Titan finally felt something else close by.

Susie turned to look at Kris and Ralsei, but they were both too distracted or too petrified to notice. As quietly as she could, she pointed and whispered, “The Titan saw us!”

“Kris. Susie.” Ralsei called out, his voice remaining steady in a way that Susie always hated. Whenever he managed to keep his voice level in a situation like this, there was something very wrong. He couldn’t turn his head to look at her, but he managed to turn ever-so-slightly to look at Kris. “The next time the Angel comes back, do you think… you would both be able to run if I got the boat onto the bridge?”

“I can try to carry you.” Susie knew that she couldn’t with the stone that bad. She’d try though. She could-

“I wasn’t asking you to do that, Susie.”

Susie’s heart dropped. Her teeth began to bare. As if she would even think about doing something like that. “We’re going to find a way to get all of us out of here, okay?” She glanced back at the Titan, watching it slowly begin to lumber closer. “There’s time. I’m not doing this again. We’re not losing to… to this. Of all things.” It was unfair. It wasn’t even a grandiose fight. The three of them were just stuck on a normal rescue mission, and the Angel’s light couldn’t stay alive.

A spark lit under Kris’ eye, and they gave Susie a grin. “Not leaving. Not even close” They brought their hand out, stretching their fingers over and over again. “Not leaving again.”

Their hand dug through their chestplate like it wasn’t even there.

Kris didn’t even yell. They grit their teeth when their hand dug for something rooted deep into their chest. Just like they had done many times before with the Angel, they wrenched an orange soul from their chest, lifting it high in the air.

“No…” Ralsei stared at the orange light that faintly flickered in the dark. “Don’t… don’t give me that. We don’t know what’ll happen to you in the Roaring without your soul. We don’t know-”

“Just slowing it down.” Kris brought the soul forward. Susie wasn’t even sure if it could enter Ralsei’s chest with the stone covering him. However, the heart began to flicker, its light just barely beginning to cause the stone to slow to a crawl. “Until they get back.”

The Titan in the distance roared. If there was any doubt that they were about to be engaged, it was entirely gone.

Ralsei stared down at the Pure Crystal dangling uselessly from his neck. It hadn’t petrified with him, but he started to call out. He whispered their name, deciding to rat both of them out. “I… Kris and Susie are doing something really reckless, a-and they’re not listening to me!” His head craned as much as it could to look at the Titan approaching while the waves still battered their little boat. This was one of the longest gaps between the light reappearing. 

Screeches through the dark appeared. Small lights designating little eyeballs of Spawn began to peek through the ocean.

Ralsei called out the name even louder, one that only a select few knew. “Please! W-we need you to come back now!”

In the dark, a light once again began to flicker.

The light from Kris’ soul joined it, the two faint sparks in the dark slowly managing to revert the stone on Ralsei’s body. Susie readied her axe, waiting for the first sign of attack from the water. 

The moment a snake leapt from the ocean, Ralsei slammed his palms downward. The boat started to slowly inch forward, growing faster and faster while the stone left his body. Susie channeled Rude Buster, striking the offending snake in the head while Spawn finally began to leave the water.

Ralsei yelled, the boat finally lifting out of the water and surging through the waves. Stone receded around his body enough to let him move again, but he kept his palms pinned to the floor like his life depended on it. To be fair, all of their lives did, but Susie wasn’t going to tell him that.

“And never ask us to leave you behind again, got it?!” Susie yelled at Ralsei before bashing another Titan Spawn back in the water. Moments later, she leapt up onto the laser cannon, starting to blast at the trail of darkness just like she had before.

Kris pushed their own soul back into their chest, breathing a sigh of relief. Sweat dripped down their forehead, but before they summoned their Blackshard, they punched Ralsei’s shoulder. “Would miss you too much.”

Ralsei lowered his head, but Susie could see his shoulders shaking.

Navigating back towards the south started to go very rough. They could barely see the support beams for the bridge in front of them anymore, so Ralsei gave a wide berth from the actual bridges just so they wouldn’t accidentally crash into it. 

The Titan wasn’t fast enough to keep up with them now that Ralsei wasn’t getting petrified. For a while, they started creating distance. For a while, Susie started to hope that the three of them and the Angel were all gonna be fine in their respective fights.

But of course, they couldn’t be lucky enough.

Just when they started making progress, the Pure Crystal began to flare out. Instead of dying, instead of the light being snuffed out again, it did the exact opposite. The light twitched and writhed until it blasted outward, clearing all of the excess stone off of Ralsei and invigorating all three of them again.

…but that always spelt disaster.

Ralsei urged the boat to move faster while he still had the chance. They skipped over the top of the waves, beginning to clear them entirely. 

It was helping, even though Susie knew that they now had everything’s attention. Heck, maybe the Roaring would be a little bit brighter after this for a change instead of only getting darker. 

Of course, when the light died down a bit later, and the boat started to slow, Susie realized that the Roaring did not, in fact, get any brighter. She grumbled about it, but they were still making headway against the Titan now. For a couple, precious minutes, they were doing fine.

In the middle of nearly thinking that things could possibly be okay, Susie saw a black and red dagger form in front of Ralsei’s head.

Kris was there first, tackling Ralsei down. Susie dove out of the way, the dagger embedding itself in the back of the boat before finally dissipating.

The Knight loomed over the both of them, its empty face staring down.

Of course, it found them again.

It had the three of them right where it wanted them.

The waves shook the boat over and over again. Susie knew what happened if they all went in. She immediately readied a spell. There wasn’t a single damn way that she was just going to sit down and take this. Rude Magic lashed out, burning her while darkness constrained her very being. A purple blast of energy soared towards the Knight, crashing into it and earning a shriek.

“W-we can’t beat it here!” Ralsei yelled, scrambling to get out of the way as the Knight’s weapon bashed the front of the boat where he was. 

Susie winced when it looked like it would damage the actual ship, but Kris was there with their Blackshard. Two blades made of pure darkness clashed, both energies wisping against each other. “Don’t do this,” Kris whispered, like the Knight could still hear them. “Please.”

All it needed to do was attack their boat, and they’d all be done for. All it needed to do to kill all three of them was attack the one thing keeping them from the waves.

For a second, the darkness twitched.

It leaned back. It writhed. As if it could understand, it began to back away.

A blackened hand lifted up, and Ralsei only had the briefest of chances to yell.

One, singular blade pierced into the ocean right next to the ship. Susie didn’t see the moment that the Knight fled, deciding not to see what its dirty work would bring. Susie didn’t see the moment that Kris grabbed Ralsei, tackling him to the bottom of the boat to shield him from the water that splashed upward.

Instead, the world began to topple sideways, and Susie lost her balance entirely.

For only a second, wind rushed around her. Her eyes fell on Kris and Ralsei, seeing terrified gazes knowing exactly what was about to happen.

Susie plunged into the ocean, and every part of her body began to lose itself.

It might’ve been the shock originally that took her. It scrambled everything in her head while she only fought to try to keep her head above the water. Then, up and down stopped making any sense. She thrashed, trying to go in any direction, but the waves didn’t care. They battered her. They tore her away.

The waves drowned out a yell, shattering it and sending it every which way.

She clutched at her head, trying to remember what she’d just fallen from. She was fighting for a reason, wasn’t she? Kris. Ralsei. She remembered those names. She had to get back to them. There wasn’t anything under the water. Like it needed something to replace the nothingness, she began to grow more and more scattered. Her mind started to go numb. It took. It wanted to claw into her and take away all that was left.

She started to feel tired.

Wasn’t all of this pointless?

She knew where the path ended, and it might’ve found her sooner than she thought. She already lost one of her friends. She knew she would lose her other two. Fighting it only made it hurt more.

She didn’t want to fight anymore.

A soft heat pricked at the edges of her soul, reaching out through the dark.

Susie opened her eyes, staring upward from the dark abyss.

A light still shined through the waves, brighter than she’d ever seen it since they first fell.

She didn’t think about it anymore, even as something soft wrapped around her body and began to pull her upward.

Why was she running towards it? Why on earth was she running towards it? Noelle tried to tell herself to stay calm, even while she charged towards a Titan that just recently formed, but she didn’t think that it was going to do her any good. She wasn’t ready for this. She absolutely wasn’t ready for this. But, the voice said that her friends were in danger, and she saw that light shining in the dark! None of that was normal. A Titan… appearing like that hadn’t happened for as long as she was out here! Everything kept getting darker, and Noelle just-

JUST GO. Stop thinking about it!

She didn’t know what she would do. The closer she got to the hulking figure, the more she felt her magic beginning to die out. She wouldn’t be able to hurt it! She didn’t think she’d be able to even make it flinch!

For a second, she wished she still had that ring. She wasn’t going to be able to cast. She needed to be able to cast! 

She just had to follow the silver light in the dark. It… it was moving. It was moving closer… to her??? 

She could barely make out what was actually happening as the light began to rise. The Titan continued to march towards the glowing ball that started hovering through the air. 

Noelle put a hand above her eyes to try to shield some of the light, only to see the silhouette of a boat beginning to fly towards her. She shrieked, throwing herself to the ground while it soared directly overhead. The bottom of it crashed into the stone bridge, pieces of it splintering away and being destroyed while it tried to slow down.

The light continued shining. Noelle started to feel something within her soul resonating with the light itself. Her magic grew stronger, and for a second, that emboldened her enough to chase after the shrapnel that just went down the bridge.

Besides, she did not want to deal with the Titan that was getting closer. No. Not at all!

She ran the other direction as fast as her hooves could carry her. She still wasn’t… that tired, even though her legs ached. The Dark Worlds really were something, but-

“...have to lift her. Get her somewhere safe.” Kris’ voice echoed through the darkness.

Ralsei’s voice joined theirs, sounding more labored and panicky. “I-I don’t know how much the Angel can revert, o-or how long this will last at all!”

For a second, Noelle was just happy to hear someone else. She lifted her hand, trying to catch the attention of the silhouettes appearing in the dark. “I-I’m here! I made it! I-”

Noelle’s voice caught in her throat. Kris’ entire arm and back had gone grey, their one good hand now looking unnaturally pale. Ralsei pushed healing magic into Susie’s body as much as he could, his scarf still wrapped around her entire body far more than it could usually extend. The light that Noelle had been chasing sat around his neck, glowing with an ethereal hue.

On the ground lay Susie. Vibrant purples and pinks had been reduced to nothing but a pale grey. Every now and then, one of her scales horrifically twisted out of place before correcting itself. She breathed, but each sound of her breath came through as if it had been filtered and crushed. Unnatural. It didn’t sound real.

“What happened?!?” Noelle’s hands balled into fists, her gaze going from Susie on the ground to the only two people that could answer her, the two people who lied to her constantly. “What happened?!?”

Ralsei brought the light closer, completely ignoring Noelle even though he flinched at the sound of her voice. Instead, he only muttered, “You’re going to be fine. We just need a little more time… It’s not happening yet. It’s not.”

Kris did look at Noelle, panic immediately weaving across their face. “Shouldn’t be here. How did you-”

“Are you really not going to answer me now?!?” Noelle yelled, pushing past Kris and kneeling down next to Susie. “Wh-what do I need to do? She just needs healing, right? That’s all she needs! That’s-”

“I tried,” Ralsei whispered, continuing to shine the crystal’s light on her. “We… we can only hope that the Angel can beat back the darkness for just a little longer.”

All of this talk about the Angel! Gosh, he sounded like Toriel did sometimes when she tried to give some offhanded comfort about Dess back when she vanished. Noelle felt a twinge in her gut. “Tell me what happened, and I can help! If your idea i-is just to wait, then that’s not going to work! She- she doesn’t look good! We need to do something, or-”

“She fell into the ocean!” Sparks lit up in Ralsei’s eyes, his fangs beginning to bare while he finally turned on her. “The Knight, what remains of your sibling, summoned a Titan directly in front of us, thanks to a Roaring that your own mother caused, all foretold by a prophecy that has had the three heroes marked for death since the beginning!” His gaze remained trained on her, his shoulders starting to shake. “If I knew how to help her, I would have! There’s nothing we can do, because the Angel is gone! We just have to hope they’re enough! Is that enough of an explanation for you?!?”

All of this was going to be blamed on her? All of it? Noelle pointed at him in turn. “If you all didn’t leave me for a third time, I could’ve been there to help! Dess didn’t even…” Noelle hid her wrist, knowing very well that Dess did hurt her, but not in a way that mattered. “Dess didn’t hurt me when she saw me! If you had me there, then Susie wouldn’t have-”

“Stop.”

Kris’ voice cleaved between the two of them, their pale hand trembling.

Large footfalls continued to echo through the Roaring. The darkness grew thicker. Noelle could still feel her magic in the midst of the light pouring out of that crystal, even as the Titan got closer.

“No time. Keep arguing and she dies. Everyone listens to me,” Kris stated, pointing at the Titan. Even though they tried to keep their voice even, Noelle could still hear the waver. “Need to slow it down to carry her. You-” They pointed at Noelle, a glint flashing in their eye. “-have ice. Angel empowers magic. Use it.”

For a second, she thought she misheard them.

She… was being asked to help, or told, but the distinction didn’t really matter. Right now, Kris needed her to step up and do something. She… realized that she’d never actually empowered her ice magic alongside the Angel, at least not in a way that she recognized. But, Kris was right about one thing. If that Titan got any closer, then Susie wasn’t going to get out of here.

Noelle rose to her feet, her legs beginning to tremble. The Titan stared at her, multiple beings of darkness beginning to form around it and float towards them.

Oh.

She thought that she was beginning to understand now just how terrifying this was.

Behind her, Kris helped Ralsei pick Susie up off the ground. Noelle focused on that light coming through the crystal, but didn’t really know how to process it. It shined its light on her, but she didn’t really know what that meant. She’d come out here to be useful. She came out here to prove to her friends that she wasn’t a burden. Right now, no matter what happened, she needed to keep Susie safe. She needed to prove to herself that she didn’t need someone else to protect her!

Noelle recognized a presence through the light, and she recognized the Angel. Everything about the darkness around her terrified her. She’d just yelled at some of her best friends, and was terrified of what would happen when all of this was over. The Angel still existed, and for the time that Noelle had known them… they were terrifying.

The recognition was enough. Noelle cast Hailstorm.

Large clouds formed above the Titan and all of its spawn, ice beginning to rain down across its path. The little pellets didn’t do much on their own, but started freezing different parts of the darkness over and over again. Everything that missed struck the ocean water, impeding the Titan’s progress while more and more ice pelted it. The being roared, ice slowly beginning to encase its body in small patches. It… it wasn’t enough to fully freeze it, but Noelle pushed the spell to its limits- and-

She started breathing heavily, the spell ending. She… didn’t even feel that tired with the light backing her up??? That… was what Ralsei mentioned, right? The Angel usually bolstered her. But… BUT… she cast a new spell! She…

Shards of ice littered the bridge. Spawn were frozen for now, but cracks already started to show in the thin layer of ice that she’d trapped them in. The Titan looked the same, and she knew that it would probably break out first.

Kris shouted, “Run!” With Susie propped up as much as they could manage, and Ralsei carrying most of Susie’s weight, the two of them began to dash down the bridge. Noelle joined, trying to help Susie up just the slightest bit. Ralsei didn’t look at her while she did so, but his attention was focused on going forward.

“I-I did it!” Noelle stammered, the extra boost of confidence giving her a bit of extra energy. “I-I told you, I could…”

No one else found the achievement as impressive, both of their gazes set forward in grim determination.

Susie still remained motionless between all three of them. Noelle’s fervor began to die out immediately. R-right… Right. There was still something that needed to be done.

It took much longer for the ice to break than Noelle thought. In fact, they’d gotten far away enough that she didn’t see when it happened, only that the footfalls kept going. Still, she would count it as a win. All they needed to do was get back to the Shelter, and everything would be fine. They could just…

…she froze the Shelter.

“Um… guys?!?” Noelle got both of their attention. She couldn’t just… not say this until it was too late. “S-so… when coming out here, mom was chasing me, and I panicked and… might have… frozen the door to the Shelter.”

Alarm washed over Ralsei’s face. “You what?!?”

“I tried to fix it!” Okay, this was… probably deserved to be mad about. She could admit that. She knew that she messed up the moment that she did it. “I-if we can’t get away, I’m worried that… it won’t thaw out fast enough… or at all…”

Kris already started planning, looking to the east. “Could try to find another Light World. Or Castle Town.” They squinted, trying to spot something through the dark. Their eyes suddenly went wide. “Someone’s coming.”

Beyond the Angel’s light, something began to glow in the dark. Noelle… almost thought she recognized the color. An electric-green weapon shimmered in the dark with a few pieces of… armor? As it drew closer, the Angel’s light finally cast upon a face that she never expected to see here.

“Not to worry, my floundering friends and foes! Your knight in glow in the dark armor is here!” Electric blue feathers lit up in the light, Berdly raising a wing and announcing himself while waving a hand to his side. “With company!”

In the most deep purple, occultish robes that fit her perfectly, Catti raised a singular hand. “Not company. Sensed a disturbance.”

Noelle’s mouth hung open. “Berdly?!? Catti???” What were they even doing out here? Where did they come from? Kris looked personally relieved, but-

“WHAT in the HEAVENS happened to her?!?” Berdly shrieked, finally realizing what was going on. 

Ralsei, desperately, started to assert himself again. “I-I’m very happy that all of you are okay and well and happy to see each other, but we really need to move away from the Titan now!” 

Berdly’s abject horror vanished instantly on account of him turning away and monologuing in the opposite direction. “Right you are! I could easily dispatch it myself, but I’m already winded from one successful rescue mission today. We… should make it two. Quickly. There’s a fortress in the east which is a safe haven unlike any other-”

“It’s the apartments,” Catti interrupted, her arms still folded in so that her hands were covered by her sleeves. “The dingy apartments.”

Ralsei pleaded again, “Anywhere is fine! We just… we just need to go. Now.”

“Then I shall lead the way!” Berdly waved his arm for everyone to follow, beginning to briskly jog. He paused in his footsteps for a second, turning back to Kris. "She... is going to be fine, right?"

Kris watched the way Susie's scales twitched. For a second, it looked like some of the coloration was returning. "Don't know." The three of them hoisted Susie up more, continuing to lift her while following Berdly back to whatever safe haven he had.

She had to be fine, right?

She had to be.

The Angel’s light continued shining through the dark, the Roaring chasing them while they continued to flee to Berdly’s so-called safe-haven.