Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Do you, um, remember that green Pippins?” You ask.

“Yeah. Who was that guy he was so obsessed with?” Kris glances at you oddly.

“You mean Mike?”

You feel a chill down your spine as Kris grins at you. “Mike Hoc-”

“There you are, losers! The hell did you go!?” Susie runs over, heroically saving you from eternal and utter social obliteration.

“S-Susie!” You wave at her, smiling.

“So. Are you guys chill now? Everything cool?” She puts her hands on her hips and squints at both of you.

“...Eh.” “Chill enough, I guess?”

“Great! Ralsei's still busy with a bunch of boring shit so I’m glad you two aren't, like, killing each other or anything.”

“Yeah yeah, don't get your hopes up. Where's my cookie?” Kris asks.

“Got you something even better, take this!” Susie reaches behind her and throws something at Kris! A small round boy bounces off of Kris's face, knocking them over. “Is that!?”

“Blue Kris! Bird person! You look funny. Did you get sick because you didn't eat your vittle mens?” Kris pulls themselves back up to their feet, waving hello to Lancer.

“Wh- I- Um- H- Hello Lancer!?” You- you look like you're sick?

“Hey, Lancer! These two idiots have been fighting. Set 'em straight!” Susie points towards the two of you like Lancer was some kind of Pokébeast she was training. You're still very confused but it's nice to see him!

“Hohoho! It’s time for the Conflict Revolution Technique!”

“...You mean ‘conflict resolution?’” Kris asks, confused.

“No!!!” Lancer spun in place. He wasn't even moving his legs, so you're not sure how he's doing that. You giggle nonetheless. “See!? It's working!”

Kris stares impassively at Lancer. Then- they began to rotate on the spot too!?

“Woah, Kris! How'd you do that?” Susie was as amazed as you were.

“Spun.” Kris says spinningly.

“Like, uh…” Susie tries spinning around, but her feet get all twisted up. “Damnit!”

You… you don’t know how to spin like Kris and Lancer, but… you try anyway! Twisting and twisting and twisting and- and oh dear you are very, very dizzy already. You lean your head against your staff to clear it and catch a glimpse of white fur. “Wah! When did you get here, Ralsei!?”

“Just a few moments ago. I saw you were all spinning and it looked fun!” Ralsei spins sayingly.

… Ralsei can do the sliding thing too. You’re a little jealous.

“How did the meetings go?” You ask instead of dwelling on it.

“Very well, I’d say! I learned a lot about the way the people of Kulsel Town live their life. They were all a little on edge, though.” Ralsei stops spinning. “I understand their worry, though. They’ve all been through so much. To think that there was another Castle Town underneath our feet the whole time!”

“So… Ralsei?” Susie scratches her neck, “Did you know about, like, the whole ‘deep dark’ stuff?”

“I didn’t, actually. This is all very, very new to me. I was excited to learn that I had a predecessor! Though, I was then told that she… died shortly before we arrived.” Ralsei hangs his head. “I would have loved to meet her.”

“Well, uh, Kris, did you know anything about it?” Kris just shakes their head in response as they spin stopping.

“So I guess, um.” Okay, you have to land this joke. Come on, Angel. “We were- pfft- we were all in the- the dark about it?”

“I’m jumping off the edge.” Kris starts marching down the street until Susie grabs them and drags them back to the group.

“No, dumbass! We’re all finally together again! Not letting you get away this time.” Susie plants Kris down with the group. “Bam! The entire Lancer Fan Club! … except Lancer. I think he ditched us. Still!”

“I- I get to- to be part of the Lancer Fan Club too?” You ask.

“Hell yeah you do.” Susie nods. “Now, uh, we’re not really done yet, right?”

“N-no.” You shake your head. “We… we still need to resolve the matter of… the SOUL.”

“Right. You guys can’t just do a timeshare, can you?” She asks.

“N-no. I- I don’t think that’s… possible.” Your wings droop with your head. “Kris… what is it like when you remove your SOUL?”

“It’s…” They sigh. “Alright, listen. It’s… technically…” They waffle around for a bit, then pinch the bridge of their nose. “Ugh. I’ll just show you.” “Show us?”

Kris holds out their hand and closes their eyes and a pinkish-white… something appears in it, leaking strands of… unmistakable Light. “These are why I can even do that and not die on the spot.”

“What the fuck is that?” Susie leans in, squinting.

“Kris…” Ralsei steps back, “I- Is that a-”

“That’s a shard of a SOUL.” You stare at it. You know this. That shape, that feeling in your gut. “That’s… a piece of a SOUL. A human SOUL.”

“I think it's from my original one. I used to have two of ‘em, which fucking sucked but I could survive with, but when you showed up one of them…” They close their hand and the projection of the inner SOUL disappears. “Turned into the big one. I don’t know why.”

“When- when did you get them, Kris!? What happened to the rest of them!?” Ralsei seems... understandably distraught by this information.

“When I was… possessed by the first one. The… other Angel. It replaced my soul with… itself. I didn’t notice cause I was a fucking kid and I didn’t even know what the hell was going on, but then I started noticing things. When the words I said didn’t make sense for what I wanted, when I started attacking more often, when I started… checking in every corner. Always.” They glare at you and you look at your feet. You did do things like that, yeah. “And then it… it ripped itself out, taking my soul with it wholesale."

"I thought I was going to die there, y’know? But… then there was this… sound. Like… like a fucking entire cargo ship getting smashed to pieces. And… then I was alive. I had the soul bits in my chest, and Dess was…” They sigh, “Nowhere, anymore. I managed to get out of the Dark World, find my family, but… I was eight. I didn’t fucking know what to do. I just… figured I'd forget it. Try and live with it. And then… you showed up. And now I’m just… resigned to it, I guess? It feels like it's been a long time coming.”

“B- but it- It’s n- not going to happen. It's not.”

They roll their eyes at you. “Angel, I appreciate it. I really do. But you can’t just say-”

“It’s not going to happen!” You narrow your eyes at them! “We’re not out of options yet! There’s still Rhynes’ library, there’s still- still questions left unanswered, and there’s me! And as long as I’m here- as any of us are here, we’re not gonna let it happen!”

“Fuck yeah, Kris! You’re stuck with us whether you like it or not, dumbass!” Susie grabs Kris and shakes them around roughly.

“Quit it!” Kris shouts as she shakes them, but they sigh. “Fine. Where do we start doing that?”

You decide to speak up first. “Well, first things first. Kris, you, um. You aren’t dead.” “I mean… yeah? I can fucking tell tha-” “Don’t be such a smart-ass.” “You were actually quite vital when we fought the Titan, too! That’s a lot of exertion for just having one piece of a SOUL, right?”

“I… guess I haven’t been feeling as shitty since we came down here after you two?” Kris manages to slip out from Susie’s grasp. “I figured it was just the adrenaline, y’know?”

“Hey, progress! Now we just gotta figure out why that is.” Susie chimes in.

“Do you think it’s because of your proximity to Angel?” Ralsei asks.

“Didn’t really… feel like that.”

“Hm… Well, the fact that you haven’t died yet is good! That means we still have time. Perhaps we can ask the residents for their help? We did them a very large service, after all!” Raslei gestures towards some nearby Darkners.

“Hell yeah! Alright, I’ll start asking around about anyone who’s good at that nerd shit.”

“I…” Kris huffs. “...I’m gonna go talk to Captain, alright? We didn’t really… have a chance to talk before so… ask around for them if you need me.”

“Of course! I'll go and request access to Rhynes’ library. Angel, would you like to accompany me?” Ralsei looks at you with a smile while Kris walks off.

“If- if that’s okay.”

“Of course it’s okay!” Ralsei smiles at you and you manage to smile back.

“Great. Lancer Fan Club, move out!” Susie ran off on her own.

…

Ralsei walks along with you through Rhynes’ manor with your lantern lighting the way. You flinch as you see the eight-winged door ahead with the door open, but… the body wasn’t there anymore.

“Capodastro requested that the body be returned to the Castle to be placed within the Grand Fountain, Miss Angel. To return her to her birthplace.” Ralsei explains as he starts skimming the titles of the records on the shelves.

“That’s how it w- works?” They just… come out?

“For a Prince of the Dark, yes! I thought to return her cloak into it as well, but…” Ralsei sighs. “I guess it must've... vanished.”

“The… cloak. Is the cloak important?”

“Oh! It’s a signifier of station, I think. You remember the prophecy’s depiction of the Prince, yes? The robe is… well, it was supposed to be important. Susie had me take it off when we first met.”

“...I’m glad Susie made you take it off. You look a lot nicer without it.”

“Oh!” Ralsei blushes at that. “Oh, thank you!”

“D-don’t mention it!” You like it when people get to look cute! It'd be silly if he just had to hide under that cloak the whole time.

It'd be silly if…

Well, um, now that you're thinking about it… maybe you can ask.

“R- Ralsei…?”

“Mhm?”

“Can- can I ask- ask you something?” Don’t be weird. Don’t be weird. Don’t be weird. “I- I mean you don’t have to if you don’t want to, but- like- I just thought it would be g- g- g- good if I a- ask- asked.”

“Angel, you can ask me anything you like, okay? There’s no need to be nervous!” Ralsei gives you a big smile and you- you need to say it. You need to say it!

YOU NEED TO SAY IT NOW!

“CANIPLEASEWEARTHEPRINCESSRIBBON!?”

You gasp for breath, it feels like you’ve been holding that in for days but now you said it! You said it! And- And you don’t have to say it again!

“A- Angel, can you repeat that? I… couldn’t understand what you were saying.” NO!!!!!!!!

“Can- can I- can I p- p- please wear- the the- p-p- princ- princes-ss r-ribbon?” You could see it this entire walk over. Delicate and pretty and lacy and wonderful and… and… “I- i- just- w- would… would like to…”

“Angel.” Ralsei steps closer and takes your free hand, “...Of course you can! Were you worried I wouldn’t let you?”

“N- n- n- m- mha- maybe.”

“How about this? Do you wanna swap one with me to free up room?”

“Y- Ye- Yes!” You don't want to get rid of the ShadowMantle since Susie gave it to you and you're… really fragile, but… “Would you like my- my LightShards?”

“Oh, those are the things that Miss Burn makes, right? Of course! Let me help you with them.” Ralsei brushes against you as he unclips the LightShards from your wings one by one and you remove the gloves you were normally wearing. You… you really like being touched, you think. Whatever form that takes. “Hm. There are supposed to be ten, right?”

“Y- yes! That's right.”

“There are… uh… only nine here.”

KRIS! “Ughhhhhh!!! Krisssss!!!!!!!!” You call out. You swear you can hear, from blocks away, distant sniggering.

“Well… there! Okay, do you want to start with the ribbon or the gloves?”

“A- ah!?” It's time already? You're not ready! You're not ready! You need more time!

“The- the- the g- g- gloves please.”

“Alright… Close your eyes!”

You close your eyes, but you can't stop peeking through, so you cover them with your wings too. You can feel soft, delicate fabric on your hands. Oh god oh god oh god it's finally happening it's finally happening you try not to squeak or shake or bounce in excitement too much. Oh this is so embarrassing!!!!

“And… there! Gloves on. Now… Ribbon!”

“Th- Tha- thank you thank you thank you thank you.”

“This is really important to you. Isn't it, Angel?”

“I just…” You always went for the ribbons on that TV Time board. One on Kris, one on Susie when you were playing as her. If you forgot, you'd… you'd reset to get both of them. Maybe it wasn't the nicest to Susie and maybe it was a little irresponsible with your time control but… “...I wanna be pretty I guess. I don't really know what I look like, either. I saw myself in third person once but I didn't catch many details and I haven't gotten to see a mirror or anything but… I just… I wanna be pretty and cute and…”

“If it helps, I think you do look very pretty."

“...th- tha- an- nk yo- you.” Are you actually going to cry right now? Please don’t cry, please don’t cry.

“...Okay, there. Now, before you open your eyes… Follow me!” Ralsei takes your hand and starts leading you. “I saw him over… aha! Okay, Angel? Please just stay right here! Don't move, okay?”

“M- mh- mhm!” You're nervous, being left on your own like this, and it's too dark if you close your eyes so you just keep your wings firmly over your eyes and open them instead so you can see the diffusion of light through your wings and oh god oh god oh god oh god are you weird? Do you have some kind of- of gross weird face thing? Do you have a SOUL for a face!? That would be awful!!! And- and- and Ralsei is taking so long and- “Okay, I'm back!”

“Wh- wha- t took you so- so long!?” You reach out and cling onto fabric- his sleeve, maybe?

“I wasn't gone for more than a minute, Angel.”

“...oh.”

“Well, Sir Vino here can help us with your mirror problem!” Ralsei said.

“Yes, dear! This is the little one who hasn't gotten to see herself, is it?” A voice, feminine and soft.

“That's right, Sir Vino.”

“C- c- can- can I- l-” You don't want to look you're scared to look you're shaking and you don't even want to know and-

“You can look now!” You force your wings open and open your eyes before you lose your confidence.

There's a mirror, a large circular one, freely standing before you. Inside of it is Ralsei standing next to some really cute girl with wings holding onto his sleeve and there's a large crack on the left side of it and…

and…

…

oh.

“OH MY GOD I ACTUALLY LOOK NICE!?!?!?!?!?”

You have hair- white hair that looks super duper soft and you hadn't even noticed it was there despite how it covers up your eyes which is- that's so weird!?!?!? And you can see how your dress has little- little transparent sections on the sleeve just under the shoulder that let you see how delicate your arms are and it makes you feel vulnerable but also good which is super weird too and you can see how your wings, radiant white, ruffle when you get excited and express themselves with your emotions and how all six of them frame you in your black dress and how if you lean really close to the mirror and lift your bangs you can see your eyes are a startling, vibrant red just like your SOUL and that's such a pretty color and-

Wait, why is your left eye… different from the other? It looks like it was… cracked?

“That's hardly a surprise, darling. I mean, just look at you!” Your reflection speaks to you and you startle back away from it.

“Wah!?”

'You' move in the mirror, and you can feel a soft presence coaxing your arms to move as well… Less a command or a force and more of a suggestion. Instead of moving, you just… watch as ‘you’ spread your wings out, striking a pose that frames the beautiful ribbon you're wearing. “I said, just look at you! Your lovely wings are dazzling to the eye!”

“A- A- are you S- Sir Vino?”

“Tch tch tch.” You- the mirror-you, wags her finger at you. “Not to you, dear! I'm a mirror, so I expect you to use ‘mirror’ pronouns. Call me whatever you use, ‘kay?”

“Um, y-yes Ma'am!”

“Splendid! Now, back to how delightful you look!” You're red-faced, but your reflection- Miss Vino, she seems so… confident when she looks like you. You can't possibly imagine actually grinning like that yourself. “Alright alright, follow along with me dear!”

She poses you a few times, and you nervously follow along. You feel a little bit like a doll on display, but… you're actually cute! You're cute!!!! The gloves fit you and the ribbon looks nice and fills the space between your head wings when you hold them up like a laurel and and you're just so happy and you might be crying and- and…

“Alright, Sir Vino. I think that's about enough for now, alright? We do have research to get back to, after all. Thank you for your help!”

“Aww… Fine! Fine, I shall simply have to find another beauty to frame. Tata for now!~” Your reflection bows to you, and you can see Raslei's reflection- with a cracked left eye as well- bow to him, before Vino just… rolls away.

“...”

You rush up and hug Ralsei, burying your face into his shoulder. “...thank you.”

“Of course, Angel! This is important to you, so it's important for me too!”

“Is it… because I'm the Angel?”

“No, silly! Cause you're my friend.” Ralsei smiles at you and… you're really really glad he wants to be friends with you. Proper, real friends.

“W- We can get going! Sorry for- for the hold up.” You conjure your cane again and start quickly walking back towards the bookshelves. You can feel the soft weight of the ribbon as you step.

“Of course, Angel.”

Ralsei is just… so reassuring to you. Even when you worry about him and how he overworks himself, he's so… so incredibly kind. It must be exhausting being so nice all of the time. You can't imagine.

…

With the PrincessRBN firmly where it belongs for good forever, you and Ralsei turn your attention back to the investigation. Rhynes’ notes are a little hard to read most of the time. She wrote… dense. Filling every inch of the page with observations, records, and occasional graphs.

Your Guiding Light helped a bit, but couldn't do much more than point out when there was a book you would find useful. The actual page it was on… nothing.

At the current moment, though? You're taking a break. Rubbing at your head to quell your budding headache.

“A lot of this is… incredibly advanced stuff. Did you know there are ARMOR Synergies!? That's incredible!” Ralsei is faring much better than you were.

I HAD DISCARDED THAT FACTOR

WHEN MAKING THE SECOND DEVICE

“ARMOR Synergies…? That… huh?”

IRRITATING AS IT IS TO RETURN IT,

[DEVICE UPDATED]

PERHAPS THIS ANGEL WILL MAKE

PROPER USE OF IT FOR ONCE.

“It's… well, a lot of this is flying over my head too, Angel, but I did notice that Rhynes brought up Tension Points a lot. The information is, well, not very useful right now, especially given my limited understanding. But… it's something at least!”

“I just…” You hold your cane up and try once more. “I just wish we knew where we had to look. To really look.”

…Your Guiding Light still doesn't point anywhere.

…

Wait… isn't it? Where have you thought this before?

“W- wait a moment, Ralsei. Do- do you understand the Guiding Light?”

“Um, not completely but I know it's supposed to direct your, ah, ethereal presence to places. Before you got your body, it was bound to Kris and I could, um, redirect it to places. But sometimes it'd also move on its own, like with Queen and Noelle after we freed Berdly, or when we saw the Knight back in the first Dark Sanctuary."

“Right… Right…” You narrow your eyes at your brazier of Light. “Wait. Am- Am I really that dumb?”

You grab the brazier… and you tilt it.

A wisp of flame points downwards.

You were that stupid. The brazier- the bowl was cutting off the wisp the entire god damned time if it’s supposed to be pointing down!

“OH MY GOD THAT'S WHY!” You yell out of nowhere, startling Ralsei.

“Why- um- why what?”

“When- when I was trying to find Susie, after falling and getting my body- I- I thought that it had just fizzled out for some reason because it- it stopped pointing me places. But IT WAS! It was fu-” You desperately break out coughing oh you really hope he didn’t catch that. “F- F- Freaking pointing down!”

“Oh! Oh wow! So it’s saying we need to go… downwards?”

“Yes!” You need to go… wait. “Why do I know that? I- I mean, even without the Light I just… I know we need to go down.”

“A feeling?” Ralsei looks at you oddly. Did you say something wrong?

“I- I’m sorry, I’m- I’m sure it’s just me being silly and it’s nothing-” “Angel.”

“Your Light is pointing you downwards. Your heart is pointing you downwards too. Kris even felt better after we went downwards as well.” Ralsei starts listing off firmly, collecting a few books from the ground and tucking them into his robe. “I don’t think that can be just a coincidence. Susie told me about that… odd telescope you found. Do you think you could go look off the edge of Kulsel Town with it for me? I’m going to go have these books copied so I can take them with us.”

“Oh!” That’s- that’s definitely something you can do! “Y-yes! I’ll go and- and do that right now!”

“Thank you! I’ll be back soon, okay?”

You nod furiously, scramble to your feet, and take off running. You need to look, you need to look. Something in your heart is demanding that you look.

…

There, the- the weird tree! The edge of Kulsel Town is right past it. You slow down as you approach it- but you’re going too fast and you slip off! “Wah!” You catch yourself on your wings and land shakily back on the edge. Having not learned your lesson, you carefully retrieve the ShadowLens from your inventory and peer over the edge.

You breathe heavily as you step backwards, clutching the ShadowLens like a lifeline.

In…. and out. Just like Susie told you.

…

…

You…

You need to find Ralsei. Now.

AND SO THEY COME INTO PLACE

…

FOR THE DAWNING OF THE SECOND TRIAL

“RALSEI!” You shout as you run through the town. “Has anyone seen Ralsei!?”

A few Darkners point you in a direction, thankfully, and you spread your wings as you sprint. It’s easier to run when you keep the weight on your wings and off of your legs. You soar through the streets until you nearly crash headlong into Susie.

“Woah- hey! What’s got you in such a rush, feathers?”

“I- I figured it- out- I figured something out. We- we need to find Ralsei and- and Kris.”

“Don’t have to tell me twice! C’mon!” She hoists you onto her back and starts running for you as you direct her, allowing your Guiding Light to lead your way.

“Feathers, flap for me!”

“Okay!” You flap hard, allowing a burst of blue Light to cascade from your feathers as you clear a building and land on the opposite side. “Kris, you’re here! Where’s Ralsei!?”

“What… the hell, guys.” Kris steps back, then looks down to the ground where your fall was… cushioned.

“AH! S-SORRY RALSEI! I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry!” You scramble off of Susie as she steps off of him.

“No harm done!” Ralsei springs back to his feet and dusts himself off. “We were just about to go look for you two! Is something wrong?”

“Yes! Well, no, well- I- I saw something. In the Darkness below us.” You calm your breathing again. “It’s…” You glance at Kris. “You’re not going to like it, Kris.”

“Just spit it out.”

“I- When-” You pull out the ShadowLens “This- This was Rhynes’. She left a note saying to entrust it to the next heroes coming down here, and- and it’s what helped me discover the presence of a Titan surrounding Kulsel Town.”

“Ser Capodastro explained that to us. What is that telescope, anyways?”

“I- I think it’s made out of a ShadowCrystal? It’s called- um, the ShadowLens, it helps me see the presence of Darkness with my own eyes, and- and” You swallow. “The presence of Light, too.”

Kris and Susie look confused, but Ralsei looks pensive.

“And- and when I saw the Titan I knew, I knew instinctively, that it was being nudged awake. That the state of Kulsel Town would just worsen and worsen until it woke up, but I didn’t have time to investigate what was waking it up. But when I- When- when I looked down over the edge with it?”

“You’re saying there’s light down there?” Kris seems to be catching on even as they pick at their gauntlets, “Something big.”

Here goes. “I… I think it’s… The Angel. The- the other one.”

Kris goes still. Susie goes still. Ralsei goes still.

“It’s… still there?” Susie grinds out. “Still!?”

“It- it was trying to wake a Titan!?” Ralsei seems horrified.

“...” Kris doesn’t say anything. Doesn’t say anything at all.

“So- so that’s a lead.” You manage to stumble out. “Kris’s SOUL, you said it was- was replaced by that of the Angel. Not- not me, the- the old Angel- the…”

“Oldgel.” Susie says, crossing her arms.

“Oldgel, yes. And- and when… when whatever happened happened, you got a piece of that SOUL.”

“...Yeah.” Kris mumbles.

“So… there!. That’s a plan. It’s- It’s not the best plan, but it’s a plan.” You shake the jitters out of your body. “We go down there and… we take it back.”

“Let’s goddamn do it.” Susie nods, looking towards Kris and Ralsei. “If that piece of shit took your soul, then we’re gonna take it back!”

“This is… Heh.” Ralsei takes off his glasses, cleaning them on the hem of his robe. “This is so… utterly unexpected. The prophecy said nothing about a second Angel, or Deep Darkness, or anything.” He raises them back up and puts them on, resolute. “And that’s only been making me… more excited! I feel like we’re… we’re doing something important, you know? Something… real.”

“Kris?” You turn to Kris, softening your voice. “What do you think?”

Kris looks down at their feet, only glancing upwards towards everyone else. They’re quiet for some time, then they- they sob!?

“Oh- Oh I’m sorry I didn’t mean to-”

“No! No, it’s… it’s fine.” They steady their breathing and look up to all of you. “It’s just…” They seem unsure of their words, but eventually sigh and force it out. “Thank… you. For… for doing this. For me.”

“Of course we would, dumbass!” Susie claps her arm onto Kris's shoulder. “We’re your friends, Kris! Nothing’s gonna change that. Nothing!”

You can see a hint of purple on their cheeks… oh. Are they blushing? You look away. You don’t want to be weird to them, after all!

It is cute though.

“W- well, fucking- fine! If we’re gonna do this then we’re gonna do it right.” Kris shouts, shaking Susie’s hand off of them. “We’ll need to get down there, for one. And we’ll need a way back.”

“I- I can probably provide the way back!” You raise your hand. “I lifted all of Kulsel Town, and that was super big! If we bring down some LightShards, then I bet I can just- just make us an elevator back up! But… I don’t think I can glide everyone down there. I’m…” You look down at the ground. “I’m a little, um, frail, so…”

“AHA!” Susie shouts out of nowhere, startling you, “Don’t move a goddamn MUSCLE! And I mean it, this time! I’ll be right back!” Susie sprints towards the nearly-constructed staircase before you can react.

“...Um. Assuming that- that means she figured out something we can use to descend, what else do we need?” You turn your attention back to the conversation.

“Well… ugh. What works well in the deeper darkness?” Kris turns to you. “You probably have the most experience by now.”

“O-oh, well. There's the LightShards! They're made by Miss Burn. She’s super cool and- and she made all of those lights that are all around town! They’re actually made from GlowShards! So- so- they're really good at keeping the Darkness away!”

“Fuck.” Kris kicks the ground. “I’m actually really upset now.”

“Wh- why?” What did you do wrong this time?

“You had a fucking reason to hoard those! I kept screaming at you in my head to just- just fucking sell them already!”

“Well! S- sh- sh- shows what you know!” You fire back despite your stutter. Of course you needed to hang onto those! They were important! Why would you even sell them!?

“Whatever. I’ll sort through the inventory and get them out. Does anyone know where this Burn lady is?”

“Her workshop is over that way! She’s tall and spiky and has really really bright hair. Like, glowing and everything. Oh, and take this one with you too!” You hand them the GlowShard that Susie found back in the nameless Castle Town.

Kris runs off too.

“And… Ralsei! I have! A! Question for you!”

“Yes?” Ralsei quirks his head at you.

“Do- do you have any idea what we’ll find down there? Or- or do you know anyone that does?”

“As a matter of fact, yes! The meeting I had with the leaders of Kulsel Town had representatives from each of the three main groups. One group is of people who had survived from the nameless Castle Town above with Leonel, though that number has dwindled down to… just Ser Capodastro now. There are old survivors from Kulsel Town proper too, Miss Burn being one of their number. And the last group comes from the Old Kingdom below us. Bonjam and Vino were both the representatives from that group.”

“W-wait, why both of them?”

“Mister Bonjam only speaks in falsehoods, so Sir Vino reflects his words for people to understand!”

“O-oh! I guess that makes sense. So… So could you find someone to help us learn about the Old Kingdom?”

“Of course!”

“And I’ll… I don’t know. I- I mean I need to do something too! I'll just- just…”

“Um, Angel? I have a suggestion.” Ralsei steps closer to you.

“Y-yes!? Whatever it is, I’ll do it!” You need to be useful too, right? You can’t just command people around! That would- that would be selfish!

“I think you should rest, okay?” Ralsei takes your hands with his own.

“I- h- h- huh?”

“You’ve been working so hard, Angel. You really, really have. And… sometimes I feel like you don’t really recognize that fact.”

“I- wh- but- um-” What? Why- why is he saying this to you? Why is he of all people saying this to you!?

“And so… I just think that you should rest, Angel. You’re wonderful, but… you really don’t have a lot of stamina, do you? You fainted right after the Titan fight, and you’ve been leaning heavily on your cane ever since we first got down here, and you were just running around to find me and Kris and… I think that you could use a little rest, okay?”

“I- I don’t w-want to…”

“You don’t want to rest?”

“I… I don’t wanna be alone with my thoughts, Ralsei!” You sniffle. “I- I’m sorry, I just… I’ve been alone for- for so long as a SOUL that I- I don’t wanna anymore! I just- I need s-something!”

“Angel…” Ralsei opens his arms for a hug and you rush in, clinging to him. He gently pats you on the back as you bury your face into his shoulder. “That must have been terrible, I'm sure. But! If you wait just a little bit longer, I’m certain that Susie will be back! I believe I know where she’s headed.”

“You-” You rub at your eyes. You aren’t crying yet but… you feel like you will if you dwell too hard on it. “You promise?”

“I promise, okay? Here.” He pulls you to the side of the street. “A bench!”

It’s… cushioned. "Why is it cushioned? Wouldn’t it get all- all soggy when it rains?” And- and can you even call it a bench like that?

“It doesn't really rain down here, Angel.”

“...” You sit on the cushioned not-bench with your knees to your chest and you wrap your wings around yourself. Snuggling in.

“I’ll be back soon, okay?” Ralsei smiles at you and you manage a shaky smile back as he leaves.

And…

And you’re alone now. Sitting on the not-bench, you can feel yourself shaking already. You pull your wings tight to ward off the trembling. Are you… that clingy?

…

You think that Susie would be mad at you if she heard how you talk to yourself. It’s just… hard to stop.

You sigh, letting your eyelids drift nearly closed. At least Kulsel Town isn’t dark. You… don’t really do well in the dark. Heh, you even got super scared the first time you met…

…Why do you hear rumbling?

You open your eyes and tighten your wings, as if you can shield yourself with them. You look to either side of the currently empty street and see… nothing. You can’t see anything. What’s making that sound? Why is-

“Comin’ down!”

“W-WAH!?” You squeak embarrassingly as Susie lands on the ground in the middle of the street.

“Hey, where’d everyone go? I told them not to! Well, ‘least you’re still here, Angel.”

“S-Susie! You’re back! Where- where did you go?”

“Well, you were talking about the dark and how you needed to get down there right? I knew the perfect guy for the job!”

“W-who?” You follow her pointer finger to- AH!!! You fall off the not-bench in shock at the sudden appearance of a giant- a giant- …pumpkin head!?

“HELO THEIR, BRITE BURD! ME AM HEAR TO HELP!”

“Mister Jackenstein!” You gasp as he climbs down off of the cliff face, down from Castle Town. “You’re here!”

“Hell yeah! Jack’s the best guy for the job!” Susie punches his leg as hard as she can. It does nothing.

“YOU! YOUR A NOO AND PRITTY BURD, BUT YOAR LAIGHT IS STILL THE SAME!” He reaches down and, very gently despite his incredible size, pats you on the head. “YOU MY FRIAND TOO!”

“T- thank you M-Mister Jackenstein!” You hide in your wings again even as you sit back onto the not-bench, though out of being flustered rather than your… um. Your (very) usual anxiety. You really are making a lot of friends now, aren’t you? It’s… kind of scary. But… nice. “It’s- it’s very kind of you to come help!”

“ANY TIAM!"

I HOPE YOU ARE STILL

AS CURIOUS AS I

TO KNOW WHAT COMES NEXT.