"Hey Kris!" Susie yelled. "Can't we just go in already?"
Kris sighed. "I need to make sure I have everything, first." He rifled through his backpack, checking things off a mental list. "Alright, we're good." He gave a genuine smile. "Let's go."
They opened the door to the supply closet. So dark.
They glanced at each other, then jumped into the Dark World.
"Lancer! Kris and Susie are here!" Ralsei called.
A familiar looking spade came running. "Hohoho! The Fun Squad is back together again!"
He hugged Susie tightly.
"Hey dude, slow down." She patted him awkwardly, then lightly pushed him away.
"We missed you two," Ralsei said. "It's really great that you get to visit us every weekend, though."
They began walking towards the castle. They chatted and laughed.
"Ralsei's been teaching me how to improve my baking! My Lancer Cookies taste a lot better now!" Lancer said happily.
Ralsei blushed lightly. "It was easy! He had just forgotten the baking soda."
"I can't wait to try it!" Susie said happily, brushing her bangs out of her eyes.
"Good news everyone. My mom is going to take a couple hours longer than usual to clean today," Hanging out with this group had given Kris more confidence, allowing him to be more talkative.
Susie did a fist pump. "Yeah! Awesome!"
They reached the castle.
Susie smiled happily. "Alright guys, we brought some games today."
Kris set his backpack down and pulled out Monopoly, Sorry, Blokus, a chess/checkers set, and a deck of cards.
They had finally decided to take a break from playing games to talk a bit.
"So you two, what's going on at your school?" Ralsei asked, always interested in the Light World.
"Well, we're having student council elections soon," Kris said with a thoughtful expression on his face.
Lancer tilted his head. "What's a student council election?" He asked curiously.
Susie perked up. "Well basically, it's a way to decide what student should represent the grade. They get to be a role model, kinda like a king."
"So they tell everyone what to do?" Perhaps that wasn't a bad assumption from his point of view.
Kris shook his head. "No. They help to make the school better."
Lancer nodded, but whether or not he actually understood is up for debate.
Susie sighed.
This did not go unnoticed by anyone in the throne room.
"What's wrong, Susie?" Ralsei asked, empathy dripping in his voice.
"I'm fine." She paused. "Just happy to be here.
Kris and Ralsei met eyes. They passed a silent conversation between each other, both concerned for Susie's well-being.
She had done this before. Always she had given the same "I'm fine" that had lost it's meaning over the month.
Ralsei looked right at Susie. "We're friends, remember? You can tell us, whatever it is."
Lancer smiled. "Yeah! Cool purple girls shouldn't have to be sad!" Oh, bless his sweet innocence.
Susie sighed again, a sound that was becoming quite familiar to all of them. "I don't know if you guys can handle it. It's not exactly an easy topic to deal with."
Kris pursed his lips. He understood what Susie was getting at: she didn't think Lancer could deal with it.
Ralsei seemed to understand too. "Hey Lancer, why don't you go make some cookies? We'll wait for you here."
Lancer jumped up. "That's a great idea!" He said excitedly. "I can make some lemonade, too!"
Kris nodded. "Alright, we'll wait for you here.
Lancer skipped off, obviously heading towards the kitchen.
"I don't know if I'm ready to tell anybody this," Susie said quietly, her voice shaking.
"It's alright, Susie. We won't judge you," Ralsei reassured.
Susie let her bangs fall back into her eyes. "Alright, but I don't want your pity."
Ralsei and Kris looked at each other.
"Fine, Susie. We won't pity you," Kris said, emotion slowly leaving his voice.
Ralsei thought for a short moment, then nodded.
"Okay. Get ready. This one's a doozy."