Noelle stumbles through the sewers, only to groan inwardly at where she ends up.
She's not egotistical enough to think she could take on Queen, (not without Kris anyways), even without being half-delirious with pain and barely clinging onto reality. She's felt… fuzzy since Kris put the ring on her hand- but without them here to guide her, it's hard to focus on anything. She's trying hard to avoid thinking about the frozen statues behind her, but she doesn't know why. She was defending herself. She was defending Kris. They both got stronger.
She's tried to cast healing magic on herself, but every time her HP rises above 55, it falls slowly back down. It almost hurts more than a direct hit, the slow onset of agony. She thinks about taking the ring off. She thinks about Kris, next, and she doesn't. Noelle looks down on instinct, and then swallows down her disgust. Dust is spilling out from where the thorns have pierced her, and her vision blurs red. She twists the ring, hard, just to distract herself from the incoming nausea.
Queen's face twists too. Noelle had forgotten she was there. (Noelle should have stayed with Kris. She never forgets when Kris is around.)
"Noelle Honey Sweetie Darling You Look Injured Do You Need Assistance" Queen sounds… concerned. It doesn't sound natural, with her robotic voice, but Noelle prefers it anyway. Noelle's mother always sounds like the picture-perfect mother, even when her words should rightfully be said bitterly and loudly. Noelle doesn't want her mother right now.
She doesn't want Queen, either, actually, but if it's between Queen and Carol Holiday, she'll take the former any day. (Queen would like her dad. Her dad would like Queen. She should stop thinking about this.)
"I'm fine."
"LMAO Alright Bestie" Noelle knows what's coming before Queen opens her mouth again. She'd bother to dodge, but the residual pain from her stunt with the ring overtakes her at that moment- she's back in a cage again. It doesn't feel like a matter of hours since the last time this happened, but Noelle feels different now anyways. Might as well go the whole nine yards.
Noelle slumps into the safety of the cage.
Waking up, she thinks, is not any better than falling asleep. It's just as sudden and all the more painful. She should have stayed asleep, or not have gone to sleep at all- weaving in between the lines of something is exhausting. Noelle thinks that she might not be thinking about sleeping anymore.
Something moves in her right peripheral, and Noelle raises her hand to cast Iceshock on instinct. Snow blinds her again- only lightening once Noelle begins to panic she'll never be able to see past it again.
(Snow used to be so comforting.)
The figure in her peripheral vision looks unaffected, but Noelle is too tired to cast Snowgrave- and she wouldn't risk firing a spell that powerful in such a small room (?) anyways. Magic is reactive and never truly applies to the known laws of physics, she's been told this so many times that it may as well be stamped inside her eyelids. Besides, she still doesn't truly know what Snowgrave does.
(That's a lie. She knows. But she doesn't want to think about it. Kris wouldn't- they wouldn't ask her to do that.)
"Well That Was Rude" Noelle slumps down against the bed (?). There are worse people to be abducted by and she's far too tired to fight anymore. And maybe, some part of her craves Queen's fond indifference. Noelle doesn't want to think about her mother, but part of her needs her mother's validation so badly that all of… whatever Kris told her to do seems nearly worth it.
Her mother wants a strong daughter. Kris wants to make her strong. There's no point thinking about this anymore, either. Noelle wants to be strong- wants to be the girl that could have convinced Dess to come back (from where? She doesn't remember, but she remembers the day after she disappeared. Her dad holding her like he thought Noelle would disappear too- her mother nearly spitting with rage on the phone with Kris' dad. Kris' dad was fired, her mother didn't come home most nights, her father is dying. Funny how life works out).
Noelle finally takes a minute to check her surroundings- Queen had referenced rooms in the castle tailored to their residents before, but it's jarring. Noelle's space being so customized to her (quite literally- she doesn't remember half of these searches) instead of looking like it's from an interior design magazine under "studious teen girl". Hell, even the pillows are designed with silk to keep her fluffy hair from breaking. Noelle pushes back into them. (Even the color is the icy blue she used to love so much. She doesn't know why she hates it now.)
"Can I go."
"Not Until You Agree To Be My Willing Peon Again" Noelle is suddenly violently grateful that Queen hasn't asked why Noelle's first instinct upon waking up was to attack her- the Iceshock barely seemed to leave a scratch. (Noelle is grateful because all answers seem to fly out of her head.)
Her hand throbs, and Noelle curls in on instinct. If she opens her mouth, she's going to start screaming. (Why can't she scream again?)
Queen moves to pet her hair- the motion is comforting despite being stilted and awkward. Her dad used to do that, pet her hair when she was sick or missing Dess so viscerally it felt like she was being gutted.
Noelle wants her dad.
"Never Mind"
"Rest My Honey Sweetie Gravy Darling" Queen moves to leave- apparently Noelle is of no use when she's almost crying in pain. (That stings.)
Just when Noelle is prepared to slip into unconsciousness again, Queen turns back. "Oh Shoot Wait Have You Seen Berdly My Sensors Have Not Detected Him (Or A Double Trucies)"
Noelle can't answer that. If she answers then she has to face what she did- what she didn't do- she can't do that. She leans into the next wave of pain and allows it to pull her under.
The next time Noelle wakes, she finds herself rushing towards the end of the castle, in the direction of Kris' voice.