Wow! It took me long enough, but here is the next chapter to Four Souls. I must apologise for the long wait, I had the holidays, work, and other things in my life to focus on. Plus, I find it rather difficult to stay motivated to keep writing, but I will try my best to keep at it.
Anywho, one more chapter after this one and then we can REALLY kick the story off! But for now, enjoy Noelle's first time in the Dark World.
Kris and Susie lay upon the ground, still not used to the impact they had against it. The pain briefly surged throughout their bodies, Kris especially feeling more pain than Susie due to the bruise on his back, before it faded, almost as quickly as it appeared. After a few seconds, Kris sat up.
"Hey Susie, are you okay?" he asked his friend who was still lying down. The purple girl slowly got up, clutching the back of her head. "Y-yeah. I'm fine Kris. Back of my head hurts, but otherwise, I'm okay." she said. Susie took another set of seconds to slowly stand up and regain her bearings. Kris stood up a few seconds later, getting a good look at the Armour that now replaced his shirt, jeans and such. Ah, it felt good to be back in the metal plates, bodysuit and cape again. To him, it felt like slipping back into childhood clothes again, that had somehow remained big enough to fit him despite years of growing.
"Dude..." Susie suddenly said, with worry in her voice. "Noelle's not moving!" Kris turned to face Susie, who was now kneeling over Noelle. His friend was right; Noelle hadn't moved one limb since they landed. Susie shook her, trying desperately to wake her up, while Kris just stood there in shock. It wasn't his nor Susie's intent to kill her, if they had indeed killed her from the fall. However, all of that came to an end, when after another rough shake from Susie, Noelle groaned a little and began to move her arm slightly, causing Susie to stand back up and take a step back also.
The deer raised up an arm and placed an open palm against the ground, repeating the process with the other arm, before using them both to lift herself back onto her feet. "Oh goodness. My head is killing me!" Noelle muttered to herself once she was standing. She then placed her index and thumb between her eyes, presumably trying to relieve some kind of pain she experienced from the fall. It was around this time, she noticed that Kris and Susie were looking at her, surprise on their faces. "What? What is it? Is there something on my face?" Noelle asked the two. They didn't give a response, but when she placed her arm up, possibly to try and remove what she thought was on her face, she noticed that her sleeve was no longer black with a white cuff. Instead, it was pure white and the cuff seemed longer than how she remembered it.
"Wha-?" Noelle started in confusion. Kris and Susie smirked as Noelle looked down at what she was wearing. Gone was the red and green checkered sweater and gray romper. In its place was what appeared to be a long white robe with some black ball shoes. "Wha-?! What happened to my clothes?!" Noelle asked in a panic, before looking up the two in front to her. "What happened to YOUR clothes?!" she sputtered as she took in her friends' new looks. Her eye movement was all over the place, firstly on Kris and Susie, then on her surroundings, the strands of her hair that she could see followed, which had turned from her usual Honey Blonde to a much whiter Pearl Platinum colour, and then finally, back upwards to where they had fallen from. "Where are we?! What happened to my hair?! Did you guys do something to me?! How did we-?!" she continued to ask in a blind panic, before Kris stepped forward.
"Noelle, calm down. We're safe here. You've got nothing to worry about. We're here." he said, holding onto Noelle's shoulders to calm her down further. "We don't know why our clothes and hair change when we come down here, but you'll get over how you look in time."
"Yeah. You know how freaked out I was when I saw I was wearing this?" Susie added, pointing at her own clothes. "At first, I was wondering why the hell I had changed clothes during the fall, but after a few seconds, I thought I looked pretty badass wearing them. Hell, I'd take this outfit with me back home if I could." Kris looked back at Susie and smiled. "It suits you." he said, nodding. Noelle, taking a good long look at the purple warrior and her new outfit, blushed. Kris was right. The suit she was wearing DID fit her.
"Dare I say Noelle, that white robe fits you perfectly. You look like an angel." Susie added, causing Noelle to blush even further. "Thanks Susie. It's not often I get complimented by others." Noelle said in response. This triggered a chuckle out of Susie and Kris. "I meant physically. The outfit looks like something an angel would wear, but hey, you look good too." the purple girl clarified. Noelle suddenly felt a wave of stupid run through her body. How did she not realize that's what Susie meant? Before Noelle could respond, Kris spoke up. "Anyway, let's get going. Me and Susie's friend aren't too far from here." With that, Kris led the way, Susie and Noelle following behind him.
Susie's laughter echoed around the Dark World as Noelle told her about that prank she played on Kris as payback for all his little blood scares that he did on her when the two were children. Kris was still leading the way, but his arms were folded and a blush had been growing on his face, one that could rival Noelle's. He really didn't want the story to be shared, but he didn't really have the option to stop his friend.
"Wait, wait, it gets better. So after he got my hand out the blender, he was hugging me tightly and crying profusely. I swear, if you were outside in the front garden, you could hear Kris going 'Noelle, I'm so sorry! I wouldn't have done those stupid pranks if I'd know this would happen to you!' from the kitchen he was crying that loud! It took a good while to tell Kris I was fine, and he just denied crying when he realized what was going on, even though he still had tears staining his cheeks!" a giggling Noelle told Susie, much to Kris' displeasure. The two girls shared yet another laugh while Kris groaned to himself. When their laughing died down, Susie turned her attention to Kris. "Dude, I'm surprised you were that cruel to Noelle when you both were kids." she said to him.
"The pranks I pulled on Noelle were harmless! Nobody got hurt in the end." Kris protested, his arms still folded and his tone showing he was sick of hearing about it. The trio stood before a village, a castle in the far distance at the top of a staircase. Kris and Susie began their trek towards it, Noelle following behind. As the trio walked closer to the steps to the castle, they noticed a figure standing in front of the castle's doorway. To Susie and Kris, this was their friend. But to Noelle, this was a total stranger. "There he is Noelle. That's Ralsei, the friend we were telling you about." Susie said to Noelle, who walked forward to get a good look at him. "What is he doing?" Noelle asked.
Ralsei could be seen standing in one place, a yellow barrier of sorts surrounding him. He seemed to be focused on it entirely, since he didn't hear the group talking. "He must be focusing on his magic. I'm gonna go mess with him." Kris said, a smile appearing on his face. Kris walked up the steps, Noelle and Susie behind him. A few seconds later, he made it up to the top. Susie and Noelle stood back, watching Kris approach Ralsei.
Ralsei stood in one place, eyes closed, focusing all of his energy on his magic. The yellow aura glowing brightly around him, basking his green cloak and white fur in its light. Ralsei seemed to be so focused that he didn't even hear Kris walking up behind him. Even when Kris was directly behind him, not once did he bat an eye. Kris, smile still present on his face, raised a hand and quickly tapped Ralsei's right shoulder. This snapped Ralsei out of his concentration as his eye opened in shock and the aura vanished. He quickly turned around to where he felt the tapping, but Kris quickly moved to his left, staying behind Ralsei so that the goat didn't see him. Susie ducked so that Ralsei couldn't see her either, pulling Noelle down as well.
Ralsei surveyed his surroundings before turning to face the castle entrance and closing his eyes, practicing his magic once again. Kris paused for a few seconds, before making quick taps on Ralsei's left shoulder, jumping to his right when Ralsei looked. "Lancer? Is that you?" Ralsei asked the mystery tapper. He quickly spun around, trying to find this person, Kris moving behind him so that he remained behind him. Ralsei's eyes darted around, looking for who he believed to be Lancer. "If you're playing some stupid prank on me, now isn't the time! I wanna focus on my magic right now." Ralsei said to 'Lancer', slightly annoyed.
Susie giggled to herself as Ralsei took one last look around, before turning back and focusing on his magic. Kris did everything in his power to stay out of his goat friend's eyesight. The human turned to face his girl friends, trying to stifle his laughter. Susie gave the thumbs up as she mouthed "Do it again!" to him, Noelle seeing the humour behind it and giggling to herself. Kris turned back and once again, tapped Ralsei on his right shoulder. Ralsei stopped, standing perfectly still. Ralsei began to turn towards his right, prompting Kris to move left.
However, Ralsei realized what this person was doing and stopped turning to his right, quickly changing direction to rotate his body left, catching Kris off guard as their eyesight met. But the human thought quickly and embraced the goat, startling him. Before Ralsei could cry out for help, Kris whispered a simple little question:
"Did you miss me Ralsei?"
Ralsei's eyes shot as wide as they could get upon hearing such a familiar voice. "K-Kris?!" he said, shock in his voice. He knew that his friend would return at some point, but he didn't think that Kris would return to the Dark World THIS early. Ralsei, almost automatically, returned the embrace as a smile grew onto his face. "Oh my god Kris, I didn't think you'd be paying me a visit! It's been so long since we've last seen each other!", the goat boy spoke, his voice filled with elation. Kris released the two boys' hug as he spoke. "It's not just me. Susie's come back here too."
Susie revealed herself upon hearing Kris mention her, Noelle following behind her as the two walked up the steps to meet up with Ralsei. "Hey Toothpaste boy." She said to him with a casual wave. Ralsei smiled back at his friend, before noticing the new girl. The goat and the deer's eyes met and they both felt a sense of ease with each other, something they hadn't felt unless they were with Kris. "Oh! Kris, Susie, is this a new friend of yours?" Ralsei asked the two, who both nodded in response. Ralsei reached out a hand to Noelle as he spoke. "Well, it's a pleasure to meet you stranger! My name is-."
"Ralsei. I overheard Susie say your name while talking about you." Noelle responded, taking Ralsei back with the quick reply. A moment of silence passed briefly before Ralsei continued. "Oh! Well, I guess that skips the name introduction on my part." he said, with a little laugh. Noelle took Ralsei's hand and shook it. "My name's Noelle. I've been friends with Kris since childhood and recently become friends with Susie. I hope the two of us can become good friends also." she said to Ralsei, causing him to blush slightly, although the smile that appeared on his face seemed to show that he was hoping him and Noelle would be good friends too. "So, how long have you known Kris and Susie, Ralsei?" Noelle asked as she released her hand from Ralsei's.
"Actually, I just met them... a few weeks ago, I believe. There was a prophecy that I'll explain later on. I just kinda met them after they arrived in the Dark World and we grew a friendship as we went along on our adventure." Ralsei said, Kris nodding with what Ralsei had said. "Adventure? What kind of adventure?" Noelle asked, tilting her head to the side curiously. Ralsei straightened out his cloak before continuing to speak. "Well, when Kris and Susie came down here, they met me in front of these doors. I showed Kris about how things worked down here, while Susie was only interested in getting back home." Ralsei explained, pointing over his shoulder at Susie, who was looking at her nails. It was anybody's guess if she was genuinely wondering how her nails looked or if she was trying to show she wasn't interested in the conversation. Kris assumed the latter as he rolled his eyes behind his hair. Ralsei then continued to speak. "After a good few hours, we came across other inhabitants of the Dark World. Some that I'm familiar with, others not so much. Before long, we ended up at the castle. We took on the King and his son managed to overthrow him!", a sense of triumph present in his voice on the last point.
Noelle paused, taking in everything that Ralsei just told her. "So... you three went through this kingdom... and overthrew the leader... so that his son could take the throne?" She asked, trying to make sense of everything. Ralsei nodded, adding in a "Don't worry, the King was a total tyrant towards his people and a horrible father to his son. Last I heard he was sent to the dungeon of the castle, before he-." That was all that Ralsei was able to say when a familiar "Ho, ho, ho!" interrupted his talking. Noelle took a quick look around, wondering where that laugh came from. Ralsei on the other hand, rolled his own eyes as he added a little muttering of "Speak of the devil." to himself.
A few seconds later, a small boy dressed in white and blue crashed in front of the group, riding a bicycle that seemed to be on fire, startling Noelle and earning yet another roll of the eyes from Ralsei. This boy had a round body with a head that bear resemblance to a teardrop. His eyes were invisible to the world due to the spade shaped shadow covering them. His mouth on the other hand was clear to the group, displaying a wide smile and a blue tongue that seemed to stick out. "Ho ho, the heroes of light have returned once again! It feels so much better when me and fluffy boy's old friends come by for a visit." the boy spoke, a clear lisp present in his voice with every 's' sound he made.
"Lancer, what did we say about using that name to refer to me?" Ralsei asked, a mixture of a bored and a scolding tone in his voice. "Oh! Are you another friend of Kris, Susie and Ralsei?" Noelle asked Lancer, causing Ralsei to immediately answer, not once changing his bored tone. "On and off. He was our enemy at one point, but now we all get along smoothly." Lancer, tongue still free out of his mouth, nodded his head in a comically exaggerated manner. Noelle and Kris giggled a little at seeing this, even the usually no nonsense Susie smirked a little at how goofy Lancer could be. "Uh-huh! Once bad guy, now...!" Lancer started up. He then paused to try and do a little spin move on his bike, maybe trying to add some flair to his big reveal.
And he probably would've succeeded... if he hadn't lost his balance and fell off of his bike, complete with a little "Ah!" upon hitting the ground. the flames on his bike being snuffed out by the dust kicked up by Lancer's rough landing, reducing it to a normal looking bicycle. Lancer quickly got up, dusting himself off. "I swear that trick worked perfectly last time I did it!" Lancer muttered to himself. He then looked towards the group and held out his arms, giving the jazz hands for good measure, as if the fall was part of his 'elaborate' act. "King of the Dark World!" he finished, his goofy grin re-plastered onto his face.
Noelle could only giggle at this as she walked up to get a good look at the king. Once she was close enough, she knelt down, becoming almost eye level with Lancer, who had put his hands down to get a look himself at this new girl. "You look pretty." Lancer said after a pause, his childish demeanor still present in his voice. Noelle blushed at this sudden compliment, Ralsei smiled at Lancer while Susie and Kris tried very hard to hold back laughter between themselves. "Well...!" Noelle could only say in pleasant surprise, placing a hand to her mouth, her giggle now upgrading to a soft chuckle to herself. Now, with that reaction, it was Lancer's turn to blush, a blue hue appearing on his cheeks through his chalk white skin. "I'm sorry, was that inappropriate to say to you?" Lancer quickly asked the doe, his voice with a tinge of guilt in it, making the king seem even more childish than he was originally.
"No, no Lancer! I don't mind you calling me pretty. I-I-If it makes you feel any better, I think you look pretty handsome yourself." Noelle said to him, once the chuckling wore away and she regained some kind of composure, adding a small head pat to her compliment. The blush on Lancer's face was quickly replaced with his usual wide toothy smile. "Well, it's a real pleasure to meet you...!" Lancer said, trailing off upon realizing he doesn't know the newcomer's name. Susie caught up on this and stepped forward. "Oh yeah, I guess we should share her name with you, Lancer. This..." Susie began, gesturing to Noelle. "...is Noelle. She's our friend from the Light World."
Noelle gave a small wave to her new short stature friend before Susie continued. "She's new to the Dark World. Would you like to take all of us to the King's Castle. I think Rouxls Kaard would be happy to meet her too." Susie finished. Kris stepped forward, standing right next to Ralsei. "Yeah, I think Noelle would enjoy her time in the Dark World more, if she got to know the area." It didn't take long until Lancer got his mind full of excitement once again. "Don't mind if I do!" he said, taking Noelle's hand and walking back down the steps with her, Ralsei following behind him. "I must say Noelle, you are gonna love meetin' lesser dad! He's a really cool guy who does puzzles in his spare time and..." Lancer proceeded to ramble as he walked away with Noelle and Ralsei behind him, until his voice could no longer be heard. Kris and Susie stood back, watching the scene play out in front of them. Once the three left their eye sight, the two that were left exchanged glances towards one another.
"Dude, I don't know if this was a good idea. You know what Lancer is like when he gets excited." Susie muttered to Kris. He rolled his eyes and exhaled, almost as if she had spoken about this non stop since they got to the Dark World. "Susie, Lancer's probably not gonna hurt Noelle. Don't forget, he's the king of the Dark World ever since me, you and Ralsei overthrew his dad from the throne. Besides, I'm sure Ralsei would be able to handle him if he does get excited again." He said as he walked down the stairs. Susie was left on her own, presumably thinking to herself about the things Kris just said. She then let out a quick "Hey Kris! Wait up!" upon realizing she was on her own and ran after Kris, down the stairway.
It took a good while of walking, even with the shortcuts that Ralsei took the group through. It didn't break any of their spirits though, nor tire them out. Ralsei shared his stories about the Dark World to Noelle, Noelle shared more embarrassing stories about her childhood with Kris and vice versa, Susie shared some stories from her past and other things and Lancer shared more about the Dark World's culture and the way of life down there. Every few minutes or so, if you were nearby them as they trekked through the Dark World on their way to the castle, you'd hear either one of or all of them laughing among themselves, whether it was over something somebody said as part of a story or in response to a joke. Some of them at the expense of others, mostly jokes from Susie. She'd usually joke about Ralsei's pacifist ways or Kris' quietness. If only she knew the reasons why he was so quiet, maybe she wouldn't joke about it. But that's for later in the story.
For now, the five of them were talking, joking and laughing among themselves. They got so engrossed in their conversations that they almost didn't even realize that they had made it! The castle itself stood towering over the five of them. Of course, being Lancer's home, the aforementioned didn't react one bit to this. Neither did Ralsei, Susie or Kris. The only one that did seem to have a reaction was Noelle, who trembled a little at the size of the building they stood before. "Well, here we are!" Ralsei said, a smile creeping onto his face. "This is the castle that we were talking about. Where the King used to live as he ruled over the Dark World, before he was overthrown."
"By yours truly." Susie added, cockiness ever so present in her voice, as she took the lead, walking through the castle doors. "Now now Susie, let's not get full of ourselves. We're here to show Noelle around after all." Kris said in response. He might've had a soft spot for Susie, but he knew when she was bigging herself up for the sake of getting some sort of glory. "Plus, you're forgetting it was all three of us that overthrew the King!" he added as he followed Susie into the castle, Lancer following behind him, leaving Noelle and Ralsei outside. Noelle was still looking up towards the highest point of the castle, still taking in the size of the building. Ralsei walked up to her, placing a reassuring hand onto her shoulder.
"Don't you worry one bit Noelle. The castle might look intimidating, but the worst of what's inside has already been dealt with." Ralsei said, that smile never leaving his face. She blinked a few times before walking forward with Ralsei by her side. Although, once she took a step inside the castle, even with Ralsei's reassurance, there were a lot of things to be worried about in terms of appearance. The corridors were dark, the lighting was more suited to a dungeon more than a whole castle and the blue stone walls gave off a cold and unwelcome feeling. It absolutely suited the original king, but not so much for Lancer nor this Rouxls Kaard person that Ralsei had told her about.
There was another fair bit of time walking before the group got up to the throne room. Within said room stood a man with blue skin, long white hair and a deep blue royal suit, his face appearing to have melted into two diamond shaped eyes and a mouth that always gave the impression that he was smiling. His back was to the group, looking out of a nearby window. Even with his back to the group, Lancer was quick to notice a disappointed frown on the older man's face. "Young sire... I was starting to wondereth when thou would returneth." the man spoke, his voice, full of disappointment, also holding an almost old English sound too. Lancer took a step forward towards Rouxls Kaard.
"I... I know that I've been busy with some things and I know I did say I'd be right back so you could show me more royal duties Lesser Dad, but-." Lancer began to explain, but upon uttering the words 'Lesser Dad', he stopped, as Rouxls Kaard held out a closed fist, his index finger pointing upwards towards the ceiling, signalling him to be quiet. "Lancer my boy, we hadeth a talk about referring to me as 'Lesser dad'. Thoust know that I don't likest that name being used to describe me." The duke uttered, before lowering his finger down again. "Besides, surely thoust must understand that since thou art the new rulerest of the Dark World, there are a lot of responsibilities placedeth upon thine shoulders." He added, turning around. At first, he was focused on Lancer, his stern gaze fixed on him, but it quickly faded and was replaced with surprise when he noticed the other groups of feet with the young king, which then turned to happiness when he saw those feet belonged to Kris, Susie and Ralsei.
"Oh! The worms return from whence they had cameth! By God, it feels liketh forever since I hath last seen your faces!" Rouxls Kaard exclaimed in surprise upon seeing their faces, before regaining his composure. "Well, asideth from you Ralsei. I've seen thoust face often in the Dark World." He added with a clearing of his throat. Ralsei sighed in response before adding his response. "Nice to see you again too, Rouxls." The duke then turned his gaze to meet with Noelle's eyesight. "I musteth add, I do not remember seeing your face around hereth. Are you new here?" Rouxls asked the deer girl he had now just noticed as Lancer walked away from the group to sit upon his throne.
Noelle blushed. "Um, y-yes I am new here. My name is Noelle. Noelle Holiday, mister Rouxls." she said. With that, Rouxls Kaard quickly straightened out his back, placing his left arm behind it. "Well Ms. Holiday. It is a greateth pleasure to meet you." he said, placing his right arm onto his stomach as he bowed to her. "I do hope that thou enjoy your timeth here in the Dark World. I assume that I am correcteth in making the assumption that Ralsei, Susie and Kris hath shown you part of the worldeth you see?"
"Yes sir. They have... um... shown me around." Noelle said, her shyness ever so present in her voice. Such a new face brought about such nerves with Noelle, even though she told herself constantly that she had no reason to be nervous with her friends with her. Rouxls Kaard straightened himself back up, meeting his gaze with Noelle once more. "Ms. Holiday, there's no need to be shyeth around me. I am but a mere duke amongsteth these parts of the Dark World." he explained. "As I'm sure Lancer would've toldeth thou..." he continued, stopping to glance at Lancer, who had his usual stupid smile on his face before continuing. "Since the king was overthrown, he hadeth taken the responsibilities of being the rulerest of the Dark World. Although given how he IS stilleth a child, I make the decisions for him on his behalf...eth."
Noelle looked back at Ralsei, who nodded at her, confirming this. Kris and Susie then glanced at one another before Kris took a step forward. "Um... Rouxls? You never told us what happened to the King after we overthrew him." he asked. The smile on Rouxls' face dropped, indicating that whatever happened to the King wasn't good. That being said, it was the ex-king of the Dark World, so I guess it isn't really anything worth being concerned over. Still, the expression on Rouxl's face gave Kris a strange feeling, as if he shouldn't have asked in the first place.
Instead, the Duke sighed. "Well, if thou must really know..." he began, before glancing over to Lancer. He was too preoccupied watching a random insect flying around the room. It looked like some kind of fly, but it was hard to tell as it darted from one corner to the next, occasionally hovering in place or landing on a surface, moving a few inches and then taking flight again. Wherever it went, Lancer's non-visible eyes followed. When it zipped around the room, Lancer would snap his head to keep his view focused on the little black dot. Rouxls, seeming to be happy that Lancer was distracted, turned back to the group.
"Ever since the King was overthrown, he was senteth down to the dungeon, right at the bottomest of the castle. He spent about... 2 weeks I believe in there, trying in vainest to break out of his cell. The thing was, he shared a cell with another inmateth. His name is Jevil, possibly one of the most unstable occupants of the Dark World." He explained, adding minor details to fill Noelle in on the story. Kris, Susie and Ralsei shuddered at the mention of Jevil's name, the memories of the fight they had with him replaying in their minds. They could STILL hear his voice uttering those damned phrases like 'Chaos! Chaos!', 'Metamorphosis!' and his infamous 'I can do anything!', even weeks after their fight with him! And don't get them started on that laugh he did! Every time they thought about that laugh, it almost sounded mocking. They were snapped out of their memories when Rouxls continued.
"Well, I don't knoweth exactly what happened in that cell, but one of the Rudinns came down to the cell to check on him and they had found him laying on the cold cell floor. At firsteth, they thought he was asleep, trapped in a nocturnal prison of his mind to which only moonlight shone upon his yonder spirit. He was known to sleep long hours after being lock'ed up after all. But when they get closereth, they..." Rouxls paused, as if the simple act of retelling the story was painful to him. He tried to regain his composure before continuing. "They found that he wasn't breathing. When they checked him for a heartbeat, they foundeth that his skin has turned as cold as a snowy day in the forest. They couldn't find a heartbeat either. They had no choice, but to consider him dead."
Noelle placed a hand on her lips in shock, while Kris and Susie stood stunned. "Yes. Thoust know, they couldn't find any source of foul play. There were no fingerprints upon the victim. No sign of a struggle. Not eveneth a sign of a murder weapon. In the end, they considered the cause of his majesty's death to be an undiagnosed health problem, but between you and me..." Rouxls said, before glancing at Lancer, who was still focused on the fly, which had now landed on his hand, allowing him to have a good look at it. The duke then turned back to the group and beckoned them to come closer. Noelle took a step forward, followed by Kris and Susie. Ralsei stayed behind, already knowing what the Duke was about to confess.
"I believe that despite the lackest of evidence, Jevil had something to do with the King's death." he said, his tone hushed so that Lancer couldn't hear him. Noelle then spoke up. "Well if there was no evidence, what makes you think it was this... Jevil person?" she asked. Rouxls glanced at her before speaking. "Like I said beforeth, Jevil is a highly unstable inmate in the dungeon. He even mentions that he quoteth 'can do anything'. Normally, me and the others just assumm'ed that's just his mental state, but then I started to think that perhaps Jevil could've taken the life of our ex-King and somehow found a method of disposing any and all evidence linking him to his majesty's death! I don't know how, but I believeth that Jevil had some evidence in his cell that makes his connected to his Majesty's death that he had removed somehow and furthermore-." Rouxls rambled, before Lancer tugged at his coat, snapping him out of his train of thought.
"Hey Lesser Dad, what were you talkin' about with the visitors?" He asked, a child like naivety in his voice. To Noelle, it was adorable, despite having only met him a few minutes ago. Rouxls turned to look at the young king. "Oh it's nothing Lancer. I do believe there's a Hathy that wanted to speak with you in the other room. Why don't you go and speak to him?" He said. Lancer responded with a toothy smile as he replied with a childish "Okey-dokey!" and walked away, presumably towards this supposed Hathy. Once Lancer was once again out of earshot, Rouxls Kaard quickly turned back to the group. "One pieceth of advice I'd give you all, especially to you Ms. Holiday: do not bring the topic of the King's death up around Lancer." Noelle nodded his head, Kris followed suite, accompanied with a "Sure thing."
"I-Is Lancer sensitive to the subject of his father?" Noelle asked the duke. Rouxls paused for a second before answering. "Well... not really. I just don't want to bring such subjecteth up while he's around, otherwise he'll start asking what you think of it. And I really don't want to bringest any more hardships onto him than what he haseth already with his royal duties." After a pause, Rouxls Kaard cleared his throat. "Well! I must returneth back to my duties. I will see you all later." he said. Once finished with his statement, the duke was consumed by a beam of light. The group shielded their eyes from this beacon and once the light faded away, the group could see that the duke had vanished. Noelle seemed taken aback by the random act of magic that occurred in front of them. Kris then turned to face Noelle and added his own two cents into the talk about the previous King. "To be honest, he DID threaten to throw Lancer off the castle when we confronted him, so don't feel too bad about the king dying." he said, Susie nodding in agreement.
"Oh! I also spoke with Seam a few days ago, he said that he's got some really good deals for you both when you get back here again!" Ralsei said with a smile. "I can take you to him if you would like me to." Susie smiled, her sharp teeth visible to the group. Even after getting close to the girl, the sight of her teeth always put Ralsei on edge. He knew deep down that ever since the group's adventure, she wouldn't think about hurting him in any way shape or form. But part of him was still paranoid about such an act from her. After all, she DID take a rather huge bite out of Top Chief's cake for Clover. He couldn't help but wonder at times how they was doing. He hadn't seen them since him and Kris' encounter with them in the Forest. But he snapped out of those thoughts when he heard Susie's voice. "Oh hell yeah! More stuff for me and Kris!"
She was about to take Kris and Ralsei out the castle when Noelle suddenly stopped her. "Wait, Susie! What time is it right now? I told my mom I would come back home after school!" she asked, her voice full of panic. Susie scoffed a little. "C'mon Noelle, nobody's gonna worry about you. I'm sure your parents will understand if you-."
"4:45pm." Kris interrupted, looking at the watch on his wrist. Susie looked back at Kris, a glare in her eyes. Noelle on the other hand, looked on in shock, eyes wide in horror. "4:45?! Oh God, I need to get back home! My mom's gonna worried sick! She's gonna wonder where I am and why I'm not back yet!" she said, almost screaming in panic. She continued to ramble about her concerns, mostly about how her parents will react to her coming home later than usual, when Kris walked towards Noelle and grabbed her shoulders, trying to calm her down. "Noelle, calm down. We'll head back to the surface and you can go home." he said, reassuringly, Ralsei and Susie looking on. "Oh okay Kris. I can understand Noelle might want to go home, especially if her family's wondering where she is." Ralsei replied. Susie quickly pushed forward, almost pushing over Ralsei and began to approach Kris. "But Kris, what about the shop? Ralsei just said-."
"Forget about the shop, Susie!" Kris exclaimed, turning back to face her, startling Ralsei and stopping Susie in her tracks towards him. His eyes became visible under his hair. The red eyes almost seemed to glow as he stared daggers at Susie, something that even put her in a state of unease. Kris shut his eyes, breathed in through his nose and exhaled, calming himself down. "I'm sure Seam will hold onto those items until we see him. But right now, we need to get back home, or else our parents are gonna get worried." Susie wanted to protest this new plan, but getting a glance at Noelle and the pure concern on her face made her back down. She gave in with a sigh and a "Fine.", causing relief to wash over the deer girl, whose shoulders were still be held onto by the human.
Ralsei spoke up once again. "Well, Kris and Susie got back through closing one of the eastern dark fountains. I'm afraid that fountain no longer exists, but I've actually been practising more magic since then. I can use a spell to get you three back to your homes." Noelle nodded her head. "Yes! Please do!" she added with such motion. Susie sighed. "Might as well, since that's what you so desperately want."
"Okay, well what I need you guys to do is stand close to one another." Ralsei said as he split from the group, standing in front of them. Noelle and Kris took a step towards Susie and awaited the spell to return back home. Once they were close enough, Ralsei placed his hands together and shut his eyes. The goat then began a chant as white orbs began to appear around him. Noelle looked down at her feet and saw herself surrounded by a forming pillar of light. She glanced over at Susie and Kris to see the same thing around them. Susie looked just as confused as Noelle had done, but Kris seemed indifferent about it, as if he had gone through this spell a thousand times before. After a few seconds, Ralsei threw his arms forward and the pillars of light became brighter. Once the pillars vanished, the three were missing too, leaving Ralsei all alone in the room.
Ralsei fell to his knees, weakened by the spell. He stayed in this position for about a minute or so, catching his breath. "Goodness, I haven't done a teleportation spell like that in years." He said to himself. He then stood back up, just in time for Lancer to walk into the room. "Lesser Dad, there was no Hathy in the other room! I looked everywhere for 'em!" he called out, only to find the room empty aside from Ralsei. Concerned, the young sire ran over to his friend, kneeling down beside him. "Fluffy boy, are you okay? You look like you're hurt! And where's your friends?" he asked the goat, worried about his friend's well-being. "Yeah, I'm fine Lancer. I just sent the others home with a spell that I haven't used in years." Ralsei replied. He took a look at his hands. "Heh, good to know I've still got it." he added to himself, a smirk growing on his face.
"Here, let me help you back up." Lancer said, grabbing Ralsei's arm and placing it behind his head, his hand resting on his shoulder. The two slowly rose to their feet, Ralsei wobbling a little before regaining his balance. "Th-thank you Lancer." Ralsei said, taking his arm off the young king's shoulder. "Good to know there are those in the Dark World that care about monsters like me." He added as he walked over to a nearby window, looking out over the kingdom the Dark World held, Lancer watching the prince's pace to the glass. Once Ralsei got to the glass, he stopped and looked out into the rest of the kingdom, not saying another word, apparently in thought about something. Even Lancer noticed how down the usually upbeat and happy prince was. It took a few seconds of silence in the room before Lancer finally spoke up.
"Hey... Ralsei...?" Lancer began, Ralsei not moving from his spot, his eyes still focused on the outskirts of the window. "Ralsei, what's wrong? You're not normally this quiet. Is... somethin' botherin' you?" The king added, his voice full of concern for the prince. Ever since his father had been overthrown, Lancer had gotten closer to Ralsei. He would've considered making him second in command if Rouxls Kaard hadn't intervened with that proposal. Heck, Ralsei would even consider Lancer a true friend, if he hadn't given that title to Kris and Susie already. But Lancer was definitely up there in Ralsei's friend list.
After a few seconds, Ralsei sighed, lifting a hand to remove his hat from his head, his white fur becoming visible as he glanced down, either at his hat or at the floor, it was hard to tell from where Lancer was standing. "Do you ever wish for more in life, Lancer?" the prince questioned, getting the king's attention. Lancer took a step forward towards Ralsei. "Wh-what do you mean?" he asked, taken aback by such a question. Ralsei raised his head, facing back out the window. "Do you wish for more in your life? Like, do you wish things were different?" Ralsei rephrased the question. The blue and white boy stood, his non visible eyes looking to the ground as he searched for an answer. "Not often." he answered. "Why? Are you having those thoughts?"
Ralsei turned back around to face the King. It might've been a trick of the light, but Lancer could've sworn that he saw tears brewing inside Ralsei's eyes. Then again, it could've been a reflection of light on his glasses. "It's just..." Ralsei began, before pausing to collect his thoughts. His eyes darted to the ground, trying to find the words to complete his sentence. "I wish that Susie and Kris could stay down here at times. I know they've got their own lives, but do you have any idea... ANY idea, how it feels to be living inside a town with nobody around but yourself?" Ralsei questioned Lancer, taking a step forward. This was a shock to Lancer, for he had never seen Ralsei like this before. Annoyed? Yes, but never truly upset. There was another round of silence before Ralsei continued.
"Before Kris and Susie came down from their world, I was living in the castle town by myself. Granted I had full access to every building in that town, but there was not a single soul living down there with me. I tried sleeping inside my castle, but it only served as a cold reminder of how alone I felt. Not even sleeping with all my stuffed animals by my side helped. I read all the books about the prophecy, about magic and all other things that could be written about in those walls, but after a while, you lose interest in small things like that. The words blur together, the sentences run on for so long and the stories lose their meaning the more you look at them. I walked out of my castle and started sleeping in the different houses inside the town, just so it felt like I wasn't alone. But nothing worked, I just felt more and more alone. You have any idea what I mean?" Ralsei explained. Lancer was taken aback even more by Ralsei's tone. NEVER had the goat prince ever spoken about anything like this, not with him, not with Susie or Kris, not with anybody.
Lancer stood in awe for a minute before answering. "R-Ralsei, I... I don't know what to tell you. I mean... I'm not very good with life advice or anything of the sort. If I had anything like that on my mind, I'd speak to Lesser Dad." he explained. Ralsei exhaled sharply, startling the young king slightly. "You know something Lancer? You're lucky. You had a dad. A cruel merciless one that would've probably killed you one day should you upset him, but a dad at the very least. On top of that, you've got Rouxls Kaard as a second father figure. If something was bothering you... then you could talk to them." Ralsei replied, his voice becoming shaky at points. It almost sounded as though the prince in green could burst into tears at any moment with how his voice quivered. "You could talk to Rouxls, you could talk to the Hathys, the Rudinns, the other three kings even! Meanwhile, folks like me don't have anyone to discuss their problems with! You wouldn't have any idea what it's like, until you've been by yourself for who knows how long, when out of nowhere, a pair of strangers meet you! And even then, they have parents to go back to. Families! I don't even remember ANY memories of my parents at all! Sometimes I don't even think I have any to begin with! Between you and me Lancer, Kris and Susie are probably the only family I've got! Do you have any idea what it feels like, when they have to leave me by myself again?!" Ralsei exclaimed, his voice fully quivering and tears freely rolling down his cheeks.
Once he felt silent, Ralsei's face had a tinge of red behind the white fur, those under his eyes getting wet by the tracks left behind by his tears and the only sounds from the prince were heavy and shaky breathing, accompanied by the occasional sniff. Lancer was in stunned silence at the prince's rant, never had he once thought about things like that before. Ralsei was right, Lancer DID have it lucky compared to him. Ralsei removed his glasses, pinching the bridge of his nose with his index finger and thumb, presumably to stop himself from further crying, as he turned back to face outside the window, away from Lancer. After a few seconds more of silence, Ralsei spoke, his voice now calmer and softer than before. "I'm sorry Lancer, I didn't mean to snap at you. It's just... I've had those feelings and thoughts for an awfully long time. I just... I don't even know how to put it any more."
"Then don't." Lancer said. "You've got a lot on your mind. Ya just need someone to speak to about 'em. You should do what I do: go for long walks around the Dark World. Heck, I even went round the forest a little more than usual and spoke with this girl monster with three heads. They seem real interested in you, both romantically and-." he explained, before Ralsei interrupted him. "You mean Clover?"
Lancer nodded, Ralsei noticing in the reflection of the window. He sighed before continuing. "Look, I appreciate the gesture Lancer. And... I did notice how they acted around me. For a while, I thought maybe they felt a certain way about me. But, I don't think Clover and I would work. Nothing against them, but the idea of being with three... partners at once... just rubs me the wrong way. I don't know what it is, but it just feels wrong to me." Ralsei explained, his face not moving from the window. Lancer walked up to the prince, his reflection becoming more and more clearer to Ralsei. He only stopped when he was right behind the goat boy. "Well you know you've got me Ralsei. You can talk to me about anything." the king added, wrapping his arms around Ralsei's waist for a hug and resting his head against his back.
Ralsei smiled, as he placed his hat back onto his head. "Thanks Lancer. I'm glad to know you understand." he said, as he continued to observe the Dark World from the window.