"Oh my goodness…!" Noelle said as she saw that she was dressed in her white dress again. "Am I dreaming…?" She pinched her cheek, squeezed her antler and knocked on her hoof. "No, this is m-most certainly not a dream… c-contrary to what Susie t-told me…!"
"This indeed feels so real!" Berdly said as he pulled the same feather on his cheek, which he accidentally pulled out in the process. "Ouch…! It's indeed not a dream. Kris, this is the best secret that you and Susan have ever kept! This'll definitely stay between the four of us!" He then continued to admire his own Dark World attire. "Oh my God! I'm so excited!"
Kris nodded with a small smile, then made a gesture towards their friends to follow them into my Castle Town.
Noelle and Berdly were amazed with the view they just got. It was a small yet bustling metropolis-like setting, and the townspeople were very friendly as well.
In the castle itself, Ralsei and Susie were already awaiting the three friends. They sat at the big table in the dining room.
"What took you guys so long?" Susie asked. "It felt like ages before you guys finally came!"
"Packing up, of course" Berdly replied, "duh!" He had a seat and placed his backpack next to his chair. "Susan, this is the best secret you and Kris have ever kept! This'll definitely stay between the four of us, not going to lie!"
"Better, because I would've pummelled you into roadkill if you did lie."
Noelle also had a seat, directly next to Susie.
"Why d-did you tell me that th-this was a dream…?" she asked.
"I was… um… well, I was afraid you'd… you know… freak out if I, um, told you that it was real? A-and I don't like to see you, um, freak out, y-you know?" The teenage purple crocodile couldn't help but blush for a bit at her confession of having lied to her friend.
"Fahahaha, you're the most s-sympathetic person I've ever g-gotten to know…!"
"So who are your friends anyway, Susie and Kris?" Ralsei asked.
"I'm N-Noelle Holiday… their classmate… and y-you are…?"
"I'm Ralsei. Nice to meet you, Noelle."
"My name is Berdly" Berdly said. "I… um… tried to be Queen's ally before?"
"No need to be ashamed of that, Berdly. It's nice to meet you regardless of that. Now, what would you guys like to drink?"
"Some tea would be nice."
"I-I'd like to have a hot ch-chocolate" Noelle said, "if possible?"
"Tea and hot chocolate" Ralsei confirmed, "coming right up. What about you, Kris? Would you like to have something to drink? Some lemonade, perhaps?"
Kris simply nodded in response.
While the white boss-monster-like friend prepared the drinks, three other Darkners arrived into the dining room: Lancer, Rouxls Kaard and Swatch.
"You guys!" Lancer exclaimed as he frantically sprinted to have a seat in his usual chair. "Never thought I'd see you here again so soon! Especially not chicken nugget man and snow angel!" He happily wiggled a little in excitement.
"Snow angel…?" Noelle chuckled.
"Lancer always gives us silly nicknames" Susie explained. "For instance, I'm 'purple girl'." She then looked at Noelle for a bit. "You do look a little like a snow angel like this, though, so the nickname is indeed pretty fitting for you."
The young doe simply giggled a little in response, blushing and feeling flattered as she did.
"Back so anon?" Rouxls asked as he, too, had a seat. "Doth thou enjoyeth our company? That art good."
"Shall I make you something to drink, Rouxls?" Swatch asked. "I could use a drink myself, too. After all, it's been a way too long day for me." They and Rouxls were trying hard to be on better terms with one another now that they both lived in the same Dark World.
"Pretty I pray thou. Some tea wouldst be nice."
"Then I shall have some, too." Swatch went towards the kitchen block to prepare the drinks.
At the same time, Ralsei gave Kris, Noelle and Berdly their requested drinks.
"Thanks" Kris said, immediately being fascinated by the consumable glitter that calmly twirled around in their azure blue lemonade.
"Thank you very much, Ralsei" Noelle said. "Ooh, look at the pretty star candies…!"
"Thank you kindly" Berdly said as he started warming his wings onto his mug of tea.
"What would you like to drink, Lancer?" Ralsei asked.
"Could I please have one of those hot chocolates, too?" Lancer asked.
"Of course."
"Ooh, yummy!"
Ralsei petted Lancer's head and smiled at him before going back to the kitchen block to prepare the young spadeling's requested drink.
"So" Berdly said as he looked at Lancer, "how are you? Lance, was it?"
"No, no, Lancer, chicken nugget boy. Dark Jack Lancer."
"My apologies, Lancer. But as I was asking, how are you?"
"I'm good, thank you."
"You just… turned to stone the other hour, and it was honestly pretty scary to behold."
"Yeah…" Lancer leaned his head onto his hands and pouted a little, his tongue slightly sticking out of his mouth. "I felt cold back at Girldad's mansion, and then suddenly - crackle, crackle, and another crackle! Everything turned hazy, I could no longer move, and my body got even colder…!" Some tears dripped out of his not-directly-visible eyes, his 'face spade' drooping a little more as it happened. "At least Ralsei, Girldad and the Swatchlings were as kind to bring me back here, and Vice Dad was as kind to give me some remedies…"
"Art thou alright, mine water beetle?" Rouxls asked, noticing that Lancer had started crying a little.
The young spadeling nodded with small head movements.
"Bluebird over here was just wondering what happened back at Girldad's mansion, that's all… It's still scary to think about…"
"Hey, don't worry" Berdly said, "I wasn't blaming you for anything, I was just worried about you, and I'm only very pleased to see you're alright again." He put his left wing around Lancer's shoulder and petted his left arm.
"Thank you… you're too kind…!"
When Ralsei put Lancer's requested hot chocolate in front of him, he, too, joined in to comfort him with a nice, warm hug.
"Today has been a long day, huh?" the boss-monster-like teenager said. "I second that."
"I second that, too" Susie said as she took quite the swig of her hot chocolate. "But your hot chocolate makes it a whole lot better, Ralsei!"
Swatch also settled down with the cups of tea, and immediately started on their own.
"Grammercy, Swatch" Rouxls thanked his new friend.
While having their drinks, everyone told a little about their points of view during this very day.
"It all started with the fact that our teacher wanted us to do group projects" Susie said, "but then Kris fell asleep during morning class, and they didn't wake up until everyone else left at the end of the day!" She laughed loudly.
'You're the most interesting group project partner I've had, Susie' Kris signed with a smirk and a barely visible yet slight side-eye. 'But I do appreciate the fact that you had waited for me outside of the classroom before we left for the library.'
"So yeah, we left for the library afterwards since Noelle invited us, but then, we discovered a new Dark World there, much against our expectations since, of course, we wanted to focus on the group project! One could say we basically got distracted, but luckily, Ralsei came to the rescue despite initially promising to wait for us here in Castle Town!"
"I couldn't help but notice the presence of a new Dark Fountain unexpectedly, really" Ralsei chuckled sheepishly, "but the two of you were happy to see me, in any case, despite indeed promising to wait for one another. I guess that's what friends are for, huh?"
"Now, Berdly, Noelle, how did you guys experience this whole thing when you arrived at the library?"
"W-well…" Noelle said, "it st-started with some sort of, um, eerie s-silence there? I d-didn't have the c-courage to check the door, though…" She let out a nervous chuckle. "So B-Berdly did, and… wham! Darkness! When we b-both wanted to check it out f-from up close, however… it felt like we w-were being sucked into s-s-some sort of weird vortex? A v-vortex of dark m-magic? I mean, it all f-felt so weird…"
"I second that opinion" Berdly said. "I, too, was honestly very surprised to see that eerie darkness behind the doors of the computer lab at the library. And if I may be frank, I, too, found it quite scary when Noelle and I investigated the whole thing." He took a few sips of his tea. "When we came into that Dark World, I felt like I was wading through a big fog that felt even thicker than a whole bunch of cotton wool… but then I inspected my clothes, and I found it pretty cool somewhere! I immediately felt like a hero, which boosted my confidence big-time!"
"But then… Queen… sh-she noticed us, and… she c-captured me in the apparent b-blindness of the internet in th-that world being down! She w-wanted to make me her p-peon, but I didn't… I didn't g-give her any consent! That's, like, not the m-most polite way to let others apply t-to a new function, right?!"
"Whereas Queen indeed captured Noelle to force her to be her peon, I offered this very position for and by myself to Queen instead, and it felt like we immediately got an amazing chemistry within the blink of an eye, to be fair. However, this was soon proven false, as Queen apparently… well, didn't think I was very nice, to say the least? I was then left on my own and captured by her along with Kris and Susan, until they and Lancer somewhat came to rescue me and made me realise some very important life morals, which is when I decided to join their faction instead in order to rescue Noelle."
"Yeah, b-basically that…" Noelle nodded and fiddled a little with her fingertips. "But it eventually t-turned out that Queen realised sh-she did the wrong things all along… I mean, she w-was pretty nice and everything, b-but she indeed should've put s-stuff in a different way sooner! If only the internet wouldn't be down!"
"If you lot wish to see Queen" Swatch said, "she'll return from the store soon. The other minute, she mentioned something about cashews for King…?"
"Ah, yes" Susie chuckled. "Kris, Ralsei and I visited that big bad guy at his cell half an hour ago, and then Queen suddenly came to mock him before being requested to buy a bag of cashews for him, also apparently known as 'Kingy Wingy'…!" She then burst out in loud, somewhat mocking laughter, which made Kris and Berdly chuckle along.
"Girldad is a very nice lady indeed" Lancer said. "If only Dad wouldn't have banished her from Card Castle long ago, that was mean of him!" He then warmed his hands on his mug of hot chocolate while taking careful sips, which calmed him down from his franticness significantly. "Whoa, this hot chocolate is more like hot magic… I feel a lot better now! You're the best hot chocolate chef, toothpaste boy!"
"Always delighted to make everyone my special hot chocolate" Ralsei chuckled as he smiled kindly and petted the young spadeling's head.
Within what could possibly be the blink of an eye, the evening fell, and this was where the Dark World sleepover fun was slowly but surely starting up like the Rolling Stones.
First, dinner was served at exactly 6 p.m., which started with a first course: mac 'n cheese, Rouxls Kaard style.
Originally, the mac 'n cheese was a secret recipe, but because of Lancer's high curiosity and tendencies to trumpet stuff around easily, the secret wasn't a secret for that long. The recipe involved the largest available size of macaroni, and a hybrid sauce of pecorino, parmesan, cheddar, gouda, monterey jack and a pinch of black pepper.
Kris, Susie, Berdly and Noelle felt like they were in heaven at the first bite. The creaminess of the hybrid cheese sauce was unbeatable, and in Berdly's case, too divine to top it with sunflower seeds by any means. And right you are about that, Berdly.
"Scrumptious Pasta Like This Needs No Filter By Any Means Burghley I Mean Berdly" Queen commented. "This Is Already As Perfect As It Is, And Such Uniqueness Barely Occurs Unfortunately." She ate her last spoonful and smiled in sheer enjoyment. "Thank You Rouxls For Sharing: Your Perfect Pasta Recipe. You Should Make This More Often."
"But not too oft, mine Queene" Rouxls said, "for I hath made it yesterday-eth as well."
"You Were Simply Perfecting Your Recipe And That's No Big Deal At All."
"That art a good point. I appreciateth thy praise very much."
The next course consisted of a whole galore of foods: stir-fried moss and chalk smothered in the salsa that Lancer often served in exclusive Scarlet Forest tree stumps, crispy fried Pipis topped with Rouxls's roux (the latter being another example of a notable recipe of his), Darkburgers with a side of Giga Salad… there was plenty to choose from, in any case.
Most of these foods were considered peculiar combinations, but enjoyed to the fullest nonetheless. I mean, who would've thought that Swatch knew that Kris and Susie occasionally eat moss and chalk as their respective 'guilty' snacks? Not Berdly and Noelle, in any case.
The last course consisted of two different desserts: one of Ralsei's custom recipes, which was a large Spin Cake decorated with many Hearts Doughnuts and Choco Diamonds, and Queen's favourite type of dessert, which was her own recipe to a banana split with one ball of blue raspberry, lemon and black liquorice ice cream each in between the banana halves, a pretty long row of whipped cream, and some Dark Candies on top.
Kris ended up choosing the banana split, considering that thanks to Queen earlier this day, they might've gotten a little too addicted to bananas since they got offered to them twice.
Ralsei, the sweet tooth that he's always been, was permitted to choose both, and despite the Spin Cake being one of his own recipes, his preference became the banana split anyway due to its more unique combination of flavours.
In response, Queen decided to try a large slice of the Spin Cake as well, and she, too, decided that she liked it better than her own banana split, about which she and Ralsei laughed heartily all along for the rest of dinnertime.
Most of those at the table eventually had both the banana split and the Spin Cake for dessert, and afterwards, it was needless to say that everyone was fully satisfied.
"I'll wash up today" Swatch offered as they started collecting everyone's utensils to bring to the kitchen. "The rest of you should relax."
"I could use a nice, long shower" Susie said as she stood up. "I'm tuckered out!"
"Your room has a bathroom hidden behind your wardrobe" Ralsei said. "If you turn the knob of the right door to the left, you'll be able to access it. If you repeat this step when you're done and back in your room, the hidden door will close itself up. Your room features the same thing, Kris. What do you two think of that?"
"Ooh, a secret bathroom? That's pretty awesome, man!" The teenage purple crocodile immediately went upstairs towards her room, her curiosity having been piqued even higher than Card Castle used to be.
'Does my bathroom have a bathtub, too?' Kris signed. 'Otherwise, I brought those bath bombs along for nothing…'
"Of course it does. I mean, no bathroom is ever complete without one, right?" Ralsei patted Kris's shoulder in a friendly fashion. "Now, please go and relax, you deserve it."
The silent teenager got up from the table as well and headed towards their own room.
"The rooms for each of you are still under construction, Berdly and Noelle. Until then, please feel free to use the big bathroom, which is located on this floor. As for your temporary shared bedroom? It's located on the first floor and easily recognisable by the dull orange door."
"Thank you kindly, Ralsei" Berdly said as he, too, stood up. "C'mon, Noelle, we should put our luggage there." He grabbed his backpack, hoisted it over his right shoulder and headed upstairs, and Noelle followed suit soon after.
The room that Noelle and Berdly temporarily shared didn't look too shabby either. It had a pretty big bunk bed, two wardrobes, a large, wide desk with two comfortable chairs, a modern-looking standing lamp, a small sink in one of the corners, and even a fairly large sofa with a small but luxurious flat-screen TV across it.
"Is it okay if I claim the top bunk?"
"Of course" Noelle replied as she settled herself on the bottom bunk of the bed. "Wow, this feels so n-nostalgic somewhere…"
"I honestly feel the same way. Remember when we went camping in the woods at the end of 6th grade? The bungalow there had bunk beds as well, but they weren't as comfy as this one probably is." The teenage blue bird climbed his way onto the top bunk, sat down, hung his backpack onto the pole the closest to the ladder and took some of his things out of there. "Man, this bed is comfy! Ralsei is a really hospitable guy, isn't he?"
"Yeah…!"
"I wanna go to sleep already. I'm still tuckered out by what happened back at Queen's mansion, and I could instantly fall asleep on this comfy bed."
"Don't y-you want to have a nice shower at f-first?" Noelle grabbed some clean clothes from her backpack and settled her pillow and teddy bear on her bed as well. "I could d-definitely use one."
"Doesn't sound like a bad idea." Berdly also grabbed some clean clothes before getting off of the bed.
The two smart classmates then headed back downstairs, where they entered the bathroom and could not believe what they saw.
"Man, the nostalgia is c-coming back here again…!" the teenage doe gasped in amazement.
The bathroom contained six shower booths, four bathing booths, ten soundproof toilet booths, a large towel and washcloth shelf and a row of ten sinks with an equally wide mirror. The ceiling lights radiated a soft, bluish-purple light, making the atmosphere feel like some sort of mysterious fairy tale aesthetic.
"I wonder if it's merely a coincidence that our bedroom and this bathroom look like this?" Berdly pondered. "Or that Ralsei somehow knows?"
"It's m-most likely the former. Ralsei d-didn't even know us until t-today."
"Yeah, you got a legit point there."
While nearly everyone else was showering or bathing, Ralsei soon found himself helping Swatch put all of the used dishes away after the latter washed them all up.
"You, too, actually deserve to relax, Prince Ralsei" Swatch said. "But I do appreciate your help."
"No problem at all" Ralsei said as he carefully stacked and sorted all of the plates. "Is there anything else I should help you with soon?"
"Not at all."
"Fair enough."
Soon, all of the dishes were clean and stored away, and the fluffy prince finally granted himself some relaxation by grabbing some clean clothes from his room and subsequently having a bath in the same bathroom as where Berdly and Noelle were just done, feeling more content than ever and already being dressed in their sleepwear.
"Hi, Ralsei" Noelle greeted him. "You look to b-be a little overworked, if I m-may be honest."
"Yeah, I indeed kinda am. What do you think of this bathroom and your temporary bedroom, by the way?"
"Nostalgic. It reminded m-me and Berdly of 6th grade camp, where we also had a s-similar bathroom and bunk beds. It kinda f-feels like… magic, too…!"
"That's only very good to hear. I'm glad you're enjoying yourself here so far."
"Fahaha, I am, too…! We should p-play board games together soon, wh-what do you think of that?"
"That doesn't sound like a bad idea. Shall we do so in the main room?"
"Okay…!"
"Then that's a deal." Ralsei soon disappeared in the nearest showering booth.
"Board games, you say?" Berdly asked.
Noelle nodded and giggled a little.
"Think you can beat me in the goose game this time?"
"Fahahaha! We'll s-see about that!"
The two friends were left laughing heartily as they headed towards the main room, where Queen and Swatch were present and the radio was turned on.
"Did you two have a nice shower?" Swatch asked.
"Surely did" Berdly replied as he sat down at the table. "I'm tuckered out big-time, though, but at least I could relax in some way."
"You Should Take It Easy Because I Know How Fatigued You Are Berdly" Queen said. "And I Don't Mind If You Go To Bed Early Tonight Either, Please Do Whatever Pleases You And Don't Worry Too Much About The Others Okay?" She briefly got up and ruffled the feathers on Berdly's head.
"Thanks, Queen. You're too kind."
Noelle, in the meantime, had found the goose game in the cupboard with books and board games, and placed it onto the table before sitting down herself.
"Ready, Berdly…?" she asked with a somewhat excited smile as she opened the box.
"Let the games begin." Berdly returned a similar look to Noelle.