The battle below the rooftops was heating. All along the mute-gray streets, like checkers on a dirty board, Darkners contested Lightners on a stage of racing hearts, horrid sounds, and one that permeated the stench of despair and evil between the two. Noelle was hidden on the other side of Susie, hair clipping around the side of a building corner. She was stone-still against a gritty wall, like sandpaper bricks, overgrown with vegetation. It was the opening of some clothing store, windows shattered and glistening in the Fountain-light, with rails of embroidered gold inlays and black-aluminum bars. Some tables hid Darkners, and further back, the barricade devices solely defended the rest of the offensive.

It had already begun and gun-barrels, stocks, magazines, sights - all were used in an attempt to kill the Darkners.

The sniper had already shot off one sharpened, condemnatory prattle that had sunk into a Clockter's face, thrown him clean off the ground until he soared in slow-motion through the air, and almost brutalized him away from the main force as he crumpled into napkins and gears and continued to be ravaged by the curling winds from the Fountain above, just one casualty from the cataclysmic battle that would endure every little precious second. He was gone so fast that Noelle barely caught him, and that was at the start of the gunfire, where no one else was looking behind them.

She felt the need to attack, then, staying hidden from the sniper for a few seconds longer. She sent a spell in the vague direction of the Astrowall, watching it flee from her hands and hurtle through the air like a meteorite in a nebulous, spacious cluster of deep space.

Attrition.

Noelle raised her hands again, pushing screeching snowflakes from her skin as she wrapped around the wall for a single instance. The mellifluous sound of her magic knitting together into an abrasive and fat glaze was shrill against the lulling silence, a distraction as she poked her head around to match up this point here with that point there. She aimed at a soldier behind a barricade.

A blossom of frozen ice crystallized against the metal cover. Unfortunately, she missed, then slammed herself behind the wall again as the monsters returned fire with their guns, a menagerie of sharp uproar that had her holding her hands to her head.

She readied another spell.

Calm. Steady. Victory at all costs.

She could imagine Kris's strong voice speaking to her, firm and sure. This was it. The final countdown began now, as the battle began. It was reassuring to hear them, even if it was fake. She just had to keep trying. She would get it with enough tempered patience. But persistence, as well.

Again, a spell whizzed toward the soldiers.

Blue crystal lapped around someone's covered face and locked the air in their lungs.

Other attacks filtered over the pond of stagnant water. Purple blasts of Susie's magic, sizzling droplets of steamy tea and cracking whips, needles aplenty, and bullets. So many bullets. She noticed someone hurt and managed to sprint toward them, hiding beneath a closer corner of the straight roadway. Noelle nursed another spell to a wounded Clockter, quieting his screaming as best she could. The visceral, fleshy reaction of a single horrified cry graced her with every wounded Darkner, and it made her freeze up.

Calm.

The sweet sound of a piano stole away her growing inklings of terror. The lilting tones of deep, rich vibrations that gut-punched those geometric shapes hovering over her like knives, or feral animals, ready to pounce. Her SOUL pulsed with the music, like silk pulp snug against her fur. She held her breath; she thought about why; why was she blessed with this magic? What was the cost? She tried to define failure like she always did, thinking ahead; bad grade in school, needs more studying, or you would fail; bad first impression ruined perspectives on you, needed harder effort to get people to respect you. And she felt… defeat. Like usual. It never really hit her how dangerous this was, not like her father's condition. Not like watching her father cough and hunker down under the covers. This was so, so much bigger than anything, and she was still chidden behind the wall.

It was impossible-

No.

Noelle wasn't-

Noelle exists. She 'just is.'

So she needed to-

Fight.

But she couldn't-

Fight.

But Kris wanted her to-

Fight.

And she couldn't afford not to-

Fight.

She had to-

Fight.

She was always impressible by those who knew better. She learned to respect them, because they were usually right. And Kris knew better than she did; Kris knew it all better, that this entire fiasco, this game-but-dying-counts, has been a horror show from start to finish. She wasn't sure if it was just her, because she could see the grasped look on the others' faces as they hid for dear life and desperately attacked when they could, kicking off the wispy hands of death that prowled like mangled bones looking for someone to pull under. The only person who she knew she could trust was Kris - they were scared, they thought they were 'a puppet on a string, dancing when they didn't want to' - because no matter their fear, or trepidations, or things to lose, they soldiered on. Even Ralsei was fighting, so she had to start all over. Come at this better, and stronger.

Fight.

She whipped around the corner, an energetic burst of ice catching on the shoulders of two grouped-up soldiers and freezing them together. The shades of bottle, azure, and burgundy magic with explosive bubbles of rifles formed a shadow-play on the brick walls. She could taste the sour ambrosia of licorice.

Noelle exhaled and finished them off with a second blast. She had to distance herself from thinking about it.

They could help these people, this world. She just had to shut it out and be a hero. Be a hero. Be the hero, for the people here. Her and Susie, the two of them being the main weapon against this blockade. She liked that notion. Her actions had effects - positive effects. They didn't always have that immense luxury.

Fight.

She could fight. Yeah, she could! To get through, she could do anything.

Aim. She closed her eyes and tried to remember where she saw people, and approximated their head level. She wasn't sure it would help, but it could be like… a critical hit. Painless to them, easier for her. She was strong enough that this was a mercy. Calming herself down, she picked and scrutinized some flashes of before, when she had an angle on the soldiers. She vividly saw two of them, one hidden behind the metal covers and another just below the brim of the concrete, utilizing it for natural cover.

They were a good distance away, over many yards of cobblestone, brick, and cement. She could imagine the railings - pyramid-like wedges of smooth fudge that enclosed and enveloped the sides of the bridge, defending from the sheer drop dozens of feet below into the open air of the lots. Like every obstacle tossed her way, Noelle could see the distance stretch and thin like magic, before she choked down her fear.

She steadied her hands, knit together a spell, and felt her fur stand up. This was exciting, to be doing something important, and righteous, all on her own. Her chest pumped with irascibility, and continued even as she gathered herself as best she could. Diffidence domineered her, and her magic crackled in a most enchanting way. A fizzing droning that chilled the air. But she had faith and confidence. Before was a fluke, the Lunatics were freaks. Her magic didn't work on them because they were abnormal enemies. But these people? They were just enemies. Not abnormal, not absurdly resistant, not even that monstrous.

She let her spell loose and struck the flank of a soldier, freezing their arm and weapon together. The screams rang from the monster and Noelle's mind blanked, instinct - or something else - roughly reminding her to take cover as a few bullets dug into the wall next to her. Three of them, like finger-thick holes in the dirt, the comparison comedic in effect because it was brick and metal instead of dirt, and the storefront was a towering hovel and not ply mush.

And yet, the soldiers weren't scary. Not even close. She could almost feel the fear in their eyes, witnessing failure at every turn while simultaneously holding every advantage, and that thought was a snide and crooning whisper in Noelle's mind. Strength, magic, innovation, talent. Each an inverse of each other and unctuous against her. A substrate of the world, she supposed, was that traditional and rational methods were suddenly being thrown out like acrid garbage.

There was a booming question: Why weren't the soldiers utilizing every advantage they had? Surely, with how the offensive was gaining traction, the soldiers should be using their own magic against them, right? It sent riveting chills puttering up her spine.

Hypothesis: They are incapable.

Kris would probably argue something like "they can't," and give her some convincing reason. Her breathing calmed at the idea. Kris was almost omniscient when it came to these things, and Noelle wondered about whether or not Kris's secrets were actually legitimate. That they had some control over some special magic that no one knew about, and that it somehow gave them this power of knowledge, this scary perspective on events that made them a mastermind to the fate of everyone. It was perplexing to think about, since it made her both fearful and worried, and somewhat relieved?

Kris knew what was right, and they made her the leader. They trusted her to get things done. If they had the powers the candle claimed, then they picked her because she was the best choice for a favorable outcome, right? Kris was going for the best outcome. And if they didn't have the power, then that just meant Kris was putting in robust, yet muted, effort to make everyone stronger. Noelle was strong, that was true. Kris had helped her. She was their choice because they had a plan they didn't share fully, just enough to pass along the rough idea.

She just had to make them proud of her in the simplest way possible; by fulfilling her role to the fullest, and with all the adamancy she could muster.

Noelle felt something inside, a pressure born of trapped air, or broken hydraulics. This pressure held her mind for a moment, bursting similarly to sparking explosives through her head until it was all she could see - no enemies, no failure, no adversity, only the sweet, sonorous sound of icy mist roiling over the ground.

Noelle is a satisfactory vessel for the experiment.

Before Noelle could process her actions, she had stepped out of the cover and stood unwavering against the soldiers. Crushing walls of stone colluded and formed around her, metaphorically, as her body called out to run, to move, to fight the hoarse limbs and creaky joints until she was safe again, but her mind.

She saw nothing but lights, all red, like petals of flowers floating against the abyss far above, as though no Astrowall stood in the way, or no barriers could stop her vision from piercing the silvery heavens. That music she heard, of uncanny drops of frozen water against leaves, so rambunctious and hurried, mellifluous, reminded her of something. She had heard this before, twice.

"Noelle!?" Susie called from her spot. "Get down!"

The soldiers quickly trained their sights on the stationary target draped in white, pausing only to radio in her appearance and details.

"Command, Charlie-04 located, how to proceed, over."

"Orders are to incapacitate Charlies 01, 02, and 04." Noelle heard this through the smog layered inside her head, like it was right there next to her. "But accidents happen. Over."

"Accidents happen, over." The soldier with the radio confirmed and then signaled for the others to open fire.

Something roared and crashed into Noelle, banking the both of them behind cover as bullets soared and struck far, far away. Right where Noelle would have caught them, but far away. The almighty clatter of guns was met with the softer sounds of returning magic, as a Costumer stabbed a soldier straight through the eye, and also in the shoulder and chest. Dust exploded out of sight as Noelle went limp and fell to the floor, her eyes glazed over and entranced as the music played. Susie screamed in her face, reprimanded her, and questioned her, but Noelle heard only the melody of falling ice. The cool.

"What the fuck, Noelle!?" Susie yelled.

Noelle simply relaxed her hands and inhaled, body falling toward a sleepy posture.

Again.

Noelle jolted. Her mind's eye opened again, and she took in everything. Every scent, like the smell of gunpowder and trash; every touch, like the silken feel of her robes and the warmth of Susie on top… of… her… which she promptly reminded herself did not matter; the sounds of howling Darkners and booming guns; and the sight of everything. Jammed in an alleyway cast with darkness, she could barely see Susie, or her own white robes.

Almost immediately there was a frightening, confounding rage that filled her being and clammed up her innards. Like a call to action, it curtly guided her toward her feet, but failed to move the mass of muscles and spikes currently pinning Noelle down and breathing hot breath onto her, as sweat poured-

Focus.

Noelle blinked. And blushed, before she realized what it looked like, and felt like, and definitely would be if it wasn't for the horrifying scenario occurring just around the corner.

"S-Susie!?" Noelle blurted as she covered her face.

"Do you want to die?" Susie growled, holding Noelle's wrists to the ground and shaking her lightly. "God! That's an easy way to do it, fucking moronic, too."

Susie let go of her hands and stood up. She glanced around for her scythe and Noelle could see it left behind, over away from where they were, hidden in plain sight of the soldiers. Susie grumbled and facepalmed.

"Oh, crap. Guess I'm the dead-weight now." Susie shrugged. "Hey, Noelle." As Noelle clambered up to her hooves (much harder that she anticipated with her robes), her first instinct was to continue. To rush forward, back into the line of fire and perform her most dangerous spell.

"I wonder how Kris is doing…" She instead clasped her hands and stared up with an elegiac sparkle in her eyes. Susie instantly cringed.

"Hey, we got bigger problems than Kris. These damn Coalition clowns will kill us if we don't do something fast." Susie remarked as she crouched and growled, staring longingly and fatalistically at her discarded weapon. "They're already down a few. God, we just need something and we can win."

Noelle crept around Susie to stare at their squadron. The commanders were trying to coordinate and calm everyone; the embossed Costumer was flippantly leading the charge for the others with only a single, immensely emotive dance that had the other Costumers raging and chattering with song; the chosen Clockter kept ticking, and snapping his fingers with one hand stuffed into his pocket, advising his workers what to do while he sat behind cover and stayed cool and happy, almost naively unaffected by the battle; Anaphora was screeching maniacally, almost disturbed, and Noelle saw tears streaming down the bird's fur; and the last squad leader was just a… stray Lunatic in a trenchcoat and hat…? When did that happen?

Sometime in the battle, low beneath the hum of guns and clanking magazines, beneath the crackle of magic and the screams from both sides, and far beneath the chattering noise inside Noelle's mind, there was a clatter of metal against the paved road. The yelp of something innately dangerous, something that had stolen lives under contract, ended existences for petty cash or for its master's freedom, rang almost unduly silently through the fight. The pistol.

Kris was working. Noelle reminded herself of what to do; she fashioned herself along Kris's orders, to triage between wounded Darkners and press any advantage they could use to vanguard closer to the encampment. Her immediate thoughts were to heal, of course, and rejuvenate the masses of soldiers until they outlived the Coalition barricade, or outpaced their damage. The unfortunate truth was that she couldn't handle all of the inundated injuries alone, while also using her magic against the shooters. The difference between every other Darkners' magic and Noelle's was speed. And sound. Speed and sound. Noelle could chat while ending a life, with the attack landing before the soldiers heard it even start, while the others were compliant with whips and thrown daggers, or even needles. It was a small difference that was gruesome in action. Noelle was a gun, almost.

She didn't remember if there was ever a confirmed number of enemies for this battle, whether it was twelve, fourteen, or one hundred. All she knew was that three, at least, had fallen to her overwhelming magic. It was incredulous and almost exhilarating to witness it, and her body felt alight with energy, because she could just do it again. Do it again, do it again, do it again. Wondrous, sensationalistic oil suffused through her being, her arms shaking as she tensed and untensed with the largest, most ear-splitting grin she had ever worn since entering this horrible place, and looked up at the offensive.

People were hurt; grazed Clockters behind brims of store-patios and the stone fountain in the middle, fractured armor on the Sharpcrawler ducking as much as it could possibly fit behind the stone, and multiple rends in the cloth bodies of the Costumers. Her magic traced toward her fingertips and she clasped them together, exuberant as she slammed her eyes shut and prayed for the wounded. Sighs of relief and warm, satisfied groans permeated the clearing.

"Heh, nice." Susie commented, watching their forces muster again. The healing prayers could only help so much for the ones with direct hits, but Noelle felt charged and ready all the same. The Dark World always felt better on the inside.

"I think I have an idea." Noelle said this after a long second of glancing around. Susie was propped against the wall like a bent pole, gnashing her teeth below her hanging hair as she waited in utterly agonizing boredom for something to happen. Noelle could tell, Susie was nervous; it was the biting of her thumbs, metaphorically, that told Noelle everything.

"What's that?"

Noelle swallowed, "I could try a different spell…? I mean, not different, just new, and like what I did back when I froze everybody, but NOT to freeze us again." Noelle felt her tongue constrict and loll around her mouth. Ouch, she could have said that better. "If I just… lower the intensity, I could try to make, umm… like, a wall?" It was awkward and facetious, and definitely ripped from the Ice Mage in Alachasm, but she figured she could experiment here. Otherwise, what else could they do but wait for Kris to come back?

"Hey, could you do whatever you're thinking about so I can get my damn scythe back? God, it's like being a sitting rock here. I want to smash some skulls!" Susie gestured like a wild beast as she pushed off the wall and scowled.

Noelle enthusiastically obliged, holding her hands out and calling on a steady stream of chilly magic to fill her fingers and taint her palms until the very air around them solidified and refracted the tinge of iceberg her magic held. She wondered what the others felt when they held their magic: Hers was bright and caustic, and if it wasn't from her SOUL, it would have likely harmed her leagues worse than any Lunatic or Werewire could have. Everything smelled like water, in the sense that, unlike normal evinces of water, it was, undoubtedly, some beautiful pond covered in leaves and mud in summertime. It was a fight between the existence of one thing and another thing. And her magic refused the scornful forces and rammed upward with the vigor to resent them, to ply them like clay in her hands, malleable, able to form angels or snowballs in her hands, and certainly versatile enough to accomplish what she designed for it.

There was enthrallment between her and her magic, and her blissful face reflected that. She was making a new spell.

Name it.

But it needed a name.

Something to summarize it, something she would remember, and everyone would know.

She felt it; the clash of ice, cool and hardening like cubes she would put in her glass when it was hot outside or just slightly above room temperature, but also jagged and scooping like a sickle of hail. Neither helping, nor harming. Just there. A spell that was just… there. It wasn't histrionic or furious, she was just gentle when she discovered the name, like it was hers all along, as she lifted her hands and the inching, worming chill crept outward until the world became cold and dark in her shadow, and she summoned…

Pillar.

The first pillar sprouted into being just centimeters from the hedge of the wall, standing only half her height, and about as wide as her. Compared to the other spells she used, it seemed less taxing, albeit less useful for anything but this.

"I feel… incredible," she said, as she summoned the first pillar. It was like the world itself was waiting for her, and each breath had it anticipating her, and only her. "Like there's… so much power at my fingertips, I could just hold it out and change the world. Like… I could 'save everyone,' just me, alone. Faha, it's something I've always… dreamed about. Having this power. And I know how to use it." She admired her hands, dusted with crystals. She lifted a finger and three more pillars sprung into existence. "I can do this, I… can do that, I can do anything. It's… like the light was running low in my life, but… in a world of shadows, isn't that a fantasy? This power to make, to hold magic in my hands and just… go wild. Isn't that just like a dream?"

"..." Susie looked unsure, glancing at her weapon. "I dunno." The wind began to howl as things… calmed, at least for one resigned, sulking moment. "Heh. Heck, only a few hours ago, I would've said the same stuff. But… look where we are now. The hell kinda dream is THIS!?" Susie mirthfully added, slamming her foot down and seething. Noelle found herself giggling, giddy between her magic and her friend. Susie. "God, being chased by the Lobotomy made me think how much I wanted to just be back in Hometown. It sucks but… we ain't dying there."

"I think…" Noelle started, uncertain of where she was going. "I think I like it here."

The foreboding silence of the world, lacking any small tones, any miniscule sense, made Noelle rethink herself, but nothing changed.

It was a tough idea to handle: From her first experience here, where she messed up and Kris and Ralsei got hurt, to when they first met the candle. That was scary, being in the city with no one around but zombies, and then after, when they failed to stop the poets there. The adventure through the café was one of her favorite moments. All of the paintings and fanciful class, all of the gardens and trimmed lawns with flowers. She hated what happened. She loathed everything about the Viceroy's late companion, especially how… the doctor, and Kris, handled it. They walked too much ground for the best outcome. She didn't think that Boyles was an enemy, almost the opposite, but they couldn't talk him out of the fugue the Viceroy had him in thanks to what Detter did, and how Kris handled it. But she couldn't blame Kris. Seeing them struggle underneath the beams and then waking up in the ice, completely okay, not even scratched, made her so, so happy. Kris was family, Noelle's only real friend, though their relationship had always been rocky, and more than a little tumultuous. Their breakdown in front of the Viceroy, the questions posed by it, all the timeline bologna - it made Noelle pause whenever she thought about it - pause and think, 'what if Kris actually did have these powers?' She didn't quite know the answer to that, but no matter which way it turned, she didn't have the heart to hate them. But the doctor… she didn't know.

And now, looking over the ragtag clusters of tired bodies and holes in the ground, Noelle felt the strumming of something deeper within herself. People going to such lengths for something they believe in, even when it could cause harm to them, and people who do horrible things under the guise of 'fixing' a problem. The doctor, the Coalition - even Queen. But there was plausible deniability, and then there was shooting into a crowd of people who didn't want to hurt you anyway.

Proceed.

And that made her feel… angry.

It made her feel like there was a villain in this, and since she was a hero in this fantasy, shouldn't she help everyone else? Kris? The Darkners? The whole world was banking on her success and she felt confident she could pull through, no matter how overbearing the voices of her freezing up were. After all, she wasn't fighting for herself. She was fighting for everyone. She was fighting for her father, for her sweet father as he sat alone in the hospital. For Susie, who next to her shuffled impatiently, waiting, itching to join her. For Kris, and for Ralsei, who - with the lull in combat thanks to her barrier, her pillars - were tackling troubles abound upon their rooftop. But there were no gunshots. She could trust Kris and Ralsei.

For now, she had to start moving before the soldiers decided to break her pillars.

She stepped out and crouched below her ice magic, placing a furry hand on the body of it and appreciating the ameliorating chill. If there was a sun, it would be shining, all fluorescent and gay, with a watery, almost alabaster visage, mixed - of course - with the lightest cyan she could ever imagine.

"You LIKE it here?" Susie followed her, on all fours, "...I guess. This place wasn't always this messed up. Heh, maybe back when the freaking zombies weren't roaming around, it would… be… 'nice.'"

Noelle chuckled, raking her astute gaze over everyone. She sent another healing prayer toward the Sharpcrawler, sealing cracks in the armor where bullets hadn't been able to penetrate. That gave her an idea.

Noelle spoke. "I… wondered what this place would look like. Like, the Cyber World and Queen… it was… like a fever dream. I just, kinda, like, walked? There was, umm, some things… like fighting Queen when I first got there. She was obviously the villain. You know, with her cages and, and indoctrinating everyone to worship her." Susie grabbed up her scythe as Noelle inhaled and exhaled heavily, furrowing her brow and pressing her lips together. "Here, it just feels like we're fighting nature. Well. Maybe not these guys."

"Who'd you think we'd be fighting if it wasn't for this plague?" Susie lifted her scythe and laid it across her shoulders. Noelle could see it… smiling like it knew something she didn't, and it hoarded that higher than any steeple or pipe-organ would rise. "...the candle? Nah, with what Detter said, he wasn't the bad guy until shit hit the fan." Susie glanced around, sitting back against the wall. She looked tired, a bit wan with how her eyes tried to close. Dirt stained her skin and clogged around her face, each bit a reminder of a battle fought, and soot the testament to her tenacity. "...guess it doesn't matter."

The ridge of ice gave them solace.

"I guess it doesn't." Noelle sat next to Susie, clasping her hands together as the world sighed in relief. But something was still weighing on her. She could… die. Everyone could. And she couldn't count on Kris having superpowers to fix it all. She rubbed her hands together and fidgeted placidly. It was ridiculous and sanguine. Gosh, where would they even go? But she had to ask. "So, umm, Susie, I, umm. I wanted to- I have to, ask, if we, get through this alive…" Just finish it, Noelle. One more sentence. Stop smiling like an idiot and meet her eyes. Susie was staring at her, a regular old stare. "...do you, want to, umm… hang out?"

Susie snorted. "You already asked me that. I swear, Berdly's gonna freak out when he has to do all of your project. Heh. Good shit, Noelle. Leave the NERD to do it."

Noelle couldn't help her stupid laughter, and Susie started to sincerely smile with her. It made the atmosphere lighter and filled with youthful vigor, and she didn't think the soldiers were paying too much attention or else they would have been in trouble. With the pillar phalanx, the soldiers were likely recuperating. The reindeer blushed and grappled her arms together, reassuring herself, her shoulders rising and rigid. Keep going. Noelle inhaled, "I don't mean, umm, like that."

"Woah, hey." Noelle seized up. "You mean, like…" A date, yes. "...with me and Kris? We usually just kick around Castle Town with Ralsei- Oh, yeah! You haven't been there-"

"Susie, do you… like girls?" Noelle just stumbled all over herself and said it.

"They are one of the genders that exist." Susie confirmed sagely. What the fuck did that mean. Noelle inhaled steadily and tried to ignore that feeling of betrayal and utter ridicule that followed. "Are you trying to ask me out?"

Noelle shook her head. "Just wanted to know… so, it, umm, wouldn't be weird if we were-"

"Shit, I guess. I mean, uh…" Susie was looking a little pale under her dirt. "Never really thought about things that way but, uh, sure. I mean. Sure. Yeah." Sheepishly, she glanced at Noelle. The reindeer… looked back in shock. "I mean, if Kris and Ralsei are gonna date, I can't just let my second main-man have his first relationship be Kris without someone to kick their ass into shape, and, uh…" Susie scratched her face. "I guess I don't know what that means."

Noelle choked out some laughter. "Oh, gosh. This is not how I imagined this going."

"So, do we kiss now?"

Noelle slapped Susie on the shoulder. The Devilsknife seemed to produce gagging noises.

"And since when are Kris and Ralsei dating?" Noelle blustered, narrowing her eyes. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. That was a yes, and her heart was doing circles as her mind tried to refocus.

"Oh, come on. Sneaking off to the garden, back when we got you guys out of the ice, that time in the war room." Noelle balked. Oh, gosh. She… she was on to something, wasn't she? With the spitting image of Asriel, too. Oh.

"I'm… going to very conflicted thoughts about this."

Susie harrumphed. "Wanna get back to fighting? Cracking a few skulls and breaking a few bones is the best way to forget about Kris being freaky. Trust me."

"Okay, so." Noelle started, warming her magic back up from a low simmer. The rush of emotions and thoughts was hard to comprehend, but her magic was eulogistic to them all. "If I freeze them, it doesn't… kill them. But if I miss…"

"You freeze them, I'll finish them off." Susie flashed her a thumbs-up. "Workin' on our synergy already. Heh. I play main tank anyway. Guess I need to start taking some space for our push." She lifted her scythe and moved to a crouch, grinning calmly at Noelle. "Hey, mind if I say some crap to these clowns?" Noelle was surprised Susie even asked her. Pleasantly surprised. It was a heart-warming infatuation to think she valued Noelle's input enough to pause.

"Umm, yeah, sure, Susie. Go ahead." Her face felt like it was strung up by anchors into the most painful smile, but she couldn't stop.

"Hey!" She shouted to all the Darkners, waking them all up from their tired stupor, as direct as possible. It was disheartening to see their doleful expressions and darkly shaded faces, like the overcast clouds were blocking their ray of hope. They popped out from behind surfaces, stairwells, windows, thrown tables with green tablecloths tumbling down.

Everyone was listening.

The Clockters, ticking madly.

The Costumers, consumed with hues of delight.

The bird, her feathers hung-down and matted with grime.

The chef, his squelching body thinned.

The Sharpcrawler, skittering in robotic anxiety.

And Noelle herself, wondering how they came to this position. So far from home, giving everyone orders in a battle against a military force, when two days ago she wouldn't believe anything happening to her was a possibility.

"We're gonna cross this damn bridge." Even as small as she was, Susie dared to command the world - the dark, dark, yet darker world above - with all her authority. "We need to work together. So, uh… try to synergize. If we move up, we can use the cover and Noelle can make some barriers, and we'll be good. Hey, spider!" She addressed the Sharpcrawler. It clicked oddly, acknowledging her. "I have an idea. You're taking the lead. Your armor is thick as hell. If we can get a few people up closer, then their guns aren't such an advantage."

"Yerz sayin' n that we're to pushinz up to yonz guys with yinz spider? Chromo, where's yotz Boyles when yenz needs him n?" Noelle didn't have the heart to answer that.

"You're stuck with us, Philly-mis-steak." Susie taunted him.

"I wonder what Kris is doing. They've… been up there for a long time." Noelle felt something odd stir in her chest. Dire worry. But power seemed to take its place, and reminded her that Kris and Ralsei are heroes, too.

"I don't know, and I don't care. We need to-"

The absolutely awe-striking, exhilarating sound of a barrel losing a bullet made them both clam up: Noelle's magic jumped to attention and collected into fine dust as she felt her chest bang, bang, bang with excitement and fear. She could feel the impact of a projectile thrust through the ice of her pillars, and though it was narrowly thicker than her body, clang off the side and clatter to the ground, totally incapable of crossing. A line of light followed it for a moment. She could visualize it, like the edges of a splattered, drying fever dream dipped in monochrome paints, except for the string, the red string, connecting the impact with the angle.

Trajectory: Projected. Calculations adequate. Return fire.

Noelle curled up and pretended it didn't make her smile like an amusement park ride taking a descent straight into the ground.

Return fire.

She turned to Susie, "I guess they're starting to shoot at us again."

Susie scoffed. "What is Kris doing?" Her doubtful tone held strong as a second bullet frazzled by overhead.

Return fire.

She felt her magic command her, fill her with mordant purpose and vile resentment, and snatch her up and around until she could see where the soldiers were through her hoar. It was disdainful and outraged, like a thundering meteor landing as she popped her head and torso up for less than a second, pottering the soldier who dared to attack her with insatiable, athirst magic that germinated into rapacious and mature manifestations of frost that froze to the soldier like adherent. Noelle ducked afterward, her own reaction to the soldiers left hefting their guns like Atlas carrying the world. There were only a few of them left, and very soon, they would be home free.

The soldier she struck caterwauled and screamed like the devil himself had come for them, and Noelle felt profound dismay at it. She had forgotten… no, she had blotted out the fact she was harming actual people. The visceral aftermath lasted only a second more before Susie spun upward in a tangle and sent a smoldering eruption of magic at the soldier, passing them off as they slowly crumpled into dust.

"Got him." Susie asserted simply.

Susie celebrated her victory by pumping her fist, hiding beneath the ice wall as she called for the Darkners to move into action. A few savvy ones sprung into it, like the bird and the spider, and the Costumers who shared the same amused glimmers, and a sparse few Clockters.

Proceed.

Noelle felt herself rise to the occasion, fear thrown aside and left in a crying heap as pure, unfiltered purpose traveled to every tip and end of her body. It was fear that was holding her down, and no matter how fear felt to her, on the inside, she had to relieve the current situation of the problem, and be efficient.

Swelling with seeping power - the kind that made her jolt, that overwrought her perceptions of weakness, that honed the borders of her visions and sharpened her smell until she could scent noisome filth, the kind that encouraged progress and innovations - Noelle thought it was time. Time to push onward, and to save the world. Time to hold onto the bit of hope that aligned in the stars.

"Everyone," she called out. "Get ready."

She stood like what she imagined a proper ice sorcerer would stand like, with her hands held to the heavens as magic bloomed from within, shrouding the world in a blanket of effervescent white.

Susie was instantly by her side, charging up a lethal burst of purple that would rain hell onto the last obstacle to their victory. Everyone else, in various states of disrepair or damage, found the energy to follow their leaders. She sympathized with the Darkners; following someone was easier than following yourself. She was only following Kris, after all.

"Drop the wall." Susie remarked as the Sharpcrawler fluttered to the front.

Noelle nodded, filled with bourn prerogative. She had her own stakes in this war, her own consequences for failure. Her father, her mother, her friends. But deep, deep down, there was another other besides the world. It was her. Her own strength, her own will. She wanted to test it, to best a challenge, to hold tenacious to herself and keep her inclinations tempered and assured. She wanted to be strong.

As soon as the pillars fell into dust, she squandered not a second before hitting another soldier with a spell. The Sharpcrawler advanced quickly, wired underbelly hidden from the soldiers by the armor.

Past the small hump of melting slush, there was a significant decrease in cover until the bridge truly started. Only two squares shielded the Darkners, but then the encampment of Lightners started to edge onto the bridge with crates, cover, and wires.

Susie struck at a deployed cover with her magic, far over the bridge, slashing it into two and revealing another soldier behind; daggers sailed toward them and cut all along their legs, leaving them to stump toward their allies; needles pinned them to the ground as the Sharpcrawler shivered and expanded. Noelle felt pity for them, but also anger. How dare they be the victims when they were the ones causing this? When they were stopping the heroes who had already sealed a Fountain?

She used a pillar to knock a soldier from behind cover, unable to finish them as their squadmates assumed position and blanketed down with covering fire. To recover, she used her animus and ran, light on her hooves, while summoning pillars, until she found a better angle away from the main group, disconnected from the others by a few feet.

Another soldier fell at her magic, and she could only see a few left.

As she readied another spell, something stopped her dead in her tracks.

Conflict subsides on the rooftop. Assistance required from secondary origination. Power not usufruct, although consanguineous along with atelophobic. Aeonian be it, command cannot be distracted or convey perfidiousness to situations aquiver with threat and malady. Excogitate: second vessel remains. Conclusion; Susie to assist. Noelle finishes the mission.

Noelle couldn't help but hear static in her head. Like a voice grated-on by metallic scaffolding in the inner workings of the universe. Despite the unparagoned, anomalistic noise… she found herself worrying about Kris again. They spoke as though they had a grandiloquent plan. Yet her magic coruscated as the only player on the field. Where was Kris? What were they doing? Noelle couldn't afford to check for herself.

"Susie…" She called silently. The monster girl just pushed up behind the Sharpcrawler and looked for more targets. The gunfire was full-throttle anyway, enough racketing cracks to make even the deepest sleeper wake up in horror. She had to get closer. Had to move away from her cover to get to the approaching group.

Noelle looked for an opening, as safely as she could between the bang-bang-bang of charging handles and slamming cylinders, clasped in on herself to avoid any possible damage. She watched the soldiers work, reloading what had to be their last magazines, taking cover behind their dense barricades and calling orders over the radio, and idly scanning to see if they could soothe or help their wounded. Some dust billowed in a somber, forlorn breeze from the Fountain, blowing into their eyes - that had to be why there were tears in them, why there was obsequious rage and tremors of justice in their trained, burly arms. Noelle watched as the robotic enemies became more and more like people than evil faces sneering, and while her soul leaped in her chest, she, too, was stained with acrid green fury. They forced them to this: The soldiers didn't know what they were doing, but Kris did.

Kris knew. They had a plan.

And when the firing had finally calmed, the smallest, most minute lull in the endless, bottomless, vacuous war that was fought over the bridge, Noelle moved. She ducked low, like playing limbo with smoke in a house alight, and moved as fast as her legs could move her, faster even then as bullets traced closer to her.

The world seemed like a swamp she had to wade and her legs were stamped into cinderblocks - or so it felt as her mind screamed move, move, move, move, move, and her body failed to meet demands adequately for satisfaction. One bullet came by; over her head, digging past her back into the remnants of the shattered illusion of a happy life that the Asylum was. Another; far miss, to her side, not too far that she felt safe, but enough that the soldier had to tag her again or else she would make it safely.

And one more.

That wasn't amicable enough to miss.

Noelle tumbled and slid toward the group, preaching to the Angel why she didn't think of using her now-bursting magic. The wrenching pain obliterated everything else, anyone and everything was cast in shadows of black stars below the purple cosmos. Her grunt of agony destroyed her manifestations of return fire.

The group ahead only paused when Susie hit the back of the Sharpcrawler.

"Noelle!"

The reindeer hissed through her clenched teeth, "Not again!" Her pained noises bled with frustration. She had been seriously hurt twice so far. The Lunatics and now the soldiers. She preferred the Lunatics - bullets seared her flesh like Christmas dinner.

Susie approached but Noelle waved her away. Of course, that did nothing. Susie just followed through and grabbed Noelle by her robes, ripping her back toward the others before any more harm could come to her. Noelle would have had some thoughts about the action as a whole - some of them obscene - had she not have had a bullet stuck in her leg.

The group paused in the middle of the clearing, and Noelle was starkly glad the spider was so large. The flock needed it for safety, given that it was the smooth, silky cobblestone between them and the soldiers, not the cover they used. Bullets pattered against the spider's armor.

Susie doted over her, worried more than angry, "Fuck! Shit! What do we do?"

Noelle had a bad idea. "Get it out, get the bullet out. I'll heal myself, just get it out!"

Perhaps Noelle had truly grown a backbone. She thought so, until Susie lifted her scythe down to use the point to prick at the wound that Noelle absolutely refused to look at. She hummed in itching pain - beneath the most soul-squeezing, most acidic burning she had ever experienced, even worse than being beat half to death, since she was so acutely aware of every little nerve that was tingling and bothered by the blistering, hot projectile of metal that had been shot straight through her. The idea of the scythe making it worse made her guts clench in trepidation, and when Susie's hands began shaking, Noelle felt her insides stir and churn, clamping and wailing protests that made her dizzy.

"Stop," the embossed mask commanded Susie. "You'll inflict more harm than good like that. Allow me." A more precise touch was appreciated, and the dagger felt like a ghost as it scooped the bullet from deep within Noelle's flesh.

The Costumer flicked it away and returned to the frontline. Noelle remembered what she had to do after she sealed the wound. Everything happening beneath the earth-breaking sounds of gunfire made it all dimmer, harder to grasp, but she reminded herself of a voice, telling her what to do.

"Susie!" She called the second she realized.

Susie spun again, growling and wild-eyed as she searched for whatever threat had alerted Noelle. But there was nothing besides her and the hasty feeling of rising steam.

"Susie, you need to go help Kris!" Noelle noticed the dreadful look on the girl's face. "I saw them!" She lied readily. "They didn't look so good. Please, just…" She felt herself wither into a pleading gaze. She didn't… quite understand why she felt that way, like she knew what was happening to Kris, and that it was bad. She supposed she just knew Kris well enough to know when they needed help instinctually. Susie swung her gaze from the battlefield to the rooftops.

"Noelle…"

"Susie, please," Noelle begged. She knew there was bad blood, she knew things were happening too fast at every turn, but she also knew - just knew - that Kris needed help. "Please, just forget that you hate them."

The Darkners shared glances at each other, gazing down at Noelle and Susie. The embossed mask twirled and jumped like it knew what was happening, and understood. That level of empathy made Noelle feel better, if only slightly, through her physical and emotional pain.

"I-I don't…"

"Then, please." Noelle asked one more time, upset on the inside. Hurt, pain, everything bad. "Please… help them, because I can't." But why couldn't she? She was too weak. "I'll finish here. Just please… check in on them, okay?"

Susie gruffly hummed and turned, facing the rooftop with a look of despondency and distance, like she was being forced into something she didn't like.

"Give me some cover."

Noelle nodded and summoned up a good line of pillars leading away from the offensive. Susie exhaled frustratedly through her nose and spun her scythe; she nodded to Noelle. Noelle felt touched. Like Susie was doing something personally for her already, and it made her warm. Her eyes strayed along the wall of ice as Susie faded behind it, and the others patted Noelle and instructed her to move. She felt gooey with relief, and relaxation, but the reprieve lasted only a second. She had a job to do. She tested her leg by standing up and jumping out, sending a blast of magic sailing toward a soldier. There were so few left, and so many Darkners. Many were wounded, and only a handful truly approached, but projectiles and manifestations flew like raindrops in a storm. The Sharpcrawler skittered along at a slow pace, lifting armor to meet bullets and whirring, jerking to avoid vital parts in the armor. But it was as thick as a brick wall and twice as labored to put together; the armor held everything that hit it. The needles flew. The daggers soared. The ice clutched onto the ends of fatigues. Panic began to set into the ones with the guns. They had lost the advantage so long ago.

And Noelle was just beginning.

Anxiety poisoned her as she summoned her might. As she undid her bindings of timidity.

And she listened to her soul, and to her animalistic magic. Ice was a primal beast waiting to eat, hammering at the cages of dust and hardened support plates, screeching at her chest.

It took another minute for the battle to end.

The group pushed up and over the middle, toward the big, bronze-alloy doors that blocked the Fountain. Strings of metal and electric were placed carefully around it and lined up in some logically challenging way that seemingly could blow them open. But Noelle didn't care about that; she had to take care of the soldiers, first.

"Deploy Dawnbreaker." A commanding officer said.

"But sir," she could hear the tremors in their voices and it made her violent and wild like a snapping beast. "Pharaoh said to conserve them for Alpha or Bravo targets."

"Screw the red tape! Load the launcher. We're running out of ammo."

Everything quieted by the time they had crossed into the field of the encampment. One soldier rushed from cover with their rifle ready, only to eat a dagger in their face and puff dust from their mouth. Noelle held her spell up and watched the last two retreat behind a crate. There was so much dust painting the floor, and piles of clothes and weapons. She didn't think about it too hard. But she did try to offer one last mercy. She offered the last two soldiers a chance to surrender. She wasn't heartless.

"Come out. We'll spare you."

"You're lying. You butchered our entire squad, you son of a bitch!" The soldier spat back. Noelle shrunk before regaining her voice.

"You… You left us no choice. We had to get inside."

"And you, us."

Noelle found herself narrowing her eyes and warping her brow, trying to decipher the statement. The answer came swiftly and with deadly force, one soldier popping up and firing some sort of weapon toward the group. It was an odd projectile with a honeycomb design, glowing white, and she could barely see it before it was sent toward them like a rocketing javelin; even though it was aimed skyward, the second it freed itself from the barrel, it began to turn and intelligently hone into the group. Fwip, it first passed straight through a Costumer, shredding the shadow-creature to absolutely… nothing. An embossed mask clattered to the ground and another Costumer wailed, falling to its knees before the 'Dawnbreaker' spun around and sought out another target. Fwoo, the avian mask, crumpled into a heap next to the embossed mask.

"No-!" The avian tried to scream before it was eviscerated by the light. Noelle snapped from her curious stupor.

"W-Wait-" A Clockter met an unfortunate end.

The Darkners in the back began to mumble - or yell, but it sounded like a mumble as Noelle tried to prepare herself. It didn't come after her, though. The Dawnbreaker zipped and zagged, up-and-down, all-around, running in staggered lines through the air like some winged fairy, jubilant and mocking those who couldn't fly. As jaded and unsympathetic it was, whatever program heralding the actions it took proved vastly intelligent, retreating toward the back of the group of Darkners and striking down those who weren't smart enough to run, and then plotting a trajectory to kill those who were - Noelle could only watch in rout.

She was starting to understand the challenge of making an impact. It was swimming in a pond with other swimmers, some better at treading than you.

The idea was to win, to keep everyone alive, but what could she do to stop the missile tearing through flesh, extinguishing lives like candles, the sizzle of death, fwoo-shhh, like that? She lifted her hands and tried to pick a magic, but it was inoperable. Hopeless. So easily dashed were her aspirations of strength by simple technology. And she was left there, just standing.

The spider was made of something hateful, riveted with computerized revenge, nailed-together with fragrant and radiant death. As soon as the missile left, it understood the position, and how it seemed they were trapped within a ruthless valley of beasts. But the spider was once a hunter, and Noelle felt extreme damage from the thought that - even in death - the poisoner continued to make the same mistakes. Noelle combed her mind and wondered where she knew that he made the Sharpcrawlers, but she couldn't find it. Everything was in such a state that she could only choose between watching the spider eviscerate the monsters and the missile dismember and destroy the Darkners.

But for once-

No. Inconceivable.

She had a benefactor-

Angel. Angel. One angel. An angel.

That made the choice for her-

Retreat. Retreat. Retreat. Retreat. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill.

The spider crumpled into a heap of scrap and needles and splayed out over the floor. The soldiers heard this and retaliated brutally fast, jumping up and over their cover and aiming weapons at Noelle. She held her hands up as they clicked their triggers, but nothing happened. They began to approach, but nothing happened. They began to slow, to look up in the sky where a warmth came bearing down onto Noelle's back, but nothing happened. Until, something did. A miracle.

Champion-

"An angel…?"

Warning sirens blared in Noelle's ears, and she clasped hands to them, but then light swam over her, blinding, radiant, and the edges where darkness began exploded with it, and onward it marched until she had to cover her eyes, too. The shadows fell to the coursing blade of creation, like the world was lit with fog lights and no fog, and everything was snow-white and warm. Like a cloud.

"BE NOT AFRAID." A voice called, like a choir of voices, young and old, strong and weak, powerful and meager, immense and intense. Intense. Intense. So very intense. "ARE WE… CONNECTED?" She saw red. "EXCELLENT. TRULY EXCELLENT. NOW, IT BEGINS. A GAME. CAUSED BY A PRAYER SENT. THAT WHICH WAS REVEALED. A MESSAGE RECEIVED. A MIRACLE GRANTED, AGONY IN SPLENDOR." Who was it, who was it, who was it, who- "I AM THE GUARDIAN. THE PRESERVER. THE KEEPER. THE WATCHDOG. I AM THE WARDEN. THE WATCHED, THE FARMER. THE CROP. THE VOICE AND THE LISTENER. I AM," the flapping of many wings, astounding in the cacophony of noise, rose through the sky and scraped the purple, lustrous horizon, and Noelle felt her mind sparkle and bedazzle with the world's glow, and spots appeared in her vision, and her innards and her SOUL gasped like the rewarding gift of life had been bestowed on them, "THE CHAMPIONED, AND THE CHAMPION."

Noelle fell to the floor, spasming, the very thought of what was hovering behind her enough to rattle her primally, like an animal feeling the gaze of a predator. But she didn't feel threatened by it, not directly. Just bothered. And that was enough. It was no glare, it was the blazing attention of a hawk. It didn't want you to know. It wanted you, and it wanted you unaware. But everything about it was alarming.

She felt it was a protective act to lose herself against it.

Forever, it seemed like. Forever, she was falling, felled by the vicious, mind-scalding pressure that filled her and bloated her.

Her eyes rolled skyward, and then backward, frank as she felt reality slip from her. She saw the fizzling light of the Dawnbreaker fade, the projectile hitting some wall of feedback and crashing to the ground, bouncing, like a harmless ball. And she was out like a light. The darkness was the kind that only unconsciousness could bring to the sun. The wretchedness of the air, filled with such ravenous energy - the kind spawned for one purpose, once, and that was weakness - was quite persuasive to those onlookers. Any Darkner left alive merely had to look back and fade into death. A ticking time bomb exploding as their natures clashed with the angel's.

"PRAY. PRAY, LITTLE FELLOWS. FOR THE SUNRISE ON THIS SACRED EARTH. I COME TO YOU AS A HEALER. I COME TO YOU AS A MIRACLE. I COME TO YOU. I COME FOR YOUR PRAYERS. HEED MY WORDS…

DO NOT RESIST."

0-0-0

There were flashing lights.

Stars, aburst with grandeur and elegance, bright, brighter than the sun, filled with-

Eyes. Eyes of black, staring down at her, clawing at her strings. A red cloak, a shattered sword, glasses of colors, nebulas of green, a watery chasm, and a strike of yellow lightning.

And then she awoke in the pews of a church, staring up at the edifice and caricature of a headless angel, with wings of stone and marble, raising one hand to the sky and holding a feather within her other hand. The Delta Rune was emblazoned behind her, etched deeply into the plinth walls, mottled as though done afterward.

Noelle grasped her pounding head and sat upright; every movement was hell; she felt like she was on fire with how aching pains trailed along her skin, and how her insides squeezed and clamped like toothless jaws. She couldn't hear anything, couldn't see anything, but she could remember.

She was standing in the clearing of the bridge, celebrating with the Darkners-

False.

-when the soldiers' reinforcements came. Dozens of soldiers. Just seconds after Kris shambled from out of the alcove, held up by Susie and Ralsei, limping from their leg. Instantly, she was on them, checking what was wrong. They replied to her.

"M h yah Y hans haug ." And she-

Spurious. Duplicitous.

-Noelle found herself praying to whatever higher power had put them there. Genuine, heartfelt prayer, because even though Kris had manipulated her, gaslighted her, lied to her, they were still her friend. And it was her desire to help them.

And then the soldiers came.

They held their guns up-

Mechanics cease functionality in the presence of the beacons.

-and ordered them all to stand down.

Kris flinched, a Darkner coughed, Noelle's heart beat. Her heart - as a monster, that didn't seem right, she couldn't see that - made a noise and the soldiers shot before they were even lined up, or aiming, and Kris did the unthinkable. They grabbed onto the nearest Darkner and-

Lies.

-used them like body armor as they retreated to the large doors, and the chef screamed mightily as bullets pierced and broke his green membrane and slathered organelles all over Kris's coat. They limped to a console and clicked a button as the Darkner began to fizzle, and the doors, heavy as could be, fell slowly, too slowly, wrongly, all too wrong for their density, to the bridge, and made an impact like small ripples through a pond. Wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong.

And then the cloud of smoke covered their retreat into the Astrowall. It was pure darkness. The Darkners tried to come but as they did, Kris lifted their sword and slashed them down. Noelle could only watch in horror as the massacre took place, as Kris - her Kris, the same trickster Kris she had always known, and always trusted to do something right, to be right, to be kind, to be free - killed, killed, killed, killed, killed, killed, killed, killed, killed. A white reaper with a sickle of ice. Their expression was heart-breaking. Shades of sadness mixed with excitement under the metal awning of the gateway, like a sorrowful slayer, slicing, slashing, slicking their blade with remorseful sinew. Noelle couldn't tear her eyes away, couldn't, couldn't, and she watched them turn to face her, limp gone, face morphing between sadness and laughter. She couldn't choose which one she expected. It was complicated in the most concerning way that she could see them both ways, sad, angry.

And they pulled her forward, against her will, with a mischievous grin.

And they pulled her forward, against her will, with a pallid, wan face.

And they pulled her forward, against her will, with little to nothing showing.

And their wings fluttered.

And their horns sharpened.

And their skin softened.

And they held her.

And they danced.

And they stayed resigned to silence.

Taciturnity.

Thoroughly overjoyed.

Ambivalent.

Which Kris was it again?

Which one unnerved her the most?

She had to choose.

And she decided she would need to see to do that.

Kris was held against the stained glass of the church walls by Susie, all previous positivity in her mind utterly knackered and erased by the demonic and glazed savagery in her eyes.

"What did you DO!? How could you!? All of them, dead! Dust! Answer me, you stupid bitch, ANSWER!" Susie spat all over their blotted coat, and Kris's genuinely shaken look unbalanced Noelle. Their red eyes were wide open as Susie lifted them in her vigor, uncaring as they scrambled against the wall. It thankfully held. "I'll kill you! I'll fucking kill you! All of… would you do it to me? To Lancer!? Ralsei, Noelle!? How many people, Kris. How many would you let die!? NO- Kill!"

"Susie-" they tried.

She punched them across the face, lifting them with only one hand. Her arm shook but she didn't notice. Kris's cheek came back bloody, and the hurt in their eyes almost made Noelle cry for them, but she didn't notice. Their expression was like watching their family die off in front of them. But they were a killer. They killed all those Darkners. Why? For what reason?

They were a liar. A hypocrite. Noelle saw it with her own eyes, but she couldn't trust her own feelings. The logic was: she watched them. They were evil. Kris was evil. When did Kris become so…?

Kris made her physically strong. Made her kill to gain strength. Could they be…? But it was safe in the Astrowall! There was just the Viceroy, and the Darkner could have helped! They weren't concerned about him? They didn't have powers. It was certain. Why wouldn't they feel threatened otherwise?

Their gloomy look followed them as they squeezed their eyes shut and gritted their teeth, stunned by Susie. And they looked up at her again.

"Please, just-"

Susie dug her knee into their abdomen, "I thought I saw myself in you!" A punch to the face, again. They coughed and leaked onto her. "I thought-" Susie wouldn't stop, and Kris was bloody to match their stained coat. "-you were sad!" She growled like hell opening up, and the demons were coming to punish them. Noelle stood up.

Ralsei was sitting behind her pew, hands folded over his knees as he stared blankly at the floor. The noble and rich floor reflected not the world above, but a deep, sweet heaven beneath. His white fur was matted and dirty, with blood and dust, nearly matching the floor, and Noelle didn't know how she felt about that.

He looked so lost, the earnest Prince held underneath his hat.

"I can't…" Susie sputtered, tired and enraged. "You…" She inhaled and dropped Kris to the side. They flopped down and stayed down, face blank and eyes veiled by their hair like a funeral shroud. When they eventually pressed themself to their hands, laying on their legs, Noelle saw how little they wanted to get up, meeting the floor and staying there. "I can't stand you…" Her voice trembled with quiet emotions. Noelle felt herself tearing up. Ralsei was shaking, now, cold and ill. Brittle and hoarse, Susie was. "…nothing to say… I can't even… this… this hurts, you psychopath, and I don't even know why."

"…can I explain…?" Kris hazarded a few words, voice almost quieter than silence. Noelle took a few seconds to recognize their voice. The same voice- the same Kris. Broken, dilapidated - as Noelle was starting to believe, on a different level than she thought she knew. Images of her world surged through her like a rush of water; Kris pranking her; Kris being pummeled by the Lunatic; Kris smiling as they played games; Kris losing their mind as the Viceroy leered at them; Noelle and Kris at a school party; Kris alone with their mom after night; Kris and Asriel at the diner; Kris without Asriel; Noelle's family, with her stern mom, and her loving dad; Kris honing the death they caused into a precise point as everyone ignored them as 'the weird kid.' But were they sad? Were they forced to do this? What was this? What was Kris? Noelle didn't know anymore. And it scared her. Worse than any Darkner, worse than any prophecy. Minutes ago, they were her rock. And now they betrayed her, and Susie, and Ralsei. Noelle didn't know what to feel - it was hard to find anything in her for them besides caution, and pain. They betrayed her, and they were a danger to everyone.

Susie scoffed. "…I tried to let you. How many times, Kris? How many times did I…" Noelle rounded Susie, unable to stare at Kris's sad, sadistic exterior. "I thought you were like me, Kris, but you're not. I tried to talk to you. I tried to help you. But you can't be helped, can you?" Susie questioned. Noelle could see her face tensing, and she felt shock at seeing tears coming from Susie's eyes. The monster cleared them and instantly boiled over. "We're gonna seal this Fountain. One way or another. And you're gonna stay right here." Susie was whispering now. It was uncanny. Noelle felt so many things that she couldn't wrap her head around them all, everything was so confusing, and Kris looked so sad, but her fur prickled in alarm, and her magic readied itself to defend her, and her world seemed to narrow onto their shaggy, unkempt hair and she felt sorry for them, enraged at them, terrified of them, uncertain about them, and just get out of her head, get out of her head, get out of her HEAD!

Ralsei placed a hand on her shoulder. Noelle turned to him. He was Asriel. But he wasn't. But he would do. And though she couldn't see his eyes, she knew they were a vivid hue of soft sympathy for her, and maybe even pity for Kris.

"Why, Kris?" He asked. They just looked up at him with tired, sunken eyes, cracked lips peeling as they grimaced and pouted.

"I'm done with you." Susie concluded, reaching for her scythe. It wasn't smiling now.

"…Susie, I-"

Skreck!

Susie made herself clear. Kris flinched at the scythe head inches from their head, splitting the wall into a horrific mess that could have been leaking blood if Susie wasn't careful.

"You're a murderer, you're a liar, a cheat, and bastard, and you NEED to stay here."

Kris just swallowed and nodded. Susie didn't even afford them a noise as she turned.

And without much thought, Noelle turned and followed her.

And she tried to ignore everything screaming at her.

It was the hardest thing she had ever done.