Darkness. Pure darkness. An endless supply of darkness. And it wasn't the kind darkness that tended him like a mother when he slept or when he was pulled into the Dark World. It was an evil sort of darkness.
It was one he was familiar with.
The man stood before him, dripping and gross and smiling. Several hundred hands were in the darkness, white against the monochrome.
"...Do you have another egg for me?" Kris joked.
The man didn't say anything, but there was a twitch in his face. Kris wished he just didn't speak at all. He felt fear of the man, knowing what he did. He knew what he did to Jevil. What he did to Stampton. What he did to any other Darkner that was infected.
"...I sort of don't want this anymore," Kris said, voice low. "You can take it back, since you know anything else you do to me won't hurt. I won't end up like those other two, if that's what you want."
The man watched him.
"Though, I know you know that better than me. We don't always get what we want in this world. This relationship isn't that sort of trade interaction either."
The man smiled.
"You're wrong though. I do get a choice." The more Kris talked, the more he felt determined. It was a feeling he hadn't felt in a long time, and he was unsure if feeling it at this point was a good thing or not. "I've always had a choice. Not like those people who you want to puppet. I'm not as weak as them. And it's not because I'm human or because I have this unique soul or that I have a soul at all. Or because I'm a Lightener."
The man didn't react.
"...Are you listening?"
The man opened his mouth, but there were no words that came out. Just a horrible garbage noise. Kris had this instinct to cover his ears, but he didn't. He let the sound ring out around him, glaring at the man with eyes he hoped didn't show any fear.
Slowly, the noise started to subside. Kris blinked rapidly for a minute, gathering his senses. He hated it when the man did that.
"I'm taking that as a no, since I really didn't understand a word you said," Kris said, a neutral expression. "...I kinda do want another egg though."
The man frowned. Kris couldn't help but smile. "I'm joking."
At the same time, he wasn't. Why did all his other communications with this man have to be like this? Why can't he just get a random egg and then move on to the next painful part of his life?
"...Can I ask you a question?" The man was about to open his mouth, but Kris held up a hand to intercept him. "It's not about an egg, don't worry."
The man closed his mouth and listened.
Kris looked at the ground. Dark. Darker yet darker. He hated it here. He wished he never found this place. He wished this place never found him.
At the same time, what could he do?
"What did you do to December Holiday?"
"I've got several issues here of complaints from the residents of the town," Ralsei said, breaking Kris out of his thoughts. The little Darkner smiled as he pushed up his green-framed glass and shuffled through the stack of papers in his hands. "I've been trying to handle some of the disputes already that don't relate to battling and issues like that, but there are so many different things I'm getting a little overwhelmed with the responsibility!"
Ralsei laughed. Kris got the impression that Ralsei wasn't actually overwhelmed but overjoyed that he had these sorts of responsibilities. He'd gone for a long time being a prince without any subjects that this must've been a dream come true for him.
Susie smacked the table, the glasses rattling thanks to the sudden force. "Just make them all fight to settle their differences!"
"Yeah! Fight to the death!" Lancer agreed.
Ralsei looked patient despite his sigh. "Not everybody can settle their disagreements with fighting, Susie. Some of these Darkners don't want to fight anyways."
"Oh yeah. You can thank my dad for that change!" Lancer said, a giddy smile on his face.
Susie lowered back in her chair, lounging. "Fine. Whatever."
"Let's ask what Kris thinks we should do!" Ralsei said.
Kris tilted his head up slightly, knowing that all of the attention was drawn to him. He wasn't quite used to this sort of leadership being pushed onto him, but at the same time he knew he was the only person that could handle it. He had a mind that settled in both worlds. If he needed to fight and he had no other choice, he would. If he had the choice to spare enemies and engage without fighting, he would take it.
"Which ones are the most problematic?" Kris asked, understanding that his voice was low and soft, and not wanting to change that.
Ralsei shuffled through the papers some more. Kris caught the sight of the prince's handwriting, neat and cursive. Though his mother normally also wrote in the same format, most of the words Kris had trouble reading clearly. Maybe that was because they were a little messy, given Ralsei, at that moment, was trying to write them down quickly before he forgot.
"We've got some complaints about the lack of entertainment, the lack of space, the lack of air-"
"How can someone complain about the lack of air when everyone breathes it?" Susie asked. She found it stupid, and Kris understood how.
Ralsei shrugged, unsure himself. "All I know is that most of the residents are getting a little antsy without being able to go anywhere."
"Let them go through the gate then!"
"They may never open again," Kris muttered.
"Exactly!" Ralsei pushed his glasses up again. "Plus, that area was once a previous sanction for an already sealed Dark World. It's too dangerous to try and expand to a place that wasn't meant to exist in the first place, given the effects that fountain caused."
"Lancer's castle was there!"
"But now I've got a castle here!" Lancer said. "I made it out of the extra dirt I dug out of the ground in my room!"
"Fine then! What about the Dark World we found in the Library's computer lab?"
"That's sealed too!"
"AAAGHH! KRIS! Tell Ralsei this is stupid!"
"It's not stupid!" Ralsei held the papers close to his chest, somewhat worried that Susie would do something inevitably stupid that would destroy them. "It's important that we make each and every Darkner that's recruited to live in this town to be as happy as they can be!"
"Is that, like... Your life motto or something?"
"...I wouldn't mind that."
Kris smiled. They settled their own disputes as quickly as they did. Jokes. Little jokes...
"Make a joke book."
All of them turned to him. Kris shrugged.
"People like jokes."
Ralsei tapped his muzzle with a thoughtful finger. "Hmm. That's actually a good idea."
"OHH!" Lancer jumped in his chair. "Stand-up comedy!"
Susie lowered her glare, relaxing a bit. She didn't say anything, but Kris knew she was considering the rather simple idea anyway. While Lancer and Ralsei started talking about that to each other, the plans and the sorts of jokes and the days they would be shown, Kris rose from the table. Susie watched him, and he could almost feel her gaze following him.
Kris walked over to the entrance of the castle's main hall. He could hear the sounds of Darkners living a life that made them happy. Voices chatting and laughing without a care of fear.
Then there was the faint sound of yelling.
Kris immediately ran out the castle, attention caught. He wouldn't let him go, ignoring the sound of his friends' calling his name. The glittering floor beneath his metal boots reflected his own image. The Dark World turned him into something unique, and he liked it.
A pain in his chest guided him to the hurt. Two Darkners, both new ones that Kris had yet to mark into his mind. One was spitting sparks from its arm. The other was red-faced, heated.
"Look what you did, you ungrateful pip!" the mechanical one screamed. The sound of static echoed through its voice, making Kris wince.
"Who are you calling a pip?" the other one yelled back. Elastic limbs and a stretching body. It hovered over the other one, ready for a fight.
Kris watched them, gaze swapping from one to the other. He knew how to lead a group, not how to settle problems like this. His soul appeared in front of chest as the two Darkners focused on their abilities, unknowingly about to catch Kris in the middle of it. But he stayed there, watching.
"When was the last time you saw her?"
Noises blurred in his mind. The electronic Darkner glitched horribly, changing. Turning. Burning. It was on fire. It was turning into a monster.
"KRIS!" He turned his head to look over his shoulder. Ralsei and Susie had followed him, knowing what he had found at the moment's notice. They both arrived at his side, both equally confused at the sight before them.
And then filled with horror.
Ralsei was the first to take a step back. He looked like he didn't believe the sight that was evolving in front of him.
"What the hell?" Susie seemed to be filled with a similar boute of emotions.
The transformed Darkner plunged it's arms into the arm, the glowing gems dying out. The plants withered and Kris could feel the ground shifting. Ralsei yelped, wisps of golden magic sweeping around his arms at instinct. The other Darkner screamed, trying to get away, but also failing, being grabbed by the turned.
Susie pulled out her axe, baring her teeth. "LET THEM GO!"
It slowly turned its head towards the team, lines around its body glowing dimly in the darkness. There was no sound that came from it but the stuttering and stammering of broken wires and static along its arm. At the sight of new prey, the Darkner dropped the other one, which fell to the ground, completely unconscious. Susie's demand came true, but she didn't look satisfied.
"What's wrong with them?" Ralsei asked.
"Hell if I know, but they just attack someone and are about to go crazy!"
Ralsei looked at Kris. "Should we engage?"
He stood there for a moment, thinking. Wondering. Knowing what was the problem but at the same time unsure if he could do anything about that. But if there was anyone who could solve an issue like this, it would be them.
Kris took out his sword. "Yes."