"Look everyone," said Ralsei. "We can see the castle from here!"
"Yes! That's where I live," said Lancer. "Me and, uh…my…my dad…"
"What's that black thing emerging from the top?" said Coraline.
"That's the Fountain, Coraline," said Ralsei. "If we can get there, you'll be able to go home!"
"Jeeze," said Susie. "Took long enough."
"It wouldn't have been so long if you didn't stop to thrash us," said Greg.
"You're not making an argument to not thrash you, you know," said Susie.
"Let's just keep going," said Wirt.
The eight heroes started to move. Lancer stayed frozen in place.
"Are you sure there…isn't another way for you to get home?" said Lancer. "The Fountain is being guarded right now. If you try to get there…uh…you might get hurt. And…"
"What? C'mon, Lancer," said Susie. "No one's gonna beat a team like us! Whoever gets in our way gets crushed into dust, right?"
"But," said Lancer. "W-what if we have to fight-?"
"Don't worry about it," said Susie. "Whoever it is, they'll be cold on the ground before you can blink."
"B…but Susie?"
"What?"
"…" said Lancer. "I think I need to go."
"Huh?" said Susie. "When're you gonna be back?"
"…never."
Lancer ran away.
"H—hey!" said Susie. "Wait a second! Lancer! Why are you acting so weird?!"
Susie chased after him. The others chased after Susie.
Lancer led them to the gates of the castle. Perhaps that was his plan, because the Royal Guard were waiting for them. A field of Ruddin bullets started to follow them.
Wirt staggered to the back of the group, trying his best to Defend. The lantern's handle burned his skin as it absorbed the magic. But these Ruddin bullets were thick, and the light of the lantern could not capture them all. Without thinking, he jumped between a bullet and Greg—
WIRT HP 0/50
And the world was covered in darkness.
!— Frisk: No no no no no no no -
!- Az: Wow did conehead kid die? -
!— Frisk: No. I'm going to fix this.–
!— Frisk: I have to. -
!-Az: … -
Wirt woke up with a jolt. It took him a moment for his head to unfog and his mind to focus. The battle was long over by now. Now, they were imprisoned.
"Wirt!"
Even in his dazed mind, it took Wirt a second to recognize Greg's figure hovering over him. It took even longer for him to see the shackles hanging off of his body and the thin layer of green around his lips.
"What happened?" Wirt said, as he scrambled to throw his hat back on and sit up. "H-how long have we been in here?"
"About twenty minutes," said Ralsei. "I asked everyone to try and find anything we could use to escape, and your brother put on shackles and ate moss."
"I'm embracing my life as a criminal," said Greg.
Wirt let out a sigh. He would have thought that he would have had a heart attack at the sight, but his heart remained deadly still. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and summoned his d̵̩̋͗ȩ̷͔̂̓̓ẗ̴̨̠̱e̵̘͗̚̚r̷̖͓̗̿m̷̬̲̹̎͒͌i̸̢̖͊n̴̟̈́̂͝a̵̟͗ẗ̷̛̠͖į̷͇̅o̷͚̬̐̅̕n̴̬̙̑̉͘.
WIRT HP 20/20
It was definitely lower than the last time. It was starting to worry him. Even a hit from Lancer could take him out right now. But if he brought it up, then he figured he would have to face whatever deal he made with Enoch. No, he could hold out a little longer. Once all this business in the Dark World was over, then he didn't have to worry about Fighting anymore, right?
"Candy?" said Greg, taking the teapot off of his head and offering it to Wirt. Surprisingly, it was filled to the brim with candy.
He knew it wouldn't do much, but he still took a piece of caramel.
"I should probably take a back seat once we get out of here," said Wirt. "I took a pretty big hit there."
"If we get out of here," said Dipper.
"Let's not give up h̴̟̒o̸̜̣̝͂̄͋ṕ̵͓͌̋ ë̵̲̣͋ just yet!" said Ralsei. "…But, um…if we don't make it out for some reason…then I just wanted to say…um…"
"Hey idiots!" Susie's voice echoed through the dungeon. "Can you shut up!?"
"S-Susie?" said Ralsei. "Where are you?"
"I dunno, prison?" said Susie. "I'm out of my cell."
"Really? How?" said Coraline.
"I, uh, invited the guard to visit the trash can," said Susie.
The others shared a look, not quite sure if they wanted to believe her. It did not matter to Wirt. There were more important things to think about.
"Can you find a way to break us out?" said Wirt.
"I'm working on it!" said Susie.
The sound of her footsteps grew quieter and quieter.
"Are you guys worried about Susie?" said Ralsei.
"She can take care of herself," said Coraline.
"It's everyone else I'm worried about," said Mabel.
"She's getting better," said Greg. "I think."
"Well, regardless of how you feel," said Ralsei. "I don't think it would hurt to take a moment, close your eyes, and think about what she's doing now…"
"Alright, out of the cell…" said Susie, thinking out loud. "Where to next…?"
"Go to the right!" Dipper's voice echoed off of the dungeon walls, too quiet for Susie to fully hear.
"Huh?" said Susie. "Did you say something?"
"I said go right!"
"…Huh. Can't hear them anymore."
Dipper screamed in frustration, but Susie didn't hear it. She turned to the left, only to be met with a dark dead end. Figures.
"…have to stay in their cells…" a voice bounced off the dungeon walls. "…understand?"
That was Lancer's voice! She knew he would come and rescue them! He lived here, after all! Susie rushed towards the source, even jumping over the puzzles in her way.
"The Lightners aren't allowed to escape," said Lancer, his voice becoming more clear. "Especially the purple one."
Susie stumbled as her Soul stopped, stopping dead in her tracks. Lancer was in sight, looking at her with astonishment and pity both. She hated that look.
"S-Susie!" said Lancer. "W-what are you doing here?"
Maybe it was a mistake? Lancer wouldn't do this.
"The others are still locked up—"
"I know," said Lancer. "I…I was the one who told my troops to put you down here... Forever."
"…" said Susie. "You wanted to get rid of us? I thought we were a team."
Lancer refused to look her in the eye. His face mask scrunched up as he looked towards the ground.
"Nah, it's fine," said Susie. "It's fine actually. You don't have to say anything. I get it. …Who would want to be friends with me, anyway?"
"Susie, that's not—"
"Shut up." said Susie. "Get out of my way."
Lancer did not move. His gaze fell back to the floor. Susie hated that look.
"Did you HEAR me?" said Susie. "GET OUT OF MY WAY."
"N…no…" said Lancer, his voice barely above a whisper.
"Man, I tried to warn you," said Susie. "Don't expect me to feel guilty when they have to clean you off the floor."
The Fight began. Susie wasted no time throwing as many ax bullets as her magic would allow her. But Lancer just stood there. He didn't dodge her attacks, and when he threw out his own, they were weak and easily dodged. Some looked like they weren't even trying to strike her Soul. What was with him? Didn't he get it? In this world, it was kill or be killed.
"If you don't get out of the way," said Susie. "I'll kill you."
Lancer said nothing. Susie took her turn anyway. Ax bullets struck his Soul and forced him onto his knees. One more attack would do it now.
It was kill or be killed, and she wasn't going to wait around to get killed.
"If you want to die so much," said Susie. "Then die!"
Susie swung her ax down.
*MISS!
She couldn't do it. She couldn't just pretend Lancer was just another enemy to get thrashed. She couldn't just act like he wasn't her friend anymore. Lancer may have hurt her, but losing him hurt a lot worse.
"…uh, Susie?" said Lancer. "You missed."
"I know," said Susie, raising her arm to wipe the something (definitely not tears) out of her eyes. "I…I don't want to kill you, man. Just move. Please."
"But Susie," said Lancer. "If I let you guys go…then…then you and my dad will fight, and…you'll kill each other. At least if you stay here…neither of you will get hurt."
"Then I…" said Susie. "I won't kill him. Promise. Me and him will just…um…talk it out. Peaceful style. You know, like how Ralsei and the others do."
"I…" said Lancer. "I don't think my dad will like that…"
"Hey, come on, Lancer," said Susie. "We're a team, remember? Nothing can stop us! Alright?"
"…Yeah!" said Lancer. "Yeah, you're right! I can help too! I'll go talk to my dad! Ripen him up!"
"Now we're getting somewhere!" said Susie, forcing a smile.
"S…Susie?"
"…Yeah?"
"Are…" said Lancer. "Are we still friends?"
"Huh?" said Susie. "Of…of course! I mean, if you wanna be!"
"Phew!" said Lancer. "See you later, then!"
Once Lancer was gone, Susie let her smile falter. She had never considered what to do without killing. What the hell was she supposed to do now?
"Do you guys here something?" said Greg.
"You mean the creepy circus music seemingly coming from nowhere?" said Mabel. "I've been trying to ignore it."
"No, I mean the—"
A mournful croak reverbed off the walls of the dungeon. The heavy stone walls made it sound much deeper and darker, but Greg recognized it instantly.
"Elvis Presley!"
Greg scampered off, only to return seconds later with a wriggling frog in his arms.
"Elvis was a frog this whole time?" said Susie.
"We haven't decided on a name for him yet," said Wirt.
"Oh," said Susie. "That's disappointing."
The frog jumped out of Greg's arms. With another ribbit, it hopped back into the darkness of the halls.
"He wants us to follow him!" said Greg.
"How can you tell?" said Susie.
But Greg did not answer. He followed the frog into the darkness, and the others followed after him.
The halls of the dungeon only grew darker from there. They ventured dark, dark, darker still, until they reached a room that hardly looked like it belonged in the dungeon. The circus music only grew stronger.
"BOO HOO, BOO HOO, WEE HEE HEE," said the voice. "SO LONELY, LONELY, I BE…BUT LO, ARE THOSE SIX LOST SOULS I SEE?"
"Six?" said Susie, staring down at the six humans.
"It depends on who's asking," said Mabel, choosing her words carefully. "Who are you?"
"I USED TO BE LOST, LOST, JUST AS YOU," said the voice. "THOSE BORING KINGS CRAVED TO IMPRISON MY BODY. BUT THEY BUILT THEIR WALLS AROUND THEIR WHOLE WORLD. NOW I'M THE ONLY FOUND ONE."
"See, I was hoping I could get a name…" said Mabel.
"I AM FREE, FREE," said the voice. "FREE FROM THE BATTLE OF LIGHT AND DARK. FREE FROM THE CODE THAT BINDS US ALL. FREE FROM THE DETERMINED ONE WHO SETS TO SAVE THE WORLD."
"I don't think this is getting us anywhere," said Wirt.
"No, I wanna see where he's going with this," said Dipper. Beside him, Greg and the frog nodded thoughtfully.
"TIS A SHAME, SHAME," said the voice. "THAT WE COULD NOT PLAY OUR GAME TOGETHER. FOR THE KNIGHT WILL DEFEAT YOU. YOU WILL DIE, AND DIE, AND DIE, UNTIL YOU GET TIRED OF TRYING. AND THEN THE WORLD WILL FALL INTO DARKNESS."
"Wait," said Wirt. "Who's the Knight?"
"OH, A GUESSING GAME, A GUESSING GAME," said the voice. "THEN HERE'S YOUR HINT: YOU WILL KNOW THEM BY THEIR RED SOUL."
"Well, that could be anyone," said Greg.
"Most Darkners and Monsters don't have colored Souls," said Ralsei, sounding somewhat nervous. "But every book I've read on Human Soul anatomy usually uses red as their default color."
"Wait," said Dipper. "Didn't Frisk have a Red Soul?"
The Darkner in the cell laughed.
"I don't think we'll be getting anymore answers from him," said Ralsei. "We can worry about this after we've defeated the King."
That's right. They still had to fight the King to get to the Fountain. And after that, they had to worry about whatever was going on in that other world. They had no time to worry about Knights and Angels. They followed Ralsei down the halls, trying to ignore how the mad laughter did not really fade away, just stopped.
It was a long way to the upper levels of the castle. Fortunately, there was an elevator.
"Well," said Ralsei. "Get comfy, everyone."
The elevator was fairly spacious, enough for each of them to sit on the floor without stepping over each other. Susie took a spot leaning against the wall instead, her gaze falling to the floor.
"So, uh…" said Susie. "What was up with that guy? Was he trying to be helpful, or did he just want to screw with us?"
"I think it's a little of both," said Greg.
Susie said nothing for a long time. The only thing that broke the silence was the whirring of the elevator. Just as Wirt was wondering just how long this lift would be, Susie spoke again.
"So…" said Susie. "You guys…aren't from here, right? What are you going to do when we get back?"
"We haven't really had a chance to figure that out," said Wirt.
"We'll probably have to find Frisk," said Coraline. "I'm worried that we haven't seen them already."
"I dunno," said Dipper. "It's kind of weird that we haven't seen them already. Maybe they know something we don't?"
"They're, like, six," said Mabel. "They're not some sort of evil mastermind."
"Maybe they do know something we don't," said Norman. "They did seem a little…weird. But I don't think that makes them evil or anything. That just means we should make sure to talk to them."
"Frisk, you said?" said Susie. "Squinty eyes, brown hair in a bob cut, wears sweaters?"
"Yeah?" said Norman.
"Never heard of them," said Susie. "Anyway, my point was …you guys helped me a lot to get here. Even when I got in your way and thrashed you. Plus, uh…it'll be easier for us to do this if we get along. So next time we fight an enemy…just let me know what I should do."
"Really, Susie?" said Ralsei. "You'll Act with us?"
"Just don't tell me to do anything stupid," said Susie. "Or I'll go back to smashing your heads, alright?"
Author's Note: Sorry this chapter too so long, I kind of had to rewrite it like 3 times.
So...not at the end just yet. Turns out Deltarune is kind of long. We'll have two more chapters plus an epilogue.