Disclaimer: I don't own Doki Doki Literature Club. All rights to the Dokis and the original game belong to Dan Salvato and Team Salvato.
Also, even though it isn't required, some plot points and characters here refer to another work of mine - The Color Pink. And for even further understanding of the world around Celeste, The World Beyond The Screen is also a connected work.
[Chapter 2 - Chrysanthemum]
It was Friday afternoon at the moment, and it was time for most children and young teens to go home from school, after their classes had finished.
Our heroine was now about to return home from her own thing as well, since for certain reasons she wasn't able to go to her old school.
Celeste's IV drip was finally detached from her wrist, and she was free to go home with her parents once more. Faint marks of said needle could be seen, and once more reminded Celeste of how she had even less time to live.
The girl had just completed yet another dosage of Evaradone in order to help slow down the progression of her condition. It was part of what was known as "Radicava Therapy", one of the leading treatments given to those struck with ALS.
It wasn't a cure, but it helped to mitigate its effects and somewhat give an inkling of hope to the patient and their family. The treatment itself costed around over the equivalent of a thousand in USD per administration, so it wasn't cheap. Even Celeste herself had already suggested stopping altogether so that her parents wouldn't be burdened, but they immediately rejected that thought.
And even in Everdawn City, where the Jones family resided, medicinal prices where about as high as ever.
"Your father and I won't give up, Celeste! We don't care how much it costs, if there's a treatment, we're getting that treatment! Even if it means working multiple shifts for it! I'm not losing my baby girl just like that..." Celeste distinctly remembered her mother crying while saying those words, and her father was silently shedding tears as well while comforting his wife.
And so, for the past two years since her initial diagnosis of ALS, she had been steadily receiving incremental administrations of Evaradone alongside her checkups.
For now, she was free to leave the hospital, and in her hand she held her favorite pastry.
Garlic focaccia bread.
The nice thing about ALS, was that Celeste's diet wasn't really restricted unlike with other ailments. Thus, she was free to eat whatever she liked. Though the doctors usually recommended that she should be eating food with a gracious amount of antioxidants in it, as they should also help in slowing down the effects of ALS.
Luckily for Celeste, garlic happened to be a very good source of antioxidants. Meaning that she could continue eating her favorite bread and feel good about it.
As she took in a bite, the girl smiled in bliss and her mother's heart melted at the sight.
"Harold already knew what you wanted before I even ordered from their bakery, you know." Felicity Jones mentioned in a soft tone, the type that mothers usually had when talking to their children.
"Ahaha, he was always thoughtful like that." Celeste grinned in return.
Harold Meyer, the boy whom her mother had gotten the garlic focaccia bread from was a former classmate of Celeste's. Back then, when life was a lot simpler for her, she attended the local school, Maple Leaf High. They were quite good friends too.
But alas, ALS tends to get in the way of a normal school life.
So for now, even though they rarely got to talk in person, Celeste would relish in the deliciousness that was the Meyer Bakeshop's focaccia bread, courtesy of Harold.
Soon enough, the Jones family arrived home and Celeste was immediately situated in her bedroom, both of her parents wishing her a good night for it was already evening as they headed for dinner. As much as the family wanted to eat together, Celeste didn't really have much of an appetite.
Although she could essentially eat anything she liked, her natural appetite had been decreased, most likely a side-effect of the ALS. And thus, the focaccia bread was enough to sate her hunger for the day.
The girl's eyes peered through the window of her bedroom, in awe of the pretty stars that only a Friday night's clear sky could have.
"One day, I'll be able to go out and explore... I'll overcome this disease... hehe..."
And with that, Celeste drifted off to sleep.
The girl did not dream that evening, her slumber being a quiet one, and she hadn't notice how her father kissed her forehead, as her mother covered her up with her blanket.
Arthur Jones wanted to cry, but instead held his wife Felicity close.
"I'm not ready to let her go... I don't want our daughter to leave us." he sniffled sadly.
The mother shed a silent tear as well, before exiting their daughter's room with her husband in tow. They would let their beloved child rest for now, and hope that she'd once again join them tomorrow for another day with all of their heart.
ALS was a cruel timer that their little angel did not deserve to have.
*****Purple Embers*****
As the next day came about, Celeste slowly opened her eyes and did a quick scan of her surroundings before smiling to herself.
"I'm still here, thank goodness..." she breathes a sigh of relief.
It had become a natural habit for the girl to always check if she would still wake up on her bed, in her room. And not in some white-filled place that she would presume to be heaven, if it were ever to come to that.
Today was Saturday, and she had a lot of time, though most of it was limited to her only doing non-strenuous activities. She didn't want to worry her mom and dad, and thus she consciously limited her own movement as well.
Perhaps she could visit the Meyer Family bakery, it'd be nice to talk to Harold after all this time, she surmised.
But not before asking her parents for permission first. Celeste was a responsible kid, and with good reason. The girl never wanted to get into an argument with her loving parents, who had done nothing but be by her side and help her every step of the way, with her condition. She loved them very much.
Celeste wanted her final memories with them to only be with smiles and joy, and not with anger and quarreling.
And so ask permission, she did.
Her father was currently out for work at his job, and thus only Felicity greeted the child with a good morning and breakfast already set.
The mother-daughter pair first had their morning meal, before Celeste asked if she could go visit the Meyers.
Since they didn't really live that far, and the walk was only about a good ten minutes or so, Felicity gave Celeste the okay, and the girl hugged her mother tightly in gratitude.
"Thanks, mom. I won't be gone too long, I'm just going to say hello to Harold and the Meyers."
"Just take care sweetie, and tell Harold I said hi as well!"
"I will mom, love you!" she excitedly yells while waving as she sprinted out the door with a bit of pep in her step.
"Love you too Celeste, take care!"
After a couple of blocks passed by, Celeste had reached the familiar lit sign of the Meyer Family Bakery, and went over the counter.
Though, instead of the boy she was expected, a pink-haired girl greeted her. She looked pretty cute, Celeste inwardly thought.
"Good morning, welcome to the Meyer Family Bakeshop, how can I help you?"
Celeste fetched for her purse from her side pocket. "Good morning to you too! An order of the garlic focaccia bread please."
The girl smiled and nodded, before preparing her order. And soon enough, a paper bag was produced and Celeste could smell the focaccia in it, freshly baked.
After giving the correct amount, Celeste then asked for Harold.
"If I may ask by the way, have you seen Harold Meyer, I usually see him manning the bakery on Saturday mornings. My name's Celeste Jones, I'm a friend of his."
The pink-haired girl shook hands with Celeste and introduced herself. "My name's Natsuki, nice to meet you. Yeah, Harold's just helping his mom with something. Your surname sounds familiar though... are you by any chance related to a customer Harold and I had yesterday? Mrs. Felicity Jones?"
Celeste nodded and the now-named Natsuki gasped a bit. "Nice to meet you too~! And yep, that's my mom. We usually get some bread from Harold, their pastries here are the best!"
Natsuki nodded, satisfied. "That's why you looked familiar. She even got the same garlic bread as you did, hold on one second. Let me get Harold for ya!"
Celeste gave her thanks and she could overhear Natsuki from the back saying, "Harold, Mrs. Felicity's kid is here! Your former classmate!"
The girl then realized that her mom probably told Natsuki about her for a bit, and she smiled at that.
Soon enough, Harold came out with Natsuki and was very happy to see Celeste.
"Celeste! It's been a while, how's everything for you so far? I'm glad to see you're up and about again."
"I'm doing good Harold, the treatment is working as usual, and I don't feel too lightheaded. I've met Natsuki by the way, is she a relative of yours?"
Harold and Natsuki shared a look at each other, and it appeared to Celeste that the two had suddenly realized something.
"Uh... Celeste. You don't know who Natsuki is?"
"I don't think she does, Harold. I mean, I introduced myself and she didn't really have any reaction."
Tilting her head in confusion, Celeste just had to ask. "Is Natsuki like... famous or something?"
Harold then decided to fill in the gaps. "Celeste, see, there's this very popular game called Doki Doki Literature Club..."
...
...
...
"I'm back mom!"
"Welcome home, sweetie~" they greeted each other, and Celeste hugged her mom.
The girl was eager to try the game that Harold talked about. The one where Natsuki came from. She still could barely believe it.
Natsuki had come from inside a video game.
Harold had given a USB flash drive to Celeste that contained a copy of his version of DDLC so that the girl could try out the game. Celeste was intrigued.
If Natsuki was able to escape from a video game in an essentially miraculous fashion... maybe a miracle could also happen for her...
But for now, she had something to do for the day.
She turned on her laptop, blowing away the dust that had accumulated on its keyboard since she rarely even touched the thing, and looked up an installation guide on Google. The girl then plugged in the USB stick and followed the on-screen prompts.
Several minutes later, and the DDLC logo was present on her desktop. Celeste thought that the lettering was pretty cute.
Neither Harold nor Natsuki spoiled the story of the game, and Celeste didn't really think that something supernatural would happen like how Natsuki had somehow escaped Harold's copy or anything of the sort.
She just wanted to know more about the world Natsuki had come from.
The main menu was now in front of her, and indeed she saw Natsuki among the four girls that appeared on screen.
Though one of them stood out to her amongst the rest.
It was the purple-haired shy-looking one.
"She's really pretty..."
After giving the main menu screen a good once over, Celeste finally hit the menu option that would change her life forever.
[New Game].
-Chapter 2 END-
A/N: Yeah. I'm sure some of you have noticed by now, but TWBTS, The Color Pink and this story are now all interconnected with each other. With a shared canon. Hmmm...
And yes, this is how I had Celeste meet Yuri.
I'm sure there's more questions, but yeah that's it for now. Harold and Natsuki will barely appear in future chapters, as this is still a Celeste and Yuri friendship story. Just like how The Color Pink is Harold and Natsuki's story, and TWBTS is it's own convoluted mess because I now have to link it to TCP and PE. Peace!