For a time there was absolutely nothing to do. Kris and Susie had fulfilled the prophecy, at least until the balance would inevitably begin to shift again, and things went back to normal in a heartbeat.

Word spread like wildfire that the new King, Lancer, put into place a new policy: all Lightners were to be welcomed as friends. But what would cause a Lightner to end up here? Kris said on the journey that he got here from entering a closet in his school. That sounded incredibly specific, so I'm sure all links to the Dark World from the Light World probably were the same. In the event that that was the only bridge between worlds, there were only two people that even knew about it.

It has been many, many years since the Light and Dark Worlds were split apart from one another. There were some Darkners that assumed Lightners had abandoned them, but I know that's not true. For the longest time, Lightners tried to find a way to cross into our world, or better yet find a way to undo what had caused the split. Darkners did the same; it was practically a matter of life and death. Lightners needed Darkners just as much as Darkners needed Lightners. But links between our worlds began to fade away, until only a few existed in both worlds. Part of my life has been dedicated to searching for a way that our worlds could link again, but just as my ancestors hadn't found anything, I haven't either.

The first day back in my castle was spent sulking. I missed my friends, especially Kris. I baked a nice cake for myself to celebrate, but it didn't taste of anything. I couldn't comprehend words as I read, and there was no meaning to my writing. It was just me, alone in a castle bigger than Lancer's.

I thought for a moment that maybe I could go to the fountain and arrive in the Light World myself, but where would I end up? In Kris' school? What if when I arrived, nobody was there? Or even worse if I arrived in the middle of a group of Kris' friends, and they all panicked? It was also getting late, I didn't want to have to sneak through Lancer's castle even if I was allowed to.

But I couldn't get any sleep either. Thoughts of Kris had been in my mind ever since he left, and they weren't going away. Is it okay to like someone this much? Kris might find it creepy and that could ruin our relationship and…

No, Kris liked me back. Maybe not as much as I liked him, but Kris thought of me as a friend. I asked him specifically what he saw in me, I know he didn't lie when he called me a friend! He was different from everyone else, right? What reason did he have to hurt me? He didn't have one, did he? I made a few mistakes, but nobody's perfect… except him…

There had to be something that would make me feel better, something that wasn't a hug from Kris. Maybe I would go out and try and make some other friends. I was seen as a hero too, I think. Maybe now everyone liked me a bit better.

I suppose I also could go help Lancer rule his kingdom. But what did I know? It's not like I actually had any subjects to rule over…

Eventually I got so fed up with all the negative thoughts that I just retired to my room. I threw myself onto my bed and had to make a conscious effort at getting sleep, but I got there at some point. Oh, how I regretted it.

"Nobody likes you, why do you think Kris does?!" a voice yelled from somewhere.

I tried to run from the noise, but it followed me-or another one appeared, I couldn't really tell which it was.

"Look at how pathetic you are! Can't even defend yourself, how are you supposed to do anything?"

"I… I'm not useless!" I shouted back, running didn't seem like it would do anything.

"Are you sure? Kris never needed you to do anything, he did it all himself! You're no hero at all!"

"I…"

"You'll never see Kris again, he's already forgotten you!" the voice laughed.

"You're wrong! Get away!"

It was then that I woke up. I sighed, nightmares were becoming all too common. It wasn't even halfway until everyone else would wake up again, but I was too afraid to go back to sleep. I thought about what the voice had said, how true the words were. Kris probably already did move on, he probably had friends and family in the Light World that cared about him. I'm… nothing.

Ages had to have passed as I waited next day. Here in the Dark World there is no sun or moon, we just all kind of know how long a day is. It's a remnant of the past, back from when the Dark World was connected to the Light World.

I decided staying locked away in my castle wasn't doing anything for me, so I left the empty halls to go find anything to do. I found myself going to only the places that Kris liked, the part of the Field that still had a good view of my castle, a secluded spot of the Scarlet Forest where watched a few leaves fall. Kris made any place feel special for me, even if they were places I had seen countless times.

I actually ended up going to the Card Castle, it wasn't on purpose but I just found myself there. To my surprise there were two Rudinn Rangers standing outside that welcomed me into the castle, raising the gate as soon as they saw me. Maybe all my worrying was wrong, maybe there were some people that liked me. But then again, Lancer could've just ordered that they let me in if I came here. Maybe they were just listening to the new King.

I forced myself to step in, pushing away the thoughts I was getting in the process. There really wasn't much to see, so I just took the elevator up. I went up the two flights of steps leading to the throne room, and saw that it looked much better. There was a new chair, one fit for Lancer, and the walls and floors seemed to be entirely new. It appeared that Lancer had been busy while I was doing nothing. Lancer wasn't here though, so I just went up to the roof.

The Dark Fountain had definitely been sealed, it was entirely gone. I looked out to the rest of the Dark World. The reds of Scarlet Forest was pretty nice to see, but I just sighed at it all. I wasn't about to do anything drastic, but it still was a thought that occurred. Kris was everything I needed in life and now he was gone, maybe forever.

I looked back over at where the Dark Fountain once was. Perhaps it would let me go to the Light World, maybe it would let me be with Kris. But I remembered all the things that kept me from it, and left. Two flights of steps, an elevator ride, a stroll through Scarlet Forest, the Great Board, the Field, and I was back at my castle. My empty castle.

I stepped inside the entrance hall, and right as I pushed the first door open and took a step forward, a hand grabbed mine. The contact made me jump, and I turned around swiftly on my guard. But rather than someone that wanted to hurt me, I saw the greatest thing I possibly could've. It was Kris. Undeniably, it was Kris, standing right in front of me and staring at me. He reached for my hands again, put both of them in his own, and brought me in for a hug.

It was the best hug I ever had received. I melted into his warmth, and I may have shown a bit too much affection when I began to nuzzle him. But he didn't push me away, he just kept holding me in his arms.

Eventually it hit me that Kris was standing in front of me. I pushed myself away and asked the biggest question on my mind.

"K-Kris? What are you doing back here?"

"Looking for you, silly!" his smile was on his face. His incredible, wonderful smile.

I didn't want to know how much I was blushing, but I felt a lot of heat rushing to my face.

"For… me?" I repeated. Even if it was Kris, something about those words felt wrong.

"So… what do you want to do?" he asked.

'Anything with you' probably wasn't the right answer. "I was just going to go back to my room, um… you can come in with me."

I led Kris in. There really wasn't much to see in my castle, there were tons of empty rooms because nobody besides me lives here. My room was at the end of one of the halls, and when I opened the door Kris ran in like it was a candy store. He looked at everything, the saplings I had in the corners, my bookshelf full of books, the rug which had a big heart on it. I almost didn't want him to open the side room which I used as a wardrobe, something about the fact that I had a number of cloaks that all looked the same embarrassed me right then. But Kris appeared to be wearing the same shirt and pants as before, the same exact colors even, so maybe it wasn't all that uncommon.

Kris sat on my bed and looked at me expectantly.

"Is… anything wrong, Kris?"

"You're not going to take off your hat?"

I didn't even realize it was still on, I was too focused on Kris. So I took it off and threw it next to the wardrobe door. He somehow looked even happier to see me now that I had my hat off.

"Now what are we going to do?" he asked.

"Um… I have lots of books, feel free to grab one if it catches your interest. Are you hungry? I could make you something to eat…"

He shook his head and went over to the bookcase. It took him a moment, but he eventually picked a book off the shelf, came back over and jumped back onto the bed.

"Oh! The Legend of Mt. Ebott? That's one of my favorites, you have good taste!"

Kris opened to the first page and I leaned into him to read it with him. Everything was so much better now that I had Kris with me again. I missed you Kris-never leave again...