Chapter Text
Talking to her didn't work. Shouting didn't, either. Even making Noelle shake the berserking dragon did little more than make Noelle turn even more red than her fur already was, somehow. Regardless of what we did, Susie continued finding and smashing through the panels in the dark space.
("I-I'm really worried.") Noelle fussed, fiddling with her robe. ("Why can't we get through to her? Is she just not paying attention, or is it something worse?")
I had Noelle shrug. "Unfortunately, it seems to be the latter. I've never seen her like this, it must be some kind of issue with this Dark World. Why we didn't get snapped up and put into a trance, I've got no clue. But we've got to do something, unless we want Susie to reduce her fists to ground beef."
The gory visual made Noelle cringe. "...Sorry." I said quietly. "But I'm not exactly the best with figuring other people out."
("W-What about at the Ferris wheel?! You were talking like you were Susie's therapist!")
"That's only because of all my old saving and loading." I began to point Noelle's finger, noticed it was on the same hand as that awful ring, then quickly swapped hands to point at Susie. "Trust me, you get to know a person when you've spent days of your own time replaying the short while you've known them."
Noelle ran her fingers through her hair, some of the strands getting painfully caught on the ring. We winced. Why did she have to put the thing back on? As much as I wanted to respect her agency, there was still a part of me that wanted to crush it with the flat side of a knife.
...I missed my knife.
("Y-You've got to be able to do something!") She shouted mentally. ("She's already hurt! Who knows how bad it could get!")
"I'm open to suggestions on how to get into the head of the single most stubborn member of our party -" An awful idea sprung into my mind. "...Unless..."
("What 'unless', Chara?! We're just standing here watching her hurt herself, if you've got an idea, you need to do it fast!") An assertive Noelle, combined with the distress of seeing Susie in danger, was not a combination I could exactly refute.
"...Well, I possessed you, even before our little...vessel swap, correct?" I gestured with Noelle's hand over to the still-rampaging Susie. "I know I can't control her if I do the same, but I should be able to shake her out of whatever trance she's been put under."
Instead of immediately removing me to let me do my thing, Noelle hesitated. ("Um...a-are you sure that will work? W-What if you can't, or you get stuck in her? That could, um..."
"What happened to 'need to do it, fast', Noelle? I don't see what the big deal is, just pull me out, push me into her chest...then...oh." Ah. Right. I facepalmed the blushing Noelle, causing us both to yelp collectively. "Sorry. Okay, fine, fine. Just...throw me. She's not moving around too much. As long as you hit her general torso, or even her limbs, I should be alright."
"R-Right! Of course, t-that would be much better." Noelle reached towards me, hesitating again briefly before pulling me out into her palm. I sure didn't miss the pain that came from being outside again, but at least it would be brief this time.
She reared back, cocked her arm, and shotputted me directly at our dragon.
------
...Did it work? I looked at Susie, who was now completely still. Chara had possessed her for more than long enough without either of them doing anything, that I began to get worried. This wasn't like when they'd possessed me, was it?
There hadn't been any latency that I could remember. It had just been possession, and then...that wonderful unity. I already felt a bit colder without Chara's presence, and I rubbed my arms as I looked around the room we were in.
All that I could really see were the panels of prophecy that popped up from the darkness intermittently, and whatever material composed the floor which was visible from small beams of light from up above. With Susie going completely silent, the room began to feel a bit spooky with the pieces of prophecy fading in and out around me.
'The First Hero, With Human Soul And Parts!'
'The Second Hero. Girl With Hope Crossed On Her Heart.'
'The Third Hero. The Prince, Alone In Deepest Dark.'
That must be the group, I realized. Kris and Chara, Susie, and Ralsei. We didn't have a complete version of the prophecy back at church, and it was rather strange to know that the heroes of Light and Dark were people I knew. Well, I knew Kris - mostly, anyway. Susie was a lot more recent in my life, and Ralsei...well, I'd had only a handful of conversations with him, really.
Then there was Chara. I'd known them for a grand total of a couple of days, yet, I felt closer to them than I had Kris in years. Shocking what treating people nicely and talking to them could accomplish, Krismas. I shook my head.
Being vindictive felt so alien to me, even to someone who acted like they had. I just couldn't make myself act on that anger, which by itself already burned to hold. This was the sort of thing about myself I wanted to change.
"What are you waiting for then, pawn?" Jevil spoke up from within my bag, causing me to wince. I tried to keep the bag closed, but he still forced his way out and emerged full size in the air, giggling to himself. "Now is the perfect time to gain the strength you covet, covet!"
Jevil seemed to take advantage of whenever Chara wasn't around, making me question what their history was, exactly. What was HIS history, exactly? "What are you even talking about? There's nothing to cast my magic on."
"Are you certain, certain?" He chortled, placing his gloved hands on my cheeks from behind me. I tensed up, hating how scared I was of what he might do. With his thumbs and the rest of his fingers, he forced my eyes to open wide. "Look closer, my dear pawn. The girl and your guardian, joined as one, yet both blind to what none but we can see, see!"
As my eyes readjusted both to the darkness and Jevil's strong grip on my head, I gasped at what I saw. Susie was ensnared by vines, and Chara's light was being smothered as the vines spread, with talking flowers whispering into her ear.
'Save your friends.' They whispered. 'Defy fate. They're in trouble. If you can't save them, everyone must have been right about you.'
"No..." Susie mumbled, but from her empty gaze I could tell she wasn't all there. I tried to push Jevil away and get closer to her, hoping to break through, but he just laughed and yanked my head backwards. My back arched, and soon we were eye to eye with him floating above me, my head still firmly between those cold hands of his.
"My, my! You truly worry for them both! Or perhaps it is just the girl that sets your heart aflutter, aflutter?"
"W-What? No, I'm worried for them both!" I retorted immediately. "I-If you would just let me go, Mr. Jevil, I'm sure I could -"
"The way to save your desire is already in your hands! Or rather, adorned on your finger, finger!" One of his hands shot forth and grabbed my own, now covered in blood from the ThornRing. That finger never seemed to stop bleeding, no matter how long I wore it. "Come now, you must remember what we talked about. Ice and snow, from your hand they'll blow, saving those you know, know!"
"...Y-You're just doing this because you want your 'game' with Chara. I'm not - I'm not gonna be your pawn!" I tried to pull my hand away, to again fail utterly. Why was this little jester so strong?! And why did I feel so helpless in his grip? "L-Let me go! Why can't you just play with them now, anyway?!"
Jevil grabbed my head with both hands again, only this time he floated around it to look me in the eyes. "To play, one requires pieces! You Lightners are so boring on your own, and my fellow Darkners provide even less challenge! But your little guardian, they were one of the only ones to bring me to the brink, brink!"
He looked over at them with something akin to yearning, an emotion that felt deeply wrong to see on his face. "No game is fun without risk. To bring an enemy's HP to zero, to see them fade away, away, is the greatest joy! But only if they make it so. My power is grand, made so by my sight of this game those of Light and Dark see as the world, world! But they, your guardian, gave me the most fun I've had in years! A fellow player, player, only bound by their own boundaries!"
...Okay, he really was just a crazy clown. Barely anything he said made the smallest hint of sense, and my desire to just break this whole thing off only exploded. "J-Just let me go!" I tried yanking away from him again, but he just pointed my hand towards the flowers ensnaring Susie.
"Come now." He chided. "Now is not the time to resist Heaven's call, call! Don't you wish to be strong enough to protect your guardian, guardian? They and you are so alike. While they would never admit it, it, they too covet strength! But they don't have me to help them gain it the only way they can, can! Not like you, you lucky pawn!"
Nothing about what this guy said or did said that he was doing it for any kind of Heaven. But...I did want to protect Chara. And Susie. The power to do so, however, was not going to come from someone like Jevil, absolutely not. Who knew if he was even right about how the ThornRing worked, much less Chara, anyway?
"Y-Yeah, but you're - y-you're..."
"And what of the girl?" Using his other hand, Jevil forced me to look up at Susie. "Surely you wish to defend her as well, well? With hope crossed on her heart, but no-one by her side? She might fall to fate's final blow. A tragedy, for the guardian cannot act, act, and their pawn locked in her own inaction!"
Fate's final blow? Was he talking about the prophecy? Susie herself had talked briefly about some final part of it, one that she apparently was central to. Or...something. I didn't know much about it either from church or these recent adventures in the Dark Worlds.
Why couldn't I just refuse his demands and shake him off? I was resisting him, but only half-heartedly. Besides...Susie and Chara were beset by Darkners. I-It would save them if I use my magic, plus, I'd get stronger. Right?
And he...Jevil, had threatened me. If I didn't use my magic, he might hurt them and 'end the game early' as he said. I had...no real choice, here. The only thing to do was to use my magic.
But why was there still this tug in my heart that was telling me not to do this? Why couldn't I say no to him other than in a token way?
Why were my hands already moving upwards, to cast the spell?
Both flowers were already frozen by the time my sense returned, and I blinked repeatedly as I looked at them. They were just flowers. Not even...not even really people. R-Right? I had done it because...because I was protecting my friends. Even if Jevil hadn't been there. I just...
I felt dizzy. Like I didn't want to stay around here, anymore.
"Excellent, excellent!" Crooned the clown, clapping his hands together. "The first step has been taken! Perhaps you will be able to convince that guardian to also take the plunge, and grasp strength with their - well, your hands? The world is but a game, and a fellow player cannot just stand back and let their strength wither due to pitiful mercy, mercy!"
I took far longer than I wanted to respond to him, the dizziness being overwhelming. "They don't...Chara doesn't...hurt people. They're...you're sick. What do you...even...gah, my head! It's swimming! I can't even think with this darn ring on!"
When I went to yank it off, my hand just fell limply back to my side. Feeling panic bubble up within me, I tried again, and could barely even grasp the ring in my fingers before my hand fell once more. I didn't want the ring to remain on my finger, but whenever I tried to summon the will to remove it, those feelings just...evaporated.
Jevil chuckled to himself as he began to transform back into the Devilsknife. "It seems the trance has already taken hold, hold? You would do well not to resist it, Lightner. That merchant has such a penchant for finding such lovely toys, does he not? Uee hee hee!"
Trance? I didn't...what was he talking about? Thinking was just getting harder and harder, especially with how much he was now laughing. "Keep it up, and perhaps your guardian and I can play again soon, soon! Remember our little agreement. Spoil the fun, and I -"
"End the game early." I finished without thinking, before smacking my cheeks with my hands. Doing this caused me to wince as the thorns scraped the soft flesh of my cheek, and I rapidly pulled the hand away. "Ow! Why am I finishing your sentences now? What did you do to me?!"
"What did I do, do? My dear guardian angel, angel..." He said with a faux, frustrating innocence before floating down inches away from my face. "I am merely putting the pieces into place for my game! And what would a pawn be if it could go against your wishes, wishes?"
A horrific realization washed over me, and I began to tremble slightly. "T-The ring, it a-affects my m-mind? I-I don't care w-what you do! I'm going to tell Chara, and they're going to - g-going to..."
"I'd love to see you attempt it, it." Jevil said with growing disinterest, examining his gloves as though they had fingernails to look at. "Either way, I've stated the rules. Play or play not, I shall have my fun regardless. But it would be ever so fun for you to proceed, and make yourself stronger. It is the only chance you have to break the trance, after all."
Was he telling the truth? With Chara helping me, if - when we beat him, they could destroy the ring. Right? As I fretted, Jevil finished laughing and shifted back into the Devilsknife, before forcing his way back into my bag. Once again, I was left stunned, scared, and regretting coming down here at all.
No, no, I chided myself. I would just tell Chara about what had happened once them and Susie broke out of this trance, we would defeat Jevil, and everything would go back to normal. I could...do that. I had to.
I resisted the urge to shake Susie again, and instead put my hands together like I was about to cast HealPrayer. Chara being the Angel wasn't something I believed, not even for a second, but if there was any hope of them hearing me...I would pray. Pray, and pray, and pray, trying not to think about the Darkners I had frozen.
Susie began to stir.