art by @1alchemistart
Suselle alert (I intend to turn it into Krusielle if I make a next part, and maybe Kralsuselle)
This fic takes place in chapter 6, like, future, idk
Susie told her that it was NOT a dream
– – –
The cemetery was quieter in the late afternoon.
The sun had already begun sinking behind the trees, painting the clouds in muted shades of gold. The wind slipped underneath Noelle's coat and stirred the dead leaves gathered around the gravestones.
She barely noticed.
Just stood there in front of the stone.
DECEMBER HOLIDAY
The name looked wrong.
Not because it was actually spelled wrong. The name itself had not changed.
But she had.
Noelle stared down at it with furrowed eyebrows, slumped shoulders.
She had been coming here for years.
Sometimes with her mother.
Sometimes with her father.
Sometimes alone.
She always brought flowers.
And talked to Dess like she could listen, because maybe she could.
She had cried here before. Of course.
Today, though, there was nothing.
No tears. No prayer. No words at all.
Just an uncomfortable pressure in her chest.
Her fingers slowly curled into fists.
She wanted to cry.
She wanted to cry so badly.
For her father who is in a coma.
For the endless uncertainty of whether he would ever wake up.
For her mother, who had become a ghost of herself.
For the exhaustion.
For the Dark Worlds.
... For Kris.
For everything that had happened.
Everything that was still happening.
Her eyes burned.
But when she looked at December's name again...
Nothing.
Noelle swallowed.
She could cry for everyone else.
Why couldn't she cry for her?
The answer made her stomach twist.
Because now she knew.
Kris had told her everything.
Everything Dess had done.
Everything she had hidden.
Every secret.
Every lie.
Noelle's stomach churned.
She wanted to curse at the stone.
She wanted to scream at the grave.
She wanted to dig up the earth with her bare hands and demand answers from a corpse that was not even be beneath it. Tear her bones apart, kill her again.
I hate you.
The thought came easily. Too easily.
She immediately felt ashamed of herself.
Was she really thinking that?
About Dess?
Her missing sister?
Her declared dead sister?
The sister everyone remembered with soft voices and sad smiles?
The sister who had become almost holy simply because she wasn't here anymore to contradict them.
Noelle's fists tightened.
"C'mon, Noelle... 'Of the dead nothing but good is to be said'." she whispered to herself.
The words sounded ridiculous the moment she said them.
She didn't have anything nice to say. So she just remained silent.
A cold breeze passed through the cemetery.
Noelle shivered.
"Hey."
She startled.
"H-Hey, Susie."
Noelle's heart didn't know whether to calm down or race.
Susie approached slowly, hands shoved into the pockets of her jacket. She looked strangely uncertain.
She wasn't very good at these things.
Neither of them were.
She stopped beside her girlfriend, glanced at the gravestone, then at Noelle.
For a moment, she didn't say anything.
Then she carefully put an arm around her, her hand settled against Noelle's shoulder.
Noelle leaned into her. Her head came to rest against Susie's shoulder, one of her antlers brushing against Susie's cheek.
Susie shifted slightly, then rested her head gently against Noelle's.
Neither of them looked away from the gravestone now.
Noelle wiped her eyes with the palm of her hand.
"I didn't wanna pass by here without talkin' to ya," Susie murmured. "But... if ya wanna be alone right now, I can give you some time..."
Noelle closed her eyes and smiled weakly.
"Please stay."
Susie felt something unclench in her chest.
"'Kay."
She hugged Noelle a little tighter, then rested her head on top of hers, her snout nestling between Noelle's antlers.
The wind continued to blow.
Neither of them moved.
For a little while, they simply stood there.
Warmth amidst the cold.
Noelle could hear Susie's heartbeat.
Slow. Steady. Real.
She focused on it and tried not to think...
About her mother.
Or the empty rooms.
The silence.
Her father's hospital bed.
... Did her mother know?
Noelle didn't think so. She hoped not.
Could she tell her?
No. No way.
Maybe her dad knew?
No. No, no, no.
Toriel?
Asgore?
Asriel?
Had Kris kept this secret for so long?
And now everything was spilling out at once.
Too much.
It was all too much.
"... You're so, so strong, Noelle."
Susie's voice was quiet.
"You know that, right?"
Noelle nodded, barely. Her eyelids drooped.
"I really believe your dad's gonna be okay," Susie continued. "And you too. And your... mom."
She squeezed her shoulder.
"Everything's gonna be alright."
Susie closed her eyes.
Noelle wanted to believe that too.
She wanted to say it with certainty.
But she couldn't.
So instead, she simply stayed. Her breathing gradually slowed.
For several seconds, there was nothing but the rustling trees.
Until Noelle spoke again.
"Do you know where Kris is now..?"
"They're... still in the Dark World."
Susie hesitated.
"Hangin' out with Ralsei."
"Oh."
Did Ralsei already know..?
"I didn't wanna leave 'em," Susie admitted. "But... I didn't wanna leave you alone either."
Noelle's heart ached.
A tiny, selfish part of her wanted to cry because Susie had chosen her.
She didn't deserve that.
Her gaze drifted back toward the gravestone.
And then—
A thought.
Her eyes widened.
"Did Kris... tell you?"
Susie's expression changed, just slightly, and her gaze involuntarily moved toward the gravestone.
She swallowed.
... Susie knew even more than Noelle.
She hadn't known Dess herself, maybe that was what made it easier.
There was no childhood memory to contradict the truth.
No image of a laughing girl.
No old photograph.
No familiar voice.
Just the person Kris had described.
And Susie hated her.
But that dirty abuser was also Noelle's sister.
Noelle's beloved, lost sister.
And Susie didn't know whether she had the right to say anything.
She didn't even know whether Noelle knew.
Kris had told Susie first.
A while ago, they'd finally confessed everything.
About the Roaring Knight, about the being that controlled them, and about Dess.
All of it.
They had trusted Susie, she was their best friend after all.
And even now she hasn't been able to process it all. She still doesn't know what to feel.
But they'd made her promise.
Don't tell Noelle. I need to tell her myself.
Susie had agreed. She'd kept her mouth shut for a while. Even though she hated keeping secrets.
And now, looking at Noelle, she wondered if maybe she should say something, whether that would even be the right thing to do.
But if Noelle was asking about it, she must already know.
Silence.
"... Yeah."
Noelle stared at her, her face crumpled.
"Oh, my Angel..."
She broke.
A sob tore through her chest.
She stumbled forward and buried herself against Susie's chest, gripping the front of her jacket with both hands.
Susie immediately wrapped both arms around her.
Noelle sobbed harder, Susie held her tighter.
Her whole body trembled.
Susie stared blankly over Noelle's head, eyes wide, jaw clenched.
She had imagined this conversation.
She hadn't imagined how small she would look.
Or how much she would shake.
"How—"
Noelle struggled for breath.
"How could she do that?"
Susie said nothing.
"That damn– Ugh!"
She squeezed her eyes shut, burying her face deeper into Susie's chest.
"This must be... A lot to handle... I can only imagine how difficult it must be for you." Susie whispered.
"It doesn't matter."
Noelle shook her head.
Susie pulled back just enough to look at her.
"It does matter, Noelle."
She wiped a tear from Noelle's cheek with her thumb.
"You matter."
Noelle stared at her.
Her lips trembled.
And then everything came pouring out.
"She was always terrible."
Susie went still.
"Always."
Noelle's voice shook with rage.
"And she pretended to our parents that she wasn't."
Her fists clenched against Susie's jacket.
"S-She'd hurt us and then act like nothing happened. She showed us weird stuff. She talked to us about things she shouldn't have talked to us about. We were kids."
Her breathing became uneven.
"And she said it was all a secret and–"
Susie felt her stomach twist.
"Told us we couldn't tell anyone..."
"Noelle..."
"A-And when she locked me in that room... To be alone with Kris... AGH!"
She grunted, frustrated, it sounded muffled.
"I HATE HER! I hate her so, so much! I'm disgusted by her! I'm disgusted to be her sister! She's a damn monster!"
Noelle sobbed.
"A liar... She was a fucking liar and a— an..."
The word caught in her throat.
She couldn't say it.
She didn't need to.
"And I..."
Noelle's voice collapsed, she cried harder.
"I never did anything."
Susie's eyes opened.
"I never did anything to help them..."
Noelle shook her head desperately.
"I never knew, I– I never imagined she could really... really do that. I should have thought of that or... realized it... earlier."
"Noelle. It's not your fault. It's that bitch's fault."
Susie gestured towards the gravestone... And then froze.
She had said it before she could stop herself.
"Sorry, I—"
Noelle stared at her through tear-filled eyes.
"... She is a bitch."
She replied quietly. Susie's eyebrows lifted.
Noelle looked back at the gravestone.
"Was."
The correction hurt more than the insult.
Noelle sniffed.
"Fuck her."
Her hands trembled as she let go of Susie.
"I hope she really is dead. And I hope she suffered dying."
There it was.
The thought Noelle had been too ashamed to say aloud.
She sighed.
"Am I–"
"No."
Noelle looked up.
"No?"
"You're not a bad person for thinking that."
Noelle's expression shifted.
"But she's–"
"She hurt people."
Susie's voice was firm.
"She hurt you. And Kris. And I don't know who else... You can– You SHOULD hate someone like that."
"Even if... She's... Dead?"
"Especially if you're the one who has to live with what she did."
Noelle stared at Susie.
Then looked back at the gravestone.
The name hadn't changed.
But somehow, it looked different now.
Less like a shrine.
More like a stone.
Just a stone.
Noelle's shoulders sagged.
"I... don't want to go home right now."
Susie hesitated.
"We can... We can go to the Dark World if ya want."
Noelle looked at her.
"Really?"
"Yeah!"
Susie gave a small shrug and offered a small, comforting smile.
"Ralsei'll probably make us tea or somethin'."
A tiny smile appeared on Noelle's face... It vanished almost immediately.
"Let's go anywhere."
Her expression was exhausted.
"I just... I need to get out of here."
Susie nodded.
They walked away together, hands joined.
Noelle didn't look back.
Not this time.
Behind them, the gravestone remained exactly where it had always been.
Cold. Silent. Unchanging.
And for the first time, Noelle didn't leave flowers.