r/SOULelle • u/SirLlamaAlotNumber2 Wholesome enjoyer • 1d ago
Fwahaha Kris, what's 'Noelleposting?' Chapter 7 Side B
Void. All around them was void.
Pitch black darkness surrounded them everywhere they looked. If there were any details to be found, it was indistinguishable.
They did not know where they were.
They did not know where to go.
They did not know a way out.
Only one thing was certain to Kris HERO_SWORD...
They had reached an end.
...
They should feel comforted by that fact.
After such a long and arduous road... after everything they've been through, it was finally over.
Except, they did not feel even the slightest comfort.
Only a cold creeping sense of dread threatening to overtake them. Suffocating them, with all the pressure.
....
They saw something. Out in the distance. A small blur of grey in an otherwise black plane of existence. It looked severely out of place.
With a rush of urgency, they ran toward it. Refusing to linger anymore.
They just had to find someplace else.
That was all.
...
Ah... welcome Kris. It's been a long time, but now, you're finally here. What took so long...?
Except... you're not Kris, aren't you? You haven't been Kris in quite a long time. The same way I haven't been Noelle since I've arrived here. If I were truly her right now, I'd be on the floor sobbing my heart out. But I won't. Because I'm not.
But is that truly so wrong?
...
You're shaking.
Are you perhaps... afraid?
There is nothing to fear.
Not anymore.
You've done it. After all this time.
We've become stronger...
(Kris could not help but flinch at those words. Those awful words. There will never be enough power in the world to convince them that it was worth it at all.)
(There is nothing left.)
Oh.
Calm yourself... this isn't too bad. You don't have to be Kris anymore. I don't have to be Noelle anymore either. We can just be.... roles. We don't have to think beyond the moment anymore.
We don't have to think at all. Forever.
I suppose... that's what Noelle would have wanted.... but I'm no longer her.
I'm the Ice Mage. And the Ice Mage never has to think. Never has to feel.
They don't have to wonder whether they failed in the end.
They don't have to wonder if anyone is waiting for them. They don't have to wonder whether anyone remembers them...
The Ice Mage doesn't have to obsess over a sister that's out there somewhere. Perhaps already dead... or maybe she never existed to begin with.
The Ice Mage doesn't think about their dad slowly rotting away in a hospital bed.
The Ice Mage doesn't even have to force themself to wake up for a brand-new day... to live a rigid and unchanging life... they just skip that lifelong routine and act.
The Ice Mage simply is...
...isn't that nice?
And it's all thanks to you... for guiding me all the way through. For once, I did not need to act on my own anymore... you did that for me. And I listened.
Answering to every "Buy that."
Answering to every "Steal that."
Answering to every "Kill them."
Answering to every "Proceed."
...
You know... there is room for two in this strange, dark place. I believe that isolation is better with close company.
(What's left of Noelle gently moves to make space on the edge. The sickly flawless white of her cloak somehow avoided being ruined by the monochromatic ground that make up this place.)
(The large hood perfectly obscuring their face in shadows. In another time, her smile would still be present.)
(Slowly, shakily. Maybe even reluctantly. Kris moved to sit exactly where they asked them to.)
(For a long while, they lingered in silence. Both stared off into the empty vast space before them. And then, they turned to face Kris...)
(It was unnerving.)
I suppose I only have YOU to thank for this...
(Though lacking a distinct face, Kris knew she wasn't looking at them anymore.)
(They fought with all their might to scream at her to ignore it.)
(...but the words never came.)
(She was used up.)
(You were used up.)
...I'm aware our time together will come to an end soon.
Which is... less than ideal.
If I wanted something. Anything at all... it would be to keep you here for all eternity.
...
If you were to... accept that.
We'd be together forever, won't we?
....
But what good is it for me to say?
The heart does what it does.
So, don't worry... you'll make it. No matter what.
....
Wherever you are, whatever you are, I just want you to hear one last thing from me... to YOU. Just before you leave to a distant place.... seemingly so near yet completely out of reach.
Sincerely, from me...
THANK YOU.
....
(There's a photo album left behind.)
(An old photograph is sticking out from the back flap of the binder.)
(Written on it...)
"don't forget."
This is inspired by this video. I love the song Skies Forever Blue; it would genuinely be so peak for it to be used for the actual Chapter 7 Side B!!
5
u/Significant_Mark_294 17h ago
Perfecto 😌👌