Draconic Fortune (Noelle)
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Draconic Fortune
 
Chapter 15
 
Chorus
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The previous day ended just fine. She went to the streets to get her fix on causing some mischief, and then went home to try some of the inedible and cold food her mother left behind. She listened to her obese mother's suspicious ramblings. To be exact, she started by asking her what she's been doing. "Hanging out with friends." She just answered before forcing herself to eat the next bit of undercooked sausage.

They were back to back, one watching tv, the other at the table. Neither turned around to face each other. But Susie could hear the rippling shuffles of dragon fat against the cheap leather of her seat. "That 'friends' story was funny the first time, but it's already getting old." That actually stung, coming from her own mother. Mostly because she didn't have a comeback.

It wasn't like Susie could blame her for thinking that way. "Let's not kid ourselves. I know you're not up to any good after your classes. I'm not sure if you even go to them half the time." All the little and big distractions with Kris, Noelle and even Berdly were a welcome change. But in the end, she had years of screw-ups, bad school grades, clashes with school staff and a risky evasion of the law to look back at.

She took that little lash in stride though. She didn't want to risk starting a fight and talking back when her mother started off like this always led to one. Better to just be quiet and walk out of the living room unscathed this time.

And in the end, she went to bed. The day ended like any other in Susie's life.

The following day started out in an unimaginably bizarre way. And it only got worse from where it started. She already felt weird when getting up. Police cars were parked all along the streets on her way to school. She entered the classroom only two or three minutes before the first class was set to start. Kris' and Noelle's desks were both empty. Their teacher wasn't here and a weird mood hung over everyone.

No-one said anything, not even Snowdrake and Jocks seemed as lively as otherwise. Berdly was completely frozen. Probably in hopes that Susie would not do exactly what she decided to do and poke him with the claw at the end of her index finger. "Dude..."

And even when it was unavoidable, he remained very slow to turn around. "...yeah?"

"Where are - you know." She nodded to her left and a bit over her shoulder to imply that she's referring to Kris' desk.

"You don't know?"

"No?"

"Didn't you hear the sirens? It was all over town."

"No."

"They're gone."

"What do you mean they're gone?"

"Vanished, in the middle of the night. Kris' mom called the police and the national guard. Everyone in the neighbourhood was woken up. Apparently one moment they're having dinner, then they go upstairs and poof - gone."

Hearing this made Susie's eyebrows drop as low as Berdly's. "Do you think they're..." She slowly moved her hand forward to point at Berdly's Jevil-themed glasses.

"Three times in a row? How unlikely is that? I guess not much more unlikely than twice in a row. Don't you think that's a little far-fetched?"

"What else is there? You think they ran away together out of the blue?"

Berdly slammed his palm against the side of his face. "Of course not. But there's got to be something more grounded than - " He stopped himself before he said anything about 'dark realms' or something similarly fantastical. Instead, when he saw the door barge open for a just as shaken up teacher, he opted to abort their conversation. "Later, okay?"

Mrs. Alphys only had her usual bag with her, but she was out of breath and more sweaty than before. She must have been running or carrying things around. "Good morning...heh - sorry. Had to fetch something to distract the smaller ones. What with Toriel taking the day off and all that."

That wasn't seen as valid reason for the rest of them to take the day off, so they had to go through classes as if this was just your every day school day. For all she knew, Kris was off in the dark world, going on a magical adventure with Noelle. And without her. She was instead stuck out here. With all the bothersome classes.

She could always feel the others staring at her. Judging her. Expecting her to do something extreme and get herself kicked out for good. Something about all this disturbed Susie on a deep level she didn't really understand. She couldn't just sit here and listen to Mrs. Alphys ramble on about equations. But she had to.

At least she'd be able to talk about this during recess. When the bell rang, she made sure to grab Berdly and drag him to the trees on the northern edge of the school yard. "Right now, we're out of their hearing range, you can let go of me already." When she did, they both sat down next to the trees.

"So what are we gonna do?"

"We? There's nothing we can do right now."

"There's got to be something! If you're so smart, birdbrain, you'll come up with something!"

Berdly sighed. "Look, it's Kris, right. If something's up with him, I can only think of three people to ask. Noelle, his brother, Mrs. Dreemurr. Noelle's gone too, mind you. His brother's off in college and I don't have his number. And far as I heard when I found out about all this, Mrs. Dreemurr never actually left the house since it happened."

Susie got up right away. "Then let's go."

"Where?"

"To Kris' place. If they're in the dark world, there's got to be a portal."

"I don't think it works that way."

"Hm?"

"It's obvious those portals don't stay open for long. Think for a second. Don't you think Kris' mom would have noticed if there was a wide-open closet-door that led straight into a giant black void? Imagine her in that situation. What do you think she'd do? Go after him or stay at home and call the police?"

He had a point, so she came back and sat down next to him again. "Yeah...I guess that's right."

That didn't make just sitting there in class following lunch break any less of a torture. She didn't want to sit here. She didn't want to just hang around anywhere either. She wanted to get to the bottom of this. She knew this was some dark world thing. She could feel it. He wouldn't just run away with Noelle overnight.

She was supposed to believe the quiet freak who used to just stay in his little corner doing who knew what, suddenly went around making romantic escapes with girls in the middle of the night? Like hell. No. She refused to believe that. When finally, the school bell rung to the end of their last class for today, she unleashed so much tension springing up that it flipped her stool back. She waited outside for Berdly to come by and grabbed him with a force in her grip that was on its own enough to signal that she wasn't going to let go. "Wait, where are we going this time?"

"To Kris' place."

"He's not going to be there."

"Whatever, Mrs. D deserves to know. If talking to her gives me any sense that she'll believe it, we'll tell her."

"That's insane." No looks were exchanged on their path through the streets. And Susie was in no condition in which anyone was willing to get between her and whatever she was up to. She didn't let go of him until they both already stood with one foot on the doormat. She started with three gentle knocks and waited for an answer. There was none, so she continued with three a little more insistent knocks and asked: "Hello? Mrs. D? It's me, Susie!"

Nothing. She tried knocking with a whole fist. "Hello? Hello?" Before she knew, she was banging against the door with enough force to hear and feel the impact along the entire wall. "Mrs. D I know you're in there! Come on, say something! I might know where he is!" It didn't help.

No matter how loudly she screamed and banged against the door, there wasn't any reaction whatsoever. Susie had even asked at Catti's place if they ever saw her pass by. They were right where she would come through all morning and they didn't see her once, so she was here. She just refused to dignify Susie's call for attention with any kind of response.

The only reaction she got after spending a long time making noise that must have been heard all the way down the street next to an increasingly nervous bird monster, was one of the local police officers walking up the driveway. "Hey! What are you two doing?" She could tell by the jarring voice without looking, that it wasn't one of the recently arrived officers, but the fish lady that Susie had a lot of experience eluding. "Did you just say something about knowing where he is?"

Undyne coming this close made Susie very nervous just out of habit from the things she was usually doing when she was worried about her being anywhere nearby. Which didn't make her look any less suspicious. "I - I mean I don't know - I'd rather talk to Mrs. D in person."

"So you know, or you don't know?" Undyne immediately had a little notebook and a pen on hand and her voice was already all the way into interrogation mode. Susie was not improving her situation with anything she said.

Berdly rolled his eyes and stepped between the two of them. "She means we know a spot he likes to go to. Maybe you could look there."

Undyne was already suspicious from how Susie reacted, so you could tell from the look on her face that she had doubts about Berdly's statement as well. "Okay, sure. Where is it? Describe it."

He answered with no hesitation. "It's in the woods southwest of the graveyard. At a bench in the middle of the woods. It's the only one there, you can't miss it."

The police officer froze for a second, but then noted it down. "Okay. So what else was there?"

With a swinging gesture, the bird pointed to the door. "We would rather talk to Mrs. Dreemurr. If that isn't too much to ask."

Undyne shrugged and went past them to the door. "I mean we can try knocking one more time." Which she did. "But if there's no-one at home, there's no-one at home."

"Where would she go at a time like this?"

"Look I don't tell people what to do, I just tell people what NOT to do. If she's not breaking the law, it's none of my business. Now will you two screw off and stop making noise? People are already complaining."

Of course this going the way it did left Susie's shoulders hanging down, but they both agreed to walking away. Mrs. Dreemurr didn't respond to Undyne knocking either. The moment they were out of the fish monster's hearing range, the dragon poked Berdly with her elbow. "Nice dodge by the way."

"You're not going to let this go are you?"

"How are you so cool about all this? Don't you care about either of them?" She clearly didn't expect him to be so dismissive from how angry she got.

"I'm worried sick about Noelle, yes. But why do YOU care?" From one moment the the next, all expression left Susie's face. "You're not involved with any of us in any way. Oh wow, you and Kris were in the dark world once, so were we, but you're not seeing me lose any sleep over him."

He couldn't keep going like this though, as she cut him off with a painful punch to the gut. "Shut up. Let's say you're right and they're not in the dark world, where else would they go? You and Noelle hang out a lot, right? What kind of places do you guys go to?"

"I highly doubt they went to any of those."

"Stop stalling. We're going there now." He sighed, but he knew he didn't have a choice in the matter. One by one, they went to the places that Berdly and Noelle usually hung out at, when they weren't at his family's house. The first stop was a bench right by the river. Of course Kris and Noelle weren't here, it was in the middle of town. They weren't at the librarby either.

They walked through the northern, more forested part of the park. They took a long trip to the outer part of town closer to where Susie lived, and up the cliffs, where they had a clear view of the surrounding woods all the way to the beach and the city on the horizon.

A great place to enjoy the view, but not one that Kris and Noelle were at, not even in the nearby hiding places Berdly led her along. He kept his hands in his pockets and sighed. The growing distress showed on the trail of feathers he left behind. "I mean we could hit the threatre, but they've got cameras there and the police has already put out a search for them, so if they were in any place with cameras, they would have been found by now."

They stayed up here for a while, aimlessly wandering about. "Isn't there some other place you can think of?"

"It - no."

He hesitated for a second. That was what Susie took from the way he reacted. He marched right up to him and grabbed the bird by the collar. "Is there or is there not another place?" Berdly stared her in the eyes with a look of deep disdain and remained quiet for a while. "Speak up!"

"Yes. There's one more place." Even when he moved on his own, he did so slowly. He really didn't want to head to that last one. He made them walk all the way back to school, through the now empty schoolyard, into the woods, far into the woods along a barely visible path. Wherever they were going, you wouldn't know where to go to, unless you had been there yourself. At the end of their journey lay a clearing with a big tree in the middle. With a look of resignation and a tone that matched it, he announced their arrival: "This is it. There, you happy?"

It was wide enough that you could see the sun, even in the late afternoon. And the treetop was wide enough that you could rest in its shadow, even in the evening. But there were no chairs, no benches, no street, no solid ground anywhere. The most solid thing here were the tree's roots. Everything else was just earth. Grassy, mossy, earth, where you could expect bugs to be crawling all over it. Nothing as clean as what she expected. If you sat or lied down here, your clothes were going to get dirty. "You and Noelle hang out here?"

"Sometimes."

"I mean...you sit down here?" She grinned and patted the earth, already smearing her hand with some of it.

Berdly rolled his eyes. "We usually have a blanket to sit on."

"What, you mean like a picnic?"

"Yes. Like a picnic."

She leaned down until she lay on her back, with her hands under her head. "That's - that's kinda neat."

They spent several minutes in complete silence. The only things Susie could hear was the crackling of drying leaves under Berdly's feet as he wandered around and sighed from time to time. He was also the one to put an end to the silence when he came back to Susie and stood right next to her. "You're still not satisfied, are you?"

"Nope."

"So what's your plan then? Break into Kris' house to look for a portal that's likely not there? Try and fail to come up with some explanation when Mrs. Dreemurr shoos you out of the house or calls the cops?"

"Yeah. Guess that's a thing."

"Look. If they are in the dark world- look at it this way. You and Kris were in the dark world before. And you made it back. Me and Kris were, and we somehow made it out again. And Kris has some experience with it now. So just keep reminding yourself that wherever they are, Kris has the situation under control. And whatever their situation is, it's not that bad."

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The heroes were stuck in a helpless situation. Kris was gone. And they were surrounded by purple dragons that crammed the room around the cockpit to the brim. Everyone was held in place for several minutes. Whatever they tried, the dragons wouldn't let go. "All right, that's enough of a head-start."

The Mistress climbed back outside and like a storm, the shorter dragons swarmed out of the plane. Pulled upwards by the leashes on their arms. They could hear larger drake roaring outside, and felt the downward push to the plane when it pushed itself off the Chariot.

They didn't leave for good though. Noelle and the others could observe the serpent through the window. It gained some distance at first, then circled back and prepared a targeted ray of searing fire straight along the front end of the Chariot's left wing. Causing a small explosion in two of the turbines on the right side.

Ralsei rushed downstairs and after Kris the moment he could, but he was too late. He and Axe were long gone. He tried pulling out his gun, enchanting it and shooting the serpent from here, but all that accomplished was that it flew higher to where he had no chance at hitting or even seeing it. And it didn't limit itself to one side either.

Before leaving, it gave the other side the same treatment. Something all around them felt strange after the first attack, but after the second one, it was obvious. The turbines were out. All of them. Maybe something inside them melted, maybe it was magic, but for whichever reason they didn't work or respond.

They could see the reptile carrying all the succubi vanish in the distance. They were on their own, but not in a good spot. Dasher pulled a lever and got up. "Our engines are down. The momentum is carrying us for the time being, but that won't last. Everyone come with me!" He led them back to the staircase.

When Headbanger turned around and noticed Faith not having stood up yet, she grabbed her by the back of her blanket and dragged her along. The archer opened a few lockers, filled with backpacks with vest-like harnesses and passed them around to everyone. "All right! This isn't a regular jet, I can't just land it using only the wings. Not from this high up. It's going to drop and crash. We have to jump off before that happens."

When he wanted to close the door to reduce the noise, he noticed that Ralsei was still standing at the open door, teary-eyed and with his gun lowered but still drawn. "Hey!" He tipped at him and the others came closer as well. "Are you paying attention?"

The prince was moving his mouth. When Dasher and Noelle came closer and leaned in to hear what he was saying, he appeared to just be muttering the words "I lost him...I can't...I have to look after him...I want to look after him..."

They didn't have time for this, so he shook him. "Hey! Wake up! You can't look after him if you're not alive."

Even though they couldn't tell how, they could somehow see him breaking his trance. After blinking a few times, he was back to normal. "You're right!" He took the chute Dasher had brought and began putting on the harness and tightening all parts of it.

"We have to jump off! Jump, try to spread to slow down the fall, count to three, pull this!" He pointed at the handle, and then continued making sure everyone had a parachute and that they were all secured to not fall off.

Starlet was the first to jump off. She was already familiar with how this worked.

Faith didn't seem to have much of a motivation to do anything, including surviving, so Dasher and Headbanger helped along with her until she was ready to jump.

With his mind set on surviving to get a chance to find Kris again, Ralsei didn't need much encouragement to jump.

Which only left Dasher and Noelle. Noelle was trying to pull herself together and go along with it, but standing near the door with her harness on, it felt as if the wind blowing from outside was sending swarms of snakes slithering through her body. "I - I can't do this...Please..."

"There's no time!" And he didn't know what else to do anyway. Luckily these harnesses were set up to account for cases where people were unconscious or children were present. There were additional straps and locks that allowed to attach one harness to another. He attached her harness to his own, pulled all the straps very tightly and made sure they were secured.

Then he grabbed his bow, and took that leap of faith, dragging Noelle with him. You could barely hear her scream against the rushing of the wind in his ears as the air itself bore its way through his skin. And he only had a few seconds, too.

His hand was in position when he was jumping already, and once he was sure the plane and the winds it pulled along had drawn away enough, he pulled the handle and deployed the parachute. The force with which he was pulled scared him of his and Noelle's vests coming loose, but in the end, they somehow made it through that process in one piece.

It wasn't long until their movements became more even and Noelle had spaced-out moments when she didn't continuously scream for a second. And the longer they glided down, the longer those moments lasted. Soon, the gradual movements and the safety of the older human's arm holding her in addition to the harness, made for enough security for her to calm down.

"We're...we're alive."

Dasher laughed, relieved that Noelle came out okay. He pointed in one direction, with his free hand angled downwards. "See that over there?" Whatever he was pointing at, it was too far away to make out clearly, but contrasting against the blue-turqoise-ish fields extending in all directions below, she could definitely make out something floating down. She surmised that the round-ish object she could see was a chute like this one. "That's gonna be either Ralsei, or one of the dragon girls."

It was still cold and windy on their way down, but to a degree at which they could enjoy the sight. And the calm. Besides the winds, it was quiet. In the dark filling the skies, she was alone with Dasher, pressed against the toned human front-to-front. Held both by the straps of the life-savers they wore, and wrapped in his strong arm.

Far, far in the distance, further away than anything else she could see, an impossible looking structure pierced through the darkness. A tower that reached far into the sky. Higher up than Noelle and everyone else had been throughout their flight, it broke through the clouds and left its upper end obscured. The part of it she could see, was an insane length relative to its width, designed on the outside with two spirals of blue and bright yellow wound around each other like the swirling stripes of a candy cane. Though they were arranged in a much less steep way.

Her attention shifted when she felt Dasher's chin brushing against her forehead when he turned around to switch the sides he scouted. It gave her the sense that she was in strong hands. Kris was right. Noelle felt much safer like this than at any given time on the plane. She appreciated it. It gave her hope that she was different from Temptress.

"Say...Dasher?" She avoided his eyes and stared off, at the endless fields and sparse townships.

"What's wrong?"

"That feeling you talked about. You and the de - you and the Sinwielder. The one that drove Temptress crazy..." In her insecurity, her mouth filled up with water, so she had to swallow that liquid fear back down. "...when exactly did it start?"

"I'm not sure. I think in a much more mild form it has always been there. But it became really noticeable in the last two months. And a few days a go, it got much worse. It's still there, but I won't just go insane if that's what you're worried about..."

"No, no. That's not it. I just. I'm still not quite sure how the dark world works." She began to notice glowing lights flying around above the ground, and lengthy fleets being carved into the landscape. "I just hope Kris is okay."

"Hey, he'll be fine. The dragons need him alive, remember?"

"Yes...yes you're right."

"We should focus on finding the others. Then we can look for Kris."

Their journey down didn't last forever. As their eyes followed the further-away of the two dragon girls, they began noticing that the ground near where they were landing wasn't entirely untouched. Here and there, at far-apart spots on the blue grass, large fissures were carved into the ground. And swarms of small yellow lights flew through the air not far away from where they were heading.

When the dragon they watched hit the ground and her parachute began slumping down over her, she and Dasher were close enough to make out a little more. From one of the bigger fissures, big enough to be more of a gorge, another light emerged and began flying around and joining the others. Their movements seemed too random, too independent from the dragon struggling to crawl out from under the drape. She suspected it to be something the nun casted at first, but it really didn't seem that way.

And soon came their time. They hit the ground. Yes, gliding down softened up the impact, but it was still heavy enough to drag them both down on all fours. All the more when the folded up chute collapsed over them and spread itself out. The way it wrapped itself on the ground forced them down as if it was a lot heavier than it seemed when carrying it.

Even when Dasher undid the safety locks holding the two of them together and then undoing both her and his harness, he was always in close enough proximity for her to feel him right next to her. Whenever she struggled a little more to push herself out from under the drape, the human crawled a little further and held up a little more of it so she could follow more easily.

Under wincing and grunting, they eventually made it out and letting the outer end drop on the ground, they could stand back up. While knocking some of the dust off her robe, Noelle noticed that oddly enough, while Dasher lost his hat in the heat of the fall, her own christmas hat was still on her head as if nothing had happened.

Not that the loss of the human's hat lasted long. When he noticed, he twirled his index finger around and from a red cloud, a new identical looking hat - or the exact same one - materialized in his hand. Allowing him to put it back, straighten it and walk away from the entire ordeal as if nothing had happened.

They swiftly got to following the direction in which they saw one of the dragons fall. But on their way there, the roaming swarm of lights made a sharp turn and flew right to them. They were children and infants, both monsters and humans, but all of them with wings on their back glowing with the same golden light as they did, and as Faith's delta rune did back when they fought her. Those that had one, gently strummed their hands along the strings of their harps, as most, maybe all of them came up to them with their mouths open, singing together as a harmonious, angelic choir.

"Cherubs?", burst out of Noelle. "In the dark world?"

Right then, gathered around the two of them, the angels stopped singing. One of them, a baby with a bow and arrow, floated out of the ring they had formed, down and closer to her. "We are those who bear the tunes that praise the lord. Our songs reach out for heaven." Those that did before, resumed their synchronous singing with one slow, calming tone. "Our words call out his name."

It was a tone that soothed Noelle and made her feel a sense of importance, chilling her spine in a more comforting way than the cold out here would have.

"What are you - I mean where did you come from? I thought I saw you fly out of one of those holes." She looked off to the only fissure she could see from here. It was over a hundred metres away. Everything seemed much further apart down here than when they were floating down from the sky. But even from down here, she could see a little of that strange spire tower over the continent.

"We dwelled in the earth beneath, rehearsing our songs with diligence, waiting for the lightners that sealed us below so many months ago, to return. For when the time would come that the lightners would herd us back and to many realms, to bring the lord's light to the world. We made sure to be prepared then - as now, as though they had never left."

As they went on, the cold began to fade. She could feel a warmth emanating from the growing ring of glowing figures flying around and above her. Sheltering her from the nigh-freezing winds. "Lightners...was Kris here? Did Kris free you?"

The cherub with the bow smiled. Whenever he talked, his voice echoed throughout the growing cocoon of light that formed around them. "We know not the names of any lightners, but we know that it was not a lightner that freed us. Not this time. It was a woman dressed in red. With long, golden hair and antlers much like yours. Casting open one abaddon after the next with as though she were possessed. And much alike, she payed no mind, wasted no second to hear our pleas for reason."

"But we could see in her eyes that she was not possessed. She was lost in sin and the derangement it brings with it. She had strayed away from god's light. Too far for us to reach her. Too far for anyone to reach her. If she is known to you, I am sorry. She is beyond salvation. She is beyond redemption. On the path she walks right now, only eternal damnation - in life and thereafter - is what awaits her."

"No...Temptress..." Dasher mumbled before stepping forward and shouting at the angel. "Don't say that! It's not too late! If we just get to her, then maybe...maybe..."

The angel cut him off. "I see the temptation to grant forgiveness indefinitely." He didn't raise his voice, but its strength and volume was too much for Dasher to shout over it regardless. "But the lord forgives only those willing to atone. Her mind has long grown so twisted, that she thinks the immoral is moral, and the moral is immoral. She declares sin itself sacred, to justify committing it herself. She convinced herself that those trying to lead her back on a better path, were her enemies, all to mask her unforgivable betrayal. I cannot stop you from pursuing her. But I can tell you right now, that any hope in her redemption and recovery, will only lead to suffering."

Noelle joined Dasher. She opposed the resignation the angel demanded from her as much as he did. "There's got to be something we can do. Please!"

"You and her have much in common. Your fate and hers are inseparably intertwined. I can see your hand in her betrayal. It stems from a betrayal of your own. I can see the same struggle to maintain one's fragile delusions in your eyes, as I did in hers. For you and her, the same actions will lead to the same outcomes, but for her, it is too late. Stray no further from god's light, seek no more justification for mindless lust, or you might find a fate more slow and painful than hers." The warmth was overtaken by a cold shadow that took root in Noelle's back.

Dasher needed a moment to register what the cherub was saying, but when he did, he turned to Noelle with a dreaded expression on his face, and a piercing cold in his eyes. "What is he saying? What does he mean you have a hand in her betrayal?"

Noelle shrugged together, and with tiny steps, moved away from the archer. But before she could turn her aimless whimpers into words, the glowing figure continued. "We see those that come and those that go. Do not fear satan. For while he may imagine himself the corrupter, he is in truth the angel of light. He may seem harsh and unforgiving, but if you allow him to, he may be the beacon that will light your way out of the dark."

With his speech concluded, the cherub dashed in a circle around the two, and flew away. The moment he pierced through the light that surrounded them, all other angels broke formation, flew arcs around them as well and joined him in flying to wherever they were headed.

Leaving her alone, in the cold. With a furious human staring her down. She trembled, and in her nervous steps, stumbled and fell onto the felty grass. "What did you do? What did you do to make him say that? What does that mean you have a hand in her betrayal?"

"I - I - please - I don't know..."

"Answer me!"

"I...I'm not sure. I didn't do anything, I swear!"

"He wouldn't have said so if you didn't!" He covered his mouth and turned around, as if searching for the answer in the grass. But there was none. The longer he stared off, the more he realized as much. And the more he calmed down. She was still on the ground, trembling when he came up to her. Meekly dragging his boots across the ground. Once he had caught up with her though, the look she was met with wasn't one of anger, but resignation.

He sighed and sat on the grass beside her. "This has something to do with what you said earlier, doesn't it?"

"Hm?"

"About you going through something similar to Temptress."

"I don't know...maybe. If I caused this somehow, then I don't know how. I don't know how the dark world works exactly. Kris is the one that knows." He had nothing to say to that. All they could do in this case, was to move on and hope they found Kris again. For the time though, they just sat in the dark. Noelle with her arms around her tucked-in legs. Feeling the wind brush against them and listening to the rustling of grass.

"What's going on over here?" At last, drawn by the light surrounding them for some time, others caught up with them. All the others actually. The old singer, being the one that had the most time, had collected the others one by one and brought them to Noelle and Dasher. They stared at Noelle with expecting eyes. Even now, when Kris wasn't here, the darkners looked to the only lightner they could find for guidance. And Ralsei was the one to put their thoughts into words. "So what are we going to do now?"

Now they expected her to lead. What was she even supposed to say? That they had a lead to where Temptress was, but she was afraid of what would happen if they confronted her. "How come they had elder dragons anyway?"

She had her eyes closed thinking about this for a moment, but that made them spring wide open. "Elder dragons!" She got up. If this was what this was, she had to warn them. "The woman in the temple - the Drakeforger. She said Temptress wants to unleash the elder dragons. Do you think she already did?"

Headbanger, stripped of her style without her shades, folded up her arms and shook her head. "No way. I was around to see 'em get put away. If the devourers were unleashed, you'd know. Trust me. You'd know from everything going topsy turvy. This..." She circled her index finger in the air. "This was nothing."

"Wait..." Noelle was glad to see that Dasher had still enough hope for this to get him to get up and spring into action. "If she wants to unleash the elder dragons, and she hasn't done it yet, that means she's still here!" And just like that, she was caught again. This time in a lie by omission.

The archer fixated his eyes onto hers, making it hard for her to not look back at him. "I know you're worried." He kept her attention by grabbing her hands and holding onto them. "But we have to go after her! We can stop this madness before it gets any worse! And she'll know where the other lightner is!"

He was convincing her. And she could read on their faces, that it raised the spirits of the others as well. Well, half the others. The dragon girls sighed. Headbanger came closer and shook her head. "Sorry, girl. But I'm out. While we had squareboy, I'da said 'Okay. Maybe we can beat pink girl'. But this..."

She pulled the axe they bought her off. "...this was a waste. It was pointless. I know when I'm beat. She's got the tail, she's got the spikes, she's got the edge, she's got the skills. And me? If I'm honest, I got nothin'. Pity I had to learn it the hard way."

She was even more annoyed now at continuously having to pull her hair out of the way. She was too used to the blocky sunglasses keeping her sight clear. Without them, and no longer wearing her coat like a cape, she didn't look like anything special anymore. She was just Susie with a guitar. A more timid version at that, and she knew it.

"Wait! Wait, maybe we can turn this around!" She was getting anxious, seeing the first party member already wandering off.

But her plea was in vain. Still walking away as she did it, Banger turned around. "Nope. I know when I'm beat. You guys are on your own. I was useless anyway."

"Hey, that's not true! We can do this! Somehow...together!"

A moment of relief took her, when she saw the succubus stop and face her one more time. "Sorry, but no. 'We' ain't doing this. No offense girl, but...square guy. Kris - I mean. Not gonna lie, he's a real square. Not the kinda guy I'm seeing let loose at parties. But that keeps him on top of things. Makes him a good leader. And you..." She made a haphazard gesture with her open hand, dismissively spinning it in one direction, then the other. "Nah, really not seeing it."

That was all she said before leaving for good. And apparently, she wasn't the only one. Faith's blanket was now dirty from dragging it along the dirt, presumably when she crawled out of her parachute. It didn't make her approach any more assuring either.

"I'll be leaving as well.", she stated plainly and with devoid of emotion. "I agreed to undo my wards so your sorcerer can bring his door with him. I will honor what I agreed to do, but beyond that, I consider us working together concluded." Noelle was about to say something to the already leaving nun.

But before she could, she turned lightly her way. Not nearly enough for Noelle to see anything more than her covered shoulder. "And don't even think about trying to talk me into staying." She actually physically snarled at her before making her way further through the grass. In a different direction than the other dragon.

Noelle felt like falling on her knees. She had just started taking responsibility for their party. And right from the get-go, two left the group.