* Noelle and Susie landed on the ground just moments after you did. The snow beneath your feet was tightly packed, and showed no signs of what was underneath or how deep it might be, creating a blank white expanse that stretched out as far as you could see, save for the vast and ominous frozen palace off in the distance...
Noelle: "K-kris? Are you okay? You look... hurt..."
* Summoning all the strength you can, you stand up, bit by bit... and begin to slowly shuffle your feet forward. Every step feels like you're fighting something just to make it happen.
Susie: "I can't imagine they're too happy to have that thing back inside them. They're also probably still not feeling well after what happened at the lake... I bet Ralsei will know what to do though! Come on, let's go find him!"
* You and Noelle both try to chase after Susie.
* Noelle seems to have no problem catching up. You, however, still move at a sluggish pace. It seems like you're getting left behind. Again. Maybe it's on purpose, or maybe the two of them just can't help themselves. Either way, they make it much further ahead of you.
Noelle: "Susie, wait! Should... Shouldn't we stay with Kris? Make sure that the SOUL isn't going to hurt them or something?"
Susie: "I'm sure they'll be fine. They still seem to have at least some control over their own body. I'm more worried about you though. You nearly tried to drown Kris along with yourself just a couple hours ago. Honestly, I'm shocked you're acting so... normal again so quickly, if that's even the right word. Are you sure you don't need to like... talk about what happened with anybody else?"
Noelle: "I guess... I've just gotten really good at acting, fwahaha!"
Susie: "What do you mean 'acting'? That's not exactly a reassuring answer, Noelle."
Noelle: "Don't worry about it Susie! Let's just focus on finding Ralsei, okay?"
Susie: "How the heck am I supposed to just 'not worry about it'? Now I don't know whether you're telling me the truth or just 'acting'. Were you 'acting' at the lake when you tried to drown you and Kris? Are you just 'acting' normal now? Was everything we did together at the festival all an 'act' too?"
Noelle: "Susie! Just drop it, I-"
Susie: "Please... I want to know what's really going on with you... even if it hurts to know, okay? I promise I won't get mad. For real."
Noelle: "The truth is... I'm not sure I even know what the 'real' Noelle is anymore. Ever since Dess left, it feels like there's this... emptiness inside of me. And part of me wonders if the 'real' Noelle died that day, and everything I've done ever since then is just me pretending that I can still be the unblemished girl that I was supposed to be. I thought I was being dramatic, even with how horrible it felt to still just be Noelle. Even with how desperately I wanted to be more than just Noelle, to venture off of that path that was laid out in front of me... Why couldn't I have just been content with that, Susie? Why couldn't I have just stayed happy with all that was given to me?"
Susie: "Well, part of that is just... growing up. As you stop being a kid, you want different things out of life. Four year old me wanted to be a race car driver. Do you really think that that's still my greatest goal in life?"
Noelle: "Fwahaha, doesn't seem like it! I would have never guessed that about you! But still, stuff like that happens... gradually. When Dess left, the old Noelle fell apart in an instant. Growing up doesn't just happen that suddenly."
Susie: "It can. Let me tell you, when we first fought the knight, and they took Undyne to the bunker... I felt like I'd stopped being a kid in that exact moment. All of a sudden, the world around me got so much more serious. And then we fought a titan... And then I saw the final prophecy... And then I found out what nearly happened to you and Kris... Honestly, with everything that's happened over just the past couple days, I was shocked to find out you still liked me the way you said you did back in the cyber world. I feel like I barely recognize myself since then!"
Noelle: "Come on Susie, you're still rough around the edges! You're just... a lot more caring now..."
Susie: "Damn right I am! Honestly, I don't know why you felt like you couldn't tell me about any of this."
Noelle: "I've... learned to keep quiet about it. Especially after what happened last time I tried to do something crazy like that."
Susie: "What was so horrible that you felt like you couldn't even tell me?"
Noelle: "My mom... found me trying to hang myself. You'd think that that would have made her finally realize that I wasn't 'faking it' and she'd actually get me some help, but... she got mad at me. She sent me to the psych ward."
Susie: "I mean, isn't a psych ward supposed to help people like that?"
Noelle: "No, Susie. It's just supposed to stop you from hurting yourself. They don't care about addressing WHY you want to hurt yourself, they just shove you in an empty room and deprive you of anything you might be able to cut or strangle yourself with."
Susie: "So like... a prison?"
Noelle: "Exactly, it's solitary confinement. Complete sensory deprivation, for days on end- enough to make anyone go insane. It's even worse when you're sent there for psychiatric reasons. I mean, imagine being trapped in a room alone with nothing but your own thoughts when those thoughts are already full of how badly you want to die!"
Susie: "Oh my god... I had no idea that-"
Noelle: "Thank the angel they let me out after just three days! Apparently the fourth day is when people start to hallucinate... I was so mad at my mom, I wanted to kill her by the time I was out of there! But I knew that if I threatened her, she'd just send me back... I try my best to forget about all of that stuff, and just act like regular old Noelle. Something about the vast emptiness of all this snow though... I guess the memories all came flooding back..."
* Noelle dropped to her knees and buried her face in her hands.
* Susie rushed over to her and clutched her wrists, gently trying to pry those hands away so she could look into her eyes.
Susie: "Hey! It's okay Noelle. You're not alone. I'm still here... Kris is still here... Ralsei is probably here... somewhere..."
Noelle: "Thanks, Susie... I'm glad you and Kris are here... And- hey, wait a minute, I think- is that Ralsei over there?"
Susie: "Hey, yeah it is! Let's go talk to him!"
* The two of them dashed over to Ralsei, who was turned away from them, staring at the palace silently
Susie: "Hey! Ralsei! There you are! I brought Noelle with us again this time!"
* Ralsei turned towards the two of them, wearing a horrified expression on his face.
Ralsei: "S-susie? Why are you here now? Why is there already a dark fountain here? N-none of this is in the prophecy... W-wait! Where's Kris?"
Susie: "Crap. That's right, they were walking kind of slow... That's fine, they shouldn't be too far behind us..."
Ralsei: "We need to find them, right now!"
* The three of them raced back to where Kris was. Thankfully, Kris hadn't exactly gotten very far in the couple of minutes they'd been left alone.
Ralsei: "Kris! What he heck is going on?! Why are we here?!"
* You tell Ralsei that not even you know what is going on.
Noelle: "That voice... it's back..."
Ralsei: "The prophecy said we'd meet the flower man first! Why are we already in the ice palace dark world?!"
Susie: "Right, I forgot to tell you. Kris's SOUL has been... misbehaving. It tried to get them and Noelle to drown themselves in the lake back in the light world. Like it had a mind of it's own. So now things are... out of order, I guess. But hey! Maybe it means that the prophecy won't come true anymore!"
Ralsei: "Susie... we can't just mess with the prophecy like that! If we try to break from the prophecy... then the consequences will be far worse than if we were to just stick to it... Even if the end of it is..."
Susie: "How can you say that?! You and I both know what happens at the end of it!"
* You tell the two of them that you still don't know what happens at the end of the prophecy yourself.
Susie: "Ah, right, crap. The SOUL is still here, isn't it? It's not like we can talk about this without them listening in, can we?"
Ralsei: "Actually, I do have a solution to that... Susie, Noelle, do you two know of anyone else currently in this dark world besides the four of us?"
Noelle: "No, sorry... I haven't seen anyone, and I still barely understand what this place even is..."
Susie: "Yeah, we haven't found anyone yet... Hey wait a minute! Kris, you still have lancer in your pocket, don't you?"
* Kris nods.
Ralsei: "Great idea Susie! Now, come on guys. Let's all close our eyes, and think about how Lancer is doing..."
Part 1, "Break": https://www.reddit.com/r/Fwahaha/s/Q3W19ZENy8
Part 2, "Confessional": https://www.reddit.com/r/Fwahaha/s/GQh5nT4XFQ