Chapter Text
Noelle didn’t really expect to go out like this.
Well, first of all, she isn’t really sure what ‘like this’ is. Apparently, she’s going to have her face turned into a robot one? It doesn’t sound enjoyable, whatever fate awaits her. But it’s still safer this way. With her serving the Queen, the technological tyrant will leave Susie, Kris, and the others alone. Hopefully.
It almost makes her want to laugh, how ridiculous this all sounds. Just this morning—heck, just a few hours ago—this would have sounded like pure gibberish. It almost still does.
But the way the bed creaks underneath her, the way the silk of her robes feels against her fur, the pain she felt when hit by one of those weird… doctor things. It’s as real as Berdly talking her ear off about whatever new game he hates, or the lectures from mom about her grades.
That makes it sound all bad, but like she told Kris, it wasn’t! At least, not all bad. Exploring with Kris again brought back so many memories, and they even called her a friend! Noelle hadn’t realized how much she needed that. Even the Queen, despite wanting to use her to rule the world, is kinda nice? She didn’t want her for her weakness. Just the opposite; she thought Noelle possessed strength. Which, yeah, maybe she was lying, she’s evil but that just didn’t seem like her style. It felt genuine, y’know?
And then there’s Susie. Susie, who knows she existed. Susie, who has real concern for her. Susie, who’s brave and strong and looked REALLY good in that jacket-coat-cloak thing. If this really has to be her end, she’s glad she at least got to spend some of her time in Susie’s general vicinity.
Her introspection is cut short by the clunking of metal grates moving.
There was… there was someone—or something—lurking. Watching. And it feels close. The still silence from moments ago morphs into pure, unadulterated terror.
“Is somebody there?” Noelle squeaks, slowly glancing over her shoulder, away from the window, and into the inky dark.
Everything seems to happen in the span of a few seconds. Two resounding THUDS echo throughout the room as two enormous plug creatures land just feet away. Their impact alone nearly knocks her flat on her back.
Every bone in her body’s trembling, shaking, failing to process what was going on, as a growing sense of desperation begins to eclipse everything in Noelle’s mind. And yet it’s all still happening. They’re coming closer, closer, closer, the moonlight illuminating more of them with each step.
She can’t—she can’t freeze like this. She has to do something. Anything. What had Kris said to do? The way they fended off those things. They—they acted, right? You just… talk. Show mercy.
“W-wait, what are you…”
The plugs give no reply as they inch closer, the room shaking under their might.
“H-hey! You can’t capture someone who’s already been captured!”
But there is no response.
She’s no Kris. Kris was always quiet, too, like her. But they’re brave, she’s not. She’s too weak, too afraid. No one would want to listen to her. Why did she think any differently? Stupid. There’s no point. She grips her face, hoping to at least not see whatever mindless fate is fast approaching. Maybe it’ll hurt less.
CLANG
CLANG
The thudding stops. Cautiously, Noelle peeks past her fingers to find—
“S… Susie!? You… you saved me?”
Maybe being given a robot face wouldn’t be how Noelle went out after all. With how fast her heart is beating and how close her face feels to melting, it’s very possible she’s about to die at this exact moment. It’s—it’s a lot, in the best possible way.
The way Susie is smirking, so confident and full of bravado, the way her hair is blowing in the wind, the way there is somehow wind indoors, and the way she effortlessly hoists and tosses an enormous fiery ax behind her? And then, then Susie says the coolest, most badass, thing in the world:
“Don’t get used to it.”
It’s all Noelle can do to squeak out, “O-okay! I won’t!” before turning back towards her window. Susie does not need to see how red her face is right now. Not to mention how much of Susie’s rescue attempt Noelle was currently processing! She’d need every second of every memory to be perfect if they were to be immortalized in her super secret ‘romantic fantasy’ sketchbook.
That was assuming they get out of this alive, that is. Which was still a work in progress.
Vaguely, Noelle’s aware of footsteps behind her again. This time, of course, she knows whose they are. She knows they’re safe. Eventually, they stop behind her. She’s—she’s so close to her, and she knows it’s her, it’s actually her!
“Cool moon,” Susie says, and Noelle can feel herself swooning.
God, how is Susie dealing with this so well? Noelle has so many questions about just, everything, and all of them scare her, and some of them would be even scarier if they were answered! But Susie is so confident, so collected, she isn’t fazed by any of this. Is this all normal to someone like her? Does she do this stuff—whatever this stuff is—regularly?
Maybe that’s one answer she can get, at least. “Y-yeah,” she starts, “b-but it’s weird, right? How did we get here? No, what even is this place?”
There’s an unexpected tense pause from the girl behind her. She wasn’t quite sure what she expected, come to think of it—preferably, something along the lines of, “Oh yeah, I do this all the time, saving cute girls from robots, wanna make out?” Maybe Susie’s just as lost as her, though, which opens a whole new box of scary yet exciting opportunities.
“Uh…,” Susie stutters out, in a way that reminds Noelle more of herself than the girl actually speaking, “uh, you’re uh, just having a dream!”
“Oh,” Noelle states, her voice quiet and emotionless. “Oh, that’s right.”
It takes her a minute, processing that this is made up, but it hurts.
She can’t even begin to try to mask the disappointment that seeped through her voice. But it was silly, right? What’s there to be disappointed about? That she isn’t being held prisoner?
Of course. Of course this is all in her head. Even though it feels so real, it’s all a bit farfetched, isn’t it? A magical quest through a fantasy world, with Noelle as some sort of… dark catalyst? Kris, whose family had stopped coming around after the divorce, suddenly wants to be her friend again. There’s all sorts of magical trinkets and items, and of course, she knows healing magic, the one thing she had wished for time and time again when Dess got sick and again when dad followed suit. And then, after all that? Susie being there? It’s like one of her and dad’s old cheesy JRPGs come to life, mixed with every personal fantasy she’s ever had.
Why would she ever think this could be real?
She kept coming back to Susie. Maybe it’s because she’s literally right there, but she somehow seemed the most enlightening of them all, the single most obvious sign this is made up. “Right… if you’re here, it must be a dream!” Noelle joked.
Susie being her knight in shining armor was just the cherry on top of this weird, wish-fulfillment dream. It’s all too perfect.
She hears no reaction behind her, and continues on. “I mean, the real Susie probably wouldn’t save me, would she?” she means for it to be a joke, but it comes out with an edge, a bitter self-shame attached to it. It comes from a voice that sounds uncomfortably close to her mom’s, which she definitely doesn’t want to think about right now. “She… probably doesn’t know I exist at all.”
“Huh? Why would you, uh… think that?” The Dream-Susie asks. Truthfully, Noelle thought that she was about to wake up; that the dream was dissolving back to reality. Getting a response catches her off guard.
She can’t stop the small, awkward laugh that escapes her. “Uhm, she doesn’t care about anybody.”
“Well, fair, but...” For a moment, Susie pauses, and her eyes seem absolutely glued to the floor. She looks back up, rubbing the back of her head with one hand. “Didja ever wonder why Susie never… picks on you?”
Before Noelle could think any better of it, she lets out a deep sigh. “All the time…” she pines.
It’s not that she wants to be bullied! It’s… it’s just that that would mean Susie notices her! And—and maybe Susie would even, like, pick her up, or something. And that would be just… just swell. Very swell.
Luckily, Dream-Susie either doesn’t catch what she said or doesn’t want to comment on it. “Maybe, it’s ‘cause, when she first came to class,” for the second time, Susie looks away, staring intently in the direction of the Susie-Statue that Noelle would really like for her not to notice. “You lent her one of your pencils, like a dumb, uh, candycane-looking one or something. And it even though it didn’t actually taste like candy, she, uh, remembered your smile, and, uh, decided to spare you. Y’know”
“That’s, uhm,” Absorbing everything Susie said, Noelle can’t stop herself from laughing, a full, real laugh, “really specific.”
It wasn’t that what she said isn’t cute! It is! It’s super cute, and if this was the real Susie she probably would have melted into a puddle on the floor. It’s just—she had totally forgotten giving Susie that pencil. It’s a clever thing for her brain to latch onto for this version of Dream-Susie, she realizes, giving her a plausible reason to care about her.
“Yeah, well, uh—”
Suddenly, realization strikes. “Wait, did you say you ate the pencil?”
“I MEAN, LOOK!” She snarls, baring her fangs and pointing an accusatory finger towards Noelle.
Despite Susie’s best efforts, Noelle found herself in a fit of giggles. She knows it’s supposed to be scary, and it probably would be to anyone else! But… she was just too enamored by her to be afraid of Susie right now, especially given every other scary thing that’s happened today.
Somehow, despite this Susie being so different from what people always say about her, this feels like the closest her fantasies have ever come to the real thing. She’s still just as strong, aggressive, and fearless as everyone says at home. But This Susie’s also more than that caricature. She’s funny, sweet, and kind. She cares—cares about Noelle, even, and remembers stupid little cute pencils. She’s loyal to her friends and fights to protect things! This had to be what she was really like, right? What Kris saw in her yesterday?
Just as quickly as Dream Susie exploded, her fear-inducing anger turns to a more contemplative gaze. It’s a shame, too. Her fangs are… well, another thing for the sketchbook. She clears her throat, and (probably/hopefully) unlike the real Susie, it seems this one can read minds. “Uh, hey, so, do you… dream about me a lot?” she mumbles, and Noelle feels her heart run a mile inside her chest.
That’s her sign to wake up! Nope! She’s not having that conversation with This Susie or any other Susie, real or imaginary, no thank you. Leaping to her feet, Noelle pats down an ax-sized piece of her hair, right between her antlers.
“Well! Time for me to get back to my project,” she laughs, “Okay, Susie! Hit me with your ax and wake me up!”
But, for some reason, This Susie refuses. This Susie wants her to stay, to adventure with her. If This Susie really wants her to stay, who’s Noelle to disagree? And if she must ride the heart-covered ferris wheel with This Susie, and discover This Susie’s cute little tail, and discover that This Susie’s embarrassed of her cute little tail even though it’s such a cute little tail and that it wags and that This Susie also feels more comfortable with her being there on the wheel together and that This Susie also thinks it doesn’t have to be just a dream and—
And then Berdly ruins everything.
But… everything else, even the scary parts, where the Queen almost crushes her friends, and she has to stand up to her and the Queen listens! She actually listens to Noelle! She stands down, and everyone is happy, all her friends, new and old. It’s maybe the best dream Noelle has ever had, truth be told. She could only hope that all of this—this confidence, these feelings, would carry over into the real world.
With how vivid it all is though, with how happy it makes her, Noelle doubts she’ll forget a lick of it.