Chapter Text
“Come on Noelle, you’ll never get to the city like That.”
But Noelle was running, she’d been running. And scaling. And shouting
“d-Dess! Dess,” The tears slipping past her freckled cheeks, and down, down, and down. It was so- “I’m scared!” Clinging to the stone, the silver winds cut to her bones. The chill, the slip of her fingers,
She screamed.
“ha-HELP MEE!!!” She shut her eyes, she closed her ears, she looked into the darkness, seeking light,
And at a point beyond zero, she heard something, the clumsy snicker,
of her sister.
“Really Noelle, look around you! Look,” Her arms sweeped “Trees, cliffs, and rivers for as long as the eye can see. With no walls, No walls Noelle!” Dess Exclaimed “It’s like the sky is trying to kiss us. A big smooch from above! Us to the Stars!” Hanging so in her revere, Dess could feel it sliding through her fingers. That feeling, that power…
Sliding off her, ‘Dess’ felt as if her skin had been peeled off. And, for where it did,
She was maimed in shadow. “And you’re asking me to go down there, and help you?”
A long, long sigh. And then,
A lowered knee. “Noelle, do you have any idea,” She had no eyes, she had no nose, she had no teeth, she had no skin, she had no mind, she had no- “How much of a nuisance your being?”
Noelle was looking at a shadow. No, it was…
Even darker than that.
“d-Dess…?”
The shadow was getting closer.
“a-Ah,”
Noelle’s heart was racing.
“H-h-”
Noelle couldn’t breathe, Noelle-
The shadow was above Noelle. It was right above her.
Putting her nose to the Stones, Noelle closed her eyes. She closed her eyes tight and fierce, she closed them so hard, that she’d thought she’d never see again.
…But she could see.
She could see it, at the center of her mind,
That white smile.
“Noelle.”
It whispered
“Noelle,”
It clung “
NoooEELLE.”
It bent. Finger by finger, it bent them ‘free’.
And then, with one sweep,
Noelle, Noelle!
SPolsh.
“See Noelle?” Dess said, with her signature, toothy smile “It’s not even that high.” It was just a couple of feet, the wall in their way,
She could reach it, if she just stretched. If she got up from this thin river and-
Noelle couldn’t move. She was pale all over.
“It’s-” Dess, stopped herself “It’s uh, fine Noelle. Me and Asriel are going to check out the clearing. Dad should have towels back at camp, ya know the road, right?” Noelle, nodded slightly, and twice “Good, see ya their sis.”
‘See ya there’ Noelle, tried to mouth.
Getting herself out from the stream, Noelle hung at the edge of the thin river, looking up at her sister’s firm back.
Noelle, wanted to scream.
But she didn’t. Noelle, didn’t do anything whatsoever.
She just watched. As Dess moved further, and further, and further,
Getting smaller, and smaller, and smaller,
Until…
Even her shadow was gone from sight.
!!!
“Ah? Uh? Uugh.” Noelle palmed at her face, that darn dream again.
She already knew the routine; she’d play Dragon blazers for a bit, study for a while, organize and or clean her room, read some creepypasta’s online, and do just about whatever else until the sun came up.
Once that was through, it was a matter of but will to power through the rest of day. Then, bed.
It was…pretty much admitting that she couldn’t do anything to go back to sleep. But…
Reaching out for her controller, Noelle went as far to load up her save-file, before-
Crrik.
She almost yelped, but managed to barely bite it down. If her mom knew she was up at this hour…
Cri. cri.
???
Farther, mom was heading…down-stairs?
Noelle had never taken her for a late-night eater. But now that she did, she kinda wanted to try it out herself…
h-Huh?
She prodded at her ears, then pushed them against her bed,
That noise
No, wait, it wasn’t noise at all. But-
No, Noelle, that’s crazy. Come on, Mom doesn’t even play the piano.
No one in her house did. It was, at this point, just for show.
Except…
God.
This was crazy, this was absolutely, crazy.
If her mom caught her sneaking around the house like this, ah, she’d never live to hear the end of it. Literally.
b-But….but,
Crrii.
Eeking at the creak of her door, Noelle, with a timid step entered to the deep dark of her home. Bumbling around her house, she held to the rails tightly as she lowered to the stairway. Carefully, feeling the edges of their steps, her progress was slow, terribly slow.
But she could hear it, that music…
Allowing one more descent, Noelle felt, then stretched out her hoove for a long moment before realizing that there was no edge, to the floor she stood on.
Jeez.
Pinking a bit, Noelle wandered with a greater force. Mostly, of embarrassment.
But, the music…
She could almost hear it, the clicks of the piano’s keys. She didn’t know how Kris was playing in the dark like that. But she wanted to.
She grabbed the door-handle though, and it didn’t move.
…No, that’s wrong, she hadn’t moved. She was right here, and her hand was stuck in place.
But what was she even scared of? What could possibly scare her now?
…
“Hhhhhhh,’ Sucking in that breath, Noelle closed her eyes. She closed her eyes, and looked into the dark, and followed the path the music wrote out.
Oh,
This one, it was familiar for sure. If she thought about it, she could almost step along to the beat,
So she did.
Note by note,
Step by step,
She’d felt the world outline itself in this odd harmony of theirs.
Getting closer, so close, the music swelled up into her chest. It crescendoed at her heart. It played through to its end, weaving out from her breathes,
And then, when the final note was played, Noelle opened her eyes…
And turned, and ran, and looked with the lights, then of those in the hallway too. Before shutting them quick, before mom could see,
But…no way.
No way.
There was no way they could’ve left that fast. The steps would’ve creaked, she’d hear the swooshing of a door, she’d…
She’d see them, right?
…
Oh…
Right, if that couldn’t happen then…it must’ve been,
All in her head.
Right, obviously. Like, duh.
How would they even get inside? Her home was guarded, and they had come from the top floor too.
From the start, the idea they would even be here…
“Ughh,” She groaned, she was such an idiot. Heading back to her room, Noelle shoved her head into a pillow.
Why was she always like this? Why couldn’t she just-
Uh?
No…no, she was hearing things again, definitely!
But…that sound…that timing, the way the song crackled together…
No, she was hearing things. That was final. There was no one here, there was nobody here. Other than her, she repeated.
…
Moving out from her bed, Noelle, gently, opened her door. Just a crack. Just a bit. Just so…
She went back to bed then. And let it flow through her room,
That music…
Closing her eyes, she could almost see it, she could see it. The stage, the concert, the piano,
Them.
Stable and firm, they sat and played in place. That music for the concert, filled by one.
Noelle, she felt this fantasy seep into her mind, and before she knew, she’d fallen,
Into a gentle sleep.