Chapter Text
"Okay, maybe I should've gotten my vessel earlier...oh well. I'll deal with whatever happens next. Fuck my life, man...I should really think more."
The player makes the two walk the way Kris just came from, of course, getting dialogue before they can even exit the room.
"Kris, isn't that the wrong way...?"
Kris wonders that too. They know they shouldn't be going that way, but they're unable to choose which way they actually want to go for now. They want to go and seal the Dark Fountain, not get farther from it...and yet, they have no choice in the matter. They just go back, Noelle following behind them.
They end up bumping into a Virovirokun, with Noelle getting startled soon after.
"What are we doing..?! What's going on?!"
Kris - [Defend]
Noelle - [IceShock]
*Noelle cast ICESHOCK!
The enemy is frozen.
*Noelle became stronger.
They backtrack a few more rooms, going back to the one with a fork in the road. The player makes them fight two poppups, doing the same routine they did with the Virovirokun.
They go into the room with the trash pile, Noelle speaking up nervously.
"Kris..?? Are you sure this isn't the wrong way?"
Kris feels very uneasy, but is forced to keep walking. They go into the room with multiple boxes with a red "no" symbol on them along the edges, running into another Virovirokun (Talk about a common enemy lmfao) and, of course, the player makes them do the same thing as last time. After that, they do the same to a Werewire.
The player makes them walk to one of the boxes, where their vessel was. It was just barely hidden by the boxes.
"...I said I'd come back for it. Hmm...can I control two beings at once? Will the game allow it...?"
The player tries. Of course, luck seems to be in their favor. They now have to use WASD and the arrow keys for both of them to move, but it's not too much of a problem, just takes a bit to get used to. They seem to forget Noelle could actually see though, along with Kris.
"Kris...? Who's that?"
Noelle gestures to the vessel, currently slowly standing up.
"Shit. I didn't account for any dialogue change brought by this..."
The player grumbles, but sees two sets of dialogue boxes, both with choices.
Dialogue box 1 (Kris) - A friend ♡ Stay silent
Dialogue box 2 (Vessel) - Wake up ♡ Don't
"Hmm...well, I guess I can just choose anything."
(Kris) - ♡ A friend
(Vessel)- ♡ Wake up
Noelle looks at Kris, not noticing the vessel has woken up.
"A friend...? I haven't seen them before, what's their name?"
Kris doesn't know the vessel's name either, they haven't seen it around before! But it seems that the vessel suddenly waking up was timed well.
"My name is Agate."
Noelle looks startled, but then tilts her head.
"Like..the gemstone?"
"Yes."
The player smiles. What? I like gemstones, okay...plus Agate is a pretty name, even if it may sound overused.
"Well, uh...s-shouldn't we get going...? I don't think we're really supposed to be back here..."
The vessel, Agate, nods. The player makes Kris and Agate leave the room, with Noelle following behind. Kris is puzzled now...they know that isn't supposed to happen. They don't know too much about what is and isn't supposed to happen, but..this definitely is unusual.
Just as they start heading back, they run into an Ambyu-Lance. Agate watches the battle, as they have no weapon at the moment.
Kris - [Defend]
Noelle - [IceShock]
On standby: Agate (Learn more about this category at the end!)
After two turns, the battle ends, and Ambyu-Lance is frozen. They run into a Tasque, then repeat the process. They soon arrive back in the alleyway, going into the next room.
Kris steps on a button, causing mice to come out of a hole. Noelle jumps back while screaming, and Agate steps out of the mice's way. Noelle shakes, turning her head to look at Kris
"M-maybe you can get the mice into the other hole...?"
Kris moves the block thing to what is our right but their left, then down one. The player makes Agate run up to the button and pushes it, before realizing that Kris moved on their own.
"Well, I guess that helps me out. Seems they can't really talk on their own, so, I should be fine. The route can continue."
The mice come out, going into the other hole, and then the three go into the next room. Kris and Noelle fight two more Ambyu-Lances, with Agate still on standby. Once it was done, they went into a room to our left, which is their right, and picked up a pink ribbon. The player thinks out loud.
"I kinda wanna put this on Agate, but...nah. Noelle deserves some armor."
Of course, Noelle was equipped with the armor directly after.
A few more battles later, they walk up to an advertisement of a giant ferris wheel. Noelle, who's absolutely amazed, stares at it.
"Wow, this makes the one at the festival seem like a toy! Kris, do you think Susie would...oh, who am I kidding?
Kris - ♡ I'd ride it with you
Noelle giggles, albeit slightly nervously.
"What, so you can shake it when we reach the top, like when we were younger? No thanks, Kris!"
Kris - ♡ Noelle will ride with me.
"Huh...? S-sure...uh, if you want...You can make up for when we were kids...! (This...has to be a prank. When did they get like this..?)
The player then makes them go to the pink Addison's shop once the dialogue is over. The pink Addison begins to speak to them.
"Aw, two young beings, walking around on a school night! Would you be interested in some Dating Shoes?"
Noelle looks up at the Addison, a bit confused.
"What...? No, you got it totally wrong! Kris and I are just...uh...friends...? (Kris is my neighbor, but we've been through so much together...it's like we know each other better than anyone. Yet...it's hard to say we're really friends?)
Kris - ♡ We're something else
"(What does that even mean...? All I'm sure of is that there's no good meaning to it!)"
They go to walk away, but the pink Addison raises their voice just enough to be heard.
"If you're something else...then maybe dating shoes aren't right for you? Could I perhaps interest you in a...FreezeRing?"
Kris walks back up, with Agate watching from a few feet away. Noelle raises an eyebrow.
"A ring...? I'm sorry, but I really don't think we need something like that...!"
"C'mon, angel! You can't get stronger without some good equipment!"
"Stronger...? Ah, right, I guess that's how things work here... (Faha, Kris buying ME a ring...? Yeah right!)"
Kris - ♡ Get it
Noelle looks at Kris, shocked.
"Huh...? Kris, you'd buy it for me...? I guess we could ask about it then..."
She looks back at the pink Addison.
"How much does it cost?"
"It costs a tiny price of $1836!
Just one more Dark Dollar than they have. Noelle looks nervous.
"I'm sorry, w-we don't have the money for it! (But it was nice of Kris to offer to pay for it...)"
Kris - ♡ Get it
"Wait, me...? You want me to get it...? You know we can't afford it..."
Kris - ♡ Get it
"What...? I just told you, we...we really don't have the money. What are you asking me to do...? Y-You aren't asking me to...just...?"
Kris - ♡ Get it
"Kris, no...I can't...I could never..."
*...You got the FreezeRing.
A moment of silence.
Kris stands there, subtly shaking, thinking to themself...
"(...Oh...Oh no...)"
Important info: "On Standby"
This is where those with no equipment, or replacements for a fallen party member, reside. They're functionally outside the battle in most cases!
Characters available to talk to: Me/Player, Kris, Susie