For two days after the chalk went missing from Ms. Alphys' board, Kris failed to show up for class.

No one thought much of the empty desk in the middle row. Possibly a product of their mother's teachings, Kris' attendance record had been nearly stainless. But everyone had to get sick sometime. The only thought that crossed the mind of most their classmates was how much homework they'd have to catch up on.

Susie, on the other hand, had a hunch something else was wrong.

What made Kris' string of absences even stranger came that morning, when she eavesdropped a brief conversation between first graders in the hallway. Not only was Kris absent, but their mother, Ms. Toriel, hadn't come to school in the same timeframe. A student missing a couple days wasn't unusual in itself, but a teacher? Something was amiss.

Then the third day came.

At the end of class, chatter and conversation erupted with the final bell. The scraping of seats pushed outward, the rustling of backpacks, and clumps of footsteps filled the air. Her head resting on her outstretched arms, Susie made no move until the crowd had filed out the room, and then she rose to leave.

"O-oh... um, Susie, one moment please."

She stopped with her hand on the doorknob. She angled her head to look in Ms. Alphys' direction. "Look, I didn't do anything-"

"Y-you're not in trouble, just come here."

With a raised eyebrow, Susie approached the desk. Ms. Alphys folded her hands on the surface, allowed herself a moment to collect her thoughts, and refocused her attention on her student.

"Susie, y-you and Kris are excused from this month's project. I... I fear they won't be in class for a while."

"... Why?"

Ms. Alphys brought a slow hand to her face, pinching the frame of her glasses to readjust. "I-it isn't usually school policy to announce this without permission, but g-given the circumstances, I feel you deserve to know what's happened to your peer. A letter will be sent home with the class when the time is right."

"Deserve to know what? What's going on?"

A hint of desperation laced Susie's voice. Ms. Alphys' reply came in the form of a handkerchief from her pocket. She brought it to her eyes.

"T-this morning, we received a phone call from the local hospital. K-Kris has been admitted to the intensive care unit."

Susie felt her blood freeze.

"T-the police are still investigating the incident," she continued, "but t-they were found unconscious at the edge of town late last night... they haven't woken up yet. I d-don't know any more than that, I'm sorry."

"I need to go."

Susie could think of nothing else to say. Her voice was choked, difficult to summon from her throat. But she looked upon her teacher with glassy, almost pleading eyes, and she slowly nodded. "Very well... p-please keep your classmate in your thoughts, Susie."

Susie walked to the door and silently exited the classroom. When the latch clicked behind her, she broke into a run down the hall, and to the supply closet in the back of the school.

Ralsei hummed a gentle tune to himself as he checked the oven timer. With five minutes left, he then activated the oven light, and peered through the clear plastic opening in the door: the cakes were coming along magnificently. With a content smile, he turned the light off and slumped in a nearby reading chair. He checked the wall clock for the time.

"Hey! Are the cakes ready yet?!"

From above his scarf, Ralsei peeked at the new king of Dark World, who at this moment lay flat on their back on the floor. An earphone was planted in his left ear, while the other dangled freely; Lancer was playing his music loud enough for Ralsei to hear some unidentifiable genre. "No, not yet."

"Well hurry up! I haven't had anything to eat in ten minutes, and I'm hungry!"

Ralsei smiled. "Don't worry, Lancer, there'll be plenty of cake for all of us. But we have to wait for our friends, too."

"Friend, you mean. The other clown hasn't been here for a while."

Ralsei's normal cheery expression dulled, mixed with a twinge of sadness. It had only been a few days, but he knew he was very much lying to himself if he said he wasn't concerned. Susie had a harder time grappling with the team at first, but she came to visit the castle everyday. Where was Kris? He hadn't yet worked up the courage to ask her.

But with Lancer's remarks, Ralsei made a firm pledge: today was the day that would change. And seemingly right on cue, Ralsei heard the opening of the large wooden castle doors. They rose to their feet and ran to the gates as Susie walked in.

"Hi, Susie! Happy to see you again," Ralsei said, his bright countenance returning. "The cakes are in the oven now. You want to go on a five minute adventure in the forest? Play a game? Work on your pr-"

"No, Ralsei. I'm not here for fun."

Ralsei cut on a dime. Usually Susie would give some sarcastic hello or call him a name (though she never really meant it, not anymore); she was quiet now, uncharacteristically so. Something was up.

"... Susie?"

Her face was crestfallen in a manner Ralsei had never seen before.

"Ralsei, something's happened. Kris-"

"SUSIE!"

Susie was interrupted by a loud clatter coming from within the castle's kitchen. The door nearly burst from the hinges as it kicked open, and out came an excited Lancer on his bicycle. The wheel came dangerously close to her foot, but with the brakes, he hopped off and offered a high-five.

She didn't return the gesture. Like Ralsei, Lancer immediately knew something was wrong.

"Guys, Kris isn't doing too well. Like, really not well."

The oven beeped inside the kitchen.

"... What do you mean, not well? What's wrong with them?" Lancer finally asked.

"They're... they're in the hospital right now. In intensive care."

The air left Ralsei's lungs. He felt his heart shatter to a million pieces.

The three fell entirely silent. Ralsei's scarf lowered just a touch, but he tugged it back up with haste. His glasses became streaky.

"They're... they're in the hospital?" Lancer choked out. "B-but how? Why?"

"I don't know!" Susie exclaimed. Her teeth were tightly clenched, fists to boot. She needed a breather to calm herself. "I don't know what happened. They just-they stopped showing up to class, and now this. I thought it was weird at first, but I-"

Susie's next thought died on arrival. The quiet, muffled sobs of Ralsei had finally poked through loud enough to be heard by both her and Lancer, and they shifted their attention to the third member of the party. He fell to his knees to direct his face away from them, but they both could see the tear stains soaking his scarf.

"Ralsei?" Susie was the first to react. "I, uh, hey? You okay?"

Ralsei could only continue to sob. Lancer and Susie exchanged worried glances, and then, to perhaps her own surprise, she knelt next to him and put a hand on his shoulder. Somewhat awkwardly, she gave a squeeze.

"Listen... it's going to be alright, okay? Kris is tough, they'll pull through."

Ralsei was shivering uncontrollably. The faintest chatter of teeth could be heard; he forced himself to take several long, deep breaths, and wipe his eyes with his scarf before he worked up his voice. "W-w... what if they don't? What if they don't pull through?"

"They're not dead, right? They'll wake up soon." Susie dripped as much comedic effect as she could muster (very little) into her voice, but found it did no good. Ralsei slipped his glasses free from his face, and she could see silver tear streaks.

"Have... have you seen them yet?"

Susie shook her head. "I needed to tell you guys first."

This time Ralsei managed to force a nod of understanding. He wiped his eyes with a dry portion of his scarf, and with a few more slow breaths, regained enough composure to swallow the lump in his throat. "I've missed them..."

"Yeah, me too," Lancer said. "I mean, it was only around the end we became friends, but I think I'd like to get to know that clown a little better. You know?"

Susie couldn't help but let the corners of her lips curl into a bit of a sorrowful grin. "Yeah. I've only known them for a little while, but... they seem pretty cool, I guess."

Ralsei pressed his palms to the ground and made himself stand. He offered a hand to Susie, and to his faint surprise, she accepted the gesture and rose. "I just-I want to know what happened," he said. "They're so kind and compassionate, they don't deserve this..."

"I'm not sure what it was. Maybe it was just an accident. But if it was a person that did this..."

Susie bared her teeth. The pupils from her eyes disappeared entirely. Ralsei took a slight step back, and Lancer struggled to balance awe and fear.

"... We'll have time for that later."

Ralsei couldn't help a sigh of relief as Susie's face reverted to her normal expression. He readjusted his scarf. "Susie, I know it won't always be possible, but please be with Kris while they recover. They'll need all your support."

Susie crossed her arms. "Why just mine? Both of you, grab backpacks, and bring stuff you'll want for the trip."

Lancer cocked his head to the side. "Huh?"

"You heard me. We're going. Now."

Both Ralsei and Lancer found themselves at a loss for words. The former raised his hand with his index finger pointed upward, but his stream of thoughts took a few seconds to hammer out: "You... you want us to go to the Light World?"

"Yeah?" Susie shrugged. "We gotta support our friend, right? Let's go to the hospital, the three of us."

"HELL YEAH! LET'S DO IT!"

Lancer's excited shout startled Ralsei, and even Susie took on wide eyes. Lancer ran to his bike and picked it up from the ground, hopped aboard, and blasted off in a series of donuts. In the commotion, Ralsei took an opportunity to speak to Susie in private.

"Susie, I'm not exactly sure-"

"Sure of what?"

Ralsei exhaled, rather miffed at the quick interruption, but did his best not to show. "I'm not exactly sure it's possible for us to go. We've never tried to send a Darkner through the fountain."

"But you said you fixed it, right?"

Ralsei nodded. Kris had sealed the Eastern Fountain with their human SOUL after their adventure, leaving only the original Fountain of Darkness in Castle Town standing; with the corrupt King and his tampering out of the picture, Ralsei worked tirelessly to adjust the facility for use with travel. Kris and Susie could visit any time they wanted now, and return to their world at any time, too.

"There shouldn't be any problems, then," Susie said. "If I can use the fountain normally, you both can probably join me."

"Maybe... but I'm concerned we've-"

"Hey! Cut the talking and let's get a move on!" Lancer (or perhaps his bike) decided to switch his incessant spinning to encircle them instead, and after a few tricks for show, he burst through the doors of the castle. A much larger crash than before was heard.

"... I don't think he's all that worried. You shouldn't be, either."

Ralsei said nothing in response. From the time he'd finished his prior point, his mind was racing a marathon.

The fountain was a gamble. Unquestionably so. Even in all the books he'd read in the library, there were no concrete reports on Dark World citizens attempting to gain access to the Light World with the current fountain. There were about two and a half million things that could go wrong before, during, and after the process.

And yet, Ralsei's mind drifted to Kris, lying unconscious in a hospital bed with an IV and heart rate monitor. His will was ironclad.

"I'll do it."

Susie grinned. "Glad to hear it." She then shouted, "LANCER! ARE YOU READY YET?!"

"ALMOST!" came the reply from a window in a higher tower. "I'M LOOKING FOR MY MP3! AND I NEED TO TELL MY NEW DAD TO WATCH THE KINGDOM!"

Susie glanced to Ralsei at this. "New dad?"

"Rouxls Kaard. The kingdom should survive for a few days. Hopefully."

Susie let forth a snicker. "With that guy, all bets are off. Do you need to get anything?"

Ralsei shook his head. "No. I'm ready to go now." Susie headed into the castle to find Lancer, leaving him the last member of the courtyard. And when left alone to his devices, to ponder the events forthcoming, a single thought prevailed:

He didn't need to bring anything. Maybe the journey would be risky. Maybe there was some danger involved. But any sense of threat, any perception of harm to himself, paled in comparison to the only thing they could focus on: reaching the end of the trail, no matter the cost. All that mattered was the finish.

All that mattered was reaching Kris.