Chapter Text
Castle Town felt empty.
It was strange that it stuck out so much all of a sudden—it had always been empty, after all. Here was a castle with one inhabitant and a village with none, vague and hollow facades lining the streets to save places for buildings that may one day spring up. Everything was just the way Ralsei had left it, without a single stone out of place.
Yet as he walked up the main road once again, the sound of his own footsteps echoing through the still air, something about the quiet felt… stifling. Here he was, having finally set off on the journey he’d prepared for his whole life, only to return home and find it to be too small for him.
That wasn’t right, though—it was selfish of Ralsei to be dissatisfied with what he had, when it had clearly been enough to get him this far. He just… missed Kris and Susie, was all. Even though they’d left and sealed Card Castle’s fountain only moments ago. Now that he knew what it was like to have friends, it was harder to return to the way things were before, even knowing they had to come back eventually. Until then, all he could do was prepare for their arrival, the same way he always had.
—
As much as Ralsei hated to admit it, the waiting was getting to him.
Before the heroes came along, there was nothing to do but wait. All he had was himself, his kingdom, and the prophecy that gave him purpose, and he made it through just fine. What had changed that made it so difficult to be patient? Was it just that he knew what he was waiting for, now?
Meeting the other heroes of the prophecy had always felt like a far-off fantasy. Ralsei knew they would arrive eventually, of course, but there was no rush, because he knew everything would happen exactly when it was meant to. The passage of time was murky, and he couldn’t tell exactly how long he’d waited in the first place, so the specifics never mattered to him.
Knowing his new friends as themselves made patience a challenge. As he decorated their bedrooms, Ralsei wished that Susie would barge in to help him decide what to stock her fridge with, or that Kris would mention something they liked that he could leave on their shelves. He’d already learned so much in just one day with them, and waiting for the next felt next to impossible.
Surely he must have waited long enough by now. Castle Town may exist in an eternal night, but Hometown should have passed into morning already. It was staggering how impatient Ralsei had grown when all he had to do was bide his time until the next day, yet he felt as though it had taken much longer than it should have.
Who knew that, once you had something to look forward to, a single night could feel like years passing?