"Wait, so, hang on. Did you really mean you've NEVER had cake before?"

The walk through Castle Town took an abrupt stop as Susie went still, with Ralsei's snout crashing into her back. He rubbed it as he took a step back, then adjusted his glasses as he looked up at her.

"Oh, well, yes!" he said with an embarrassed smile. "I make them for you two, after all. I wanted to make sure you always had eno—oop!" He was cut off as Susie gripped his shoulders.

"I thought you were just making a weird joke!" she exclaimed, giving him a little shake. "Seriously never? Not even for your birthday?"

"Well, I don't...I don't have a birthday."

"That's stupid. Everyone has a birthday, dumbass! Even if it's just, like, the day you were made or bought or whatever! It's the day you started living, y'know?"

Ralsei blinked a few times, adjusting his glasses again. Did he have a birthday? He must have been made at some point, though it was admittedly a bit of a blur before Kris and Susie showed up. Just...learning the prophesy, learning his role and theirs, and...

DO YOU UNDERSTAND YOUR ROLE?

What a silly question!

"Of course I do. I'm the Prince from the Dark, in the prophesy."

HAVE YOU LEARNED THE EXTENT OF YOUR PURPOSE?

That was a bit harder. He knew the prophesy, of course, he'd known from the moment he...well, was able to think. But there was so much information to sift through, and so much of it was so vague. What in the name of the Deltarune was the significance of "toothpaste" and "boy"?

"I was...I'm the third hero, the Prince alone in the dark, made to help the heroes. The Human and the Monster...the Cage and the Girl."

VERY GOOD. AND WHAT WILL YOU DO, ALONE AS YOU ARE?

That was the hardest question yet. He didn't know. But the dark was impatient, and the importance of his role, however brief it was, hung heavy over him. He needed to answer.

"I...will wait. And learn. And be ready for the heroes to arrive."

EXCELLENT.

TRULY

EXCELLENT.

DO NOT FRET, PRINCE. YOU ARE ABOUT TO MEET SOMEONE VERY, VERY WONDERFUL.

Very, very wonderful. How...exciting! He couldn't wait. He hoped it would be soon.

Kris.

For someone he'd never met, he knew so much about them. A well of creativity, with deep enough love to create armies of Darkners. Packs of cards set up with stories for each, dice with personalities as varied as their sides, a plug given enough affection to feel it in return. He was different than other Darkners, yes, but just witnessing the residual effects on the ones Kris adored was enough to warm him.

"Oh, Kris...what is that you are playing with? Is that...a laptop from the library? I thought I told Asriel to return it. Oh...no? You say it is the Queen of...Computer City? And you are a knight, and Noelle is her Royal Ice Angel? Oh, you are a funny child. Very well, you and Noelle may finish your game, but then it goes back to its home."

A knight! Already settling into their role, how wonderful. No doubt they'd take to it like a duck to water. (Had he ever seen a duck?)

"Fahaha, what are you kids doing? Oh, I see...a fancy tea party, eh? HOW many yummy cakes have you made? Jeez, you better be ready to share! You especially, Kris—don't think I haven't heard about you clearing an entire butterscotch-cinnamon pie on your own! Aw, come on, how many cakes do some cards and an old cat need?"

Yummy cakes. He would remember that, when Kris arrived. He must learn to make them.

"H-hey, Kris! No, you know Mom and Dad just get loud when they talk. Hey, you want to hear what I've been practicing for my choir audition? It's from that CD Dess gave me...aw, come on, I don't sing THAT well. Let's go to the church—you're getting really good at the piano, maybe you can accompany me!"

Kris liked singing. He could learn to sing...oh! Singing was fun! Fun. They would have so much fun together when Kris arrived. Maybe they could even be...

Even be...

DO YOU RECALL A DARKNER'S PURPOSE?

Ah, easy! "A Darkner exists to serve Lightners, to bring them joy for as long as they need it."

ARE DARKNERS REAL?

Another easy one. "No. We only exist so long as we're needed, then our purpose is served and our existence ends."

ARE YOU A DARKNER?

Well...technically this was also easy. "Yes. I exist to attend to the Human and Monster's needs." Something squirmed in him, eager and excited. "Are they coming soon? I'm learning so much! I can sing and bake cakes and I think Kris and I will be really good fr—"

THEN YOU WILL CEASE TO EXIST WHEN YOUR PURPOSE IS FULFILLED.

Ah. "Yes, I...I under—"

YOU WILL NOT BE REAL TO THEM.

"Y-yes, I know that, but..."

YOU CANNOT TRULY BE THEIR FRIEND.

"..."

THIS IS NOT A TRAGEDY. IT IS SIMPLY THE WAY THINGS ARE.

The darkness grew darker, heavier. He couldn't tell if that was comforting or not—he'd never been comforted before, so there was no way to know.

YOU KNOW HOW THINGS WILL END. YOU WILL PERFORM

BEAUTIFULLY

WHEN THE TIME COMES.

He knew he would. There was no alternative. No choices mattered here, least of all his. But even so, he waited for the day the heroes would arrive.

Maybe he couldn't truly be their friend, but...for the moment he would be useful, perhaps he could be close enough to one for them.

THE CAGE DRAWS TIGHTER. THE PIECES ARE MOVING INTO PLACE. ARE YOU READY?

Ready was an understatement! His entire existence was made for this moment, and he'd been doing all he could to prepare in the lead up. He'd set up the empty town with everything needed to teach the heroes about their world—Lightners, of course, had no idea that Darkners even existed, so there would probably be a bit of a learning curve! He made a practice dummy and, for good measure, a very thorough manual for combat and ACTing. He was sure Kris would love it.

He had no subjects, of course, but that would change soon! He had to ensure there was enough room for all the recruits. An inn, a shop, a training ring...should he add more floors to the castle? How many people would be in there? Should he have a room for the heroes? Oh, this was so exciting!

(He might have even sung to himself as he worked, simply because he wanted to. It was wrong, of course, so very wrong for a Darkner. But...well, sometimes it just slipped out. He would be better, when the Lightners arrived.)

YOU UNDERSTAND YOUR POSITION?

This question, admittedly, was getting a little tedious. "I am the Prince from the Dark, as the prophesy foretold. My purpose is to aid the heroes in fulfilling their roles. When my purpose is met, I shall cease to exist."

THE CAGE IS NOT AS WILLING AS WE'D HOPED.

"Well, they've been through so much!"

Darker yet darker, his surroundings weighed on him as he spoke out. That wasn't the correct answer.

"I will...ensure they do as they must. Kris will understand—so much of this world is their creation, in a sense."

EXCELLENT. YOU HAVE PREPARED WELL.

He had. He knew he had. But even so...

"Do you think...well, we can't change the prophesy, of course. But it's...it doesn't have a happy ending. I don't think the Lightners will like that—and I can't aid them if they don't want an ending like that. Do you think...do I have to tell them everything?"

The darkness was quiet and impartial. No guidance.

It wouldn't hurt, if he summarized a bit. Surely.

IT IS NEARLY TIME.

"I am ready for it."

AND YOU HAVE CHOSEN A NAME?

"What?!" That wasn't in the prophesy! He didn't have a name in it—he was simply the Prince from the Dark. Since when did he need a name?

THE LIGHTNERS WILL EXPECT ONE. CHOOSE WISELY, AND CHOOSE WELL. NAMES ARE VERY, VERY IMPORTANT.

A name...and he got to choose it himself? It should be something...helpful! Something easy to remember for the Lightners. Something that could be said quickly.

But also...something comforting. Nearly all Darkners had gone dormant in recent years—this was common, he knew; their nature was to be tossed aside as they were outgrown or otherwise became unhelpful. But this was...different. He couldn't quite say how, but he knew it had to do with Kris. The little bits he'd gleaned from the Darkners created said as much—fights, grief, fear, loneliness...

And he understood that last one so very well.

DO YOU HAVE A NAME, PRINCE?

Something comforting. Something familiar. Not a full imitation, but...

"I think...I like Ralsei."

RALSEI? ARE YOU CERTAIN THIS IS THE NAME YOU WANT?

"Yes. Ralsei. That's who I am."

HOW VERY

VERY

INTERESTING.

Ralsei. He felt different, somehow, now that it was his. More whole, more complete, more...

"RALSEI??? Hey, Susie to nerd??"

Ralsei shook his head, then gave a smile. "Ha, sorry! I guess I got lost in thought."

"Tch, you were so zoned out I thought you and Kris switched bodies for a second," Susie said, jabbing her thumb back toward Kris.

"We did switch bodies," they said, flat and matter-of-fact.

Susie whipped her head around. "WHAT? Is that a thing Darkners can do?" A barest hint of a smile crossed Kris's face, and all at once Susie was shaking them bodily. "You're so goddamn annoying! I actually believed that for a sec, you jerk!"

Ralsei watched the two of them. He'd been disappointed at first, though he hated to admit it. Kris—the Human, the Cage, the one he'd known so much about—had seemed like they wanted nothing to do with him. And Susie...the Monster, the Girl with hope crossed on her heart...well, she'd been nothing like he'd expected at all! And of course, he shouldn't have been surprised—the prophesy didn't say they were ever meant to be friends.

And yet...he tried. He learned. He hoped.

And wonderfully...

Impossibly...

...here they were. Friends, despite it all.

Susie finally dropped Kris in a pile on the ground. "Anyway. You have to have some kind of birthday, Ralsei. So when is it?"

"Well..." Ralsei adjusted his glasses again. He should demure, he should change the subject. And yet... "If birthdays are when you start living..."

Well. If they could be different, maybe he could be, too.

"...I'd say it's the day I met the two of you!"

Susie and Kris both stared at him, silent. He held up his smile, internally worried. Was that...bad? Had they figured out he was acting against his nature? Did they find that wrong?

"Pfft...that was so freaking corny, dude!" Susie slung a large arm over his shoulders, nearly flattening him as she laughed. "Well, then, we oughta get you a birthday cake!! We're just a couple days late, it still counts."

"Oh, I couldn't..."

"We gotta." Susie sent him a big, toothy grin. "And then when it's our birthday, you make us the biggest, cauldron-fresh cake possible! How's that sound, Kris?"

Ralsei just barely was able to peek over Susie's arm to see Kris's thumbs up.

"Well? C'mon! I bet we could get a good one at the bakery—Lancer can probably make GREAT cakes!"

DO YOU UNDERSTAND YOUR ROLE?

He did, once. He still did, in a way. But it was colored by something different. Something warm, and fun, and infinitely more wonderful than he could have imagined in his many lonely years in the dark.

I am the Prince from the Dark, as the prophesy foretold. My purpose is to aid the heroes in fulfilling their roles.

That's what he should say. It was still true. But it didn't feel quite right, not anymore.

I am Ralsei. And my purpose is to be the best friend to Kris and Susie as I can, for as long as I possibly can be.