Icebreaker

Susie walked up the stairs, unsure what to think, what to feel.

Things were supposed to be ok now, damnit!

Susie sighed.

If fucking only it could be that easy. After everything she went through, Noelle still couldn't catch a fucking break.

Susie emerged in another room, one with a couple of different paths to go down. That didn't mean anything right now though. No way was Susie just gonna leave when Noelle just had a goddamn mental breakdown!

This made Susie pause. She was really worried about Noelle. She didn't think she ever worried about anyone else like this before. She never had a reason to before, but it was still weird. This took up all the space in her head, she couldn't think of anything else.

She started to unknowingly pace around the room.

Fuck, fuck! She had to think. What would help Noelle? What could she do?

She should definitely check on her, that was one. Wait, she already thought that! Fuck, she was getting nowhere!

Susie didn't know it, but this would go on for a couple minutes.

Finally, she had enough of the passivity. She had to do something, dammit!

She turned around, only to notice Berdly, who was apparently here the whole time, looking at her.

“Uh… how long have you-” “6-7 minutes.”

Susie decided that she couldn't deal with Berdly right now and marched right down the stairs, leaving with a “I'll be back.” muttered under her breath.

The main room was relatively the same as before, which, c’mon, what the hell was she expecting? It had only been a few minutes!

The big difference was instead of a makeshift barrier made of several icicles, in its place was a big… dome looking thing seemingly made of snow with a door made of ice.

It wasn't too big, but definitely big enough to fit a person, maybe two…?

The door’s icy reflection showed Susie her own reflection, seemingly taunting her.

Noelle was almost definitely behind said door, all Susie had to do was knock.

All she had to do… was knock. On the door.

All it took.

Just a knock. One.

And yet, she didn't move.

She tried holding an arm out to the door, but it started shaking as soon as it got close.

Susie grabbed that arm with her other arm, but it was shaking too.

Susie soon realized that it wasn't just her arms that were shaking.

She was shaking.

And she hadn't touched the door yet, so it wasn't because she was cold or anything like that.

No, Susie was forced to acknowledge the only other reason she would be shaking.

She was scared.

She had been hurt over a thousand times, fought numerous battles, got thrown headfirst into an entirely different world, and was part of a prophecy to save the entire fucking world.

She even fought her best friend, who was probably possessed by a fucking demon or something!

And yet, at this moment, none of that came close to how she was feeling now. It was like there was a pit in her stomach. And that pit was turning into a black hole, sucking away all her confidence the closer she got to that damn door.

Her heart was beating in her head, sweat was starting to form on her forehead, and her hands even felt a tad numb.

She… didn’t know why she was feeling this way.

But that didn’t matter right now.

Regardless of how scared she was or not, she had to do this.

After all, this wasn't about her.

This was about Noelle.

And no matter how goddamn weird her body was being, helping Noelle was more important than her body fucking itself over!

Her goal right in front of her, Susie forced her feet to move until her whole body was almost touching the door.

She bawled her hand up and tightened it as much as possible.

And then she, even as slow and anxious as she did it, knocked on that door.

She did it. And yet Susie didn’t feel any relief. If anything, she was more afraid.

There was silence. The fear started to reach Susie's head.

What if she wasn't in there? What if she passed out from blood loss or some shit? What if Kris was possessed again and took her and Susie failed her yet again-

The door started to creak, opening slowly. It stopped at just a crack, where an eye peered out through. And immediately, all of Susie's worries started to dissipate.

Why?

Because that eye was a brilliant blue, just like the sky. It sparkled with light, looking like a bright, warm star.

It was Noelle’s eye.

She didn’t know much, but Noelle could open a door! That had to mean something!

“H-hi Susie...!”

Susie stiffened up. She couldn't chicken out now. It was do or die.

“H-hey, Noelle… Can I uh… come in?”

After a small pause, Noelle wordlessly pushed the door open, allowing Susie to walk inside and take in her surroundings.

There wasn’t much to talk about, it was snow in a dome. Simple shit.

There was a table in the center with four chairs, all items being made out of ice.

Susie pulled one out and plopped down on it, shivering slightly. After she was inside, Noelle pulled the door closed behind her and joined Susie at the table, sitting in the chair right next to her's.

Susie tapped her claws against the table while thinking of something to say. “So… how are you doing…? I mean… I know you're probably not fucking great but-”

Noelle waved her hands. “No no! I appreciate you asking! As for the question…” She put her hands in her lap and sighed. “I suppose… I…”

Noelle looked down at the ground, her body starting to shake. “I… I’m a monster…”

That left Susie confused. “...Well, yeah. Duh. We’re uh, all monster-”

“No, you don’t understand.” Noelle’s voice began to break. When she finally made eye contact with her again, Susie could only watch as tears poured down Noelle’s face. “I- I’m an actual monster…”

“T-that’s not-”

“It is!” Noelle fired back. “Y-you, you must’ve seen them! All those poor people, frozen in place! That was my fault! I froze them Susie! I f-froze… all of them…”

Noelle’s hands balled up and she was now sobbing, tears landing all over the table. “I almost killed Berdly! And then I had the gall to yell at him! I yelled at him after I nearly killed him!”

Susie racked her brain for something to say, something to do, anything except just fucking sitting there!

“Look at you, Susie!” Noelle waved her hand across Susie’s form, shocking Susie and causing her to flinch in surprise. “You’re covered in injuries! Injuries you got saving me and Berdly, which you wouldn’t have had to do if I just, just…”

Noelle gazed at the table, looking at her own reflection in the ice. “...Kris was right. I- I really am pathetic-”

“Like hell you are!” Susie had abruptly stood up out of her seat, causing the chair to fall over, and slammed her hands on the table. Noelle’s head shot up.

“B-but…”

Susie would admit in a heartbeat that she had no idea what the fuck she was doing.

But sometimes, caution had to be thrown to the wind.

She put her hands on the table and used it to steady herself as she pushed herself over it, landing over by where Noelle was. Admittedly, Susie could have just walked over to Noelle instead, but this was crucial to the very detailed plan she was currently pulling out her ass.

“Look, I don't know what the hell ‘Kris’ was thinking, but what I do know is that they're full of shit!”

Noelle sniffed. “S-Susie-”

Susie shook her head. “No, Noelle. You're the farthest fucking thing from pathetic! If nothing else, you're the smartest fucking person I've ever met! You know so much and you've been through so much shit! Like uh… Those!”

Noelle watched as Susie's hand pointed towards her…

“M-my… anthers?”

Susie scoffed lightly. “Yeah! I mean… I could like… use some tips… I guess.”

Noelle sniffed and wiped at her nose and eyes with her dress sleeves, trying to regain even some composure. “Tips…? For- for what?”

Susie seemed to linger for a few moments before reaching for one of Noelle’s hands. “Uh… Do you wanna…?”

Noelle cautiously put her hand out and Susie, with her hand trembling, carefully moved Noelle's hand to the top of her head.

“J-just uh, feel around I suppose…”

Noelle tried to fight off the heat that started to spread throughout her face because Holy Jiminy Christmas Susie was letting her touch her head and oh gosh it was just hitting her now that Susie and her were like right next to each other and she was touching her head and it smelled really nice and AHHHHHHHHH- “S-so! W-what am I-”

Noelle then stopped when her hand came into contact with something that wasn't hair. It felt solid, sort of like…

Without thinking, Noelle leaned forwards, carefully moving Susie's hair aside to try and see the unknown object, not being able to see Susie's face start burning up.

In her efforts, Noelle found not one, but two small, pointy, whitish-gray nubs that, upon a small test, were attached to Susie’s head.

“W-woah! Susie, are these horns?!”

Noelle's excited tone gave Susie some relief. Sure, the hard shit was still coming, but now all that… stuff was off Noelle's mind. It was… unfortunate that the only thing she could think off were her stupid, nubby ass fucking horns, but it was better than nothing.

…Mission accomplished?

“You- you bet your ass they are! Pretty… sweet, huh?”

Noelle pulled her hands back and grabbed a chair and moved it towards Susie. Susie hopped over and plopped down into it, trying, ‘and failing’ her brain needlessly added, to not fidget in her seat.

Noelle cautiously approached Susie's head again. “Are you s-sure I can-”

Susie leaned her whole body forward. “Yes! You can! It's fine- FUCK!” She exclaimed, as she leaned too far forward, and, if it wasn't for Noelle grabbing Susie by her shoulders and putting her back in place, would have made a damn fool of herself.

As she unknowingly saved a decent fragment of Susie's pride, Noelle's hands lingered on Susie's shoulders for a moment, before she quickly moved her attention back towards Susie’s head.

Susie awkwardly cleared her throat. “Uh… thanks for the save… I guess.”

Lost in how soft Susie’s hair was, Noelle mumbled “No problem”, and continued to gaze at Susie's ‘horns’ while idly playing with strands of Susie's hair.

“S-so uh, I know they're like, small and shit, but uh, they'll get bigger! I could probably gore somebody with these one day! B-but uh… like, I don't wanna fucking gore walls and shit, cause that amount of property damage would leave me in fucking debt!”

Noelle nodded. “That… would be bad.”

Susie scoffed. “RIGHT?! Anyways… it just, you know, occurred to me, this issue, and like, you've got antlers, which is kinda the same thing, and your's are much… bigger, and you've had them for much longer, so you're like, a fucking expert!”

Noelle snorted. “Fwahaha! Susie! They're not that big! Well, as a, hehe, ‘expert’, the best thing I can recommend is… um… well, since your horns aren't fully grown yet, just watch which way they grow, and try not to lean forwards or stand up too abruptly.”

“Gotcha.” Susie could feel Noelle lifting strands of her hair, and lightly twisting them together. “You uh, really like hair, huh?”

Noelle jolted and immediately raised her hands up like she’d been arrested. “I-I’m sorry! I-”

“No- no, it’s, like whatever! I told you that you could touch it and you’re touching it! I just uh, you know,” Susie gulped and prayed she wasn’t as stupid as she thought she was. “I just mean, you know, you seem to like hair and stuff.”

Noelle awkwardly and slowly started putting her hands down. “W-well, it uh, feels nice, and it’s fun to style it. I used to do my own pigtails when I was younger.”

“Really? Is it like… relaxing?”

Noelle pondered the question for a second. “...Y-yeah. It sounds weird to forget I know, but I haven’t really done it in a while.”

Her fingers were crossed so hard they’d probably bruise, as Susie asked her next question: “In that case, would- would you wanna, uh, b-braid… my uh… hair?”

The small silence after her question unnerved Susie, so when Noelle responded with a “...Yeah.”, Susie breathed a sigh of relief.

Noelle moved behind Susie, picking up strands of hair as if examining what she had to work with. “So, um… What kind of style would you want?”

Crap… Susie hadn’t thought that far. “Uh… just like, a big ass braid I guess?”

Susie moved her hands back to her hair to try and get her point across. “Like, could this whole mane I got back here be turned into a kick ass braid?”

Noelle gazed at Susie’s hair before nodding. “Sure! But it may take awhile.”

Susie shrugged nonchalantly with a smirk on her face. “Good thing we got plenty of time, then.”

Noelle quickly crafted a new icey chair, sat down, and almost went to work on Susie’s hair.

“Oh! Quick thing!” Noelle leaned over from her position. “I may have to get through some knots or untangle some hairs, so it might hurt a t-tad.”

Susie scoffed playfully. “C’mon, Holiday! This body’s made of strong stuff! I can take just as much as I can dish out!”

Noelle giggled. “And I believe that, but I’ll still try to be careful!”

With that, Noelle started to braid Susie’s hair.

As Noelle’s fingers looped through her hair, Susie tried to remain calm.

It was as if for every knot Noelle would work through, another one would form in Susie’s gut. She couldn’t ignore the issue forever, but maybe it wouldn’t be as bad if she…

“SO, Noelle! This ice stuff, it’s pretty… chill.”

Noelle gave a small laugh, which sounded more painful than joyful. “It’s… it’s not that cool.”

“You fucking with me? You made a whole god damn house! With fuckingfurniture! I can’t do shit like that!”

Hearing that, Noelle’s hands stopped for a moment. “You- you c-cant?”

The sound of chuckling gave her an early preview for Susie’s response. “Nah! The only thing I’m good at is blasting things to bits! You ever need a demolition expert, I’m just the gal for the job! But if I tried building a house, the whole thing would fucking crumble under me!”

As Susie felt the moving of her hair resume, much more genuine sounding laughter could be heard behind her. “Fwahaha! You know… this is really nice.”

“Guess my hair’s a lot nicer than I gave it credit for, huh?”

“Uh, yes! But…” Noelle paused, as if judging her words, before continuing. “I was talking about… well, you, I g-guess.”

At that moment, it was like every knot in Susie’s stomach formed into a rope, which then tied itself into one giant knot that stopped her dead in her tracks. The ability to form words left her brain, and she was left to only blink, wondering if the ears she didn’t have were working correctly.

“...M-me?” Amidst her brain shutting down, a small part of Susie hated how awkward that sounded.

“Yeah! Uh, I’ve never really gotten to know you before, so I’m glad I have the chance to! I’ve always heard stuff like, ‘Oh, Susie’s a menace!’ or, ‘She’s just some inferior brute whose lexicon is vastly inferior to ours!’.

“...Berdly?”

“Berdly.”

Noelle paused to take a deep breath before continuing. “And… I’ve never bought into that. I honestly don’t know why, considering I didn’t really know a lot about you, but I’ve always had this thought that you were… nicer than people would assume. And it’s… It’s really cool to see that I was right, I guess!”

Susie was stunned. “T-that… I… You mean it?”

“Y-yeah! You're… incredible!” Noelle's hands began to move faster, but with the same skill she had before. “You're so strong… and tough… and you never… you never let anyone push you around or… tell you what to do. …And you never… you never just go along with something even if you know it's wrong…”

Susie finally found her voice, clearing her throat. “Is… is that how you think of yourself?”

Noelle's pace slowed down again, her hands shaking a little. “... I'm sorry. Here you are, trying to take my mind off that stuff and I… I'm just bringing it up again.”

Susie sighed. “You really need to stop apologizing so damn much. If you wanna talk about it, you should fucking talk about it.”

Noelle's hands stopped. She took a deep breath. “...I guess I've always felt… weak. There's so much I wanna say… so much I wanna do… but when I think to try, it's like I… freeze up, pun not intended.”

“Is there, like, a reason or thing that happened that made you think like that? …Or is it just a natural thing?”

Noelle pondered the question for a moment. “I… think I've always been like this… But it's getting… worse? I don't know…”

The braid's progress would be run back as Noelle was now undoing and redoing the braid, needing something to do with her hands.

“I… I think I'm scared of… failure.”

A yellow reptilian iris glanced back at her. “...Failure, huh?”

Noelle nodded. “The thought of… trying so hard or believing so much in something… and it all crumbling… it…”

Bitter laughter started to fill the air. “That's funny… I've failed plenty of times, yet I'm still scared… that's so lame…”

“Everybody’s scared of something. Why the hell should you be given the short end of the stick?”

That made Noelle pause. “U-um… I… I guess it's because… everybody else makes it look like nothing. They can talk and state their opinions and just… be themselves. Compared to them, I'm….”

Her hands began to shake. “...W-when… Kris found me… They offered to help me… To make me… stronger… I thought I could finally stand up to Queen, stand up to Berdly… Stand up to myself.”

Noelle's laugh grew hoarse. “What a fool I was… There were signs… things I should'veknown were strange, or wrong. But… every time I would bring it up… Kris would accuse me of not trusting them… and then I would blame myself for thinking I knew better… From there, it fell into this cycle of Kris ordering me to… f-freeze people… and I'd do it…”

It took all of Susie's restraint not to freak out. Not the time, not the time… “Did… did it ever feel like you… couldn't say no? Like, not a guilty way, but like a, ‘I can't control myself’ way?”

This made Noelle pause. That… never occurred to her. “I'm… not sure. Is… is it weird to think it was… both? Whenever Kris told me to do something… it felt like this… foreign voice would whisper the same command in my ear… and my body would seem to move on its own. I… I thought I was just going along with it before, but now… I'm not so sure…”

Susie had to take a deep breath. “... How's the hair?”

Noelle jolted up, giving Susie a shaky thumbs up. “O-oh…! I uh, I'm all done!”

“Cool. Now, you know what I'm sure of?”

Susie stood up abruptly, her newly done braid swishing behind her. “I’m sure that you were taken advantage of, manipulated by someone you trusted, and very fucking likely mind controlled! How the hell does any of that make you a fool, let alone a ‘monster’?”

Noelle's gaze was now focused entirely on the ground. “But… I… I still hurt people, Susie! What… What do I do with myself?”

“...Become better than you were yesterday. Or uh, earlier today, I guess.”

Noelle looked up. “Huh?”

Susie sighed and looked at Noelle, facing her eye to eye.

“This may be the wisest shit I'll ever say, so listen up. You think I'm all strong and unbothered, but that couldn't be farther from the truth. Honestly? A lot of shit bothers me. I'm scared of the dark, people's insults bounce around in my head for days on end, hell, I fucking shoved Kris into a locker because I thought they were going to get me expelled! And that sucks! But you know what would suck more? If I didn't do shit about it.”

Susie nervously swallowed before continuing.

“For too fucking long, I've thought in my head that nobody likes me or they'll see me as a ‘brute’, and ironically, that was the fucking problem! Because I believed in that bullshit so much, I ended up slowly becoming the bully I was seen as, because, in my mind, why try to be anything different? I think you may have a similar issue. Because you believe you're weak, in part due to other people, you might, like, feel weak, and eventually that might completely overtake you… become who you are.”

Susie shook her head. “That shit can't slide, because I'm no bully and you're not weak. If we let things continue like this, all we'll be doing is proving them right. We can't change the past… but we don't have to. Just because someone does one thing doesn't mean that's all they are.Yeah, you froze a lot of Darkners, but considering the circumstances, does that make you a freak who loves freezing people? Hell no!”

At the mere conception of her next thought, Susie’s heart and gut wanted to explode. Despite that, she started to rummage around in her jacket pockets regardless.

“I know for a fucking fact that you're neither weak or a ‘monster’. And uh… it's all due to… this.”

Slowly, Susie pulled something out of her pocket. She held it up so Noelle could see. It seemed like-

“A-a pencil…?”

“It's not just a pencil. It's… a symbol.” Susie handed the pencil to Noelle to give her a better look at it.

The pencil was in pretty decent shape. It was a medium-ish length with a fairly dull point, and there was a little bite mark on the middle of the pencil, but otherwise it was just a pencil that looked like a… candy cane?

“...That is one of your pencils.” Susie admitted quietly. “I don't know if you remember this, but… on my first day in class, I didn't have shit to write with.”

She let out a nostalgic chuckle. “...I remember freaking out cause I thought that this was going to be the start of a really shitty year. And then… just, out of the fucking blue, you walked up to me and lent me one of yours. Even told me I could keep it. And I know, I know, it sounds a little weird to be all sentimental about a fucking pencil, but it's not really about the pencil. I mean, the pencil was nice, but you did something far more important that day.”

Holy fuck did Susie hope this would help cause she felt like she was going to explode!

“You… smiled. In a time of my life where nobody liked me, you smiled and you actually gave a shit about me!” Susie's voice started to get louder as she grew more passionate.

“Strength isn't about having strong ass magical powers or being the toughest bitch around! No, it's about being your fucking self! It's okay if you get scared or if you're nervous or whatever you might feel like because you're so much more than that! You're fucking nice, way too nice for this fucking world! You're so smart, I'm pretty sure you could graduate early! You don't judge people for how things look at a glance! And that's what matters! Not what someone forces you into doing, not what people want from you, no! It's who you are and what you want!”

Her lungs were burning from her speech, but Susie had to finish what she was saying.

“So… I guess… what I'm trying to say… is that you're far stronger than you think… and that you should never… ever… make yourself small to make someone else big. …You're worth more than that.”

With that, Susie practically collapsed into the chair behind her, breathing heavily.

She looked up… only to see tears rolling down Noelle's face.

The sight made Susie want to curl up and die.

“S-shit! I'm sorry, I didn't-”

To Susie's surprise, as she stood up from her seat abruptly and got a closer look at her face, Noelle was smiling.

“No no, it's ok!” Noelle reassured. She used her dress sleeve to wipe away her tears. “I… I just really needed that. Thank you.”

“Oh… Uh, no problem.” With no wrong to correct, Susie awkwardly sat back down.

Noelle looked at the pencil again. “I… had no idea you felt that way…”

Feeling incredibly flustered, Susie looked away. “W-well, uh… I don't say this kind of stuff to just… anyone, you know… ”

Noelle looked up, her smile only growing brighter. “In that case, I'm really glad I got to hear it.”

The sight of that smile did something to Susie. She had no idea what the hell it was, but it was the weirdest thing ever.

Fortunately, there was something she became aware of that took her mind off of it.

Unfortunately, that something was the now decently audible noise of her ‘tail’ wagging and smacking the back of the chair.

Susie could only watch in horror as Noelle looked for the source of the noise, looking exactly where her ‘tail’ was.

“Does… your tail normally do that?” Noelle asked cautiously.

Panicking, Susie tried to move in her seat to hide her tail, achieving… less than great results.

“Are… you ok?”

Susie was now upside down when she heard the question. “No! I mean, yes! I mean, look!”

She reoriented herself so that she was sitting in the chair properly. “I just… don't like people knowing about it, is all.”

“Well… I think it's a nice tail.”

That only made Susie's tail wag harder. She looked away again. “...Whatever.”

Noelle started giggling, and Susie couldn't help but crack a smile at that.

“So uh… how are you feeling now?”

Noelle's giggling petered out and she took a breath. “Much better. Thank you.”

She looked up, gazing at the igloo she created. “So… I should focus on what I want to do, rather than what people want me to do, right?”

Susie raised an eyebrow. “What have you got in mind?”

Noelle got up out of her seat, now looking determined. “I… froze a lot of people. But, if I froze them, I'm pretty sure I can unfreeze them!”

An awkward cough came out of Susie. “Yeah… about that… Ralsei is already out there thawing them out.”

Noelle turned her head in confusion. “Ralsei?”

“You know? That guy me and Kris were with? Wears green, pink scarf, looks like Kris's mom.”

Noelle racked her brain. “I… think I remember him. He didn't talk much when I saw him.” She sat back down in her chair. “Well, anyways, it's good that he's helping!”

Susie scratched her neck sheepishly. “Yeah… Also, I kinda left Kris there, and it'd be pretty bad if-”

It hit Susie like a hammer to the face. She buried her head in her hands. “Fuck…!”

“What? What's wrong?”

Susie slowly dragged her hands across her face as she groaned loudly. “There may be a pretty important thing I forgot to mention. See uh… Kris may be a little… possessed… at the moment.”

Noelle blinked. “...Possessed?”

“...Yup.”

It took Noelle a few minutes to comprehend what exactly Susie meant. “Wait… You mean possessed, as in, by a g-ghost?! Or a demon?!”

“Eh… It's a little hard to tell exactly what it is… but it's a real asshole and isn't that what really matters?”

Too many questions were racing in Noelle's head. “What does it want? Why Kris? How long has this been happening?”

“I managed to talk to Kris, Kris Kris I mean, after I, you know, kicked their ass and I can safely say that we're dealing with some sort of homicidal maniac that maybe needs Kris, and this has gone on for… like, a while? Kris didn't really know themselves.”

Noelle, processing the information, began to think. “Is there anything we can do?”

“Uh…” Susie didn't think about it much at the time due to everything happening relatively fast. Was there anything they could do? “We could take Kris to Castle Town. Seems like the safest place to keep them while we figure this out.”

“And Castle Town is…?”

Susie sighed. “It’s a magic closet world in the school, and we could maybe help Kris there.”

“...Then that settles it.” Noelle got up out of her seat, turning towards the door. “We’re getting out of here.”

Abruptly, Susie also got out of her seat. “W-wait! Are you gonna be ok?”

It was a fair question, considering everything Noelle had been through. She decided to answer honestly. “...I don't know. But sitting around feeling sorry for myself isn't going to get us anywhere. And I can't…” Noelle's grip on the pencil tightened. “I won't let whatever that… thing is… continue to control Kris.”

Noelle raised her free hand, and the igloo and its furniture started to crack. But then, it started to glow at the same time.

All of the ice and snow then shattered in a burst of light, now nothing more than little dots floating in the ice, quietly melting in the air.

The light made Susie shield her eyes from its intensity. When it died down, Susie looked up and was surprised.

The surprise being that Noelle's outfit was now… completelydifferent.

Now, instead of a plain, long sleeved white dress, Noelle was now wearing a light blue dress with a capelet over her shoulders, clasped together with a small, golden heart. The capelet came with a hood, and the ends of the hood, capelet, and dress all had white, fluffy fur in poofy tuffs.

There was some kind of angel symbol on the top of the dress, while the bottom had an array of snowflakes and stars. In the middle of the dress was a pink ribbon that was tied facing the back.

Finally, on each of her hands were long, light blue fingerless gloves that extended up to her arms.

It only took Noelle a second after Susie to notice her new outfit. “Woah…”

Little dots of light and ice were still floating in the air for a second, making the image of Noelle in her new dress look radiant.

Susie was almost speechless. “...Woah.”

Susie and Noelle then noticed another change at the same time.

In Noelle's hand was no longer a pencil, but instead a longbow that looked to be made of candy cane.

She examined it carefully. “Wow… Guess there was some magic in that old pencil after all?”

Susie playfully scoffed. “I'd argue that the girl with actual magic did more than the fucking pencil!”

Noelle giggled. “So, is clothing changing a normal thing here, or…?”

Susie shrugged while starting to head for the stairs. “Sorta? It’s more of a temporary thing, but who fucking knows?”

Right behind her was Noelle, following her to the stairs. “...Do you think Berdly's ok?”

Susie laughed. “Noelle. As much of an utter dumbass Berdly is, he's pretty alright in a fight. I'm sure he's completely fine!”

“AHHHHH!”

Noelle and Susie could only stare as Berdly was screaming and scrambling away from, and it had to be seen to be believed, a bunch of mice that seemed to be connected together, rolling as some kind of wheel.

Susie's eyes twitched. “...WHAT THE ACTUAL FU-”