Chapter Text
Noelle was used to being woken up.
Usually, it was just her alarm. She had to wake up early in the day to prepare for school. Noelle was a light sleeper, a trait that Kris had probably contributed to with their pranks, but she still had trouble getting up on her own. Living with Dess and spending so much time around Kris had also involved being shocked awake on more than one occasion, even if she never really got used to that.
* And I need to save you, but who's going to save me?~
Her room was almost pitch black. Moonlight streamed in through the window, casting the familiar colours in an eerie mix of grays and silvers. What time was it? The frigid air in the house didn't help. Mom didn't like to waste money on heating, or so she claimed. Dess always said that she just liked the cold and didn't want to admit it. Noelle shivered. Not because it was cold, but because something felt wrong. Like she wasn't alone. It dragged her back to memories of when she was young, jumping at every shadow or scary story Kris told. And of that one time Kris hid under her bed to scare her.
* Please forgive me for whatever I do~
Somehow, she was sure she could hear singing. Or was she remembering a song? Noelle couldn't place the voice- what it sounded like, where it was coming from, anything. Was she really just imagining things? Hearing things? School had been a little stressful lately, but not that much!
* When I don't remember- oh, you're awake. Sorry, that's my fault, isn't it?
Not just singing- a voice. A voice that was talking to her.
"W-Who's there?" Noelle stammered. Her eyes darted back and forth, trying to pierce the dark of her room to find who had spoken. The shapes in the darkness were suddenly looming and unfamiliar. At any moment, one of them would move and reveal itself to be something else entirely. Noelle pulled her covers close, as if it would somehow protect her.
* Let's just get this part over with.
She froze. Not by choice. All at once, Noelle's body stopped moving. She tried to scream, but her mouth stayed frozen shut. Her heart rate slowed against her will, muscles forced into relaxation. Numbness seeped into her veins. The encroaching calm only made her panic harder. What was going on? Why couldn't she move?
"Please don't scream." Noelle's own voice said. It didn't sound like her. The words that came were heavy and devoid of energy, dragged reluctantly from her mouth. "I don't want to wake your mother. I really am sorry about doing it like this, but there's no way to show you that isn't awful and I thought I might as well get it all out of the way right at the start. I'm going to give you the reins again, but I need you to try not to panic. I promise, I don't want to hurt you."
As suddenly as it had gone, sensation returned. Noelle recoiled and nearly slammed against the headboard behind her before the same numbing feeling rushed back. It didn't stay this time, shooting through her body just long enough to tilt her head forward and avoid the collision.
* Careful, there. Neither of us want the headache right now.
Noelle… did not scream. She did not. She clenched her jaw tight, curled inward, and dug her hands into the fabric of her blanket, and did not scream. She wanted to scream. But more than anything else, she didn't want to be alone right now. That if she called out, somebody would be there to comfort her.
* You can talk, and I'll answer. Or just think of your questions, and I'll hear.
For a moment, Noelle said nothing. She waited for the voice to do something. It did not. The wind outside whistled through the trees. Finally, she spoke.
"W-What are you?"
Weary laughter echoed in her head. * Starting off with the tough ones, I see. I'm… a spirit? Not a ghost, but a disembodied force. They paused, and Noelle heard a gentle tapping sound from behind her. * I was called here from somewhere else to accomplish a task, and I need your help.
Somewhere in the house, the floor creaked. Was Noelle going crazy? Hearing voices? Losing control of her own body? It was either that… or it was all true. She'd been possessed by something.
* Do you have another question to ask? The voice said. Noelle blinked. She hadn't noticed how long she'd been quiet after its last answer. It was all just so much…
She swallowed, and asked "What do you need my help with?"
* There is a disaster coming. I want to stop it, and I can't act without a body. I had a partner before you, but we recently separated and you were the only other viable candidate.
"Partner? Candidate?" Noelle repeated. That was an oddly nice way of referring to somebody you were controlling. It was something for her mind to catch on other than the fact that the voice in her head was now telling her about the apocalypse. S-She wasn't actually going crazy, right?
* It's a bit euphemistic, sure, but I can't think of any better ways to phrase it off the top of my head. "Host" makes me sound like a parasite or something and "Vessel" is just… a creepy thing to call a person. The voice shuddered. It was strange, voices shouldn't have been able to do that. But it did. * So "partner" it is.
"So we're… partners, now." Noelle accepted with a sigh. What else could she do? This all felt like something that should have happened to somebody else. Not that she wanted somebody else to get possessed, she just- Noelle wasn't new to finding weird secrets or to creepy things happening. "But why me? I'm not… you wanted to stop a disaster? I don't know how to do that. I don't know if I can help you."
* You can. For a moment, for those two words, the voice no longer sounded worn-down. Despite the absurdity of the situation, despite the insanity of it, Noelle felt a trace of warmth push away the house's cold air. * But as for selecting you, it was more about compatibility than anything else. I needed somebody willing and ready to help someone who they barely know… who also wouldn't shy away from something new and unfamiliar.
Noelle thought that was an overly optimistic way of describing her. She just liked helping people and had some weird hobbies. Was that really so rare? But the voice sounded more confident than Noelle felt. If it really thought she was special, she didn't have the will to argue. "But I still don't know how I can help, even if that's true."
* Don't worry about that. You're stronger than you think. And besides, The voice paused and Noelle got the strange impression that the speaker was smirking. * I'm not exactly powerless. I'll be able to give you all the tools and information you need to succeed.
"Well, that's… good?" Assuming this was all real and Noelle wasn't actually hallucinating. The voice sounded confident that they could handle whatever was coming. This was all too overwhelming, but at least somebody knew what they were doing here. Never mind the worrying implications of what might have been a possessing spirit having more power.
* Just trust me to take care of everything. the voice said with an air of finality. Noelle wasn't quite sure, but what else could she really do? For now, she'd put her faith in the voice in her head.
...gosh, she really did sound like a crazy person.
* Now, I'll let you head back to sleep soon, but there's two more things I need to do before that. First, I don't want this partnership to be all take and no give. If you have any requests to make of me, I will do my best to fulfill them.
"I… wow. Is this going to be one of those 'corrupted wishes' stories where everything I ask for gets granted in some awful way?" she half-joked. That felt more fitting than actually getting what she wanted.
* Good to ask, but no. I'm not exactly all-powerful, so keep your wishes small-scale, but I will try and do right by you.
"I don't even know what I'd ask for."
A lie, to the voice and herself. There were too many things Noelle could ask. Too many for that moment. The night air fell still and cold in the silence that followed. When the quiet carried on just a moment too long, Noelle wondered if she'd said something wrong. But before she could consider further, the voice spoke again.
* You don't have to tell me right away. Just keep in mind anything you might want that I can do. For now, there's just one more thing before you can go back to sleep.
"What's that?" Maybe when she woke up tomorrow, this would all turn out to have been a strange dream.
* Proof that everything I've said is true.
The voice's attention fell somewhere in the darkness of Noelle's room, an invisible pressure drawing her eyes to match the spot on her desk where her pencil holder was.
* There's a room in this house nobody else ever enters. Take the pencil and go there. I have something to show you.
~✲~✼~❋~❊~✻~❇~✲~✼~❋~❊~✻~❇~✲~✼~❋~❊~✻~❇~✲~✼~❋~❊~✻~❇~✲~✼~❋~❊~✻~❇~
Noelle's house hadn't felt homey since… well, since a lot of things had happened. But the dark somehow made it all worse. Every shadow, every half-visible shape felt just unfamiliar enough to maybe, possibly be something that wasn't supposed to be there. And, of course, it was cold.
* Making your way in the world today/Takes everything you've got!~
…and the voice in her head hadn't stopped singing. That made it better and worse at the same time. There was, well, a voice in her head singing to her. Noelle still wasn't totally sure she wasn't crazy. Maybe she really had been under too much stress recently. Dad was always telling her to take more breaks. But, having them there was reassuring in a weird way. The house didn't feel quite as empty with a little music. The dark wasn't as mysterious with someone so confident close by. The whole situation was totally absurd, but… some small, quiet part of Noelle couldn't help but be excited.
* Taking a break from all your worries/Sure would help a lot!~
Without quite realising it, Noelle had walked up to Dess' room. Her arm robotically reached for the doorknob and turned, opening the door into pitch black. It had been… a while, since she'd been inside. Not on purpose, she just… hadn't had any reason to go in, for a long time. Nobody did.
"So, are we, ah, going in?"
Sensing Noelle's apprehension, the voice spoke again. * Don't worry, it's nothing I haven't already seen.
That just raised even more questions. But instead of asking why the voice knew what Dess' room looked like, Noelle walked inside. She moved automatically, not quite realising she had started until she was already inside.
* This should be far enough. the voice muttered. * If we go too far in, it'll be difficult to leave. Now, that's the first step done. Onto step two- you still have that pencil, right?
Noelle's hand held the candy cane-patterned pencil so tightly she was a bit worried it would snap. She raised it up in front of her face, barely able to see in the pitch black, and shivered. What did they mean, 'difficult to leave'? What were they going to do?
What was Noelle going to do?
* Right, I haven't explained yet. I want to put more cards on the table, so to say, so I'm going to give you a behind-the-scenes look at the events soon to come. In terms you might know, we're going to be performing a ritual. All you need is an enclosed space and a tool.
The pencil? Really?
* It's an improvised tool, but it works. Traditionally you'd want a blade of some sort, but just about anything stick-shaped with a sharp bit on one end will do. I know you have an above-average number of swords in your house, but we don't need to go that far.
Wait, did they just- "Can you hear my thoughts?" Had they done that already?
* I'm in your head. Of course I can hear your thoughts.
That… sure! Makes sense! So… Noelle pushed down the mess of mingled confusion, discomfort, and curiosity and moved forward. "Right. So, we're going to be casting a spell, with the pencil. Do you need me to, um, stab myself with the pencil?" That was how these things usually worked, right? The words spilled out in a nervous babble, and Noelle couldn't help but wish Catti or Kris were here. They'd be better at this, definitely.
A pressure Noelle hadn't even noticed suddenly recoiled from her body, muscles relaxing and then tensing again in a rolling wave. * No? No, of course not. I'm trying to- I'm not going to make you stab yourself.
Noelle's face flushed. W-was that not how it worked? Did she somehow manage to weird out an actual disembodied voice in her head? "S-sorry, I'm- I'm new at this?" Well, not new, but it had been a long time since she and Catti or Kris had really done anything like this, and-
Numbness. Ice flooded Noelle's veins, quick and strong enough to even block out the chill of the air. * Don't worry, you'll learn. You just need to have the right intent. For now, are you okay just following my lead?
"Sure?"
* Then just watch.
Her arms moved on their own. Noelle's hand moved to flip the pencil she was holding, reversing the grip, and despite the voice's insistences she couldn't help but think that this was exactly the way you'd hold it if you wanted to stab someone. She felt herself move in the dark, wrapping both hands together around the misplaced writing utensil. Then, without any warning, she jumped. For that moment Noelle felt weightless. Gravity's pull slipped from her body in a way too smooth to be natural. The descent was too clean, too straight. Driven not merely by a force of nature, but by a conscious will, driving Noelle back towards the ground still hidden by the house's shadows.
Silver flashed, blinding against the black, and Noelle's body moved with the descent and drove the pencil down towards the floor. Somehow, inexplicably, its routinely-sharpened point did not shatter against the ground. It pierced- barely any distance at all, not even enough to be seen, just felt- as if it were made to do so. Enough to leave a tiny, pinprick hole.
And something poured out.