VOXISTALE: Novel Edition

Chapter 137

Why? Why was this happening to him?

Krashna's breathing was heavy and his movements slow, staggering his way past the surrounding shrubbery. After a run-in with a certain someone back at the base, he'd taken off, leaving Voxis City altogether and hoping that the nearby forest would prove to be a good hiding spot, but his encounter had left him with a burden. Falling to his knees and leaning his body against a tree, his golden SOUL emerged from his chest, but something about it was clearly wrong. It looked like someone had wrapped several feet of glimmering orange wire around it. This was bringing his SOUL great stress, and as a result, his physical form was suffering.

"That bitch . . ." he growled, a golden bolt manifesting in his hand, the edges serrated and gleaming. With all his might, he began to strike his own SOUL, hoping to tear away the wire that clenched down on the culmination of his very being . . . but it was no use.

"It's dangerous to attack your own SOUL like that," a voice called from deeper within the woods, making Krashna freeze up, cold sweat beading at his forehead. The sound of twigs snapping echoed around him as his pursuer grew closer, her shadow one with the treeline.

"Take these off of me right now, or I'll kill you," Krashna threatened, forcing himself to get to his feet, though his legs threatened to collapse beneath him- his battle with Frisk had already weakened him so much. "Who do you think you are? I told you once, I'll tell you a hundred times, you are not-"

"Interested in what you have to say? Precisely," the girl's arm rose, and the wires around Krashna's SOUL began to expand, slowly enveloping the golden heart. "Do you like my technique? It was first used by the Luxmagi long ago in imprisoning a warmongering pharaoh. I appreciate you helping me test it. You've been misbehaving, Krashna. It's time for you to go away for a while."

Krashna's heart rate began to slow as his SOUL was completely sealed within a shell of orange magic, his consciousness fading as he could feel himself cut off from the physical world. His body hit the ground, motionless, not even taking in any breath. However, his SOUL remained hovering in the air, indicating that he was still alive.

"You've done a lot of bad things. Hurt a lot of good people," the woman whispered, stepping out of the shadows. Her orange eyes gazed upon what she'd done with satisfaction, wind lightly brushing some strands of platinum hair from her eyes. When she got near, she kneeled, scooping the boy up and carrying him over her shoulder. "It would be best if you didn't exist in this world for a little while, little brother," she added, plucking his SOUL out of the air with her free hand.

Her dreams were restless, as per usual. Like always, the green-like eyes gazed upon her, inflicting her with visions and fears. She was used to it by now, allowing the scenes to play out in tandem. She did notice how the nightmare began to subside as it failed to freak her out, and the eyes faded back into the darkness. It left her alone now, leaving her stranded in a dark room with a single, gray door to catch her intrigue. This was a door she'd seen and opened many times before, at least in dreams. In reality, she'd opened it only once. Deep within Waterfall, Frisk had stumbled upon this mystery door, which had never before appeared. Obviously she'd been curious enough to enter, only to find the Melting Man. All he did was smile at her upon her approach, and disappeared the moment she tried to interact.

And that had been that.

It didn't feel very important, nor did it feel unimportant. Just a sort of limbo regarding the Melting Man. In the waking hours she would often forget it, but in her dreams, she would often find the door again. Inside, he always waited, but he left if she so much as uttered a word. So, much like the nightmares, she ignored the door as well. Perhaps this allowed her to pass a threshold in her mind, or maybe Chara was just bored, as the girl appeared beside her, also staring at the door.