The kid was monochromatic. Blacks, whites, and grays filling up the vast majority of their color pallet. The only pop of color was the sunny yellow cowl around their shoulders, and a bright red yo-yo attached to their hip.

They smiled, even if they didn't have a visible mouth. The way their glowing white eyes crinkled gave away enough clues.

They clasped their hands together. "Hello everyone. I'm Soleil. Diamond, Tango... it's wonderful to meet you! I'm certain we're going to become great friends, and-"

Tango interrupted Soleil. "Best way to leave is East, right?"

"Yes!" The strange Prinxe confirmed. "That's where we'll..."

"Got it." Tango began walking up the stairs. "See ya at school, Diamond."

This time, Soleil didn't stop him. The Prinxe fiddled with their yo-yo, twirling it nervously. "Umm... I suppose it's just the two of us, then..."

Soleil's movements were slow, careful. "Diamond, I may be a Prinxe, but... I, um, currently don't have any subjects." They curled in on themselves, and I found myself unconsciously reaching out for them. "I've been waiting alone here... my- my whole life for you two to arrive. So... I'm really happy to meet you. I hope we can be good friends, Diamond."

They took her hand, a smile in their eyes. "Let's try to find Diamond. He must be to the southeast. You can lead the way!"

Me? Lead? Okay then.

"Let's get going then!" I rushed forward, Soleil chasing after me.

I ran past dark houses, giggling like a maniac. A warm flash of nostalgia and familiarity rushed over her.

* Soleil, the lonely Prinxe, is now your ally.

* The power of long forgotten mischief shines with you.

[FILE SAVED]

"Diamond! Slow down!" Soleil gasped for air. "I can't keep up!"

"Skill issue slow poke!" I taunted.

I skidded around the corner. Oh this was so much better than schoolwork!

Finally, I slowed, stopping near an odd training dummy to catch my breath. "Woo! That was a rush!" I pumped my fists high over my head.

"You-" Soleil bent over to wheeze heavily. "You are just a ball of energy, huh?"

The Prinxe finally picked themselves up. "Oh!" They rushed over to the dummy, despite their exhaustion. "It's the training dummy I made!"

"You made this?" I whistled. "Nice craftsmanship."

Soleil appeared shocked, then smiled. "I've never- ahem! Now seems like a great chance to prepare for any potential fights ahead! Would- um, you like me to teach you how to fight?"

I bumped him lightly. "I'm NOT passing up learning how to swordfight!"

Soleil bounced in place. "Alright! Get ready, Diamond!"

Darkness once again flooded the arena.

The bright Red heart from before floated out of me. "See that heart?" I nodded. "That's your SOUL, the culmination of your being! Within, it holds your will... your compassion... and the fate of the world. If it gets hit, you'll lose HP! Uhhh, HP is like how much health you have left."

Well that's an info dump if I've ever heard one. The SOUL thing wasn't new, it was a lesson you can learn in grade 2 or 3, depending. Well, except for the 'fate of the world' part.

"Here! Let's practice dodging!" Small circular attacks breezed past me, much easier to dodge then Joel's attacks. "Great work! I guess you had a practice round before with that kid from earlier!"

Fighting was next. "Even though fighting unnecessary in this world... there's no harm in a thorough lesson!"

I drew the blade I had before. Slightly pinkish with a magenta hilt. "So- here, hold it like this- and- there! Try it out!"

I hefted the blade over my shoulder, and charged at the dummy, striking it clean across the middle.

Soleil clapped cheerfully. "Amazing work! Have you done this before or something?"

I waved my hand, sheathing the blade. "Naw, I'm just a fast learner!"

Next lesson, defending. "Here, look. You can switch out your sword for a shield. Just draw your arm back like this and swing it forward! You can gain TP from defending, but I can explain that next!"

The sword flickered away into a shield. "Great! Now that we have some TP - how about I spend that TP on one of my spells? If this was a real fight, the enemy would be tired after you hit it, then I could use my pacify spell to have it fall asleep and we can win peacefully!"

* Soleil cast PACIFY.

"Now," Soleil fixed their yo-yo back to their belt. "I would teach you how to act, but you've already had practice with that. So instead, we can skip right to the end!"

* You spared the dummy.

* You won!

* Got 0 EXP and 1 D$

"I'm really happy I had the chance to teach you, Diamond!"

"Yeah, well," Embarrassment rushed through me. "It was pretty fun learning. Probably the only time I've... ever enjoyed it."

"It helps that you're a wonderful student!" Geez, when was last time time I heard that? I know the pranks and general disinterest didn't help, but I couldn't help that! The pranks and tricks were a part of who I am!

Soleil pushed a thick book into my hands, and, on reflex, I almost dropped it then and there. I fumbled, and grabbed it tightly.

Don't mess this up. Don't.

"Let's get moving!" Soleil rushed ahead of me. "The Great Door is just this way! It's-!" The young Prinxe stopped, hands flying up in shock. "It's... open? No wonder Joel was able to come through..."

The doors were huge, dark black and bright gold, beautiful things, towering over both of us. Soleil gripped their yo-yo tightly. "Diamond... once we pass through this door... Our adventure will really begin..."

I stepped a little closer. "Nervous? I mean, I can understand that. I've never been outside Hometown, and even of this place isn't 'outside' town, it still feels far away from it."

The Prinxe jumped. "N-No! I mean- maybe? I- I'm just nervous about the prophecy. I believe your choice ARE important, Diamond..."

That's not what I asked. Of course my choices matter, right?

"Let's just promise ourselves that we'll try our best, okay?" I tried to reassure them.

"Y-Yeah!" Soleil's voice was quiet. "I believe we can achieve a happy ending! I mean, if we can't... you might not find that ending... favorable..."

They stiffened, their bright, glowing white eyes growing wide. "Oh! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to-! You shouldn't have to have that burden!"

I moved close to him, patting their shoulder gently. Even if I had questions, I could hold back on them. This poor kid obviously had some things going on, and I couldn't press them for answers.

Soleil laughed thickly. "I-I knew your were a hero when I met you... I agree, let's try our best!"

I was the first one through the door, waiting on the other side for my companion.

The Prinxe stepped through, turned around, and - after a deep breath - closed the door behind them.

* With the door closed behind you, your adventure will truly begin...

* The power of adventure shines within you.

[FILE SAVED - Field, Great Door]

Tall, blocky tree looms over us, reminiscent of foliage from a storybook.

"Oh wow..." Taking a step forward, the soft, purple grass crunched underfoot. "This is like something out of a dream..."

I stopped short of a sign, the inscription reading: (Enemies ahead! You're gonna die! Signed, Joel).

"Heh," I brushed past the sign. "Nice try, kid."

-

So the sign wasn't lying.

I gasped for air as we weaved around magic diamond attacks sprayed by a strange serpent type creature.

* You told Rudinn to quit fighting.

* It was utterly swayed.

"Yeah, I guess that makes sense." The 'Rudinn' put away it's strange small spear, and slithered away.

* Got 0 EXP and 35 D$

I cracked my back, wincing at plate metal on skin contact. "You okay?" Soleil took a pretty bad hit to the side.

They nodded, fixing the hood of their cowl.

Around the corner stood a familiar figure, though NOT the one we were hoping to find.

"Well well, if it isn't my two favorite people.... Psyche! You dorks aren't even in my top five!" Joel giggled pathetically.

"Joel! Where's Tango!?" Soleil confronted the boy.

Joel cocked his head. "Who? Ohhhhh! The yellow guy?? Heheheh... fools! You're too late now!"

Now the Prinxe just looked confused. "What did you do?"

Joel rubbed his hands together. "It was almost too easy! He beat me up, so I ran away!"

"... That's a bit anticlimactic..."

I agreed. We continued straight ahead.

"Helloooo~???" Joel sang. "If you clowns go that way, my troops with thrash you!"

"Soooo, other way then!" I turned on my heel, going the only other way, dragging Soleil with me.

That's a strange tree. Well, stranger then the other trees.

I stretched up, grabbing two star shaped things from dangling vines. I handed one to Soleil.

They reacted sharply, almost surprised at the kindness. "Huh? You want me to have one?"

"Well, I have no clue what these things are..." I hummed, turning the apple sized thing in my hand. "Figured we could find out together."

"Well, these are Dark Candies!" The young Prinxe explained. "They heal 40 HP!"

"Heck yeah! Candy!" I took a bite. It was soft, like marshmallows, and tasted like them too!

Soleil sat beside me, slowly enjoying their candy.

"We don't know how long these little moments will last..." Savoring the last bite, I brushed my hands off of any powdery sugar. "Gotta enjoy them when we can!"

-

"I can't believe I flirted with a sentient octopus..." I wanted to erase that memory.

"Well," Soleil tried cheering me up. "At least you're good at it...?"

I plucked two more Dark Candies from a nearby tree. I could save these for later. Maybe entice Tango with them? "I guess?"

And here we reach our next puzzle. Of course it has to be timing based.

[FILE SAVED - Field, Maze of Death]

What a beautiful name. I think to myself, with not a drop of sarcasm.

A rather concerning sight stopped that train of thought.

Darkners, all unconscious and strewn about in various states of agony.

"Soleil..." I whispered. "Can you...?" Soleil was upon the first one in seconds, green healing magic covering their palms.

"What even happened here...?" I wondered aloud. A strange red chest caught my eye, and I wandered towards it.

A small, silky white ribbon was the only item inside, crinkly and soft to the touch.

Soleil was helping the first unconscious enemy regain their composure. They took stock of the ribbon, and brightened. "Oh! That ribbon is armor! It increases defense! Why don't you try putting it on?"

I reached back, tugging at the twin braids looped in my hair, fumbling with the strands. I relented, embarrassingly scooting towards the dark Prinxe. "Could you...?"

The Prinxe was frozen for a second, but took the ribbon, weaving it carefully through my hair.

An odd feeling coursed through me, and I stood, feeling stronger already. "Wow, that's sick! How's it work?"

Soleil stood, helping me up. They were smiling, eager for a teaching moment. "Well, the way armor works in dark worlds is different than how you'd expect. It more so increases your resistance to magical attacks than anything. For example, the ribbon upped your defense stat from a 2 to a 4 just by being applied!"

"Oh so we're working with video game logic?"

"Sure, if that makes sense!"

"Works for me!" I walked over to the recovering Darkner. "Now... what happened to you buddy?"

The Darkner was almost inconsolable. "It- it was a monster! It attacked us without warning and nearly fried us alive! We- we didn't even WANT to fight! The King is forcing us!"

Soleil took my shoulder, whispering to me. "That sounds like Tango. Diamond, we need to stop him, quick...!"

"Yeah..."

Further along the trail, and who do we find? None other than Joel...! Yay-

"Ho ho!" Joel rocked on the balls of his feet. "Somehow, you survived the maze!"

"It wasn't much of a maze." I coughed. Dang, what a virus I'm catching.

"But! Don't count your blessings before they hatch...!" Joel stepped back, a trio of those same octopus things I had to flirt with flanking him. "Let's see how you fair against THIS team!"

Ugh. I hate this...

At least I was getting better at it, whatever THAT meant.

At some point Joel tried mooching some of the D$ we rightfully earned, much to our annoyance.

Now that... that was over with, we could get back on the task at hand. Finding Tango. Hopefully.

I made sure to avoid eye contact with Joel as we passed by him.

-

"I just love timer puzzles." I grit my teeth. This one was so stupid. It required 3 people to get past, and there was only two of us!

"Breath." The simple command broke through my anger, and I allowed myself to relax. "Maybe we can check out the next room over? It might have something useful?"

I let out a deep breath. Yeah, that sounded like a good idea. Better than over here.

A loud BANG ​​​startled both of us, making us hesitate. Well, a voice spoke up. A very familiar voice.

"Ugh, open up you stupid-!" Tango banged a fist on the door again, the metal whining. His ear flicked, and he turned to us, scowling. "Oh, great. It's ​​​​the two nerds."

Soleil didn't share his annoyance. "Tango! We were so worried!"

"Speak for yourself..." Man, I should really eat some cough medicine after we get outta here.

"... um, how'd you get past those spikes before?"

"Walked through 'em." Resting a hand on his hip, he grinned. He shot an ugly glare at the door. "But this door... It sucks."

"Aww, don't worry, Tango! It'll open after we solve the puzzle over there!" Soleil gestured widely to the timer puzzle.

Tango picked his teeth with a claw. "Nice. Tell me when you finish."

"Uh, Tango-" Soleil tried again. Oh wait, were they trying to involve Tango in something? I guess we do need him for this. "We need your help finishing it. Three people are needed to activate it, AND, I'll have you know, only Diamond can seal the Dark Fountain.." Wait, what? ​"So if you don't accompany us, you won't make it home!"

Tango's eyes narrowed, and he grimaced. "So you're saying I HAVE to stick with you guys."

"Yep!"

Tango growled under his breath, but marched towards them anyway. "Let's just get this over with..."

"Yay!! Tango's back!!!" Aaaaand already looked like he'd rather die. Good for him! Gold star!

One previously closed door opened later, and I had the pleasure of seeing a small, dog-like checker piece fly into the stratosphere. Maybe I should've tried warning the poor thing a little quicker.

"Um, Tango..." Soleil twined their hands through their shadowy hair. "I suppose you missed what I said earlier... As heroes, we have the power to make a peaceful future. So, from now on, let's try and avoid fighting, okay?"

Nothing from the Blazeling, and Soleil tried again. "Maybe just try going easy on them...? If, um, you weaken an enemy, I can use my Pacify spell, which puts tired enemies to... sleep...!"

Tango stretched, yawning dramatically. "... huwhat? Oh, sorry. You're jabbering is putting ME to sleep!"

"Maybe just think about it!" Soleil finished quickly. They leaned in close to me. "We might need to warn enemies about him, Diamond."

Fair.

* Tango, the violent tormentor, is now your ally.

* The power of bad boys shines within you.

[FILE SAVED - Sausage's Shop]

A shop, huh? We could check it out.

As we stepped through the (what looked to be cardboard?) doorway, the world dimmed around us. Not from a battle, but from how dim the shop was.

Various trinkets and knickknacks littered shelves, clustered together almost to the point of falling.

I stepped towards the counter(?), glancing around. If this was a shop, where was the shopkeeper?

I rang a small, silver bell on the counter. It chimed, filling the otherwise empty silence.

A curtain I hadn't seen before parted, and a strange looking man walked out of a back room.

His 'eyes' were buttons, never blinking (since they couldn't), and his skin was plush fabric, only broken up by yarn-like hair. He smiled. "Lookie here... Welcome travelers!"

"Oh! Are you the owner?" Soleil joined my side.

The man stroked his yarn hair. "You could say that. I'm Sausage, and this is my humble shop. Have a look around, why don't you?"

"Sure thing." Maybe we can find something useful here?

More Dark Candies were cluttered together on a low shelf, the price displayed as only 40 D$. Next to them, for a much larger price, were slightly reddish tinted burgers.

"Oh, Hell Yeah!" Tango snatched one up, about to swallow it whole before Soleil grabbed it from him.

"We have to pay for that!" They hissed. Tango shot daggers at them, but didn't make any further moves.

I trailed along the back wall, eyes searching for something.

A bright flash of orange caught my attention. A black and orange blade sat alone on a shelf, collecting dust.

I picked it up, inspecting the price. 200 D$... yikes dude. An upgrade could be pretty valuable, though.

How much did we have left now? 70 for the Dark Burger, 200 for the sword... geez only 80 D$ left. Not a lot.

"We all done here?" I turned my attention back to the others. Soleil nodded, shooting down Tango's attempts at grabbing another Dark Burger. "Ok."

"So..." I rolled the 'o'. "Who are you. I mean, besides your name."

"Well, not giving me much to work with, are ya!?" He chuckled, which turned into a cough, like it hurt him. "Well, I'm a collector of sorts. I take old odds and ends and resell 'em. I've got no attachment to any of them, that'd be bad for business."

"Yeah." The items paid for, the three of us left, the quiet dreariness of the shop falling away from us.

I could finally breathe again, and inspected the sword I bought. It was pretty, with a bat hilt and a black and orange blade.

I smiled, drawing out the wooden practice blade. It was a reliable friend, and I hated seeing it go, but upgrades were upgrades. I slid the Spooky Sword into the sheath, satisfied with how easily it slotted in.