notus

Chapter 5: with you / free the end (prince)

Chapter 5: with you / free the end (prince)

Ranboo sits in his room, at his desk. Ink slowly drips off the tip of his quill, forming the smallest of puddles.

The words stare at him. Being words, they do not blink.

Ranboo does.

The words are still there.

(Gone.)

The Prince grips his quill. It scratches, against the papers of his notebook.

(Tubbo's Gone.)

He hisses through his teeth. The Prince pushes his chair back, throwing an arm across his eyes.

He breathes, and he shudders.

And he does not cry.

A knock comes on his door. Ranboo flinches. He shoots an arm forward to close his book, but his fingers knock against the tin of ink.

It spills, a wave of dark liquid. His book -

Ranboo knocks the book off his desk, frantic. It falls to the ground with a thud, its pages flying open.

The door creaks.

'Prince?'

He swallows. "...yeah?"

The Enderman's footsteps thud softly. 'We're waiting for you,' they say. 'The people have gathered.'

Right. Of course. Of course.

Ranboo shuts his eyes, squeezes them tight. "Okay," he breathes. "I'll be there. Give me a minute."

The Enderman hesitates. 'Prince-'

"Get out."

The Enderman leaves.

And Ranboo is left alone.

He bends down, slowly, to pick up his book. The cover is stained with ink, and the words are smudged. He runs his finger across them, smudging them even more.

And he does not cry.

Ranboo moves to his bed. He slides open his side drawer, gently placing the ink-stained book inside. It stares at him. He stares back.

His drawer closes with a soft click.

Ranboo's wings rustle - idly, he runs a hand down their feathers.

Messier than he'd like, but no matter. He can't be bothered to preen, right now.

He moves past his desk, dripping with ink. He thinks he had something important in there. He finds he doesn't care.

Ranboo makes to his dresser, and he picks up his crown.

The crystals glitter in the light. It blinds him, briefly. He places it, arranging it on his head and it is heavy.

Then Ranboo stares at himself, in the mirror.

And an unfamiliar Prince stares back.

Who are you, he asks.

Not you, The Prince replies.

But Ranboo already knew that.

His footsteps echo in the empty halls he walks through. He hears the steady chatter of his people, gathered by the castle's front doors. They're here because he called them here.

They're here because of him.

Ranboo stops, as he passes an empty space in the wall. As he passes the empty space in the wall. He stops, and he stares at the secret door, and he thinks about the secret garden.