[ cynth starts slithering to the S-Rank room before stopping. ]

also ramb, if anything we say about it is too much or you aren’t ready then you can back out at any time. this will be pretty horrific.

🪻anon

I’d sure hope it’s not. It’s affecting Poppy and not Kris anyway.

[Ramb makes no comment on the Toby part. At most it confuses him but he had enough to worry about already.]

Don’t worry about me, luv. I’ll tell you if I’m done.

[Mira grabs their tea to take with.]

Cynth, are you gonna come with or stay here?

- 🪞🪽

[Ramb moves from behind the bar to head towards the S-Rank room.]

And. No, actually, I didn't know if Ramb knew, hence why I asked. But if I'm right about Hadal, well. Even I don't know what'll happen.

- 🪞🪽

I uh-

[he seemed hesitant]

It’s not going to do me much good to not know. If anything will drive me mad it’ll be my own imagination. I’m sure my head will be just fine, luv.

[he chuckles quietly.]

It’s better to not put it off.

[he seemed calmer than a moment ago but not by much.]

you know ramb isn’t going to know most of those terms, mira. so, the weird route is the worst possible future that can happen. it mostly involves kris and noelle, but neither of them choose this route.

🪻anon

Ah.

[in an attempt to calm himself Ramb smiles like he usually does. It hardly works and if anything it looks strained and disingenuous.]

Worst possible future…

I don’t want that for Kris or Noelle.

- 🪞🪽

[Ramb is quiet for a moment. He fidgets with his hands before speaking.]

Well I suppose know. Especially if Kris is involved.

[he glances around the room. It was hard to tell if the zappers were listening but it was obvious that Chip was. They pretended they weren’t watching him. Ramb lowers his voice some.]

Maybe we ought to go somewhere else though? The S-Rank room doesn’t get used anymore.

Are you guys thinking of the weird route or something? Because like. Nothing that bad can happen, either. Whatever's going on currently isn't in that route. Though, Hadal IS associated with water and the.... depths..

[It folds its hands on the counter.]

I... see. Yes, that would be um. Hm. Is that an alternate path to the weird route? That- no, I'd better be wrong on that. But the... oh. No, no, it's lining up far too well.

[Mira looks up at Ramb.]

Ramb, if I may. Do you know anything about the weird route? Snowgrave? The thorn ring? The other side of the lake? I wanna make sure we're on the same page here.

- 🪞🪽

[Ramb looks at Mira with wide eyes. It had a point. There’s no reason for the possibility of anything different to terrify him so much.]

[And yet it does.]

[he’d gotten to know the prophecy. Even if he missed one thing or another it was something he knew. It would happen. It used to scare him but he’d just gotten used to it.]

[it shouldn’t affect a darkener like him. He’s insignificant in the grand scheme of things.]

[he feels a buzzing behind his eyes. It’s a bit difficult to organize his thoughts. He listens to what Mira says. It does nothing to comfort him but that’s not what it needs to do anyway.]

I… I’ve heard of the thorn ring.

[he didn’t like that he didn’t recognize most of what Mira said.]

[ cynth seems to remember something, and they seem horrified by the thought. ]

…it always will happen. despite how weird the circumstances get.

[ they look away from both ramb and mira, hands shaking as their breathing gets slightly faster ]

🪻anon

[a temporary relief is felt when Hyacinth agrees with him. It quickly dissipates when Ramb sees how they’re affected.]

Woah! Hyacinth! It’s alright! Everybody knows the prophecy is going to happen. I- it’s okay.

[he leaned across the counter and reached out to them. Even if Hyacinth didn’t look his eyes were full of concern and care.]

[They cross their legs and take another drink.]

Let's see, in the flashbacks, Kris is clearly a little kid, probably 10 maximum, and when the prophecy happens, they look to be like. 16 ish?

But at the same time... none of this shit's in the prophecy. Cynth 'n I ain't there. The worm ain't, either. You've also had WAY more relevancy here than what's predicted. So, like. I guess all bets are off???

- 🪞🪽

Years?!

[Ramb’s eyes widened in surprise but then his face quickly returned to neutral.]

Maybe that bodes well for Tenna. He might have a little more time on the air.

[he looks a little nervous at the mention of the prophecy. Especially about things that aren’t in it.]

I wouldn’t say that! The prophecy will continue. What’s a prophecy for if it doesn’t predict the future? It just can’t mention everything, now can it?

[he laughs a little. He knows he’s bullshitting. Hyacinth and Mira definitely would’ve been mentioned. He knows it could be better if the prophecy isn’t true. But he’s terrified of the uncertainty.]