Chapter Text
She drifted awake to the soft humming of a familiar song accompanied by a soft buzzing. Her eyes opened to the bug in her arms and the soft glow of the Lumaflies. “...How long was I asleep?” “Dunno’ woke up a bit ago and realized you dozed off. Welcome back to the prison of consciousness my friend.” Myla released Ghost as they both stood. Her fingers ghosted over the handle of her pickaxe, a reminder that they have some defense against the unknown. Against anything other than unsure footing. Useless when her companion needed her most .
She must have gotten lost in thought, jumping slightly at the gentle hand placed on her shoulder. “You ok My? You said it yourself we can take a break.” “I- it's just- are you ok? I couldn’t do anything! And you... that scream ... How can you just act normal after something like that!? ” She didn’t realize when the tears had started. Ghost tackled her in a hug, “No- its, you’re fine ! I was just being stupid and reckless ! And-” they thought for a moment at the look she gave them, “I, don’t know if I'm ok. ‘Prolly not a good idea, but I'm not tryin’ to think about it too much... I- I'm sorry I scared you... it’s new having someone around other than Spark that cares about me. Yeah, Dirtmouth cares and all but they don’t see me all the time, it’s kinda weird being treated like a person I guess... I got too excited and got reckless. I'm sorry My.”
“It’s ok Ghost I, I was just scared it’s- we’re ok. That’s enough for now...” they tilted their head with a questioning hum as she trailed off. “Other than the obvious someone just got hurt, w-what's up?” “If you're w-willing to talk about it... what do you mean by ’treated like a p-person’?” They tensed for a moment, nervous words slowly gaining a bitterness to them she had never once heard from them before.
“ Oh void , um- well... I couldn’t go into too much detail even if I wanted to talk about it right now. Can’t remember much just the... bigger stuff... well- assumed long story short! Father dearest dropped me a few more than necessary times, then threw me in the closet when I failed too many times! Really though it’s not that big a-” Ghost didn’t expect to be the hug target this time around, or to start crying at the embrace. “Deal... really My I-I'm fine.” They paused and looked at the buzzing Lumaflies, “Those two are ‘prolly either gonna eat us or shock us if we don’t get up soon.” They both ended up in soft bouts of giggles as the Lumaflies buzzed in agreement. “All right, all right w-we’re getting up. Oh! Didn't you say there was a room in the Crossroads you hadn’t gotten through yet?”
“ That is one of the most annoying bits of spike hopping I've ever tried. I think you’re supposed to climb up the wall itself, but I can’t do that ‘n I've tried to climb up by bouncin’ up the spikes but that ain’t hap’nin any time soon. Maybe.” They both stood in thought before Myla spoke up, “We could try to find secret spots in the Crossroads. There’s plenty of small tunnels everywhere, w-we could probably find something we can fit in.” she smiled at the mischievous glint in their eyes and that flick movement the tassel-like ends of their cloak would occasionally do.
“Oh, light that sounds fun!”
They managed to find a hidden tunnel big enough for a bug like Elderbug at the bottom of the scaffolding room. Spark buzzed a laugh as Ghost began to lead the four into the soon illuminated darkness. Spark flew slightly ahead of Ghost while Silver stayed closer to Myla’s side. The tunnel eventually opened into a circular room with thousands of identical entrances leading into it. The walls seemed carved out from the labor of sharp claws. Shattered boulders lay in scattered pieces along the floor, some making small formations of possible hiding places. They crept into the room, keeping close to the shelter of the boulders.
A warbled growl rang from the path they had just entered. Myla let out a surprised squeak as she and the lumaflies were pushed into a small space between the rocks. Spark quickly flew out to Ghost. Leaving no time for the other two to react as Ghost’s footsteps faded toward the center of the room. ‘What- where? What just came in? It sounded big ... Ghost went and hid right? Oh, this was such a bad idea... what if those two get-’
A large claw slammed down right outside of the entrance to her temporary haven, illuminated by Silver’s light. Heavy breathing crept closer to her little sanctuary until a large mandible came into view. She tensed as it came steadily closer to the opening, shielding Silver against her side. A trailing black substance caught her eye. Following the trails revealed that its eyes had seemingly been torn out, thick blood dripping from the gaps in its shell. She held Silver closer when it skittered over her rock. The dull panic in her brain made her lose count of its legs as it just kept going . Two large blade-like structures marked the end of its body as it went out of sight.
‘I-I think it’s gone- I- that thing’s huge ! I- hopefully it can’t see. Oh, I hope it can’t I- it's going to Ghost right...? if- if they stay q-quiet they should be fine right? Yeah! If they stay quiet, they should be-’ “God!-”Her blood ran cold as two cracks followed by a familiar voice rang out, shattering the near silence. “ Why in void’s name are there spikes in this light damn room!” It hissed and rushed in Ghost’s direction. Myla slid to the entrance to her little burrow, the quiet skittering of massive claws soon turned into the clicks of nail against an unbreakable shell. She rushed out and shakily climbed to the top of the shelter, the light from Silver faintly illuminating the surrounding rock. Bright sparks flew with each blow Ghost threw at it, revealing their positions. ‘ It found Ghost. Oh shard- what do I- how do I- I can’t just be useless again! It- it responds to sounds... I could lure it away from them? Would that even work? Would tha- ,’ “Fuck-!”
She snapped her attention back toward Ghost as the sound of a mask being cracked rang out followed by a thud. Spark was flitting around Ghost as they slowly rose to their knees. “Ghost! Oh no- I- I'm coming down there! Hang-” the creature shrieked and charged her position, forcing her to leap down to the floor. She stumbled for a second, unable to land properly in her fear and haste. The creature hissed as it crawled around the boulders, searching for its lost prey. Myla gathered herself and sped to where Ghost now stood, trembling and bracing themself on a wall. She whispered when she got close, “I- oh shard that looks s-so much worse than it sounded.”
Her mind blanked of any plan it had previously formed at the sight of their mask. A large hole now sat along the side just under their horn that enveloped their eye. Cracks spread from its edges, webbing between every corner of their mask. Within, writhing shadows could be seen, desperately trying to maintain itself within the shell, failing as clouds of mist would seep up between cracks and an edge of the gaping hole. “Are y- no- w-we just need to g-get out of here. It- it c-can't see, w-we can- we can just quietly go b-back through the tunnel we u-used to get in.”
She stiffened slightly as Ghost practically collapsed against her side. The slight relief she felt when they nodded against her almost dampened the panic. The creature had skittered into one of the tunnels across from the exit. She carefully scooped up Ghost and beelined to safety, Silver lighting a route while Spark flitted close to the pair.
The clinks of Gruzzers on scaffolding grew louder as they approached the room, Lumafly light mixed with the lanterns when Ghost spoke again, strained, “The... the Stag bench... is... close.” “But Dirtmouth is closer and less of a risk.” Myla glanced down as she felt their hand clench against her, “I’ll... heal at an-y bench... they... shouldn’t need to... see this... I should... should be... should be walking... done this alone before... I can... can do it... again...”
She froze as she approached the chain to Dirtmouth. ‘ I can’t climb and hold them at the same time... but the Stag’s so far away... fine- it's- ok, this is fine. ’ “I- I won’t be able to climb up this while holding y-you. Stag seems like the o-only option,” she remembered which room they would be in from Ghost’s map and started toward the right of the well. She looked down at them, thinking about what they’d said, “I know you w-wouldn’t let me talk about myself like that and I'm sure as shard not gonna let you . Whoever told you that you weren’t worth it was wrong and better be dead already ‘cause no one talks about my friends like that,” she smiled at the weak laughter from her arms as she approached the station. “A-and before you deny anything, you are worth it. People are allowed to care about you, and you’re allowed to care about other people, you can’t change that,” she gently sat them on the bench, taking the place next to them as she spoke, “And I care about you. And there’s not a thing you can do about it.”
She realized she had never seen them use a bench to heal before. She and Silver watched in wonder as light swirled around them and completely healed their shell. ‘ Wait. Did they just heal that big hole by sitting on a bench !?’ Ghost chuckled at her expression, “I didn’t explain the benches, did I?” they let out an amused huff as she shook her head, “well, all I understand is that enough soul can either heal a mask or cast a spell, and that benches heal everythin’. Other than that, no clue.” “Huh. That, kinda makes sense? I guess?” They sat in comfortable silence as Ghost leaned into her side, Lumaflies landing on their heads.
Both bugs were close to dozing off when Ghost spoke. “The charm doesn’t really give me volume control I don’t think. I have this volume and loud. I- I don’t think I can do quiet without just not talking. Like, at all.” Myla had put her arm around their shoulders as they continued, offering silent comfort as they continued, “I think we can get through to Greenpath. The bottom platforms were lined up nice, we should be able to get through if we’re careful.” She pulled them into a hug when she spoke, exhaustion leaking into her words, “That sounds like a good idea... we can... we can do that later... I-” she cut herself off with a yawn, “we should sleep for a bit... your probably... prolly’ tired...” Ghost chuckled as she hugged them a little tighter, nowhere near enough to hurt them. Never enough to hurt them, even at the edge of sleep, “yeah, we should rest for a bit. We both need it.”
Ghost sat there as Myla and the Lumaflies drifted off. Their quiet breathing overshadowed by an all too familiar voice.
‘Another failure. You were not created to be reckless! You really think that you are strong enough? You fail when there is no task. You fail when one is given. The most basic of attacks! Most basic of skills! It was a miracle you managed to attain focus. You are failure while they are success. A mere backup for if they somehow perish before it’s time. You are a worthless husk while they are the vessel. Void-scum to be returned to where it spawned. You are nothing .’
Myla unconsciously curled around them when the trembling started, partially lifting the haze that had settled around their mind. That damned voice now only feeling like a memory, a useless echo of what once was. They let out a breathless laugh at the words before whispering out.
“At least I’m alive, Wyrm .”