Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

    The girl wasn’t sure what she was expecting when she opened her eyes, but the bright light of the sun shining off of a bed of golden flowers definitely wasn’t it. 

    She sat up and rubbed her eyes. Where was she? Why was she there? 

    --

    “You see that mountain up there?”

    “Uh huh, why?”

    “That’s Mount Ebott, they say those who climb it never return!”

    “Wha? I don’t believe that.”

    “Why? You scared~?”

    “Eh?! No! Why would I be scared of some dumb mountain?”

    “You sure sound scared~”

    “Well, I’m not!”

    “Then prove it. Go climb to the top and bring back some kind of proof.”

    “Humph! Fine!”

    --

    Oh, right. The dare…

    --

    “Huff, puff… eh? There’s a cave up here?”

    …

    “... what’s that shiny thing over- aAAAAHHHHH!!!”

    --

    And then she wasn’t looking where she was going… and fell…

    Huh, for falling such a long way, she didn’t feel all that injured. She gave herself a once-over just to make sure. Yep, nothing but a few scrapes from climbing through the undergrowth. 

    Maybe the fall wasn’t as long as she thought it was? She looked back up towards the sky. Ah, yep, that fall was just as long as it felt. The light from the sky was only a small pinprick that was growing rapidly darker. Dusk was falling, could she get out of this hole before curfew? 

     “ You won’t make it out of here the same way you got in. ”

     The girl flinched at the unexpected voice. 

     “Yipes!” she whipped around, brandishing the stick she had grabbed on her climb, “who’s there- ?!”

     The stick fell to the ground with a small whump as she stared open-mouthed in shock. Right in front of her was a floating child .

     “ Ah, my apologies, I didn’t mean to scare you, ” they said as they waved their hands in a placating gesture, “ I just thought I would tell you before you exhausted yourself trying to escape. ”

The girl blinked. “what?”

They shrugged, “It’s exactly like I said, you cannot leave through there,” they pointed upwards towards the mouth of the hole- no, more like pit the more she thought about it.

“Okay…” she bent down to pick up her stick, always handy for an impromptu fight, then looked back at the other. “Then how do I get out of here?”

They tilted their head in thought and fidgeted with their hands. They took so long that the girl almost thought they wouldn’t answer and that she was doomed to spend eternity with this ghost child - for what else could they be? - but then they finally did answer:

“ Well, I suppose you could try leaving through the Barrier ... ”

“Okay, where’s it at?”

“ It’s at the other end on the Underground… although I’m not sure you even could leave through it… ”

She harrumphed and put her hands on her hips, “And why not? ”

The ghost sighed, then gestured at themselves, “ why do you think I’m still here? ”

“...oh.”

The girl glanced down at her boots, then up at the rocks, then over to the path carved through the cave wall. Okay, so, maybe she was stuck down here in this cave for the foreseeable future. If she was… then she might as well find out how big it is, right? Good to know how long it’s gonna take before she dies of boredom and all!

Although… from the sounds of it… this “ Underground ” seemed pretty big… like, big enough that someone could probably get lost in there. She wasn’t just a random “someone” though, her navigational skills were second to none! However, looking down that dark and damp and creepy tunnel… maybe she could use a guide.

The girl looked back up at the ghost, “Hey, uh, what’s your name again?”

They sighed and shrugged, “ Eh, my name isn’t important. I’ve found that names are pretty fickle things. ”

“How’s about ‘Floaty Kid’?”

They visibly cringed at that, “ Okay, no, don’t call me that . ”

“Weeeeell, I have to call you something, don’t I?” She rocked back and forth on her heels, trying to think of something. There weren’t that many defining features of the ghost. They were a brunette, they had a red coat on, (they also had no legs but let’s not linger on  t h a t -). The only thing that didn’t make them like just another kid was…

“your mask … Can I call you ‘Mask’?”

They tilted their head in confusion, then nodded, “ Sure? I don’t hate it… ”

“But you don’t like it either?”

“ Well, ” they waved their hand in a dismissive gesture, “ I just don’t care either way, and it’s not like you’ll be around to call me it- ”

“GREAT! Mask it is,” The girl interrupted, “now will you help me get to that ‘Barrier’ or whatever it’s called?”

They flinched as if struck, “W-what?! why?”

“You know this place better than I do, and I’d really like to get home before dinner. It’s cookie night tonight~! ” the girl sing-songed.

“ And why should that persuade me to come with you? ” the ghost questioned with a small glare.

“I dunno,” she shrugged. “You could get some cookies too when we get back.”

They started fidgeting with their mask, “ I’m not really sure… if I came with you I’d have to… leave... ” with each word, they curled up into themselves even more.

She stared at them, taking in all of their nervous twitches. It took the girl a bit, but finally, she pieced it together.

“Are you scared of leaving here?”

They froze for a moment, then they looked off to the side. She could see a faint dusting of pink on their cheeks behind the mask, “ I-i… yes, I guess I kind of am... ”

She lowered herself down into a criss-cross, “Well, there’s only one way to conquer your fears!”

...

She gestured for them to finish the statement.

“... Trust your gut and don’t do the thing? ” they suggested with a weak smile.

She facepalmed, “no,” and then wagged a finger in their face, “you confront your fear! And you do that by doing the thing you’re afraid of!”

“ How would that even help? ” 

“Because, once you try the thing you’re afraid of, you see that it’s not actually that bad and you won’t be scared of it anymore!”

Despite the unchanging smile of the mask, she had the distinct impression that they were giving her a very unimpressed stare, “ ... that ‘logic’ sure has a lot of holes in it, Shrimpy. ” 

The girl gave that nickname only an annoyed lip-smack before continuing on, “Well, could you please just come? Whatever you’re afraid of,” she leapt back to her feet and brandished the stick, “I can whack it until it ain’t scary anymore! How’s about that?”

There was a long moment of silence, then Mask snorted, then giggled, then started laughing so hard they doubled over.

“ I-I mean, that’ll take care of a good third of it! ” they chuckled as their laughter subsided.

“Only a THIRD ?!” the girl exclaimed with a wide smile, “I’m gonna get the whole peckin’ thing, and you can’t do nothin’ to stop me!”

“ Ah well, that might be a bit difficult considering the rest isn’t just something you can beat into submission… ”

Her grin drooped a bit. Ah, yeah, that would be a bit harder to work with… But, she did still have the Golden Solution~ it seemed that it was the time to use it!

“Well, then, I’ll hug it into submission!”

They stiffened a little, “ uhm… maybe don’t? I… don’t like hugs… sorry. ”

The girl’s eyes widened in realisation, “ohhhh, alrighty then,” she thought for a moment, then reached out a hand, “hand-hold-of-comfort, maybe?”

They smiled, then shook their head, “ how about… mutual respect and the knowledge that we both support each other? ”

“Yeah, that works for me.” 

The conversation lapsed into silence. The girl fiddled with her stick, pulling off some of the more bothersome twigs. She didn’t notice Mask’s stare until they spoke up again.

“ ... well, I suppose I could come with you. ”

“YUS!!” The girl did a little fist-pump and then looked back at them, “With the two of us together, nothing can stand in our way!”

“ If you say so… ” They muttered with an emotion the girl couldn’t place.

She looked back towards the tunnel, suddenly a lot less scary knowing she wouldn’t be alone. 

She strode confidently forward, and her discarnate companion followed closely behind.

Chapter Text

“Uh… you might want to be careful in the next room… there might be someone in there you don’t want to meet.”

The young girl stared at her spectral friend. “What do you mean by that?” 

“ Well, there’s this… flower- ”

“A flower?” she snorted. “you’re scared of a flower? ”

They made a noise somewhere between a grumble and a growl, “ I didn’t say that! It’s just... you’ll see if we meet him-! ”

Unnoticed by the duo, they had walked into a small and easy to miss ring of magic. Said magic sprung up around them, leaving them stuck.

 The young girl stared as a small purple flower jolted up from the ground. That was… definitely strange. It was even stranger when the flower began to talk. Or, well, yell.

" FOOOOOOOL! YOU'VE DONE IT! YOU'VE TOTALLY SCREWED YOURSELF! NO HUMAN ENTERS THE UNDERGROUND AND LEAVES IN ONE PIECE! YOU- wait. Ghost boy? What the hell do you want?" 

“ I could be asking the same of you, bastard flower, ” he shot back.

The girl leaned into the ghost’s ear and whispered, “is this the flower?”

He gave a small nod.

“I can see why you don’t like him.”

That earned a small snort.

“Wow, ruuuude . I’m right here, you two.” The flower rolled his eyes.

“And?” the girl dared to ask.

“ Annnnnnd ... ” the flower titled back, then leaned forward with a wicked grin on his face, “ that means I’ll just have to make you suffer even more later!”

The girl squeaked as she held up her stick, “w-what?”

There was a sudden odd sensation on the girl’s shoulders, like something was supposed to be there, and it was there, yet she couldn’t actually feel the pressure of anything there. A quick glance down and then up again revealed that Mask had grabbed her shoulders and had floated slightly above her. The protective stance would have been a heck of a lot more comforting had she not suspected that he wouldn’t be able to do jack if a fight broke out.

“ You wouldn’t dare . ” he hissed.

"Is that a challenge, ghost boy?" The flower sneered. " Not like you can actually do anything to stop me, considering you don't even have a physical form!" He started laughing. Mask tightened his non-existent grip on the girl’s shoulders.

The flower turned to face the young girl. “Listen, I’m not going to beat around the bush. As I said, you’re screwed. No human makes it out of here alive. ” He shot a quick glance behind her at Mask. “ So, I’m gonna offer you a deal. I’m in need of a soul. A human soul. And, wouldn’t you know it, you have just that!

“So, I get your soul, and you get a ( relatively) painless death, how does that sound?”

“ Why would she even consider-?! ”

The girl stopped him, “hold on, I’m thinking.”

“ What?! ” he gasped, “ how could you- ”

“SHHHHHH!!!” she shushed him way angrier this time. She glanced up at him, and her expression was a calculating, yet pleading one. I’m trying to stall until you can think of something! Don’t mess this up! It shouted. He tightened his grip for just a moment, then loosened it.

It was one long minute that the girl took to finally speak up again, “I’ve decided.”

“And?”

“It’s a hot no.”

The flower looked stunned, then he started chuckling, “C’mon now kiddo, don’t make this harder than it needs to be! Like I said, the Underground is just filled with monsters out for your soul. ” his grin froze, and it no longer looked cheerful, it looked menacing, “ I’m the only one who’s gonna offer you a nice, quick, pleasant death. So c’mon, just hand it over. ”

She could sense Mask’s growing unease, “ he’s lying, ” he whispered, “ he likes to… mess with his victims before killing them. ”

The girl shivered, then turned her attention back to the flower.

“Still no, t-thanks.” she said while shaking her head.

“I don’t think I’ve made myself clear enough, ” he growled, “ your opinion doesn’t matter here. Hand it over, or I’ll take it from your shredded body!”

The magic of the barrier wavered with his anger. One bit got a little too close for comfort. By the way Mask flinched, the girl guessed that she probably shouldn’t touch it.

She took a step forward and then leaned down right into the asshat-flower’s face.

“For the l-last time, no. ”

The flower growled. If looks could kill, the girl and the ghost would be nothing but a pile of dust. “Well then, too bad for you! ” the flower spat, “ I gave you so many chances to redeem the situation, and you refused !”

His scowl turned into a sneer, “So much for a painless death then!” The girl yelped as thorny vines sprung up from the ground and twisted around her. Mask took his hands off of her shoulders, then tried desperately to pull the vines off of her. It was useless, his fingers just phased through, but the part of her mind that wasn’t screaming in panic appreciated the sentiment.

So this is how I die? She thought with a brief moment of focus, stabbed through by these magic vines, controlled by a maniacal flower who’s laughing his nonexistent ass off at my suffering, with a weird ghost by my side who’s freaking the frack out?

A glowing red heart with swirls of purple appeared above her chest. The vines lifted her closer to the grinning flower. He opened his glowing yellow maw and stretched up so he could reach it. As a fang brushed the heart, she felt a stinging shock throughout her whole body.

In the moment before the flower bit down and this life came to an end, the girl had one last thought.

Didn't think this was how it would go.

And then all was darkness.

Chapter Text

All was darkness.

And then it wasn’t.

The girl found herself standing on the steps leading to an ornate stone archway. She glanced down and tapped the ground with her foot. It made no noise. She tried to think aloud, but no words came. The silence was literally deafening.

She looked forward to the archway. A small light gleamed in the distance beyond.

Will you Continue? It murmured.

She turned around. The endless void stretched out as far as the eye could see. As she stared, the darkness grew, getting dark, darker, yet darker still.

Or will you give up and Quit? It whispered.

She gave a stiff smile and stepped through the archway.

--

The girl wasn’t sure what she was expecting when she opened her eyes, but the bright light of the sun shining off of a bed of golden flowers... well, it seemed awfully familiar…

Wait a second, hadn't she done this before?

She leaped to her feet and glanced around wildly. Why was she back in the golden flower cave? What was that weird void-space? That heart? Where was the murder-flower?!

"Did... Did I just die? " she thought aloud.

“... Yes?! You’re supposed to be dead! ” 

She turned around. Mask was floating in a way that would have been called pacing if he were on the ground. He kept glancing at the golden flowers, at the tunnel, at his fidgeting hands, and her. He was muttering to himself, so quickly and quietly that the girl only caught snippets like “ back here? ” and “ reset? ” and “ but he’s too much of a jerk to for anyone else. ”

She snapped her fingers and startled him out of his train of thought.

“Well, I guess…” she thought for a moment as Mask floated towards her, “I’m pretty sure I did die, but somehow I got better ?”

“. ..I guess that’s one way to put it, ” he grumbled.

She bent down to retrieve her stick, “How’s about we keep going?”

The ghost gave her an incredulous stare, “ You just died and came back, and your first course of action is to just casually continue on? ”

She shrugged and pulled back a sleeve. There were no injuries in sight (but in mind was a different story). “I mean, it doesn’t hurt or anything, it’s almost like it never happened?”

Mask tensed at that, but the girl didn’t notice.

“So… if the universe wants to forgive and forget, then meh,” she turned towards the tunnel and started walking, “so can I.”

--

They returned to the murder-flower-room. It was noticeably lacking in magic-traps (they both checked thoroughly before going in) but was abundant in purple murder-flowers. And by that, just the one looking quite dazed and confused and was that just a bit of fear on his face?

" ... what just- "

The flower only got to say those two words before the girl abruptly cut him off with a stick to the face.

He gave a very not intimidating yelp before vanishing. The girl poked the loose dirt with the (now pollen covered) stick. Who knew sentient murder flowers could burrow? 

The ghost floated down and poked his head through the ground, then came back up and shrugged, “ well… I suppose that was one way to get rid of him. ”

She grinned- well, more like grimaced, “Mmmm, I jus’ hit him first . That’s usually a pretty good way to win a fight.” she tapped her stick against the ground, then started jabbing it when the pollen just wouldn’t come off-!

“ I’m just going to ignore what you may or may not be implying there... ”

She whacked it harder against the ground because dammit she was not going to dirty her sweater with this weird super-glue pollen!

“ Though taking the initiative will be very important later on in the Underground. Most monsters let you take the first move just on their own, however... ”

 His words trailed off, and though the girl couldn’t see his face, she could sense an extreme amount of almost… fear coming from him?

Then she heard it, the footsteps.

Deciding to not risk getting killed by another monster, she whipped around with her stick brandished and ready to hit someone.

Although, as soon as she caught sight of the approaching monster, she found it a lot harder to stay in ready-to-ass-kick mode.

They were a big, almost cartoonish, tabby cat walking towards them. To be fair, they were only a little taller than she was, but that was still huge for a cat. Also, they had an adorable and tall chef’s hat on and that combined with their cute and casually fancy robes and generally cartoonish and friendly demeanor meant that the girl’s guard had been pretty thoroughly dropped in favor of  C A T ! ! ! ! ! ! (Mask had also relaxed, which she took as a good sign).

They stopped in front of her, “Oh! Are you alright?”

The girl shrugged, but internally was making the biggest awwwwwwww she could because that accent just made it all the CUTER-!

The cat frowned and held a paw to her face in worried thought, “Well, you’re probably pretty lost and confused from the fall. But never fear, for Cookie is here!” the Cat monster struck an exaggerated pose, and the girl laughed. Mask laughed too, but his seemed a lot more… quiet. The cat peeked an eye open and smiled. Getting the girl to loosen up and laugh was probably their intent from the start.

“Alright, now that you aren’t about to hit me with that ,” she pointed at the girl’s stick, which was now loosely hanging from her hands. She smiled sheepishly. “I can help you.”

The girl hesitated, then looked up at Mask. He still looked a little… off, but he gave her a nod. 

She looked back towards the cat… no wait, Cookie, “ suuuure? Uh, you aren’t going to kill us, are you?”

They looked almost scandalized, “Of course not! I have never and would never hurt a hair on a child’s head!”

The girl just gave a dead-pan thumbs up, “coolio, now how do I get this off my stick?” feckin pollen …

“Ah, here,” the cat walked over and held out a paw (which looked so damn soft, wow ) that the girl put her stick in. They rooted around in their robes many pockets for a bit, and then pulled out a cute handkerchief and used it to wipe all the pollen away. The girl died a little inside at seeing the probably well-loved and painstakingly-embroidered fabric stained within an inch of its life.

“There, how’s that?”

The girl took her mostly-de-pollened stick back. “Um… thank you, but my stick isn’t really worth all that.” she pointed at the handkerchief, and in response, the cat laughed.

“Oh, well, don’t you worry about this old thing,” Cookie held up the cloth, and now the girl could see that the embroidery depicted a lot of cats, skulls, and was covered in green and blue bows. Well, she assumed they were green and blue, as now everything on it was far closer to a deep purple than anything. “The whole point of a kerchief is to clean things, and I’m sure that my friend won’t mind that I got it a little dirty.”

Mask snorted and glanced away, but she had already caught the smile on his face.

Cookie looked a little surprised and maybe sad, but then she was smiling again and walking off, “Well, I suppose we should get going. Come along now, Kitten!”

“ ‘Kitten?’ what a dumb nickname. ” Mask teased as he trailed behind her.

The girl gave him an unimpressed stare, “ you called me ‘Shrimpy’, you don’t get to judge.”

He shrugged, “ fair enough. ”

The girl didn’t notice that Cookie had stopped until she had bumped right into them. 

“Ah, sorry!” the girl took a few big steps back.

The cat’s frown turned into a small smile, “Oh, don’t you worry, Kitten, it’s fine.”

The girl hummed and then asked, “why’re we stopping?”

“Oh, no reason. I just got lost in thought.” Cookie turned back around and continued walking.

The girl was torn. Curiosity weighing with common decency. She wanted to ask the cat what she was thinking about, but also wasn’t sure if that’d be rude, or if she even cared about being rude at this point.

Well, she didn’t have time to decide, as soon they stepped through an ornate (and oddly familiar) archway and into the next room.

Actually, calling it a room was a gross understatement. The mauve stones arched so high above her head. Red leaves crunched beneath her feet. The two staircases curved  up and around to such a deceptively simple door frame. Ivy crawled up and down the walls, adding a scattering of friendly green to the otherwise imposing purples and reds. Hey! She was an artist! She could appreciate a good color pallet!

She could feel Mask’s unease beside her. She reached out and gave his hand a small squeeze.

As Cookie proceeded up the stairs, the girl took a small detour.

In the pile of leaves between the stairs, something was shining. It caught her eye. She walked over and brushed some of the leaves aside.

Oh, it was the light . Why was it… here?

She reached out towards it. 

* The immense power yo̠̎ȗ͉ now̬̿ ho̩͡lḍ͘ ̡̂fi̩ḷ̑l̲͘s ̠͋yo̬̍ṵ̞̓͆ ̦̖͆w̛͈ith̫͑̏͟ ̙͘d͙̉ e͈ ṯ͕͌͒͗͢ e͓̳͗̐̿ͅ r͉̐͗̕͜͜ m̻̣̝̈́͗̃ ḯ̯̘͇̐̅ n̺͚͈̊͡ á̢̳͉̂͊ t͍͖̭̆͗̄ i̛̼̞̘͋̓ ó̟̠̻̆͠ n̮̮̬͌͂̂

Chapter Text

* The immense power yo̠̎ȗ͉ now̬̿ ho̩͡lḍ͘ ̡̂fi̩ḷ̑l̲͘s ̠͋yo̬̍ṵ̞̓͆ ̦̖͆w̛͈ith̫͑̏͟ ̙͘d͙̉ e͈ ṯ͕͌͒͗͢ e͓̳͗̐̿ͅ r͉̐͗̕͜͜ m̻̣̝̈́͗̃ ḯ̯̘͇̐̅ n̺͚͈̊͡ á̢̳͉̂͊ t͍͖̭̆͗̄ i̛̼̞̘͋̓ ó̟̠̻̆͠ n̮̮̬͌͂̂

    She felt… strong, powerful. She could take on the whole world and win . She wasn’t the wimp anymore, nor the weakling always picked on. She was a fighter who nothing could stop. These monsters were, for all their bravado, pretty cowardly. They’d be a good-

    “Kitten?”

    “Oh, sorry!” ...what had she just been thinking about? “Coming!”

    Ah, well, it couldn’t have been that important...

    ---

    “Now this here’s a puzzle, they’re something of a tradition for Monsters, somewhere between a good challenge and a way to protect important stuff. There’s many throughout the Ruins and the Underground as a whole.”

    The girl examined the six huge staggered buttons in the floor (gosh, they were as big as she was!). It was really kinda anticlimactic that the giant, grand, sweeping entranceway just led to this dinky little room. 

Mask chuckled at her obvious disappointment and Cookie’s obvious ignorance of it. “ Don’t worry, the Ruins get better. ”

They better, she thought as she rolled her eyes.

Cookie whistled to get their attention, then walked over to the shut door and pushed. The door didn’t budge.

“See,” she turned back to look at the girl, “the door won’t open ‘til you solve the puzzle. For practice, why don'tcha solve this one? The hint is here-” she gestured at a metal plate on the wall next to the door, “Here’s the lever ta pull once you complete it, also has the nice perk of resetting the puzzle if you don’t get it right,” She tapped the yellow lever as it was closer than the plate, “I’ll be here for help if you need it.”

And with that, she was on her own.

Internally, the girl groaned so hard she wouldn’t have been surprised if it became externally. Then she smiled and nodded.

Alright! Puzzles! It wasn’t like those were the work of hell trying to disguise math and other dumb boring hard school stuff as “fun” . She could do this!

Step one, gather clues! She walked over to the metal plate and scrutinized the writing… she scrutinized it real hard …

She could feel Mask’s and Cookie’s concerned stares at her back. Whatever! It would make sense soon!

…

… No it didn’t.

Hey, it wasn’t her fault! No one told her that the gosh dang instructions were going to be a puzzle too! Now peck , was that a “d” or a “b”...?

She shivered at the sensation of Mask touching her shoulder, “ ...do you want some help? ”
    The girl’s first instinct was to bristle and deny that statement, but then she sighed and mumbled, “...yeah.”

She braced herself for the usual wow, you need help with that? But it’s so easy! You’re so stupid…  

To her surprise though, he just leaned over his shoulder and started reading, “ ‘Only the fearless may proceed. Brave ones, foolish ones. Both not walk the middle road.’ ”

...oh. She ran back over to the buttons. Now she noticed that a little bit of the path extended under the middle two. It made way more sense now!

So, “both bravery and foolishness make someone fearless…”

“ M-hm ”

“And they’re the only ones who get to continue on…”

“You’re getting close, Kitten!”

“And they don’t walk ‘ the middle road ’!” The girl cheered as she stepped on the outer four buttons and then pulled on the yellow switch. 

The door opened with a clang!

The girl did a little happy dance while Mask and Cookie clapped for her.

“Good job, Kitten! I knew you could do it!” Cookie praised. She stepped towards the door and gestured for the girl to follow, “Now come on, we still have a long way to go,” 

—-

The next room was somewhat more impressive than the last. More brick walls and ivy, but now there were also some small streams with bridges linking the paths on opposite sides and spikes blocking the doorway at the end. Oh, and it was also about twice the size. Less claustrophobic that way. Wait were those what she thought they were-

“So here’s the next one, Kitten. It’s pretty simple, all you have to do is-“

Click, click-

Clunk

Mask and Cookie both stared at the girl, who was standing next to the newly-solved-in-record-time puzzle’s second lever.

“...what? The path-“ she pointed down at the path under her feet, the path under the first lever, and the very conspicuous absence of a path under the third, “-made it really easy.”

 Cookie chuckled a little, “I guess so,” then she turned and walked through the now much safer doorway.

Mask floated after her, “ the next puzzles will be far more interesting, trust me… ” then stopped, as he realized that the girl hadn’t followed. She was looking at a wooden sign next to the path with a confused stare.

“I… I can’t be reading this right…” she mumbled as he joined her.

She glanced up at him, he was shaking his head, “ that’s what I thought too, ”

“Okay, but,” she huffed and crossed her arms, “what does ‘press Z to read signs’ even mean?”

He shrugged, “ Your guess is as good as mine… ”

Both considered the odd sign for a moment more, then moved onto the next room.

—-

The next room was small, cylindrical, and contained only a single dummy.

“ ... well that’s new. ”

Before the girl could ask what he meant, Cookie clapped for their attention.

“So, er, we monsters don’t have the best history with humans… and well… point is, you’re liable to get attacked-“

“Been there done that,” the girl chimed in. 

Cookie sighed, “Yeah, that mean little flower, right? Sorry ‘bout him.” she gave the girl a reassuring smile, “as long as you’re with me or one of my friends he shouldn’t be a problem.”

The girl nodded. 

“ ... that’s not gonna stop him if he’s really determined to get you. ” Mask muttered from somewhere over the girl’s shoulder.

She looked back and glared at him to which he just shrugged with a sheepish smile, “ What? It's the truth. ”

“I guess,” the girl rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to Cookie. 

"Well!" Said the cat with a smile. "If encountered by a monster, your best bet is to strike up a friendly conversation! Stall for time until I'm able to come for help, and it'll all be okay. Here kitten, you can practice on this dummy!"

Chat with a dummy? She could do that!

"Hi Mr. Dummy! How's it going?" 

The dummy, of course, stayed silent, but Cookie was very pleased.

"Fantastic!"

The girl hesitated, “... should I keep going?”

Cookie shook her head, “You can if ya want, or we could keep moving.”

She thought for a moment, then glanced up to where Mask was hovering above her. He read her questioning expression and shrugged, “ It would probably be best if we continued on. ”

She nodded and started walking over to where Cookie was standing in the entrance-way to the next room. Before she got there though, the girl turned and waved to the dummy, “Bye Mr. Dummy! Let’s talk again sometime!”

The girl followed Cookie’s chuckles and Mask’s snickers into the next room. 

—-

“This here is the next puzzle,” Cookie announced while the girl examined the room, “Though this room is only part of it, the next is down that hall,” the cat pointed at the hall in question.

The girl nodded, time to focus then and see if there were any hints in this room.

The room was a lot like the others, old purple bricks, lots of ivy growing, a path on the ground. Weirdly, the path didn’t lead from the door to the other door like in the other rooms. Rather it started at the left side of the room, meandered to the right side, then abruptly ended. Considering there were no signs to read in the immediate vicinity, she would just have to go with her gut and assume the weird path was a hint.

“ Already trying to figure it out? You haven’t even seen it all yet, ” Mask remarked as he followed the girl and Cookie to the hallway.

She shrugged. A little ways down the hall was a sign- her feeling was right! ...But she was having trouble reading it. Rather quickly, Mask was behind her, ready to help out.

"The western room is the eastern room's blueprint."

Now that just made her confused.

She contemplated the strange message for moment, before a loud cawing sound took her by surprise. Whipping around, the girl saw a small little crow (which, strangely enough, had glowing eyes) bouncing up towards her. 

The bird seemed angry, but it was also… cute!! Just as with Cookie, the girl's guard had dropped.

Which she instantly regretted as it jumped up and pecked her hand. Hard.

"Ack-!"

Rushing over at the sound of the girl's voice, Cookie shooed the bird away.

"Oh, kitten! Are you alright?!"

The girl nodded, shaking out the targeted hand. "Yeah, I'll be fine! Been through much worse!" Her slightly nervous grin was met by a worried look from Mask.

Cookie smiled warmly, and took the girl's non-injured hand. "C'mon, kitten. This puzzle might be a little much, I'll lead you through!"

The girl was about to protest, but then she saw a room who's floor was almost entirely spikes. Yeah, she was definitely keeping quiet and following the cat.

Getting close to the sharp bringers of death, certain ones slipped back into the floor upon their approach. Cookie maneuvered them with practiced ease, leading the girl behind her along the path.

They reached the end and the girl grinned. Spikes weren't that bad, if you had a guide. And she was glad she had a guide, very glad, a guide who wasn't going to leave-

"I'm sorry to do this, kitten. But you must walk through this hall by yourself."

And then her guide sped off.

The girl watched as Cookie sprinted down the rather long hall, then hid behind the singular white pillar near the end.

She glanced at Mask. "She… she knows I just saw her hide, right?" He shrugged, and the two continued on.

Chapter Text

Well. HatTale. The big project I was oh so excited for.
Until l I wasn't.
First, Trista left the project. I do not blame her in any way, shape, or form. People's interests change. Then motivation for I and Novi began to taper off, despite our love for the project. Then Novi left. Again, absolutely zero blame.
And that left just me, with a huge project that had a surprising amount of fans, and no will to continue it.
As someone who's been the fan in this situation, I know how infuriating this is. So, I'm going to do my best to scratch that itch for content.
There are a few pre-written snippets that were going to be added to the fic when we reached that point, and a whole google doc of notes and ideas I'm planning to transfer to Ao3.
Thank you for sticking with HatTale.

~Twyst

Chapter Text

›Notes/Refs:

Hat Kid -> Frisk - "Harriet/Hattie"
Prince -> Azzy & Chara - “Terrence”/“Kiead”
Snatcher -> Flowey - "Snatchy"
Moonjumper -> Narrator - "Mask"
Cooking Cat -> Toriel - "Cookie"
Nomad Goat -> Asgore - "Chad"
Conductor -> Undyne - "Cornelius" (or maybe Connor?)
Grooves -> Alphys & Mettaton "Dr. David"/"Grooves/DJ Grooves"
Con's grandkid -> Monster Kid - "Owl Kid"
Thor -> Gerson - "Thorson"
Tim -> Gaster - “Itim”
Mu -> Papyrus - “Mukta”
Bow -> Sans - “Bowlby”
Empress -> Muffet - "Midas”
Nyakuza Cats -> Spiders
Vanessa -> ??? (Prince’s manipulative love interest) -> the anomaly
Timmy -> HK’s friend (who dared her to climb Mt. Ebott)
Badge Seller -> Riverperson (but not really)
Crow Duo (no other name found) -> RG1 and RG2
Frisk & Asriel & Chara -> Goner Kid

Hats:
Bandage -> Hair Tie
“Keeps your hair up and in order!”
Faded ribbon -> Worn Top-Hat
“It feels familiar. You could fit a lot into it.”
Manly Bandana -> Feathered Visor
“The wings make you wish you could fly.”
Old Tutu -> Blue Beanie
“Despite appearances, it makes you cold.”
Cloudy Glasses -> Ear’d Headband
“Nya! You’re a cat now!”
Stained Apron -> Witch’s Hat
“Good for a costume. The stains taste fizzy.”
Cowboy Hat -> Black Cap
“Looks like something out of a sci-fi show.” or “Looks like something a time-traveler would wear.”
Heart Locket -> Old Mask, (geno) Small Crown
“It seems to murmur with a voice near and dear to you.”, (geno) “It’s heavy with the pain of past regrets.”

Weapons time:
Stick -> still the stick, “The iconic Impromptu Forest Fight weapon.”
Toy Knife -> Torn Umbrella, “Not very good at keeping the rain off.”
Tough Glove -> Walking Stick, “This stick has been everywhere, It’s been around, above, and below the world!”
Ballet Shoes -> Snowshoe -> “The second one is missing. You could definitely do some damage with this.”
Torn Notebook -> Cute Bat, “It’s covered in stickers! … and blood.”
Burnt Pan -> Broken Beaker, “It will never again hold a mysterious concoction within.”
Empty Gun -> Toy Gun, “The batteries are depleted, but you can imagine the light show it would’ve put on.”
Worn Dagger -> Ghost Pencil, “It’s worn and well loved, just like the memories it once immortalized.”
Real Knife -> (geno only) Ice Dagger, “It doesn’t melt. It probably hasn’t for god knows how long.”

Chapter Text

Mask hovered back and forth on one end of the room. It was as close to pacing as he could get, considering he had no legs. Across the room, the young girl he had promised to protect was sleeping peacefully in hi- in bed.
The ghost froze. He felt someone behind him.
"I still don't understand why you are doing this, my prince."
Mask grimaced. "Van… please, just leave me alone."
"You've seen her soul, haven't you? It's perfect. Much better than any from my… previous attempts. We could return. Together."
"Vanessa..."
"What, my prince?"
"I already told you no. You've hurt too many people. I'm not going to let you hurt her too. She's just a child, for goodness sake!"
The figure scowled. "So were we. And because of you, we're trapped like this."
Mask sighed. "Vanessa, please, just go."
There was silence. Mask thought that maybe the figure had left.
"...Why are you protecting her, my prince?"
"What?"
"What's so special about her? Why is she more important than me?"
The small figure stirred within the blankets. Mask turned to the other ghost. "She… she reminds me of me, when I first fell. And I don't want you to hurt her like you hurt me."
With that, the figure vanished, and the girl stirred in bed.
"M..mask? Who are you talking to?"

Chapter Text

Note: ((---)) means missing dialogue, won’t be included in the final.

Tape 1:
“Ahhhhh, Chad, isn’t this amazing?”
“?”
“I finally have someone else to cook with, because frankly you’re awful at it, and I can teach them stuff and we can all do family things together! They’re so sweet too!”
“...?”
“Oh, shoot, I don’t know, they never mentioned their name…I’ll have to go and ask.”

Tape 2:
“Hey, hey, hon?”
“Yes?”
“What’s my favorite vegetable?”
“To make or-?”
“Er, I guess?”
“Then carrots?”
“Ah, no.”
“Then what is it?”
“It’s, hehe, eda-MOM-e!”
“I-I’m not sure I follow…”
“You will soon… If I were a dog, what breed would I be?”
“I-er-what-?”
“I would be a MOM-erainian!”
“... what? Why are you making all of these mom-puns?”
“Because-”
“yipes-!”
“-I’m finally a mom!”
“O-oh, wow, congratulations? When are they coming?”
“Right now! It’s you! You’re my baby now and it’s official!”
“R-really?! Are… are you sure?”
“Of course we’re sure! Aren’t we Chad?”
“...✓♡!”
“W-wow, I- sniff- I never thought that you would… does th-that mean I get to call you mom and dad now?”
“Of course you do sweetie!”
“...Th-thank you so much, mom ‘nd d-dad…”

Tape 3:
“And here’s attempt number… um… five at baking a bacon-quiche on my own. Um, it doesn’t look as nice as Cookie’s, but I’m getting better!”
…
“Oh, really? I couldn’t have been that dumb…”
“Dangit, I left the lense-cap on- SNATCH! STOP LAUGHING! It’s not that funny!”

Tape 4:
“Are you sure about this MJ? It’s kinda dumb…”
… ((“Just trust us, everything will turn out great!”))
“Okay, fine…”
Shuffling, clanking, rustling...
“Um, h-hi?”
“Oh, hello! Good to see that you’ve healed up alright. Is there something you need?”
“I, uh, well… right, thank you for… that. And uh, I don’t need it per-say… but I’d really like to maybe hang out with you later?”
“Oh, sure! You’re a pretty nice human, so I wouldn’t mind.”
“...thanks?”
…
“You know, I don’t think I ever caught your name?”
“Oh, um… I’ve been going by Kiead.”
“Unique, I love it! I’m Vanessa.”
“It’s nice to properly meet you, Vanessa…”

Tape 5:
“Ah, okay, you’re going to ask her, it’ll be fine! I just have to be smooth, confident-”
… ((“yeah, like you’ve ever been good at that.”))
“God damn it Snatch! That’s not helping me at all!”
… ((“Shush Bastard Noodle. You’re overthinking this, just be yourself and it’ll turn out fine!”))
“Right, right, just act natural and everything will be just fine…”

Tape 6:
“Smile for the camera!”
…
“Ah, shoot! I left the lens-cap on again! Sorry…”
“It’s fine, it’s fine! We don’t need anything as superficial as a photo for our anniversary, just being together is enough.”
“Ah, yeah, I suppose.”
…
“All of these plants are really beautiful, Princey, did you grow them yourself?”
“I sure wish I could grow these on my own. They’re all dad’s, and mom uses most of them in her cooking. Like, the herbs are kinda obvious, but also the Honeysuckles and Golden Flowers can be used in a lot of recipes.”
“What about these?”
“No, never use the Ikriscus, they’re poisonous.”
“... sounds like there’s a story there, huh?”
“Yeah… I misread the ingredient list for a pie I baked a while ago and used some in it. Dad got really sick, it was awful.”
“hm…”
“Is something wrong?”
“Did you leave the camera on?”
“Ack! Yeah, sorry...”

Tape 7:
… ((“Are you getting cold feet?”))
“N-no! I’m not getting cold feet! It’s just…”
… ((“You SHOULD be, I don’t trust this plan and neither should you.”))
“You never like anything, Snatch, especially anything relating to her. Your advice is invalid here.”
… ((“... I agree with him, you shouldn’t be going through with this.”))
“Et, tu, MJ?! Come on, I came to get encouragement, not this! You guys are my closest friends, the ones that get me, why are you trying to talk me out of this?”
… ((“For that exact reason, we ‘get’ you, and...well …”
“Are you sure you aren’t trying to get us to talk you out of it?”))
“I… well...”
“Even if I were, I still trust her...”

Tape 8:
“K-kiead, you have to stay determined! You can’t give up now, you’ve already come so far… you could go so much farther! Please… wake up...”
…
Whispering, footsteps, the creak of a bed.
...
“I’m here, are you alright?”
…
“We’re alone, I asked for some privacy.”
“... hah, alright, I’m doing as fine as I can…”
“Mm, wonderful, I have the rest already prepared for when-”
…
“My Prince?”
“V… Vanessa… I-I’m not so sure about this a-anymore…”
“What do you mean?”
“It h-hurts, so much… I-I don’t want to die…”
“Aw, honey… you don’t have to worry about that~ You won’t really be dying, remember?”
“R-right…”
“C’mon, what’s with the frown? We just have to get six, and then we’ll all be free. This will all be over soon.”
“But-”
“Kiead, don’t you trust me?”
“Of c-course I trust you!”
“Then trust in my plan.”
...
“... w-we’ll do it, we’ll free monsterkind, together, r-right?”
“Of course, together until the end of time...”

Chapter Text

A) The fall of a boy who would be a prince

The sun shining down in the boy’s face was unwelcome, though it seemed as hard as he tried, no amount of tossing and turning would make it go away.

    Maybe you should try and turn off the lights then? MJ suggested.

    “Nah,” the boy muttered, keeping his voice low in case anyone could hear, “then I’d have to get up .”

    I agree with the kiddo here, embrace the lazy Moony! Snatcher chimed in, and the boy could almost feel the ghost curling up beside him.

    I swear you two- he could hear the head-shake in the tone of MJ’s voice, I’m the only functioning being here.

    “Tha’s why I keep ya around, M…” 

    They laid there for a while, until the light streaming through his fingertips started to dim. The boy smiled, and then rolled onto his stomach and reached for his pillow to really get comfy…

    Only to be greeted by a fistfull of grass?

    He let go, then sat up a bit too fast ( ow, head rush ) and rubbed his eyes. 

    I can’t shake the feeling that something is wrong here

    … me too…

    “Wha-?”

    Oh.

    Oh wow .

    Yeah, no, this was not his bed.

    The mysterious room was a cave of some sort. The boy sat in a small patch of grass, illuminated by a small hole in the ceiling. There were a few decaying pillars supporting the cavern roof ( how thoughtful of them to make sure we don’t get crushed to death ). After some inspection, there didn’t seem to be any entrances or exits besides a hall carved into the cave wall.

    WHELP! I guess we’re pecked.

    There was a slapping noise, and then an angry hiss, Stop that! I’m sure he’s just dreaming…

    Well those scratches certainly don’t look like “a dream”, he shot back.

The boy blinked, then looked down at himself. His clothes were torn and muddy, and through some of the holes he could see some blood. He raised a hand to his forehead, and when it touched it stung. Now that he was thinking about it… he was pretty sore all over and a bit dizzy… kinda like he fell a loooong way down somewhere…

The boy gasped and whipped his head up, hissing at the pain the action brought. The ceiling went up a long way, and acounting for that and the size distortion that came with it… that hole was probably big enough for someone to fall through.

“What the…”

B) Tall Tales

“Hey, hey, can I ask you something?”

    The Badge Seller looked up at the grinning kid, “ If it’s about my wares, you have already purchased them all. ”

    She shook her head and sat down on the small ledge, “No, it’s about your travels.”

    They tilted their head in silent question.

    “What I mean is…” she gestured wildly with her hands for a bit, trying to think of the right words, “you said that you’ve traveled a lot, and that's why you’re all… glitchy? So, what was it like?”

    They were silent, and Hat Kid couldn’t tell what they were thinking. Or, well, she could try  and take a wild guess.

    “Don’t tell me I have to pay you to tell me,” she groaned, “I don’t have any more pons.”

    They laughed a laugh that grated on the kid’s ears, “ no, no, a story is a gift given free. ”

    Hat Kid sighed in relief, then grinned eagerly, “So, you’ll tell me then?”

    The Badge Seller nodded, then stroked their mask’s chin, “ I’ve been here, there and almost everywhere, I doubt that I could tell you everything- ”

    “Why not? It’s not like I have to go soon.”

    “ Well, simply, it would take far too long, and my body was not the only thing affected by my travels. ”

    “...Your memory?”

    “ Has many holes, yes. ”

    The kid looked disappointed.

    They waved off whatever concerns she had, “ It may have holes, but I can still tell you many things. ”

    Her eager grin returned, “Like?”

    “ The seaside town where the Mers played, that was an interesting place. ”

    “‘Mers’ as in mermaids? ”

    A nod, “ and mermen, and sirens as well. I met a few of them. ”

    “What were they like?” she asked, eyes wide and starry.

“ Familiar. ” was all they provided.

“In what way?”

“ In every way. ”

Hat Kid tried to puzzle that cryptic statement out, but then gave up. In the ensuing silence, the Badge Seller chose to continue.

“ There was also the city where monsters lived in secret, trying to pass as human. The vampire I encountered was a bit prickly, but his imp companion was very nice, reminded me of you. ”

“But I thought that stuff like vampires and demons weren’t real?” the girl questioned.

“ Indeed, they are not real here. ”

“But like, they could be real somewhere else?”

“ They could be, and they are. ”

The girl made a confused squeak, “I don’t get it?”

Ever patient, the Badge Seller tried to explain, “ well, you know how every city runs by different rules and laws? ”

She nodded, “uh-huh, planets work like that too!”

“ They do? ”

“Yeah! Back on my home planet, there aren't any birds making movies or cats running cities or seals sailing ships.”

The Badge Seller pondered that, the nodded, “ Indeed, different places allow different things than others, and the farther away you get from one place, the more different it will be. ”

The hatted kid nodded, “I think I get it now.”

“ Good, then may I continue? ”

She leaned forward and nodded excitedly, “Yes please!”

They tapped a finger on their staff, “ another place I’ve gone was quite interesting, it was a containment facility for all things weird and ‘unnatural’. ”

(Referenced AUs by: TeenyTinyHatKid and AHatInCrime (genuinely unsure if their blogs are still active))

C) A Doll's Origin 

“We have another call to action today, Ghosty!”

    The cat blinked an eye open to half heartedly glare at the girl, “You mean, you have another boring job that needs you to walk halfway across the city and whack some undead schmuck.”

    The kid fumed, “Ghosty! You’re coming too! I need your help with this one, it sounds reaaaal scary...”

    The child leaned towards the television. They patted the ground, then pulled a plushie close. It was a very soft plushy, especially the band of fluff around its neck. They grabbed its three-fingered hand and squeezed it.

    “...you’re gonna have to call in absent again, you know.” the cat was now walking around the shelves and making its way over to the kid.

    “Yeah, well,” they were pulling on their shoes, “saving the city is a lot more important than some ol’ club meeting.”

    The child grinned and held up their toy. They looked at its face and could almost see its mouth move with the words coming from the screen.

    “Have you got your coat?”

    They shook the plushie’s head in time with the words. If this plushie was of the wrong version of the character, well, they didn’t care.

    “Yep!”, “Yep!” they parroted right on que.

    “Have you got your hat?”

    “Uh huh!” they mimed putting a deerstalker hat on.

    “And your glass?”

    “Of course!” the kid held up a magnifying glass that shined oddly, probably a side effect of it’s paranormal nature.

The child had no magnifying glass, so they just held up their plush.

“And yourself?” the cat climbed up onto the kid’s shoulders.

They gave it a playful flick, “that’s you who forgets that!”

    “Sure I do, kid,” the cat turned and gestured with its paw.

    “That’s your cue, Shadow!” the kid whispered to the plushie.

The shot changed to look over a shadow with no source laying on top of a cat bed. Said shadow shot up and flew over to the duo, the camera following it all the while. It attached itself to the cat’s paws. The cat gave a bit of a wiggle, a stretch, then a nod.

The kid, seemingly satisfied, grabbed the door knob and pushed the door open.

“What great story will we make today?...”

---

Thunk, ca-dunk!

“Oh, what’s this?”

The mom pulled an old plushie out of the box. It was worn and dusty, the fluff around the neck was sparse. This box of knick-knacks of her kids had was mostly full of old books. She pondered why this plush would be in there, maybe they had sorted it wrong during a previous sorting day? She knew she recognised it from somewhere, but where? She plucked at a fraying string. Ah, yes, this was that one character from that show they liked when they were little… “the Absent Stories” or something. Well, they hadn’t watched that show in years, they obviously hadn’t touched or even thought about it in a similarly long time, and it was purge day...

---

    The next home the ghost-plush received was not one on-screen and in stardom, nor one in a well worn home and loving arms, but a soaking wet nook in the city garbage dump.

Chapter Text

A) The start of what would have been chapter 5, and the general gist of the rest of the chapter

"I'm boooooooored!"
"I'm sure she'll be back soon, we just need to be patient."
"But I'm boooooooooored!"
The girl sat next to the pillar, her spectral friend floating nearby. After reaching the pillar, Cookie had told her to wait in the hall- but she didn't want to!
"That's it. Let's keep moving."
Mask's eyes widened. "B-but she told us to stay!"
"You can stay if you want, but I'm moving on!"

B) an attempt at Snowdin
Cold. That was the first thing the girl noticed when she stepped through the door. Out here was much, much colder than the ruins. She took another step, and heard the familiar crunch of snow under her foot.
“Snow? How is there snow underground?” The girl asked. Beside her, Mask shrugged.
“Magic, I suppose.”
That answer seemed to satisfy her, so she continued on through the forest with Mask following close behind.
They walked in silence for a while,

C) A prophecy

"What's that? On the wall, behind you?"
"Oh, that? That's the Time Rune!"
"What's theTime Rune?"
"Jeez, what are they teaching you kids in school these days? That's the symbol of the royal family. It's original meaning has been lost to time, but there is a newer prophecy that goes along with it.
"The two big circles on the side represents one person split in two.
"The smaller circle in the middle represents someone with a powerful soul.
"They're all intertwined, through timelines. Hence the hourglass shape.
"It's also said that when the three unite, the underground will go empty."
"Woah...."
"Eh, it's all just goofy superstition if you ask me."

Chapter Text

TwystToday at 4:53 PM

Uh,,, maybe since he and Hattie have the same soul type he's able to peacefully latch on to her, making it so Vanessa can't latch on?

Soy BeanToday at 4:53 PM

maybe he already did while she was knocked out

that's why she can see and hear him

TwystToday at 4:54 PM

AND THEN EVERY TIME HATTIE SAVES, HER DETERMINATION FLUCTUATES, MAKING IT STRONGER THAN BEFORE AND MASK CAN'T HANDLE IT (he still doesn't technically have a soul, remember) AND THAT'S WHEN VANESSA TAKES HER HOLD, PIECE BY PIECE

Soy BeanToday at 4:54 PM

OH PECK YES

he hides the fact that he's latched on, and why he tags along with her, right?

coughcoughjustdon'twanttorewritethechaptercough

TwystToday at 4:56 PM

Sksksks yeah

Soy BeanToday at 4:57 PM

he's like, "look, you're cute and charming and I like you in a platonic way and there's no way you're gonna survive out there so I'll just tag along to make sure you don't die" but secretly "even if I wanted to stay it's a bit too late for that"

~○●○~

"Bit foremaist, as is customary fur they wha mak' it this far, ah shall tell ye th' tragic stoory o' oor fowk. It a' stairted, lang ago...

...

AH, PECK IT!!!

HOW COME AH SHUID TELL YE THAT STORY, WHIN YE'R ABOOT TAE DIE?"

~○●○~

Snatchy: *absorbs all the souls*

Snatchy: HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHA 

Mask: oh god oh peck 

Snatchy and Mask: *fuse in to the unstable merge* 

Mask: WHAT THE PECK 

Snatchy: WAIT NO THIS WAS NOT THE PLAN-

~○●○~

*Mask in a geno run* “why the peck are you doing this kiD NO PUT DOWN THE KNIFE-”

~○●○~

TwystToday at 6:57 PM

"Hello there, young one. You may call me the Riverseller, as I offer badges and rides on my boat... if you have money, of course."

"Welcome back, young one. Would you care for another ride in my boat?"

"Please disregard my twitchy behaviour. My boat has brought me to places that have left a... permanent mark."

~○●○~

TwystToday at 1:14 PM

Random dialogue idea:

"So, shrimp, how old are you again?"

"Eleven!"

"Huh. That seems to be the lucky number for falling down here."

"What?"

"N-nothing."

~○●○~

TwystToday at 1:26 PM

[...]

OO OO OO

Instead of "thank you for the company, you two"

[...]

"You know, you don't need to whisper when you talk to him. I know he's there."

And they both FREAK

~○●○~

TwystToday at 1:47 PM

[...]

SKSKSKS

OKAY SO

Y'KNOW HOW SOME PEOPLE THEORIZE THE BADGE SELLER IS A DIMENSION HOPPER?

THE "RIVERSELLER" IN OUR AU IS

JUST

THE NORMAL BADGE SELLER

VISITING THIS ALTERNATE REALITY UNDER A DIFFERENT NAME

hops in to dimension

Well this is different.

Oo, a cloak

Ooo, a boat

Oh look a child and a ghost

Ah wait that's this universe's hat child

Better help her like I normally do

"A town, a studio, a forest, and mountains... quite the adventure you could have been on, had you have been born in another world."

"What"

[...]

"It costs 10 pons to ride on my boat."

"...what are pons?"

"Oh, of course, different worlds have different currencies. Just pay me 10 of whatever you have."

"O....kay?"

~○●○~

“ TwystToday at 6:06 PM

I'm also guessing they should show up sooner

HSNVHENSG they just sell badges at first then Hattie and Mask arrive in Hotland and they're like "oh I also have a boat do you want a ride" ”

~○●○~

TwystToday at 1:50 PM

"Have you ever thought about a world where everything is the same, but it isn't?

Your friends are gone. They're different people now.

No one knows who you are.

Ha ha... the thought terrifies me.

Because that's exactly what happened here."

Red Bean BunToday at 1:50 PM

:EYES~1:

holy shit

y e s

yo what if it's frisk replacing goner?

or azzy or chara

TwystToday at 1:51 PM

:EYES~1: :EYES~1: :EYES~1: :EYES~1: :EYES~1: :EYES~1:

"You took my spot, and now I'm on the sidelines.

...

I hope you're happy."

Red Bean BunToday at 1:52 PM

:EYES~1: :EYES~1: :EYES~1: :EYES~1: :EYES~1: :EYES~1: :EYES~1: :EYES~1: :EYES~1: :EYES~1: :EYES~1: :EYES~1:

Y E S  P L E A S E

TwystToday at 1:55 PM

Sksksk

TwystToday at 1:55 PM

Oo oo

"You took my place, and now I'm Gone."

As a reference to the original name Goner Kid

Chapter Text

Art by both Novi and I

Note that this art is old and mine is.... not my best work