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A quiet dragging of feet in the snow could be heard, the wind muffling them to the best of its ability and the reason for them being the slow and decrepit steps of a battered, injured, and tired skeleton.
Reset after reset, nothing changed. The player was toying with him and his decaying mind. He could feel himself rot every time he woke up in that bed, each time the player dusted him and reseted the timeline to do it all again, faster, smarter, more effectively.
He thought he'd have to go through it all again and again, every time failing to stop the player from taking what remained of his sanity. From taking everything from him. Yet, no matter how discouraged they made him, his determination to rid of it only grew and grew and grew till he was all too well familiar with the routine of that killer.
He couldn't see it again, his brother falling at the hands of that thing. Couldn't even call it human anymore. He couldn't lift his foot, the bone dragging in the snow catching on a rock that sent the skeleton falling to the ground. The impact of the skeletons skull hitting the snow covered ground knocking him unconscious.
The moment he'd regained consciousness he could clearly feel his rotted body parts regain feeling but all his eyes could see was a black void. It was like he had fallen into one of the voids that held things unknown to him but he could clearly hear the noise of shuffling and a language he had long forgotten.
While he revered in the fact that his bones no longer had the feeling of rot gnawing at them, there was still a question to answer, how did he get into the seemingly endless void of black. Then a voice spoke to him in language which he had tried to forget. It was clear in his mind who'd use a language such as wingdings. He remembered learning it as a kid but he never thought he would hear it again after being left to care for his little brother by himself.
Sitting up and looking around, he found him, the only one to use wingdings in his life. Instead of an explanation for where he was, he was offered a deal. One he thought to be impossible. How could anybody have the power to rid of something that drove him to consider not showing up in the judgement hall when 'it' was done ridding of all he cared for.
Of course that man didn't have the power to get rid of the reset, he was but a shell of his former self. Instead he had concluded that if he was to fuse his soul with his own and be allowed to leave where he was stuck for long years he would grant the skeleton such power. Just as the king had broken the mercy button, he would merge his power with the younger skeletons to shatter the constraints of his existence and break the thing it depended on to fix any mistakes in its judgement.
The skeleton would be free of the only thing keeping him from saving his family and all those he cared for. Would breaking the reset button actually work? And if the man was stuck in the void then it must be a prison. Probably made on purpose to keep him trapped. This prompted the question of how he got him in there if he was stuck to the constraints of the black abyss.
The questions had to be answered at a later date, he had to make a decision when the man with a hole in the centre of his palm extended his boney hand and asked if he accepted the deal. Either way he was screwed and without his help he was stuck in the abyss too. And so the skeleton begrudgingly shook the man's hand, letting go of himself and making the other a part of him.
Excruciating pain was all he felt, the sensation of his soul tearing itself apart made him shake uncontrollably and scream loudly on the floor. The misery and suffering he's gone through didn't even amount to a fraction of the pain he felt in that very moment.
The skeleton was barely conscious by the time the pain subsided, his long breaths shaky and laboured. How he had survived it was a mystery on its own, yet he didn't stay awake for long. A slimey and dark feeling washed over his soul and he was gone.
By the time he had awoken again he was on the hill with the microscope, where he'd go with his brother. He was nowhere near here when he fell over, did that man come here seeking some sort of comfort or was it all just a dream?..
His skull throbbed or well...his brain I guess? Flashes of what had happened flashed before his very eyes, it wasn't complete but he understood enough to piece together a grim conclusion. He really had let go of himself. That had to affect him physically..right?
Lifting his boney hands he saw it...He has a hole in the centre of his right palm..does this mean he'd make for a good cup holder? Focus! He had to keep his mind on the task at hand(...unintentional pun). If the man had kept his word then he should be able to get rid of the reset button now but he wasn't sure it would be that easy.
Something told him that not just his hand was affected. He quickly made his way to a nearby water source, looking in it he stumbled backwards at what he saw.
It is quite true the merging of souls wouldn't exactly mean the merging of two physical bodies..he doesn't know if the man even had a physical body but they merged not only their souls but their abilities too. Whether the man intended for this to happen or not would be left up to the interpretation of others.
What the skeleton saw had shocked him beyond the situation with his palm and he wasn't sure if anyone would even recognize him anymore. He had a crack running up his left eye just as the man did. How was it even possible?
He'd have hoped that no changes would come to his appearance but it wasn't like he could do anything about it at that point. All but wallow in sorrow for the beauty he lost. (My man you literally had rot eating away at your bones...what you talking about??)
Waaaiitt. Why..couldn't he feel his limbs being eaten away by what nearly took away his leg completely..?
Looking at his limbs he was completely perplexed. Not only did his skull and hand change but his rot was gone..well, not completely, it would probably be a stretch to just assume it was all gone (I mainly write angst so I'm not ever giving him the relief of that) but it was so minimal it couldn't be seen under his jacket and shorts.
Hold up. Why were his thoughts in wingdings now?? This was all so strange, yet he could only simply figure it was not his thoughts anymore but the mystery man talking to him and he was somehow right..great. It was now or never to break the constraints his maker placed on him and they both knew it.
Destiny doesn't wait for anyone eh? Then he should get a move on. Getting up from the snow once all the shock and surprise had settled in he tried to recall which of his buddies the player would be fighting at that time of the day.
The walk home was quiet, a painful reminder of all the souls lost to the monster roaming their village that had once been so full of life. Something he couldn't enjoy for a long time and even then he rather cherish the small moments with his brother than be lost in the sorrow of what was to come. After some time his smile felt fake, even during those happy moments.
The snow had a grey tint to it, something he'd grown accustomed to but...his little brother..he was right there. An illusion?..or..did the events that had just transpired taken no time at all? The man sounded perplexed watching the outstretched arms of someone he felt looked familiar. Then when his head fell and it crushed it under their foot he went eerily silent. The skeletons own emotions swirled inside him, fully aware he'd have to fight it after all that's happened and with his dwindling psychological state the skeleton had a feeling it would be more personal than ever before.
He didn't enjoy fighting, not one bit. In fact he dreaded the thought of fighting again. Though...if he wanted to keep the citizens beyond the gates safe he'd have to get the thing to reset the timeline once again. He wasn't sure if he would be with the man still but something told him he would have to experience the reset once again to be able to rid of it.
Many deaths followed his brother's, the dust that remained infiltrating his lungs no matter where he went. The moment came, the judgement of it and standing there he had a feeling that he had to say something, anything.
He started to speak and a feeling of determination began to course through him as words poured out of him. The child started to sweat and he took it as a sign to keep going, what made him stop was the visible shaking coming from them. It knew he knew about it.
The battle ensued the moment he took a step closer to it, the moment he showed an opening is when he knew he had to fight but he wasn't about to give this thing an easy fight.
As for the question on how he knew, it was not the kind of knowledge he wanted to know in the first place. After hundreds of resets, something in his code broke, his determination increased dramatically, lending him info from code he had no access to before, it gave him the exact number of times he was killed, the amount of times he had to see his brother fall and the amount of times he fought it. After that the rot began, making fights harder and a lot more painful. The more his code changed, desperately attempting at fixing itself the more his composure fell. Once everything had settled in his mind after that point, the more he understood. Laying in his bed, staring at his decaying bones he made peace with the fact he was broken and no amount of resets would ever change that ever again.
The first death of the player was more gruesome than it needed to be. Bones sprouted from the ground, taking it by surprise and impaling the things body with such speed it didn't have time to dodge. Blood splattered on the walls and floor, making for a nauseating sight even to the ones most stone hearted.
With the sparkle of the star it was back with only a scratch on its body where it was impaled. He knew he got under its skin when it didn't continue the game immediately, instead taking a minute to process its immediate death.
The damned fights went on so long, longer than before and he could tell the player noticed. With each time it died the pile of its bodies grew. Though he held no remorse for making the game harder for it, he couldn't help but feel pity for the child that had lost their body to a thing set on killing all they never wished to harm. After all, how could a child want to murder creatures they've never seen before.
By this point the judgement hall was bathed in blood, a horrifying result of a hundred battles. He was so very close to the edge of snapping but he'd have to hold himself back before their final battle. A single moment of his guard being down and he would be-...
Drip.. drip.. drip...
The blood from his wound fell to the floor. Ah...this familiar feeling again. He begun to turn to dust at his arms, eventually the only thing left of him being that which he wore and his little brothers scarf he would keep in his sleeve after each time his brother got dusted trying to show that THING mercy.
And after yet another few merciless battles a floating button with the text “RESET” imprinted on it appeared under its palm, then with a single press of it the skeleton violently jolted awake, sitting up in bed like he just had a terrifying nightmare but his own existence was a nightmare of it's own right.
A knock on his door brought him away from his thoughts and the all too familiar silhouette of his brother telling him to get up out of bed told him all he needed to know.
This was it..this was the day he would be free of the chains placed on him since his very creation.
Even when he knew the sacrifices he'd have to make, the souls that would never come back he had to do it. The king would inevitably lose his wife who he loved dearly but like with any big goal, there had to be some sacrifices.
He...could enjoy these moments once again..right?
Snowman making, snowball fights. His visits to his favourite place to get ketchup from, the constant reminders to pay his bill and the way the ketchup always hit the spot, pure deliciousness in a bottle, every time. Moments like these were what made the resets worth it, what made him forget of the existential dread knowing he was part of a game. Strange times where he had to lie about his changed appearance.
What a familiar, yet fleeting feeling. He longed to hold on to it, to cling to it and never let go. It was something he wanted to keep so badly. These familiar feelings never lasted long enough to comfort him. And before he knew it they left a hole inside his heart that would never be filled with anything no matter what he tried. What a meaningless desire...
With the fleeting feeling came realization of the battle ahead. Would his world be kept intact if the player was gone? Would...the deaths of monsters be justified with the death of it?
The gate doors opened and closed, a single dust covered thing walking through them, expecting the skeleton to say the very same thing as any other time, followed by the extension of his hand which it would not take.
No...he said nothing, standing there with hands in his jacket pockets and an empty stare. He's said all he needed, all his words taken for granted, pleading for the change of its behaviour falling flat like the snow covering the ground.
It was all for this moment to finally come. The deed to be done but before he could take a step forward..
“YEARS OF LONELINESS TO SEE THE HEAD OF MY KIND FALL. ALL THE SUFFERING. SUFFERING.SUFFERING!.”
SNAP
The code broke once again, this time freezing the reset code in place. This action rendered the button useless, any push of it proved futile as the player panicked at the bizarre and in complete honesty, terrifying behaviour of its “game”.
The young skeleton stood there in confusion from the words he involuntarily spoke which were not his words at all but the pained words of the strange man. Finally he spoke again but it was more pained than the skeleton expected truth be told.
The battle ensued shortly, after the man granted the skeleton aid with his own abilities. This time around not only was it disintegrated by gaster blasters, impaled by bones, but it was crushed by giant hands as well. A product of the man's abilities, weakened from years of living alone in the void but it proved very useful and powerful nonetheless.
The thing could not keep up with the skeletons sudden strength, any try at defending itself proving fruitless. It was getting agitated, its moves getting more erratic as the fight went on.
Blood stained the snow surrounding them but what caught the man's attention was the star loosing its vibrant colour and even beginning to crack. He continued the merciless slaughter of it, feeling no empathy for the numberless deaths of a mere child. It was sickening and yet what the player was doing was worse, using the vessel of an innocent and vulnerable child to carry our its meaningless slaughter.
Not long after the star shattered, its use with no breaks in between straining it to the point of it being too overwhelmed, ultimately shattering from the pressure.
Although the skeletons attacks slowed down significantly, giving it a chance to attack many times he would not give up, he was so close to achieving what he gave away his entire being, his soul to accomplish.
Exhausted and in pain he had missed many of his attacks but having forced his vision to focus enough he had been able deal the final blow. What a brutal final end for a child whose fate was set in stone the moment they fell to the underground.
With the battle over the skeleton was brought to his knees, the fatigue catching up with him once the adrenaline of the battle faded away. He did not know what happened next, passing out on the spot.
All he knew was the next time he awoke he was back in his bed, surrounded by his brother, a few of his friends, and the lead of the royal guard who found him passed out near the gate, covered in blood.
He had to lie, he had to save them from the truth. He claimed the child attacked him as soon as they saw him, battling them to stay alive. While it was mostly true he felt a sense of guilt for staining the human child's image amongst the monster folk.
Weeks went by before his brother allowed him to leave the house...with his broken leg which he had not realised was injured and all. During these weeks the skeleton had to deal with the man being a part of him and his brother questioning him every time he walked on him talking to the man, looking like a psycho talking to himself.
The worst part was...the skeleton now held the thing which was reason for his misery and pain.
The reset button was now his to command and do what he desired with but he chose to ignore it. The fight was over with and the deaths that transpired would stay irreversible.