Chapter Text
When three people in oddly similar situations die at the exact same time, no delay, something happens that causes the Gods and Deities of each world of theirs to panic.
Guiding Light was the first to need to deal with it all, as her realm is.. the tamest, to say the least. Which might even make it more unsettling to some.
She told the Tourist what they had died to, but she seemed off, confusing the player.
"Guiding Light...? What's wrong?" She only gazed over their shoulder at the crackling appearances of two more entities, both very much like herself.
"My dear Tourist, it seems something is.. happening. You will be accompanied by two whom you've never met.. You must guide them for me in how to learn, I can only do the usual..." By the usual, she meant give help on where things are located over time, shine the necessary books, and show where to go during chases.
Tourist didn't question it, basically desensitized to everything at this point. But as they were drifting back to consciousness it clicked. "Wait- Other people?!-"
Their eyes snapped open, they were in the elevator. Same music, same walls, same doors, same- It's not empty anymore. There were two people alongside them.
One seemed normal enough, another person like them presumably as its appearance seemed redacted, similar to them but still vastly different. The other person, however, seemed to be made of void and light at the same time.
Tourist sighed and pinched the bridge of their nose. At least Guiding Light is aware, so she'll do her best to help.
The more human looking one stirred first, groaning slightly as it woke up. It muttered something about a ridge before bolting up to stand, almost falling over in the rush of the motion.
"Where the fuck am I." Its body felt lighter as well, and it realized there was no diving gear covering them. It reached to its back, feeling no oxygen tanks. Reached to its head, feeling no place for a helmet to go. It held its breath as it waited to literally explode right then and there, but nothing happened. Just awkward silence besides weird elevator music.
Tourist tilted their head slightly, confused on what the person was doing. "Uhm... hello?" They spoke. It snapped its head towards them, almost aggressively. Though that's understandable, it has no idea where it is. "I'm not gonna do anything! I promise. I'm uh.. I'll be honest I forgot my name long ago, but you can just call me Tourist."
They were expecting confusion on how they could forget their own name but they only received a nod. "Likewise. I'm uh.. They just call me Expendable. Or more formerly EXR-P."
Well that's grim.
The elevator suddenly dinged and the doors opened, Tourist about to step through as usual before remembering the others once more.
"I hate to be the bearer of bad news but... the elevator is one way."
Expendable just sighed before looking at the other person who was still unconscious. "What about this guy?"
"Are you uhm.. able to move them? I doubt I can." They have some agility on them, but they lack strength. Thankfully, Expendable nodded and practically manhandled the guy to move him out of the elevator. The moment it stepped out, the doors closed and the elevator dinged again, though it didn't seem to move.
Expendable put the other guy down on one of the randomly scattered chairs that were in the receptionist area. Tourist decided they'd wait for him to wake up before explaining.
Hopefully these two didn't think they were crazy.
As they were thinking of how to tell them both about the hotel, Expendable spoke. "The guy's waking up." Tourist quickly looked at the two of them before the others eyes shot open and he immediately started shaking. He itched to get up and run, run far away from this area and get to the saferoom, but something in the back of his mind told him to wait. And he listened, because of the two people in the same room as him.
People.
He hasn't seen those in years, probably.
The Expendable held a hand up towards the man, hesitating before placing it on his shoulder just in case he freaked out again. "It's okay, dude.. I think. Calm down."
He only narrowed his eyes slightly. "You.. think?" His voice came out rough, solely because of lack of use, and he coughed immediately after, turning his head away. Expendable backed up.
"Well for all I know we could be in a death trap—" It shrugged. Wouldn't be new.
But to everyone's dismay, Tourist basically just confirmed its joke.
"To be fair that's not a far off assumption..."
Expendable made a noise of disdain and fell full force back onto the floor. Ouch. It didn't care about that, though. "God fucking damn it, man. From one death sentence to another, can I fucking win?!" It left out the part that "death sentence" isn't just a metaphor.
Tourist scratched their head, the fact that Expendable was almost obviously hinting at being in a similar situation was completely over them and they looked at the other guy. "So... what's your name? And before you ask I don't remember my own so I just go by Tourist-"
He seemed to be in thought. Many things seemed to call him "John" though it didn't feel right. They also more commonly said "Sinner". He presumed that'd be the better choice. "U-uhm. I too don't.. remember. Just.. Sinner."
Tourist looked between the two people. Sinner and Expendable. What fucking names.
The later spoke up to introduce itself to Sinner and the man nodded in acknowledgement.
Tourist slowly clasped their hands together and sat on the desk before clearing their throat to get attention.
"I should probably explain this place."
The other two exchanged glances and nodded. Good.
"So.. this is the Hotel. Despite being one, it houses only me as a person, I guess now you two, but also a fuck ton of weird creatures that want you dead." That's not the way they planned on telling them, but it came out like that anyways. Though, to their surprise, neither looked shocked so they kept going.
"Uhm.. some doors will be locked. Look for keys or a lockpick." They suddenly got a bit nervous. This was weird. "The most important entities here are Rush, Ambush, Screech, Eyes, Dupe, Seek, and Figure. Dumb names, I know, I didn't come up with them. Oh, and Hide. I think they're the most important. Others are either further on or harder to encounter. Or just not much a threat."
The others blinked, making Tourist fidget with their hands, much akin to how Sinner has been fidgeting the whole time. Expendable spoke up. "Let me guess, Rush is something that flickers and breaks lights, screams, and goes down the hallway and you have to hide from it?"
"That's.. exactly what it is, actually." Sinner thought Carnation was similar, while Expendable had the annoying faces of those dumb fish in its head.
"Okay.. now what are the other things?"
Tourist proceeded to explain how each entity worked before sliding behind the desk. They walked to the key, grabbed it, and crawled under the luggage carrier. Whatever that metal thing was called. And waited by the door.
"Are we ready to head out?" The other two nodded in unison and Tourist opened the door, already taking mental notes of door numbers for future references.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
"Okay the silence is killing me." Expendable hated silence. It always had. That's why it'd use those dumb toy remotes whenever it'd get the chance, no matter how annoying or unsettling those two.. things were. The rhythmic sound of rain outside wasn't helping either. It hates water. And rain is water. So therefore it hates rain.
"I find it soothing, especially with the rain. It's one of the only things that feels normal here." Tourist stared out a window for a bit, both admiring the rain and also making sure there was no sign of cracks or a face peering in.
There wasn't. Thankfully.
Sinner, on the other hand, also didn't really like silence. "It is.. unsettling." Expendable agreed with that one. It was used to hearing background noise of deep ocean pressure that muddled its brain. It was also used to the sound of death and bullets and screaming from both human and monster but it didn't need to mention that bit.
Tourist just shrugged, before remembering something. Expendables freakout in the elevator.
"Hey uh.. Expendable?" It looked up, censor bar across where its eyes would be seemingly tilting as if showing curiosity. "You don't have to answer but- Why did you- Freak out earlier in the elevator? I mean I just assumed it was because you were somewhere new, but.. You've been very... apprehensive? With everything. Even just looking around." All it did was sigh.
"The place I was originally at had me in this stuffy diving gear uniform that would.. have consequences if I removed even a part of it." It shuddered a bit as it remembered when it first tried to take off a layer due to how sweaty it was after something, but the loud constant beeping freaked it out. It thought it wss hearing things, but no, the beeping was a warning.
"Consequences?" Tourist almost didn't want to know.
"Yeah. I'm assuming this place is similar to where I'm from. Death loop with creepily similar rooms. When you die you get revived, right?" They nodded. "Well, apparently taking off literally any part of my suit would elicit the most annoying beeping ever and then I would explode. Literally." Tourists mouth was left agape for a second. They thought of how fucking weird that was while Expendable looked over to Sinner, who's been extremely quiet that whole explanation. He wasn't even looking in their direction. It walked up to him and waved a hand in his face. "Hello? Sinner? You there, man?"
He didn't respond. He took the moment to quickly glance the man over. Nothing too special besides the fact he looked like a walking, talking, void mass minus all the tentacles. He had robes on, the ends with crosses. He even had a large brick textured cross on a chain around his neck, which was adorned by two other charms as well. A weird looking boot with spikes on the sole and a pair of glowing wings. Though, those things weren't on the necklace. They didn't even appear to be 3d. They looked like 2d assets from a video game.
It looked back to Tourist who seemed confused. That makes the both of them. Sinner was just.. staring at a wall. Moreso glaring. Suddenly he turned around and Expendable stepped back in.. it doesn't even know.
"Do either of you have a.. light source?" Both of them shook their heads, the Tourist pulled out a candle.
"I mean I have this, but we need a lighter to actually.. light it..." Sinner nodded. He seems a bit tense now. Tourist opened the door and they followed behind. 7.
"So.. what was that about?" Huh? Sinner looked at Expendable then realized. Right.
"It was uh.. nothing." He heard the childish complaints from the sin. He ignored them.
"You sure? You looked like you were glaring at something." He looked to the side. Sure, they're all in similar positions with a weird death loop thing, but how was he supposed to explain he somehow ended up with a bound trait in his pocket for the fucking sin of Lust? And that said sin keeps telling him to jack it? He just sighed.
"Something from.. my place." He reached into a pocket inside his robes. Does he have pockets? He pulled out a broken looking phone thing that was weirdly green. Expendable just seemed confused. "It's uh.. called a bound trait. This one is 'Toginco'. It basically means an... entity.. can consistently haunt me. And apparently it works here." He looked back at the sin and glared again, to which it only giggled delightfully.
"Why.. would you even use those?" That's a completely fair question. Sinner himself didn't understand why at first either.
"Some have useful attributes. Though they're typically forced upon me. This one being an example of forced."
"Would.. would it work if I held it?"
Sinner thought for a moment. He's.. actually unsure. He's tried to drop these things before, throw them, break them, but they always stay completely in piece in his hand and end up back in his pocket, on his robe, or wherever. So he has no idea if handing it to another person would do anything. "Do you seriously want to try?" He personally wouldn't advise it, but..
"Sure, why the hell not. It won't kill me right?" It suddenly got a bit nervous. Not about death, but about death to something new somewhere new.
Thankfully, Sinner shook his head. "Just don't walk specifically backwards into it and you'll be fine." Expendable didn't question why so specific, he just grabbed the item and waited.
Meanwhile, Tourist was impatiently tapping their foot against the floor. 11:30. They'll give the two 15 more minutes before forcing them to leave.
Sinner looked around himself and saw no trace of the lustful sin that was slightly tinted green. Why the sins changed colors when bound, he didn't know.
Expendable on the other hand just looked the slightest bit freaked out while staring at a wall.
"Why does- Why does it look like that." Sinner looked towards the wall Expendable pointed towards, fully not expecting to still be able to see it. Fuck.
The sin just waved. "Aw, poor Sinner couldn't handle the need, but he can't escape it!" It just started giggling.
"Of course I can still see it. Of. Course."
Expendable was used to the idea of only seeing things once you've interacted with something, perfect example being the imaginary friends. But they were definitely not as animated as... this thing. It also just looked weird. A white scribbled smiley face with giant hands that only had four fingers. It was also slightly green. Why was it green. "Sinner why is it green."
"I don't know—"
"Ahem. I DO have a name! That would be Mime, thank you."
"What the hell are you two doing we have to go soon—"
"Tourist get over here and hold this thing with me."
"No."
"..."
"Oh! Sinner! Can Expendable keep holding onto my bound charm? Pretty pleaseeee?" It floated over to be.. very close to Sinner. It started touching him, one hand on his shoulder and another on his waist. Sinner seemed to short circuit for a moment due to how Mime worked.
"If— Uh..." Expendable seemed to catch the hint.
"I'm fine with it, the guy seems interesting. Though I'm giving it back if I get annoyed. And also, I don't care what you use for pronouns on me. Hell, calling me an it works, that's how I usually refer to myself anyways." Sinner doesn't judge, but it does seem kind of... dehumanizing, does it not?
Mime just happily swayed in its spot. Is that was it was doing? It's hard to tell. "Great! Amazing! Maybe this one will be more.. open." Expendable had no idea what that meant nor did it like the tone it was accompanied with. Sinner however rolled his eyes. Mime then moved his hands slightly, one totally harmlessly going around his neck, and the other going in between his legs—
Sinner jumped back immediately, feeling the blood rush through his body. "OKAY THAT'S. DONE WITH! YEAH." Expendable was.. intrigued, to say the least. It shoved the bound trait into a pocket and followed Sinner to a very nervous looking Tourist.
"Finally— Now let's get the hell out of that room." They practically dragged both of them out of the room. They were both confused. "Holy shit we- Had a minute-"
"A minute to what?"
"Uh.. there was another thing I forgot to mention. I'm used to never encountering it so it didn't cross my mind. Dread. If you're in a room when the clock strikes twelve, then.. that's it or... something. When you go through the door the clock resets. It does that in every room. I've never actually died to it, I'm admittedly too scared to find out what happens. I only know due to Guiding Light."
"..Guiding what-now?"
"She's basically this deity that shows me where things are if I'm stuck, explains what I died to and how to avoid it, brings me back to life.. all that stuff. She's really nice, actually."
Got it. So more useful than God, and better tempered than Sebastian being forced by Lopee. And also better tempered than Death herself. That's nice at least.
"Anyways.. what was taking you two so long anyways?" Sinner just looked annoyed at the mention. Expendable snickered a bit.
"Something from where uh- I'm assuming he sorry if I'm wrong- Something from where he came from. I have the little thing in my pocket and I can see it now. Looks funny."
It whined. "Hey.. I do NOT look funny!"
"You look like the fucking freak you are and you should be ashamed of yourself."
"That's mean, Sinner! It's almost, well.. Too hateful for you. Better be careful..~"
Sinner grimaced and basically hugged himself.
There was definitely more he wasn't saying. But Expendable also had its secrets, so it's not judging.
"What...?"
Oh yeah. Tourist cant see it.
"The funny looking thing I mentioned."
Tourist just nodded. Yeah. Good enough explanation, whatever.
They went through the next door and the lights flickered. It took longer than usual for anything to happen which set off Tourist. They won't admit it, but they're kind of glad that Rush is coming. It just means things are normal.
"Remember, wait until it's close to get in the closet or you'll get pushed out early."
Expendable didn't seem phased at all, easily getting in at the same time as Tourist. Sinner wasn't bothered by the prospect of hiding from something like this, used to Carnation, but whenever he hid and Mime was around? Especially in something as close quarters as a closet? He was nervous the moment he opened the door and stepped in.
He thought that maybe, since it's a new person, Mime would go bother Expendable. Yes that's.. sort of rude and he apologizes for that, but he can only take so much of Mime until he.. well you know.
So you can imagine how annoyed he was to basically be stuck in a closet. With Mime. The fucking sin of Lust.
He kept saying things that warped together in Sinners brain, all lustful thoughts that are bad bad bad and God wouldn't accept. So why was he so tempted? His body was hot and Mime was so close, touching him everywhere to show how good it felt and fuck was it right.
Sinner heard the other two come out of their closets and he pushed against the door and practically fell out, legs inside the closet while the rest of him sprawled onto the floor. He was sweating like crazy. And Mime? It thought this was the funniest thing ever.
"Aw.. if only we had more time!" It giggled a bit again and Sinner just covered his face as the other two looked at him with concern. Expendable seemed confused and knowing at the same time.
"So uhm. Mind explaining why that thing was repeatedly trying to get you to like- Fuck yourself in there?" Tourist choked on air and Sinner wanted to scream.
He wanted to scream many profanities. But he didn't. See? He can be good.
"T-That's nothing you- Need to know-" He stumbled on his words before Mime took over.
"Because the sense of self pleasure is a great gift all must indulge! If they're into it." It added the last part with what seemed like a shrug. Yes, it knows some people genuinely don't like that stuff. But it also knows Sinner does.
"Okay so... you have a weird very sexually inclined freak haunting you. Not sure if that's better or worse than two weird red and blue things telling me my organs are wrong and yelling at each other constantly."
"Okay, what the fuck?"
-
"...Hm." God was thoughtful. Why was Mime able to cross over along with his Love? He doesn't think he had the bound when he died.. unless it automatically equipped itself like usual. That might be the case. Maybe that just happens immediately upon death?
"A sin, a presume?" Guiding Light interrupted his thoughts.
"Yes."
The green one didn't comment. He hasn't said a word yet. It was kind of annoying, but neither God nor Guiding Light mentioned it.
"They'll come across a new door soon." She could tell it wasn't from her own world, it was metal, cold and uncaring unlike the love she held for her dear Tourist.
She looked towards God, she knows he can feel it too, but he denied it as him.
The green man just nodded.
"They are coming up on their first event. it will be door.. 34."
"Fifty-five doors after that. Then they will progress." The green man spoke, voice unnerving and scratchy. Guiding Light nodded. So, they'd make it through Seek once, and then Figure. They'll get to the shop and.. move worlds, she guesses.
"May you tell us your name, Friend?" God softly said. His presence was warm and comforting, but it held a sharp edge to it. Control.
"Lopee. Mr. Lopee." And that's the last thing the man said to them. He resumed watching.
-
"Hey, how about we get to know each other?" Tourist suddenly said. They just got into room 30, so they had time to talk. Expendable shrugged, why the hell not?
Sinner was trying to ignore the eyes on the walls. They were not His, they were not judging him or watching like He always is. He resents Him, yet he loves Him wholeheartedly. It's confusing.
"Sinner? Tourist wants to do an icebreaker to get to know each other better."
"I didn't say an icebreaker."
Sinner agrees, maybe it'll help him get his mind off of Him. For now, at least. It's not like he's rude to him, He's actually the opposite. It's just the circumstances. Getting told for your whole life that just because of what he did, accident or not, or what he liked would send him to Hell. He didn't believe it, for the most part, so he would rebel. Quite a lot. It got him into less than ideal situations more times than he can count, and he truly doesn't like thinking back on it. He doesn't remember names or faces, just what they said and did. It makes his skin crawl and his stomach turn inside out.
"So, Tourist, uh- What are those symbols on your face?" Expendable pointed just under their hat and Tourist lit up like a lamp. A lamp they still haven't found, much to Sinners dismay.
"These represent the Three Architects! The yellow one is Curious Light, they guide me to side rooms and areas for a chance to escape.. I think. The crescent is Guiding Light, I already explained what she does. And the red one— I.. call it Mischievous Light sometimes, Red Light other times because I couldn't care less, or I just start swearing at it because it basically blocks things off on me and makes me deal with things that shouldn't be happening sometimes. It's annoying." Expendable found that slightly funny, it can't lie. "Anyways.. what about you? What's the... censor bar over your eyes..?"
It makes a weird face. Not discomfort, not much of anything, mostly just thinking how to explain.
"Honestly not sure. I mean, literally all information about me ever is classified so it could represent that? I mean, I don't even know anything about myself before I got to that stupid place."
"What place, if I may ask?" Sinner finally contributes, becoming curious.
"Ahh.. I'll probably get sniped if I say something but whatever I'll come back anyways. It's a company called Urbanshade. I'm actually not sure what they do on the outside to show the public. But what I do know is they're all pieces of shit." Now they're both intrigued.
Tourist hesitantly spoke out, "..Continue?"
"Basically one of the things they say they do is take death row prisoners and reform them into better people by making them do jobs and shit. But that's a lie. Well- Partially. The job is to go down into the Blacksite, an underground containment facility located in an anomalous area deep in the ocean. Anomalous not because of what they held there, but because the pressure in that specific area isn't deadly like it should be. Areas around it are, though. The water's also infested with parasites."
"You said it's like a containment facility?"
"Yeah. You know the weird things here we keep seeing? Rush is a good example- There are multiple things like that there. They're called the anglers. They do the same thing as Rush, but all slightly different. You can also usually hide in siderooms or hallways away from the door. They all have horrible eyesight. Besides for Pandemonium- God that thing is literally the bane of my fucking existence."
"What does it do?"
"If you're not in a locker or in a really fucking good hiding spot, it kills you immediately. It's fast, too. But if you do manage to hide, specifically in a locker, it will try to get in and you have to put all your fucking strength and will to live into keeping those fucking doors shut. It's harder than it sounds, but it gets easier over time."
"..I fucking hate that actually." Expensive laughed at Tourists comment.
"Yeah, me too. It also sounds stupidly similar to one of the anglers that's very slow so it's even more annoying." It rolled its eyes thinking of them all. Well, probably rolled its eyes.
"Wait- Didn't you say death row inmates are sent on this mission?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Then why are you on it...?"
Oh. Shit.
"Before you freak out, I don't have any recollection of what I did. Coulda been framed and proven innocent and they'd've still taken me. That hasn't stopped them before.." It though about Sebastian. Specifically the first time it read his file. He actually started to understand why the guy is the way he is.
"Okay that's.. a relief, at least.." Tourist fiddled with their hands. "What about you, Sinner? Anything special about where you're from? It has to be at least similar to ours.."
He hesitated for a moment. He didn't want to tell them that he was so apparently horrible in life he got sent to Grace to redeem himself. Among other places involved, but that's the main one.
"Uhm.. it's similar but much, much faster."
"Is that why you're always so jittery?"
He simply nodded. "If you're not fast, death is inevitable."
"Are you.. timed? For everything?"
"Yes. A timer counts down, never resetting in a new room, only stopping when the saferoom is met. Yet, it's not always safe." He glares at Mime. "Sometimes they can get inside. Catches me off guard every time."
"..Damn. So no telling if you're ever getting an actual break?" Expendable questioned.
Sinner shook his head. "Even in the first run to the saferoom, there is one similar to Rush that appears. No lockers or closets, just holes in walls and under stairs that He marked for me."
"Who is 'He'?" Could it be someone similar to Guiding Light?
"He is merciful, He helps show me where to hide and gives me encouragement to not give up hope. Though, I sometimes wonder if the end doesn't exist. I've gotten so far, yet... It might be endless." Does he deserve that? The endless torture of repeating the cycle? He doesn't know.
"Wait, you're telling me your place might not even be escapable? I mean- The Blacksite and this Hotel seem endless but- They do end at some point! Even if it repeats." It looks at Tourist, as if wanting confirmation.
They nod, "Yeah, I've gotten out of the hotel plenty of times. There's other areas entirely that are basically the same concept, but I have gotten out. I was going to explain that part once we got nearer to the end, by the way-"
"See, Sinner? Your God isn't all that nice, is he? Just toying with you, making you think you have a chance to repent, but after all the mistakes you've made even doing that, why would he let you out? You should indulge in us more-" Sinner stood up abruptly. He can't take the sound of Mime's stupid grating glitching voice coming from that cursed smile. Not right now.
Expendable and Tourist get up and follow him, he's just going through the door at least. The next room is dark.
Tourist doesn't wanna interrupt.. whatever's happening, but they warn about Screech just in case. "Remember to look around if you hear the 'psst'. Screech bites hard."
Expendable nods and Sinner seemingly doesn't hear. They go over to him just to warn him if they see a Screech on him.
In about five second, they do see one. They go to warn him because he has no instant reaction to look at it, but as it's about to lunge for him, his right fist turns a pure white, looking like his arm is cracking, and punches it. It goes away all the same, but what the fuck.
"Did- Did you just punch Screech?-" Tourist is most definitely right about if Guiding Light is watching, she's extremely confused as well. "I've tried that and it still- Okay- Sure."
They went to the next room. 33. Locked door.
Expendable found it cool as shit that Sinner could do that. Meanwhile Mime got upset, saying some things like "I don't like Sinner when he's like this!" Or whatever. Expendable has been drowning him out. It forgot it even had the thing in its pocket in the first place.
"Okay, let's quickly find the key and—" There was a loud slam. They looked at the door to see that Sinner broke it down. Oh.
Once again, Guiding Light was insanely confused. At least the Hotel completely rebuilds itself so she doesn't have to interfere.
Stepping through the door, they were met with a long hallway, covered in the eyes from the previous rooms. Before Sinner could go further, Tourist holds him back.
"Hold on- This is the part where Seek comes out, remember what I said?" They both nodded, but Expendable added on.
"Is this a bad time to say I have asthma?"
Tourist slowly turned to look at it. However, Sinner decided that he'd just... carry Expendable. He's always running with something in his hand, a trait weighing him down, so it'll be fine.
The shorter man protested this but before it could stop it from happening, a large, black creature rose up from the ground out of the same substance the eyes kept appearing from. More and more opened on the walls and pillars, but there was a single eye on this tall creatures head.
It looked too much like Him. It was uncanny. The moment the door opened, Tourist set off in a sprint, Sinner following while carrying Expendable, who will later on refuse to admit it was gripping onto Sinner like its life depended on him. Which it did, but that's not the point.
Sinner had to stop himself from running too fast like he's used to because he wants to make sure Tourist is also okay.
Which, they were. The chase was just as it usually was, and everyone lived.
When they got to the other side of the door, it slammed shut with a glowing blue sigil marking it as Seek banged to break it down, but to no avail. Sinner swore he saw the slightest tinge of red seep through for a moment but it was gone in an instant.
"Can- Can you put me down?-" Expendable asked quietly, almost embarrassed. Sinner had forgetten. He carefully set it down on the floor.
"Well, uh- Do we continue?" Tourist ignores any and all tension they have no context for.
Sinner just nods.
They go through door after door, evading the entities with ease for the most part. There were a couple close calls, Timothy decided to jump on Expendable's face and it now forever hates spiders, but other than that it's been fine.
Now they're at door 50. The library.
"This is the.. second encounter, correct?" Tourist nods at Sinner, glad that they don't have to re-explain how Figure works. It's blind, good at hearing, and will bite your head off.
They open the door.
The Figure is immediately drawn towards it at the sound, but as per usual, Guiding Light breaks a lamp to the right, their left, and Figure immediately makes a gutteral noise and runs towards the shattered lamp.
The three of them crouch down and make their way inside. Tourist leads them left, and then to the desk that holds the answer key paper. Once they're all there, they grab the paper and commit the order of shapes in their memory.
They all decided that they'll split up, find some books in whatever area they decided upon, and then meet up back at the desk.
Sinner took the left they all came through, Expendable took the right, and Tourist took the upstairs.
As they each found the needed books, they met up back at the desk. Expendable almost had a close call, but managed to slip away, throwing a book as a distraction. Sinner was perfectly fine, and Tourist was also decently safe. For some reason, hiding literally right up against the door works as long as you don't move a muscle. It's something they always did while up there.
The group went up the stairs, Tourist already pieceing together what order the numbers went it before winding the clock and throwing it at the entrance.
It didn't make it very far, but it was enough. They all went up the stairs and Tourist flicked the numbers until the lock clicked, opening the door as Figure stomped on the alarm clock. It immediately started rushing towards the exit door so the three of them bolted through it and, similar to when they cleared Seek, the door slammed shut on its own.
"FUUUUCCCKKKK that was AWFUL." Expendable dramatically slid down onto the floor. Before they went in, Sinner suggested that Expendable hand the bound trait back so he can focus better. It agreed. Plus, it was getting tired of Mime's almost constant sexual mutterings.
Sinner almost screamed at Mime while trying to find a book that apparently it saw and he didn't, but he refrained himself so he wouldn't die.
Sinner spoke a silent prayer, though he's not sure if it was worth it. Not after those words he heard.
"Well, next stop is the shop!" Tourist happily said.
Following them down a hallway and some stairs, there were makeshift signs with crude writing on them. Expendable didn't pay attention. Eventually, they reached a more open area that included, well, a shop. There was a big sign next to it labeled "JEFF ƧHOP". Whether the backwards S was intentional or not, it didn't care. It also didn't care about anything that was being sold. Or about the goblin sitting at the table that wouldn't show up. Or about the skeleton also at the table.
What it did care about was a metal door across the room with a green number plate next to it, reading 100.
"Fuck."