Chapter Text
Your door creaked open to reveal something more akin to a dark pigsty than a bedroom. Old or empty food containers were strewn across the room and various dirty outfits made themselves comfortable on the edge of your bed.
Urrghh.. You sighed, stepping over the sea of junk and simply flopping into your bed. The occasional feather brushed against your calf. How long has it been since I last preened my wings?
The thought quickly vanished as your stomach rumbled, protesting its dissatisfaction. After wasting nearly the entire day sleeping, you had decided to grab a snack. However, the stench of death and decay in your kitchen quickly reminded you why you’d rather avoid getting food. Your head spun just thinking about it— may as well get some rest if you’re going to skip another meal. Your eyelids faltered as they slipped into exhaustion.
𓂃 ࣪ ִֶ˖ ໒꒱་༘࿐
Something was off. You felt as though you were floating through clouds. You hardly ever dreamed anything as peaceful as this. The comforting darkness would have made you shiver, if your consciousness had not been slowly slipping away. The faint tolling of a grandfather clock rang throughout your mind, growing louder and louder by the second. Before you knew it, you were yanked out of the void.
The first thing you felt was a chill, damp breeze across your cheek. Blades of grass shifted and turned and the scent of earth and rain flowed in the wind. Dazed, your eyes slowly opened. You jolted to your feet at the sight of the uncharted environment. It might have been a nice change or even interesting if you weren’t dragged here against your will.
Where the hell am I? Your throat tightened and your wings pressed firmly against your back. Something caught in your throat. There’s no way this is a dream.
You pinched yourself just to make sure. Oh my god. How did I get here? What the hell is going on? I bet I look like a mess right now.. Is this place dangerous? If anybody else is here, would they even help me?
Ugh. Just calm down. A familiar voice within you scolded. Your heart sank as you swallowed your stress.
Taking in a deep breath, you observed your surroundings in search of any signs of sentient life. To your left, a hill and decrepit walls. To the right, a large, run down building. If anybody’s here, I’m sure they’d know more about this place than I do.
You ruffled your wings, steeling your nerves and creeping up the stairs of the ruined building. “Hello? Is anybody here?” Your voice reverberated among the ruins.
A raspy, glitchy voice responds. “O-0-OH? WH4T D0 W3 H4V3 H373? A N3W C0NTEST4NT? 1 H4VENT S33N Y0U 4R0UN6 H3R3 BEF0R3.”
As you enter, you flinch at what, or rather, who appears in front of you: A mummified corpse. Their leathery skin contorted into an uncanny, condescending frown, and they don what seems to be a broken comedy mask— although you swear you saw its eye twitch. Their robes sway in the air around them, as though carried by an imaginary breath.
Every cell in your body screams that something isn’t right. Your muscles tense and wings return to a rigid position as the figure floats towards you.
“I don’t know how I got here. Or why I’m here. I don’t even know what this place is. One moment, I was sleeping, and the next, I’m here.”
They stop an inch away from you. The mask’s smile looks as if it widened as the deity studies your face. The pressure from the crown atop their head makes you want to look away, but you stare firmly into their empty eye sockets, mouth pressed into a thin line.
“HM? IT USU411Y D03SN7 T4K3 P30P13 AL1VE, TH0UGH 1 S33 WHY IT M4DE AN EXC3PT1ON F0R Y0U~”
They leaned impossibly closer, yet you felt no breath. It made your gut churn. What’s their deal? The corpse chuckles dryly, as if they knew what you were thinking.
“P00R TH1NG, IT D1DN’7 EV3N B0TH3R W1TH 1NTR0DUCT1ONS?” They giggle.
“N0 M4TTER, 411OW M3 T0 SH0W Y0U TH3 RUL3S 0F TH1S RE4LM!” It escalates to a horrific cackle, as the deity reels their arm back.
You step back, wings unfurling out of caution. The deity seems amused at your reaction, inspecting your body language as they summon a small star into their hand. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion, yet all at once. The star floats gracefully in the air, and before you realise it, it detonates.
The force yanks you upwards before dropping you back onto your feet. The height makes you stumble, and the god takes this opportunity to stab into your shoulder with a tendril-like tube.
Oh. You weren’t imagining things. Now that you were closer, you could tell that their mask really does move.
The thought only distracts you for a moment before you feel the burning pain of the wound. On instinct, you dash forwards, but your weak wings can only carry you so far. I guess it’s your own fault for rotting away instead of doing something with your life.
Fuck. Out. Get out. I need to get distance.
“4R3NT Y0U JUS7 S0000 I-I-1NT3REST1NG?”
The distorted voice coos in the background, euphoric to witness your feeble escape attempt. Before you could even process their words, they’re already flying towards you with a fist outstretched. The punch sends you lurching onto a bridge of old, rotting planks.
You scramble to your feet to flee, fight, or use any means possible to survive. It didn't help that the pooling of blood on your clothes was only amplified by the hit. It made your brain fog, as if it already wasn’t running on pure adrenaline and instinct.
You try not to wince as you push your body to its limit to try to gain some distance. However, you hardly even have time to wheeze as a hand suddenly slams your head into the brick wall, taking your whole body with it.
It feels like your entire body has been drenched in blood. You can feel the arterioles in the back of your head throbbing, trying to keep you alive. The air is knocked out of your lungs, leaving you helpless and gasping.
The corpse pins you down onto your stomach. You weakly cough up impossible amounts of blood as a hand harshly grips the back of your head, turning it to face them. You clawed at the ground, then at their arm— a hopeless struggle.
They giggle, genuinely ecstatic at the sight of your suffering.
“WH4T A CUT3 L-L-L1TTL3 B-B1RD1E W3 H4V3 H3R3. 0H, 1LL 3NJ0Y T-T-T0RM3NT1NG Y0U. T1ME. AND T1ME. AG-G-A1N!” the entity sings.
An unnatural wave of stillness washes over you.
Disgusting. Sadistic piece of—
…
Is this really how I die? At the hands of some stupid, shriveled.. thing?
…
Isn’t this what I wanted?
Tears prick the corners of your eyes and you feel another sharp pain— this time, directly into the temple of your head. The killer tilts their head. Your vision blurs as you feel a cold, rugged sensation of spindly fingers against your left cheek. Two figures stand in the distance. You could barely make out red and brown details as your vision faded. They seemed to watch with hesitance and pity. Had they always been there? Did they see everything? Why the hell didn’t they do anything to help you??
You didn’t exactly have time to dwell on it as your soul was once again ripped from your body.
𓂃 ࣪ ִֶ˖ ໒꒱་༘࿐
Elliot skids to a halt, panting. Shedletsky followed close behind, only for him to witness the body of an unfamiliar survivor still warm on the ground.
“Who died here? Haven’t seen this one around before.” Shedletsky remarked, wincing at the sight of your wounds.
“New survivor, probably. Their silhouette wasn’t of someone I recognized.. The poor guy probably met Noli..”
“Yeeshh, got dropped into a round right off the bat? How cruel! If only we got here sooner. At least the cabin will surely be a nice change of pace for them..” He let out a dry chuckle, averting his gaze.
“Yeah. Let’s go help the others so nobody ends up like this.” Elliot nods and backtracks out of the building.
.𓂃 ࣪ ִֶ˖ ໒꒱་༘࿐
You wake up on a bed with a start, throwing the heavy blanket off the bed and sitting up stiffly. Your wings still ached with some sort of phantom pain, but now you could breathe properly without the weight of a deity sitting on your back. Wait— how are you still alive? You should have at least died from blood loss, even if you managed to get away.
Your fingers ghosted over your shoulder. Miraculously, it had healed— not a trace of the earlier wound left.
What..?
You looked to be in a log cabin of sorts— the room held one bed, accompanied by various scores of sheet music and tabs. Dust covered every surface. You skimmed through them. Wait a minute, you recognized the music. Matter of fact, you’re the one who had composed them. The sheets even included works that had been abandoned or were still being worked on. While the familiar sight was… somewhat comforting, they raised a very important question.
How did these get here? I never released these.
… How did I get here?
You tried to recall the events just before arriving in.. whatever this place was, but any memories of just prior to arriving here seemed to fizzle into static.
Must be a side effect of not taking care of myself or something. You thought to yourself. It’ll come back to me later.
A voice whispered something to the back of your mind, but you brushed it off. Unlike the crumbling walls and damp air you died in, the cabin was warm. A little musty and stale, sure, but a far cry better than the pools of lava. Everything was intact and in good condition. Most importantly, your head wasn’t screaming at you to leave. It was safe.
You shuffled towards the door and carefully twisted the knob. Peeking through the slit of the door, you saw several other doors within the long hallway. Each had a plaque sitting on it, labeled with a unique name. The hallway was empty, so you crept out. You slowly turned the corner, scanning the hall until you reached a small staircase leading downwards.
It led to a more open area. A large fireplace crackled in the center, surrounded by two sofas with a small coffee table between them. On one of the sofas sat a person with brown hair. However, what stood out most about them was the burger perched atop their head. And, to top that off, a small noob spider sat atop the bun. He was frantically scribbling something down in a leather bound notebook.
Seemed normal enough. He gave off a nervous vibe. You could work with this. You internally sighed and plastered on a hesitant smile.
“Ahem.. ‘Scuse me.. Do you know what this place is? I didn’t mean to end up here. I.. don’t even know where ‘here’ is, haha..”
The scratching of pen on paper screeched to a halt. The figure whipped his head around, eyes wide. Now that he was facing you, you spotted pink frames resting on his nosebridge and some slight stubble.
He paused for several moments, lost in thought.
“Are you new here?”
“Yeah.” Did this guy not hear you earlier?? “W-Where am I? Actually, how am I not dead? That purple guy tore my head open..” This is seriously so weird. I hate it. I want to go back home.
A long sigh as he gripped the back of his neck.
“This… realm. It was made by something, or someone, to trap everyone in it. To make us suffer for god knows why. We go through these ‘rounds,’ where you have to complete generators and survive.”
“Survive what?”
“Well… you probably already know this, but we aren’t the only ones in this place. It brought some people to torture us every round. There’s this barrier outside the cabin— it keeps them out, but we have to power generators every round to keep it running..”
“And what exactly happens if you don’t..?”
“They could come through, I suppose. Never had it happen, so I’m not sure… You get these abilities to help you or your team, though. Too bad they’ve got… well.. restrictions. Can’t use ‘em too much.”
You wondered if the two people from before were survivors too.
“Oh! A-also, the rounds last around 20 minutes, an—”
A door swung open upstairs, and the thudding of angry footsteps drifted down the stairs.
Your heads turned in sync, immediately spotting who you recognized as the red figure from before. The one who stood there and watched you die. Their rage seemed to immediately dissipate at the sight of you.
“Ah. Hey… Elliot..” He seemed to shrink away at the sight of the delivery man.
Elliot cast a quick glare at the other man before putting on the fakest grin you’ve ever seen. If you were anybody else, you might’ve missed it.
“Hey there! You must be a new survivor! I see you’ve already met 007n7. I’m Elliot. Elliot Builder!” He shook your hand in a firm grasp.
Oh. They definitely hate each other, don’t they? 007n7 seems more scared than hateful, though.
“Ah.. Yeah.. I think I’ve seen you before.”
“Yeah, sorry for not being able to help.. We arrived too late and kinda just watched you get mauled.. Again, so sorry ‘bout that…”
“M-mhm! No worries and no hard feelings!” You replied, a small smile gracing your face.
“Amazing! Seven already told you how rounds work, right? That killer you met was named Noli. They’re one of the stronger killers, but he likes to fool around a bit. In fact, he fools around a bit too much. Incredibly strong, that guy, but the main reason he loses at all is because he doesn’t take anything seriously…”
Uh.. He reminded you of an overexcited golden retriever that wouldn’t stop barking. He has that friendly aura. But, like… surely there’s a way outta here, right?
You stared at him, nodding along as he continued to rant. You weren’t totally focused on the delivery boy though, but rather how Seven seemed to inch back to the sofa, gazing blankly into his notebook.
He seemed.. Tolerable. Not the outgoing type. Meek and not a bother. It made one wonder why. Like, why did that ray of sunshine hate the poor, innocent guy so much? It had to be a good reason if Elliot disliked him.
Maybe Seven is a bit more dangerous than what he lets on.
Seemed like you never had time to think about anything as Elliot was interrupted by the loud crash and the most obnoxious voice ever sounded throughout the entire cabin. You could practically hear the wealth flowing off their tongue.
“Hey hey hey!!!” A fancy looking person with dark grey dreadlocks strut into the room, arms spread as if he was greeting a long lost friend. He swept Elliot into a hug, ignoring you completely. They practically pressed their cheeks against the delivery boy’s.
Wow, how polite. God, this shit is so awkward. You hate this enby already.
Someone else— much more vibrant than the guy with the suit and fedora— followed them like a shadow. Their eyes caught yours, but you were quick to pretend that you were staring at the more charismatic character in front of you. Out of the corner of your eye, you observed that they were dressed in a baggy shirt over a hoodie and turtleneck. Cold? Or maybe insecure? They seemed nervous as well, standing far behind the loud one.
Speaking of him, he let go of Elliot, who seemed flustered, and hooked his elbow around your neck. You staggered a bit.
Let go of me. You mumbled to yourself.
“Hey, Els’! Not gonna introduce me to this angel??” He grinned smugly. Their other hand was now gripping your shoulder. Your temper flared, but you kept calm.
“Oh yeah.. That’s the new survivor— ah, sorry, what’d you say your name was again?”
I never even said my name in the first place. You think if you rolled your eyes one more time, they’d be stuck staring at the back of your head.
You introduced yourself for the first time that day.
“Well, nice ta meetcha! The name’s Chance, ‘n behind me here is Noob.”
“Wait, wait, wait.” Elliot interjected. “How did the two of you even die in the first place? At the same time, too.”
Chance finally dragged his hands off you in favor of tucking them into his pockets. “Well, I was having pretty bad luck, but Noob was in a pretty rough spot. So I, like any responsible teammate, took it upon myself to save them!... But my gun ended up exploding and the wrinkly bastard killed Noob with their little supernova.”
Elliot only glared at him in annoyance, already firing up a lecture about appropriate amounts of gunpowder for his flintlock. Sentinels, protecting others, yada yada. This guy sure is a noisemaker. Chance didn’t seem to care that much either. You kinda assumed he liked taking risks.
You stepped to the side of their argument to greet Noob. You stuck out a hand politely. After all, first impressions matter to people like this.
They outstretched their arm too, silently nodding before retracting it.
“T-t-the others can be... Kind of a lot sometimes… Y-you’ll get used to it…”
Maybe these people were part of the torture.
“I assume I don’t really have a choice... I mean, if there was an exit to this place, I’m sure you all would have left already.” You joked.
“Mmm, yeah. This place is pretty sucky. I miss my home. And my friends. And playing different games with them. Not much I can do about it.”
They sounded so solemn. Like they’d already accepted their fate.
“I wonder if anyone’s looking for us right now..” You already knew it was unlikely.
“I mean, p-probably. I thought the same thing when I first got here, but I… don’t think anybody would still be looking for me now…”
“How long have you been here for…?”
“N-not sure… There’s no day or night in this place, so it’s hard to tell— all I know is that I’ve been here for a long time. I-I was the third… Shedletsky and Elliot were before me.”
“Oh, I see. Thanks for the info…”
You sighed, offering up an awkward smile. “I’m pretty spent from that round… And I need a moment to process all that. I think I’m going to go get some rest. I’ll talk to you later.”
“Ah. Yeah. See you.”
They sounded disappointed. Did you not respond well enough? Did they expect more empathy? You never were the best at reading others or responding to people opening up to you.
You crept up the stairs to return to the room you had woken up in. Once you shut the door, you stretched your wings and lifted your shirt over your mouth. You swore you heard the bones in them crack. You lifted the latch on the window. The room was on the second floor, safe from any creatures that may lurk on the muddy grass outside.
Dust drifted and swirled in the air as you flapped your wings. Stifling a cough, you continued to fan it outside until you were satisfied before laying on the bed.
So far, I know that: one, this place is a purgatory of sorts. And there may be no exit. The thought made your gut churn. You bounced your leg a bit as you mulled about it. Two, my objective is to survive a killer every round while trying to power generators in order to avoid a massacre in this cabin. Three, I have some sort of abilities. Probably related to my wings or music, like a video game. And like a video game, they have cooldowns or limits. Four, I think most people here are being punished for a reason. And, finally, people here have… very… unique personalities.
You thought about your prior interactions. Seven didn’t have a big impression on you— he was helpful, but a bit meek. Noob seemed very understanding and shy. Elliot could be boiled down to a parental figure, always caring for others. Chance seemed to care about others, too, but he concealed it much more.
Wonder what they did to get here. They don’t seem all that evil. And this place… what exactly sent me here? How does it know?
You laid in silence, letting the thoughts brew in your head.
…The whole situation felt unreal— as if you were still dreaming, but you were painfully aware that this wasn’t fiction.
You wondered if this was for the better.
.𓂃 ࣪ ִֶ˖ ໒꒱་༘࿐