Chapter Text
They checked their inventory and charms once more, there was still so much to find. They knew not everything would be as easy to take down as the False Knight. They really needed better equipment. The screen flickered around the edges before fading as they made their way up the scaffolding, mindful of the scattered Tiktiks, mindless Gruzzers, and the Lumafly they had gotten in that surface town trailing after them. The platforms made pleasant clanks with each leap. Their cobalt cloak flowed behind them as they headed toward the entryway less than halfway up the east side of the towering room.
They made their way around the mindless husks that littered the rooms and stopped before the room that leads to the Stag Station. They hadn’t talked to Myla in a bit. She’d love to hear about their battle with False Knight. Might as well bring up that annoying snail shaman. Who offers someone a spell then locks them in a room till they kill something for them!? Tikspit if you ask them. They shot a joking glare at Spark as amusement practically radiated from the Lumafly flitting around their head at their clear annoyance. They did get a spell and a charm from that encounter, so it wasn’t a complete waste of time. They made their way to the room where Myla always stayed.
‘I should ask if she wants to come with this time,’ they thought as they entered the room above the tunnel with soft singing from below. ‘she’s always so excited when I tell stories… and she always seems so lonely when I come by… as long as I keep enemies off her we should be fine. Wait- I could just teach her how to-!’ they were snapped out of their thoughts when the ground rose to meet their mask with a thud. Gentle giggles started from the other wall that grew in volume as she approached them, “D-Did you really forget about the stairs again? Ghost that’s the fifth time!” she spoke between giggles. A huff was their response as they stood. The two made eye contact which resulted in another bout of giggles and silent laughter as both of their Lumaflies circled each other in greeting.
Ghost made their way to the pile of rocks that they had deemed ‘good enough to talk on’ one visit and started carving. Myla went and sat against the wall next to them. Amusement shone in her eyes as they excitedly wrote about their adventures in The Crossroads. She burst into laughter once they got to the shaman, annoyance radiating off the little bug in waves that accompanied their angry scribbles. Ghost stopped a moment, contemplating the question they were about to ask. She sat patiently as they carefully wrote something on one of the stones. She didn’t miss how nervous they had become as they handed her the tablet and looked down to inspect the stone ground.
‘Would you like to come with me this time? I know it’s dangerous, especially with how I can be while traveling, there's enough spikes in Crossroads alone to tell me that. But I won’t let anything come near you! I can even teach you how to fight if you want! I know you’re fine with just staying here and mining- it’s fine if you don’t want to come with! I just thought it might be fun with another person around…'
“It might be fun to go exploring, b-but we should probably do the training thing. Don’t want you to be the o-only one fighting.” When she looked up, she was immediately tackled in a hug. They stayed like that for a while, sitting in silence. The calm atmosphere was shattered as the two were rammed into by Spark and Silver. The two laughed as the Lumaflies flew off and continued their game as if nothing happened. The next few days were spent through sparring sessions. Ghost was immediately caught off guard with her skill the first time around. It was the only time she’d won, but it still counts. Eventually, Ghost led her through the Crossroads to the Stag station, only really stepping in to deal with the occasional Vengefly or Aspid.
The two had chatted with the Stag a bit as they headed to Dirtmouth. They split up at a bench and Ghost ducked into a small shop. Myla noticed an elderly bug a little bigger than her near the bench. “Um. H-Hello there. I’m Myla” she fiddled with her hands as she attempted to socialize. “Hello there, welcome to our little town. You can call me Elderbug.” He smiled at her as he continued, “We don’t get visitors often anymore. Though I am glad the friends Ghost found in those old ruins actually exist, it must have been lonely wandering around down there by themself. Feel free to look around, there aren’t too many people left to welcome you though. The map shop is right over there, and the building they just went into sells a variety of items for questionable prices if you’re interested. You could just stay at the bench, but you probably want to walk around.” “Oh! Thank you, I-I'll see you around I g-guess.” She gave a little bow before walking into the shop.
“I see you’ve found quite the catch in the ruins” Sly couldn’t help but chuckle as Ghost visibly sputtered flailing their arms wildly as if to say, ‘it's not like that!’ “Heh, calm down kid, just messin’ with my best customer.” Ghost glared at him as the mask shard fit into place in the incomplete formation. “You know everyone’s gonna tease ya ‘bout that. It ain’t exactly normal to come back up from there sayin’ you met like seven people.” Ghost’s head made an exaggerated motion as they ‘rolled’ their eyes. “Oh! Almost forgot. Found this thing while cleanin’, thought you might be interested.” Ghost tilted their head when Sly took out a strange charm. It looked similar to a spider, even though it was missing two legs. The front two as well as the two little ones curled slightly in front of itself. The front of its head was lined with big void-like eyes, four of which were positioned toward the side. Four tendrils resembling a cloak lined the abdomen.
The outer edges of the charm were various greys, all having some form of gradient. The legs were a soot color that lightened at the ends. The cloak bits seemed to go from a white at the base into a dark silver. The head was a brown color that lightened in the middle. Between each eye was a red teardrop flipped on its head. A thick orange line sat above the middle two eyes with a dark blue spot above it. Two downward curved purple crescents sprouted from the spot but were corralled by the red of the sides. A stretched red spot stood above the blue with orange then blue pointed ovals on either side. The abdomen started as a yellow in the center and led into a green that could match the entrance to that plant area guarded by a Baldur. A rounded violet stripe seemingly squished inward by two orange ovals were placed in the center. Two circles of light blue barely stood below what would have been between the two colors. Two red ovals seemed to come up from the lower corners and ended just shy of the orange.
They'd never seen a charm like it. Granted, they didn’t have many charms to begin with, but it was fascinating how the colors seemed to minutely shift in the light. “Don’t quite remember the bug who gave it to me, but they did mention they got it from a village of peacock spiders.” Sly chuckled at Ghost’s obvious intrigue. “Don’t know how they found the village since peacocks live in the deepest reaches of Queen’s Gardens n’ somewhere in Deepnest. They said that it ‘gave a voice to the voiceless’ or somethin’ I don’t know. Obviously, if you want it your gonna have to pay,” Ghost let out a slightly annoyed huff at that, “oh don’t worry, It ain’t as bad as the Lumafly. I’d say about... eh, eight hundred g-” He didn’t expect the payment immediately, especially after they had bought one of those weird shard things. After a few seconds he chuckled, “you’ve been holdin’ out on me kid! Here, all yours.” Ghost made one of their little excited hops after picking up the charm. They rushed out hardly paying any mind to Sly’s call of ‘don’t die kid!’ shouted after them.
Myla walked out of the map shop after talking with Iselda for a little while. The last thing she expected was to see Ghost speed out of the shop they had gone into, Spark trailing behind, and leap onto the bench and bring up their inventory. It wasn’t the first time she’d seen it, but it was the first time she saw them bring it up that fast. She walked up and leaned over the back of the bench, amused with the little bouncing Ghost had started the second they sat down. Ghost turned and handed her the new charm they’d just bought. They only seemed to grow more excited as she shifted the charm to admire the colors. She handed it back and watched as they placed it in a little array thing. She had never noticed the descriptions whenever they pointed at a charm before.
A slightly bigger visual of the charm appeared off to the side above what seemed to be its name and information.
Whispered Mind
Cost O
Born from the dance of voiceless generations.
Speaks the desired thoughts from the bearer in their mind’s voice.
~
Ghost quickly put on the charm, placing it next to the Wayward Compass and Gathering Swarm. “I know you’ve explained charms b-before... but do you know what this one’s supposed to do? J-Just the names of some of them make those easier to understand, but I d-don’t really get this one.” Myla looked at the charms, clear confusion shown on her face. Ghost sat for a second realizing, oh yeah, how does this work? “I don’t really know... Sly didn’t exactly give a description...” They paused when they turned to see Myla’s face, a mix of surprise and excitement. “What?” “You’re actually talking!” Ghost sat staring in disbelief as she clapped excitedly while Silver circled around her head a few times.
“U-Um, Ghost? You g-good?” as if on cue, Ghost jumped a tad as they zoned back into the world, “O-Oh! Um. I’m fine... heh, I didn’t realize it was even doing anything.” Myla thought for a moment, “Have you been talking this whole time but no one else could hear you?” “I- yeah basically. Why d’you think I get annoyed half the time when I try to communicate with anything?” “That makes... a lot of sense.”
Ghost laughed before jumping down off the bench they would have been shorter than without their horns, “C’mon, I wanna show you the one scaffolding room with all the Gruzzers. We already have to go over there for the next area thing anyway.” She giggled a bit before nodding. The two walked, Lumaflies in toe, to the well that led down into the catacombs. Myla reached back to check that her pickaxe was secured to her back before starting to climb down the chain. “Hey Ghost? I realized I never really asked about what you meant by ‘how I can be while travelling’.” Ghost provided her an answer. Mere seconds later Ghost came flying down the well behind her and landed at the bottom with a heavy thud.
“Did you just jump!?” She quickly scrabbled down the rest of the chain. Ghost got up from a kneel and started heading toward the next room, “Yep, always do, a lot faster than using the chain.” They stopped and turned seeing clear concern and worry on her face, “Have I not told you how damage works for me yet?” “U-Um. No? It’s different for you???” Ghost thought for a second, “I’m just gonna immediately assume heights hurt you ‘cause that seems like a safer option than assuming the stuff for me applies to you. I- hmm... I have a set amount of... health? I guess? That’s what I've always called it. It's currently at five n’ I'm pretty sure if I get enough mask shards it’ll go up,” they looked over to see the worry replaced by intrigue and confusion from Myla and the Lumaflies as they all headed forward, “Uh. Heights don’t do damage. If I fall on spikes I'll black out for a sec and just- appear before when I started the jump, I guess? That takes one mask, getting hit by most things takes one. Some things do take two though. I can’t die from an injury only when the masks go down to zero.”
“Wait you’ve died!?” Ghost quickly went to clarify at the look of grief that flashed her features, “No! Well, I have . But it's weird!” They continued when it seemed she calmed down a tad. “I can die but it’s like... temporary? I lose any geo that’s on me n’ it all goes into a shade. It's kinda like a void me? I- really hope that it won't attack you, it's hostile towards me. I gotta kill it to get both my stuff back and fix my soul container.” “I-isn’t that the thing you need to cast spells?” “Uh-huh, it also lets me heal back a mask. Benches and hot springs heal me too, though springs also give me soul.”
“I... th-think I get it? But how can you do any of-?” She jolted as she was pulled back a bit and looked down at the drop she was about to walk on. “W-Woah that’s far. Sorry- I should have been paying attention, th-thanks for that.” “No problem! Fair warning, I’ve walked into enough spike pits to know its ‘prolly gonna happen again with both of us. Absolutely no clue how I can do any of this, but I think it's because of why I get a shade instead of dying,” ‘ that bastard’ “The next room is right down there on the other wall.”
Ghost pointed to an entrance surrounded by various small green plants, “Last time I tried going in it was blocked by a Baldur. They try to shoot you and duck down if you get too close, doubt any weapon could break through its shell.” “That’s where the s-spell comes in. Guess that shaman was useful huh?” Ghost shot her a glare before starting the task of jumping down the platforms to the next room. Myla giggled the times they flailed around on empty platforms, an obvious sign they lost their balance. They both entered the greened room. It had a small plateau in the center and a sign off to the side that read,
‘The Pilgrim’s Way
Descend through verdant wilds and fungal
groves to the city at this kingdom’s heart.
There all wishes shall be granted, all truths revealed.’
A deep huff from across the room caught them both off guard as they read. “Huh, forgot about the Baldur.” The creature’s gaze landed on Ghost as they had spoken. “So... w-what do we d-do?” Ghost looked at her for a moment before responding, “Spells.” Right after the word left the little bug they were over the plateau before anything could question it, she'd never seen them move so fast before, not even while sparring. Moments before it could even begin to brace itself, three brilliant blasts of light collided with it. It staggered for a second before honing its gaze on Ghost, seemingly unphased, “Forgot y’all take four, its gonna shoot a smaller Baldur soon. It should be down after I can get some soul from the small one!” Ghost shouted an explanation as they dodged several glowing balls of an acidic orange substance.
Myla didn’t know how to help them with this. She had drawn her weapon after she realized it was there, but how could she help when her attacks would be ineffective? They said it would be fine. She can trust them. Ghost wouldn’t get themself killed on purpose, especially if she was there. She was broken from her thoughts as the barrage of orange was interrupted by a curled blue shell. She watched in confusion as Ghost suddenly charged the large Baldur, causing it to curl into itself. They stood only a few steps away with their back to the creature.
The smaller Baldur rolled until it hit the edge of the plateau before uncurling and turning to Ghost. Their only response as it curled and sped toward them in a roll was leveling their nail in front of them. She noticed that small orbs of light would rise from the creature with every hit it took along with the same orange substance everything else seemed to have. Unlike the orange, the light floated to ghost and seemingly caused them to glow. Its body exploded in the small cloud of orange after a few hits. She was still getting used to that. Myla was confused when Ghost suddenly ran in her direction. They swiftly turned and shot a spell in the direction of the original Baldur when they both heard it uncurl. It fell to the ground, lying for a few moments before disappearing in a cloud of orange.
Myla walked over to where Ghost was excitedly bouncing in place. “How many of those have y-you even fought before?” “Uhh... two- I think... Wait no- I've fought one of those not including this one.” They looked up to see Myla struggling to contain a bout of giggles while the Lumaflies radiated amusement. “Oh- hush you gremlins. My clumsiness n’ slight memory issues are my issues.” The three still radiated when Myla answered, “I apologize for forgetting how chaotic you are. L-Like- who just answers ‘spells’ and books it?”
“If you haven’t figured it out yet, this is what I meant by ‘how I am when travelling’. I’m bouta’ make some of the enemies look tame with their crazy, and probably walk into a few things-” they stopped after they noticed her confused expression, “did I not..? Okay- umm- I can’t, touch anything hostile toward me. I've never known why but even if I poke a Tiktik I lose a mask. Out of all the things I can do contact damage is terrible.” Ghost explained while playfully batting at Spark who flew circles around them as Silver watched. They occasionally landed before giving a small hiss and continuing the circles. "It sounds annoying,” she looked into the corridor the Baldur had been blocking and noticed a set of platforms that ascended over some sort of mist. Ghost noticed Silver fly over to her. “Huh, forgot that we were going somewhere.”
They both walked towards the platforms, suddenly stopping just before the ground sharply fell to reveal a floor of a steaming water-like substance. The hissing of the liquid was broken by Myla, “Th-that, doesn’t look safe.” “We ‘prolly shouldn’t touch it. There’s a room with this stuff somewhere in Crossroads but I didn’t trust how warm the room was.” She noticed a set of lower platforms split from the others as Ghost seemed to measure the distance to the first platform with their eyes. “There’s platforms down too, m-maybe we should use both to see where they go.” “ Oh that’s smart . If anything happens just shout.” She nodded and waited for them to make it to the platform after the first before carefully jumping herself.
Ghost turned back to Myla, “I’m gonna’ go up top ‘cause it’s probably a dead end! Wow this water’s really loud up close...” She barely caught the end of it as Ghost jumped to the small upper platform before jumping to the larger island like formation above the room. Myla jumped down to the two platforms below the island, nervously glancing at the strange water that came decently close to the surface of the first platform. She looked up at the next platform, it was high enough that she might need to climb a bit after the jump. Myla could see the island’s edge as well as a second island past the next platform. She was about to jump when she heard Ghost, “Hey you think I can make this?” Her thoughts momentarily paused as she spotted Ghost peering over the edge at her with Spark flitting around them. “If you need to ask me that then probably- Ghost?”
Rapid footsteps could be heard after their mask disappeared from view. Moments later Ghost leap toward the second island. Their arm barely able to even brush the rocks on the side. They fell. They had stiffened midair as they realized they wouldn’t make it. The swift turn they made made it impossible to safely reach an unnoticed platform below the second island. They tried to reach out to the lower platform between the islands, and was met with air. A splash followed by their agonized screech from void being torn apart, burned to nothing, nearly blocked out Myla’s panicked scream of their name as their sight went black.
‘Since when was that farther platform there? Oh shard- they just- they- f-fell in. They- that noise- was that them!? Where did they go? Is this water that dangerous?? WHAT DO I DO???’ Her panicked thoughts were interrupted as both Lumaflies flew into her then back toward where the Baldur was. Where Ghost lay curled up trembling slightly while their colors occasionally flickered to black. “Ghost!” She quickly made her way back to them as they slowly sat up. “Oh gem- are-are you okay!?” they tried to rise to a kneel before collapsing into her from a flash of white pain “I- oh void, I... th-think so..? I’ve... n-never been in that much p-pain before.” “We are j-just exploring, th-theres no n-need for us to rush. We can just ch-chill here for a b-bit, r-right guys?” Ghost slowly looked up in confusion before seeing Silver land on her shoulder. They felt Spark gently land on their mask and softly hiss before laying his wings flat. “That... that, s-sounds nice.”
Myla stared out across the death lake. ‘We barely even left the Crossroads... heck! I can still see it! It’s only going to get harder from here... I know they’ve dealt with stuff before but... can we really do this?’ S he sighed and looked down at the sleeping bug who now had both Lumaflies atop their mask as they slept. ‘At least they’re okay, well- kind of. I should keep watch to make sure nothing tries to sneak up on us. I don’t think either of us could really handle if the other gets hurt again... what would’ve happened if I fell in..?’