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droughtale · 2 years

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Daily Routine (Droughtale)

Okay this is the most fucked thing anybody in our system has ever written. This was written by our headmate Weniviere (she/her).

If you’ve seen this drawing, you’re well aware that Lily was captured by a flower named Echo. How and why she was kidnapped will be revealed through Celest’s journey, but the point being is that she has been stuck with them for around twelve years by the time Celest has come.

This takes place seven years into that (five years before Celest’s arrival.) And this will not be a fun thing to read by any means.

Mega TW: Rape/sexual abuse. The main actions are not detailed, but are highly referenced/implied. There is two moments written in detail, one of which is forced-kissing and the other is non-consentual hickeys. Other triggering content includes psychological torture, stockholm syndrome, masochism (as a trauma response/coping method), disassociation/derealization, manipulation, dehumanization, degrading, forced labor/slavery, starvation, mentioned suicide/self-harm, and references to physical torture.

Theres also the consumption of blood, but...this is droughtale. Its all about a drought and thirst. Don’t think we need to explain much further there.

Note: “Echline” is basically echoflower blood. It’s the juices inside of echoflowers. In our AUs, it causes temporary paralyzation when drank. It also is hydrating to drink and good for cleaning (similar to hand-sanitizer.)

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Lily could say with confidence she had adjusted to her newly assigned routine.

It had only been a month since the schedule had changed, but Master had been patient, understanding that she needed re-conditioning. For that, she felt grateful, as it meant that punishments for slipping up were more merciful.

More than anything, Lily was excited . As terrifying and dizzying as the last few weeks had been for her, she could honestly say that she was becoming not only skilled in her newly assigned tasks, but was adjusting to the change of pace quickly and efficiently. She couldn’t help but feel pleased with herself, which was a nice and extremely rare feeling to experience so early in the morning.

Over the last seven years, it had grown far less often that such feelings of pride rose up in her chest and squeezed at her lungs. She welcomed the feeling with desperate, open arms – anything to drown out the screaming noise in her head that had begun haunting her. It had started the day her body had been claimed, and seemed to only grow louder the longer she sat or lay still. But she wouldn’t be letting those voices abuse her today; not when she could force the pride she felt to yell louder.

Michael probably wouldn’t have been so proud. He probably would have felt disgusted with the confidence she felt in this. But it was no matter; he had yet to come back, and seeing as it had been weeks, she agonizingly had to admit he probably never would...

...But that was beside the point of the current matter. The current matter was that she get through her day flawlessly; no mistakes. No slip-ups. She was going to make Echo proud of her. Maybe even proud enough to receive a reward!

Oh, what would she be given? The options were all so wonderful, dancing around in her mind in an almost taunting manner. Food could never fail to bring her begging on her knees, even before it became such a limited treat. Her heart had always gone soft for food.

Her last reward had been four days ago; it was, of all excellent options her Master so generously kept for her, a bowl of mac and cheese. The flavorful cheddar made it easy to distract herself from the salty iron that stung on her taste-buds, from the blood the noodles had been cooked in. She basked in the memory of it; sweet, melty cheese, delightfully dancing on her tongue.

Echo had even said it was possible that she may be rewarded a cinnamon bunny if she continues being a polite and well-behaved pet, or an unspeaking prettied-up doll. She sure hoped that would be her reward today; she was going to persevere this with all her soul, if it offered even the slimmest of chances of her favorite treat blessing her tongue. Not to mention a bit of weight inside of her stomach.

She shook off her thoughts of food, smacking her face to snap out of the trance and get out of bed. It wasn’t hard enough to leave a mark – she knew far too well that Echo did not take kindly do hurting herself, even when it’s an accident. When and how she physically suffered was a privilege owned by them, and them alone.

Sitting up on her mattress, she glanced at the clock above the metal door. It read 5:30 AM – perfect. Thirty minutes to prepare herself as best she could. The newly found schedule had thrown off her sleep, due to her body’s readjustments to her new physical duties...but it was no bother. It’s not as if sleep would rid her of the exhaustion she felt by the end of the day. She just hoped that this time, the aching sorrow squeezing her soul would be worth it.

She got out of bed, ignoring the sound of cracking bones, and the shivers of pain they sent through her as they snapped in her body; bone rubbing into bone, or piercing and jabbing muscle and skin. It was a delightful experience, and she wished she had time to press on every tortured spot on her body, so she could feel that pleasurable ache that rocked through her when she did, leaving her gasping and whimpering. Every wound and strain put on her was but a symbol of Master’s care for her; the dedication and effort they put into training her.

Realizing she had already spent four minutes just getting out of bed, she knew she needed to quicken her pace if she were to be ready for her Master’s awakening. Hurriedly, she fixed the sheets on her bed, fluffing the pillow and folding the blanket neatly. By the time she was sure that the bed would be to Echo’s liking, she had used up yet another three minutes of precious time.

Lily knelt down to browse through the clothes Echo had provided the night before. They were folded neatly by her mattress, which made her cheeks go warm with a blush – it was not often that they folded her clothes for her. It was a kindness she had earned, and she wished she could boast it to the world.

The clothes chosen were a lot more covering than what she had grown to expect the past few weeks. Instead of a bikini or lingerie, she was provided with a skirt and loose crop-top. Both of which, of course, were made of fabrics colored Echoflower blue. Lily couldn’t help the excitement that pounded in her damaged heart – it had been weeks since she had worn something so comfortable!

Her collar and a bag of Echline wipes were neatly placed out as well. It was evident what day she would be having; a pet day. She much preferred to be a pet. Toy-days were agonizing in comparison, as she was forced to sit or lie paralyzed and helpless as Echo played with her however they so desired.

Often times, on toy days, she had no choice but to get lost in the pool of her unwanted thoughts, sinking in them until she couldn’t see any light leaking through the waves and currents; when everything turned dark and muffled. Her head and soul grew tight the deeper she sank, feeling as though they’d pop from the pressure. The pressure would grow stronger, and stronger, crashing into her and tugging at her insides, constricting her until she exploded from it. It was only after that release that she could escape the wretched water that had spread throughout her mind.

She shook her head. Dwelling on it right then was a waste of time. She picked up the wipes, carefully getting to work cleaning her body as best and thoroughly she could in such short time. She couldn’t help but whimper at the way it stung and burned whenever it brushed over the cuts on her skin; like hand sanitizer on an open wound. She couldn’t tell if the pain provided relieving bliss or if she was in psychological misery.

Wiping off the remains of the previous day’s bedtime-routine was the hardest part of her morning cleaning. It always dried on her skin overnight, making it a struggle to peel off. She was extra careful to not let any of the seeds fall and get lost on the floor; Echo would be furious if flowers were to grow in her room, especially if it were due to her own incompetence.

But the most difficult part of it wasn’t how well it stuck to her skin, or how careful she had to be not to make a mess. It was the mental warfare that reigned in her mind, as she fought against her body’s natural urges. Seeing the result of Echo’s pleasure, coated in the space between her thighs...it forced her to bite down the bile rising in her throat, swallowing hard and taking deep shaky breaths.

There was no time to cry; crying was best done at night, when it was all over. She had to keep her mind focused if she wanted to get through the day as peacefully as possible. So, she ignored the agonizing ache within her mind and soul, trying her hardest to focus only on the task at hand, rather than the feelings and thoughts trembling through her body.

It was ironic, in a way, that the results of Echo’s pleasure disgusted her so much...and yet their pleasure was exactly what she was aiming for today. Exactly what would get her a reward.

She felt so dirty, and sticky, and marked. And it hurt – not the physical soreness of being used so roughly, no, that’s not what hurt her. It hurt that she was being used at all . It hurt that she was no longer a person in Monsters’ eyes. She was many things; a murderer, the cause of the drought, a toy, a doll, a human pet, a personal slave. But not a person. Never a person.

And now, the only one she had left in the Underground that treated her as a living being was gone. She wondered if he stopped seeing her livelihood that day. Maybe seeing her get repurposed in such a perverted way disgusted him to the point where he wanted no part in it. No part in her life. She wondered if her parents would think that way too, if they were to see what had become of her.

It took every fiber of strength in her soul to blink back the tears gathering in her eye, and to calm her shaky breaths.

Once she finished cleaning herself thoroughly, she put the dirty wipes back in the bag they came in, tucking it in the corner and glancing at the clock. She only had seven minutes to get dressed. Not the best amount of time, but it would make-do. She really needed to get quicker at wash-up, but that was something that would take practice and experience, both of which she was still lacking in.

She carefully slipped into the skirt and crop-top, twirling and giggling joyfully. She liked the way the skirt swayed against her body. It had been so long since she’d last worn one, and she was so grateful Echo had chosen it for her today. It had been quite some months since she had felt this cute! Not to mention comfortable.

She clicked her collar into place, adjusting it so her name-tag was in the right spot. As always, it was tight against her throat, squeezing the rope-burns on her neck uncomfortably. It choked ever-so-lightly, but was nothing she couldn’t handle; nothing compared to when Echo’s vines or roots were lodged in her throat, creeping down into her lungs. If she had learned to breathe through that, then she wouldn’t allow a simple collar to bother her.

The clock struck 6AM, and the alarm rang. It sounded of bells, crashing together in a cry of warning. A sound of alert, which made her ears ring and her head feel dizzy.

She dropped down in front of the door, adjusting her body to be kneeling submissively. In her head, she began to count to thirty, trying to drown out the blaring alarm blasting through her eardrums. It was when she reached twenty-eight seconds that the metal door clicked open, and the alarm automatically turned off.

Echo’s vines slipped through the cracks of the door, gently pulling it open the rest of the way. Their mouth turned upwards into a grin upon spotting her, to which she could feel her heart pound and soul tremble.

“Why good morning, my sweet sunflower!~” they paused, giving her a chance to respond...after several seconds of silence, their smile turned more genuine, and their voice became a satisfied whisper, “Oh, what a good girl! Speak.”

She tries to keep the pride bubbling in her chest from creeping into her voice, but some of it slipped through despite her best efforts, “Good morning, Master...!”

“Oh my! Someone is in a good mood. How delightful,” they chuckled, offering a vine to her,

“Stand. It's time for some breakfast. I sure am hungry!”

Lily nodded, standing and gently taking their vine into her hand, to which it snaked its way around her arm, tracing a flower-pattern repeatedly on her shoulder. She shivered at the sensation; even after so many times experiencing it, she was unsure if it was pleasurable or repulsive.

She tried to ignore the aching in her stomach, begging for its own fill. She would eat later. She just had to do well today. Her hunger wouldn’t go unrewarded, not today.

“I think this is a pancake morning, don’t you?” they asked, in a sweet and curious tone, as they led her through the living room and into the kitchen (which also doubled as a dining room.) Lily tried to ignore the desperate ache in her stomach, as it growled yearningly at the mention of food.

“I will eat later,” she thought insistently to herself, “My efforts won’t go unrewarded this time. I will be fed today. I will. I just need to be strong. I just need to be obedient. I need to keep being a good girl.”

She nodded, forcing a smile. Echo either didn’t notice the force behind it, or was amused by the strain, because they made no annoyed comment.

Upon reaching the kitchen, Echo let go of her arm, settling in at the dining table, petals twitching. She glanced at the clock. 6:04 AM. She had fifty-six minutes at most, but it was best to be done before 6:30 if she wanted to avoid boring Echo. Boring them always led to negative consequences; not punishments, just...uncomfortable behaviors.

She had made pancakes enough times to remember every ingredient, without using one of her three lifelines. She hoped not to use any lifelines during her cooking today. If she was able to succeed without asking for assistance, she may receive an extra reward – and that was a chance she just couldn’t pass up, especially when she felt ready to collapse at any moment from the emptiness of her stomach. In fact, the thought of a meal was quite literally the only thing that gave her the strength and will to stay conscious and on her feet.

The first thing she did was turn on the stove, at a low setting. She had learned very quickly just how important heating the stove was, back when she was first being trained. It heated up much slower than any of the stoves on the surface did – likely because most Monsters’ preferred cooking with fire magic than some stovetop. Back then, she had turned it on after preparing the ingredients...she had panicked, begging for It to heat up faster, as the clock ticked down.

She could still remember it in vivid detail. The vines pinning her to the stovetop, the skin of her back and chest pressed against the slowly heating metal, the smell and sensation burning and boiling, the feeling of Echo’s teeth scraping into the melty skin that peeled easily and agonizingly off of her muscles, the feeling of their long slimy tongue sliding into the open wound, and-

She shook her head, snapping herself out of it before she fell too deeply to escape. That would not be happening again today. As far as she was concerned, it would never happen again. It had been seven years since then, and she had not slipped up once in that time. Her lesson was long since learnt.

Swiftly, she opened the cupboards, pulling out a cast-iron pan, a medium glass bowl, oil, flour, baking soda, and sugar, setting them neatly on the counter. Swiftly, she moved on to the fridge, gathering the containers of cooled blood and echline, and sliding them onto the counter as well. She could feel her Master’s eyes following her every move, and a familiar feeling settled in her chest – a feeling she could best describe as how rabbits must feel when stalked by wolves.

She pulled out every measuring cup and spoon she knew would be necessary, and grabbed a whisk. Even after all these years, it still annoyed her that they didn’t get an electrical mixer, as it would make the process of cooking and baking much easier for her frail arms...but the excuse they made, that it would waste electricity, seemed fair to her. They were on a limited supply, aside from the batteries and machinery that they managed to gather from the dump, and wasting that on such mundane things was understandable to avoid.

By the time she had measured, poured, and whisked the batter together, it was 6:11. She slid each dish she had used aside, stacking them to be cleaned later, before preparing the cast-iron pan with some oil and pouring 1/3rds of the pancake-batter into it. Behind her, Echo whistled in an impressed manner.

“You’re moving fast today, arent’ya? What a good girl. I might give you a treat!~”

Lily felt her face heat up, both from the compliment and the excitement of receiving a reward. She didn’t say anything in response – she wasn’t supposed to, unless told to speak – however, she did turn her head to smile gratefully in their direction. Their eyes lit up at her smile, and they licked their lips, smirking pridefully. It made her heart race, seeing that look on their face...though she wasn’t sure if it was racing in a good way.

She hastily turned back to her cooking, flipping the pancake to let the other side cook. Once it was finished, she swiftly grabbed a plate from the nearby shelf, and scooped it onto there. She repeated this process with the rest of the batter, ending up with three large pancakes in total. The time was 6:27.

She drizzled some of the refrigerated blood atop, much like one would do with syrup, before grabbing a fork, knife, and napkins and swiftly serving Echo their breakfast.

“Good girl!” Echo exclaimed, clapping their vines proudly, “Come sit with me when you’re done.”

Lily nodded obediently. She could feel her hands trembling – the anxiety that had been building in her gut seemed to be finally taking effect – but she didn’t let it disrupt her as she put the ingredients back in their respective spaces. It took only around three minutes to complete, as she didn’t need to do the dishes or clean the counters until later, and she felt relieved to have this part of her morning routine finished.

Carefully and cautiously, Lily climbed into Echo’s embrace, closing her eye in exhaustion, as she felt their icy-cold vines curling around her body. It wasn’t often that she was allowed to sit at the table – the floor was where she was typically assigned – so she knew that the fruits of her labor were already beginning to pay off.

Slowly, she could feel their vines creep around the bare skin of her waist and stomach, squeezing firmly, but not quite uncomfortably. She pressed her ear into Echo’s stocky chest, listening to the sounds of their breathing and swallowing, as they helped themself to their meal.

“Mmm~! It’s quite delicious, sunflower. You sure know how to treat a fella like me, dontcha?”

One of their vines traced against her cheek, firmly grabbing ahold of her chin and tilting her head upwards. She opened her eye, aware that they wanted her to look. Their gaze had a predatory lust, their grin reeking of danger. But she knew they wouldn’t take it too far; not so early in the morning, when it would leave her exhausted for the rest of the day. No, they always saved the worst of it for evening, when her duties had been completed...or while she was still completing her duties, as a test of her focus.

They leaned forward, and she did too, knowing fighting was futile. Her mouth met theirs, and their tongue snaked its way around hers, slimy and invasive as it squirmed around her mouth. It tasted of blood, which immediately forced her to fight the urge to gag...but underneath that wretched flavor was the sweetness of the pancakes, which her stomach howled and ached painfully at, and her tastebuds tingled excitedly. It made her kissing more enthusiastic; she would do anything for more of that tasteful delight. Her body screamed at her desperately; begging, pleading for her to provide it with substance of any kind. But she had nothing to give except for a lingering aftertaste of a meal that wasn’t her own.

After several minutes of this, Echo broke the kiss. Their face and petals glowed pink with pleasure. She could feel that her face was heated, too, but not from attraction of any kind. No, her face was hot with humiliation, as shame spread through her, and settled uncomfortably in her soul. She felt so perverted. So dirty. But no tears escaped her eye, despite how badly she yearned to sob. She couldn’t exhaust herself with tears; not if she wanted to have energy to spare later.

“What an enthusiastic pet you’ve become! I see you are beginning to enjoy yourself. I knew you would. You just needed some time to accept it!” they swooned, winking at her. Their taunting teases made her heart pound, aching with each beat. She could tell that they could see her self-hate...and she could tell it aroused them, as well. But they made no comment on it, simply returning their attention to their breakfast.

A few minutes later, they finished their meal. Their grip on her grew loose enough for her to get out without any trouble. She did exactly that, slipping out of their lap, before collecting the dishes on the table and stacking them on the counter for later cleaning.

Echo stretched as they got out of their seat. Lily knew all too well what was next on the schedule; she could feel the pressure rising inside of her, her lungs constricting as panic bubbled its way through her veins. She was hyperventilating, gasping for breath.

Echo scooped her into their vines, cradling her softly as they moved out of the kitchen, back through the living room and down into the hall. They spoke in a soft adoring tone, of which she assumed was supposed to soothe her, but only made her heart race faster.

“Shhh...it’ll be alright, my precious sunflower. Remember, I will only be gone a few hours. It’s for your own good, my sweet pet. I wouldn’t want you hurting yourself, now, would I? Speak.”

She nuzzled her face into their vines, desperately wrapping her arms around their neck. She could feel her whole-body shivering in dread. Her voice came out shaky and meek; pathetic.

“...Hu-hurting m-myself would b-be selfish...”

Echo nodded, patting her back softly as they stopped in front of the closed door to the isolation room, “You remembered! Good girl. And why would it be selfish? Speak.”

“B-because i-it makes y-you f-feel unappreciated a-and...l-like y-you're a b-bad caretaker.”

Echo nodded once more, whispering “good girl” under their breath as they set her down in the corner of the hallway. They used their small roots to pick the lock of the nearby supply closet (they preferred that over keys, as Lily had stolen the keys before). They went inside for a moment, humming to themself before pulling out handcuffs, a neck-brace, and a helmet with a face cage.

They shut and re-locked the door, gesturing for Lily to stand. She did so obediently, though her knees felt so weak that it was difficult to keep her balance. Echo seemed to take notice of this, gently holding her still as they put her hands behind her back and cuffed them.

“Oh, sunflower, you know it brings me no joy leaving you here. But unfortunately, I have work to attend, and I cannot rely on you not to do something idiotic, can I? Don’t you know how worried I would be, to come home and find you have run away, or worse, decided to end your life? I would be all alone again, with nobody to love me...”

Guilt weighed on Lily’s soul at the look of sadness that settled on her master’s face. She wanted nothing more than to hug them and kiss them. To caress their petals and whisper words of reassurance. But she had not been given permission to do so, so she just...stared at them empathetically.

Carefully, Echo slipped the helmet on her head, clipping it into place. She still remembered when it had become a routine part of isolation; when they had caught her bashing her head into the wall, bloodied and hardly conscious. It was an attempt to get the noises blasting from every end of the room to shut up. She had felt overwhelmed and disoriented, as the room always made her feel. All she could think at the time was that if her head was broken, the sounds would stop. But Echo had found her before she had taken it too far, and now made sure it wouldn’t happen again. The neck brace had been added as an extra measure, to be sure that she didn’t find a way to snap her neck.

Echo carefully removed Lily’s collar. However, before slipping on the neck brace, they leaned in and scraped their teeth teasingly against her neck, nibbling at it softly. A shudder of pleasure ran down her spine, and she couldn’t stop the whimper that escaped her throat.

Echo sucked the skin fondly, tracing their tongue along the vertebrae of her neck. She could feel herself melting into the wall behind her, and her already weak knees gave out. Echo just laughed adoringly, pulling back and admiring the flush on her face, as she stared up at them helplessly on the ground. Her heart was racing so hard that it made her nauseous.

“Awww~! What a sensitive girl you are,” they swooned joyously, as they carefully slipped the

brace around her neck, opening the door to the isolation room, “Now, head on inside, sunflower. We can pick up on that after my work and your chores, hm? Speak.”

“...Y-yes, Master...”

“Excellent girl.”

And with that, she crawled her way in (which was rather difficult to do with her hands behind her back), and watched as the door slid shut behind her, clicking as it locked.

She laid on the hard metal floor, shivering from the cold. At least she had more clothes on than any of the previous days this month, making the chilled room a bit more bearable. Still, it wasn’t anywhere close to as comfortable as the attire she used to be allowed, but she doubted Echo would ever allow her to return to that now.

She closed her eye and concentrated on slowing her breathing. She had found that if she could fall asleep before the noise began, then not only would she be able to get some extra rest and energy, but she would also sleep through isolation altogether. More often than not, though, she was incapable of drifting off in time, too panicked to put her mind at enough ease, and was forced to suffer through the next ten hours drowning in noise that made her feel like ripping into her skin and tearing out her hair.

This torment was nothing new, of course; she had experienced this on a daily for the last seven years, ever since she was captured. But despite that, it was one form of suffering she couldn’t seem to get used to, despite how often she was exposed to it. Perhaps it was because she couldn’t hear her own thoughts – or form any thoughts at all – with all the noises blaring in her ears. Or maybe it was because of how small the room was; how small the room made her feel, as if the walls were closing in on her, and she was being suffocated.

But more likely than anything else, it was probably because she was forced to listen to the most shameful and traumatic recordings of her own voice for every second of every hour she was isolated. Recordings of her screams, cries, and whimpers. Her pleading words and desperate begging. Recordings of words she was forced to say; words she knew her loved ones would be disgusted to hear coming from her mouth. And over the last month, it had become even more torturous; sounds of moans and gasping, of dirty pleas, and shuddering breaths.

It was all a reminder of what she deserved. Of her failures. Of the punishments she had earned. Of the disappointment she had caused for Echo. Of how unworthy she is. And it was not something she wished to dwell on, especially for so long.

Her soul shuddered in desperation and perseverance; she would sleep. She needed to sleep. Sleep before it begins. Sleep before it’s too late. She wouldn’t let it torment her today. She just needed to shut off her mind…

Next thing she knew, she was being softly shaken awake by bright blue vines. Relief and delight swelled in her chest. She had actually managed to fall asleep – had actually managed to sleep through the mind-numbing torment that would have ripped her into a mess of confusion and loneliness; of screaming, and blurs of colors, and desperation.

Her luck was extremely high that day, and she couldn’t have been more thankful.

Her hands were uncuffed and her helmet and brace had been removed. They clicked her collar back onto her neck, adjusting it in place. Once they had finished that, she hugged her Master, planting kisses of joy on each and every one of their petals. Echo chuckled at her enthusiasm, blushing at the affection.

“My, my, somebody is happy to see me! What a sweet girl...I see you slept while I was gone.”

Insecurity and fear twisted in her stomach. Would they be mad about that? Did they want her to stay awake the whole time? It was only now hitting her that this was the first time they had ever caught her sleeping here. She had never been told not to sleep here, but she also hadn’t been given permission to. She should have asked, she should have checked, she was going to be punished, they were going to bring her to the chamber, or the cooler, or the machine, she wasn’t ready for it, wasn’t prepared, she wasn’t, she wasn’t-

She was only pulled out of her train of thoughts when they hugged her firmly, and soothingly began to rub her back. She didn’t realize it, but she had begun hyperventilating; had begun slipping into a panic attack.

“Shhhh...oh my sunflower, it’s quite alright. There is nothing wrong with getting some rest while you are here. I could never be frustrated with you over something like that. As long as it is not disrupting your sleep-schedule, alright? Breathe.”

Lily obeyed, taking deep shuddering breaths in, and exhaling them softly. In her head, she repeated the same phrases over and over, until the instinctual panic within her subsided.

“They aren’t angry. I did nothing wrong. I am okay.”

Once she had calmed again, Echo straightened themself out, getting up and offering a vine to her. She took it without hesitation, stroking her fingers against the smooth and fuzzy surface.

“Now, now, I need you to get to work tidying up the house. Will you do that for me? Speak.”

“Yes, Master. I will do anything to make you happy.”

It was a trick question, seeing as she didn’t have a choice either way. But she knew exactly what they wanted to hear. Their petals fluttered happily, and they pulled her out of the isolation room, shutting the door behind her and picking the lock to the closet door once again, to put away the supplies she had just been wearing.

“Oh, what a fantastic girl you are~! So well-behaved today. Go on now and get your work completed, my flower. You will come see me in my bedroom when you are done, yes?”

She nodded obediently, well aware of the routine. Echo chuckled, patting her head.

“Good,” they said, voice husky and filled with yearning, before heading off to their room.

Lily rushed through her chores as fast as possible. Dishes, laundry, gathering and taking care of trash (including the bag of used echline wipes from that morning,) wiping down tables and counters, sweeping, mopping, dusting. She kept a close eye on the clock, anxious with every minute that ticked down. It was 5:37 PM when she had begun her chores, and by the time she was done, it was 7:19. Luckily, there was never much to clean, seeing as she did this every day, so her focus was less on being thorough, and more on being quick.

She took a minute to catch her breath, wiping the sweat from her face and taking a quick trip to the restroom. Once she was done, she quickly wiped down the restroom as well, and swiftly headed towards Echo’s room.

She knocked on the door softly, to which they sing-song called back “cooomeee innn~!” They were laid across a yoga mat on the floor, face-down. She knew what to do; she was just waiting for the permission to do it.

“On your knees.”

She didn’t need to be told twice.

“Good girl~ now help an old fella out, won't you? My vines are feeling so tight after today’s work.”

She began massaging their vines. She knew exactly how much pressure to apply – where to touch, where to avoid, where to rub, where to push. Their body vibrated with purrs, soft moans escaping their mouth as their petals flushed. They always seemed to enjoy this to an uncomfortable extent, of which made Lily’s mouth feel dryer than usual, and her arms feel tense. But, as she always did, she powered through it, spending around an hour taking care of all of their knots and tensions. When they finally gestured for her to stop, her arms were aching and trembling from how much work she had put them through the last few hours.

Slowly, Echo stretched, pulling themself up. She knew what was coming - #5 of her schedule, the last event before bedtime and any possible rewards. Horror, disgust, terror, dread – they all bubbled and boiled in her veins, crashing in hot waves through her heart and soul, as Echo slid their way out the door to check how well her chores had been done.

“Go wait on the bed, my pet...~ I will be there once I see how good of a girl you were.”

She did exactly that. She sat herself on the bed, staring at the blanket as tears built in her eye. She was shaking so heavily, the entire bed squeaked underneath her. She shut her eyelid tightly, feeling as though she had been punched in the gut, and decided to go into her happy space. The space in her mind that she had created when things were just too painful. When life was too scary; when she needed to suppress the memories and pretend all of what was happening was fake. Just a nightmare. Its just a nightmare.

Everything that happened for the next three hours was a foggy mess in her mind. She was crying and begging. Writhing and gasping. Pleasure and pain shot through her every move. She could hear them whispering and speaking words of praise. But the sensations were all she could process. The words and actions behind those sensations...they were just noise and color. Not real. It couldn’t be real.

It couldn’t be. Her mind wouldn’t acknowledge it as such. When it was finally over, the exhaustion and strain her body had been put through crashed down on her all at once, as the fog lifted from her mind. Her throat and lungs burned, like the very air she breathed was made of flames. Her legs were numb and useless. Her chest and stomach itched from the rubbing of vines against them. Her arms were sore from being bound and held above her head for so long. But most dreadfully, everything between her thighs ached from overstimulation...and was once again covered in a thick coating of

Echo’s pleasure, which she would have to clean the next morning. Her soul felt like it may tear itself apart from the psychological agony of what she had been put through. But her head – her emotions and thoughts – they just felt empty. Disconnected. Unable to connect with the reality of what she had just been subjected to. Echo spoke, but their words were all just muffled noise. They scooped her into their vines, carrying her off to the dining room, and it was only then that she finally processed a single thought.

“I get a reward.”

Excitement and pride dimly rose in the back of her head, as her stomach practically flipped in bliss. For the first time in four days, she had pleased them enough to be fed . She didn’t even care if they kept true to their word of giving her a cinnamon bunny – she just wanted something in her stomach. Something to prove that what she had done that day was worth it.

Vines gently held her head up as her tongue burst with the joy of sweet icing and cinnamon. It was so creamy, and soft, and sweet – so delightful, like a dream, like a piece of heaven blessing her through all of the hell she was just put through. She liked the way it melted on her tongue. She liked the way it stuck to her teeth. She liked the way it felt sliding down her throat, making its way to her underfed stomach.

The bliss of one was already so magical and dream-like, that when she was fed a second and third one, she felt as though she may faint from shock. She was in tears again, but for the first time that day, they weren’t of agony. They were of relief; pure, unbridled relief.

“I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you,” was all she could think. Whether that love was for the food or for Echo, she couldn’t quite tell; she just knew that having her starving, underweight body provided for made an overwhelming amount of love rush through her soul. When the food was finished, Echo carefully brushed and flossed her teeth, before bottle-feeding her echline to keep her hydrated and wash down her throat. Her body slowly fell limp as the paralyzing symptoms took effect.

She was taken to her bed and tucked in. Echo kissed her forehead, whispering a soft “Goodnight, Lily” as they headed out of the room to finish preparing for the next morning. Lily felt satisfied and proud; her day had been worth it, in the end.

By the time Echo had returned with the clothes and wipes for her next morning cleanup, she was long asleep.

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droughtale · 2 years

Text

Lily's Saga (Droughtale's Prologue)

Note: everything you will read about here is relevant to the plot. This is a six-chaptered mini-series we literally just finished writing the last chapter for, and it is the official prologue for Droughtale as a story.

Hope you enjoy!! Comments, likes, and (most importantly) reblogs are appreciated!!

PS: There is a lil bit of art sprinkled in towards the end. Four pieces of art in all hehe. So look forward to that~

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CHAPTER 1: Living A Nightmare

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Lily could say, with confidence she was sure no other human had, that she was never going to enjoy seaweed again. She could list with confidence over a thousand reasons why seaweed is the worst food to have disgraced the planet.

It is too salty. Too scratchy. Too dry. It makes you feel dehydrated. Even when it is wet, it sticks to your teeth. Sticks to your throat. Sticks to the singular piece of sanity you have left.

Sanity. Now that is a term she laughed at. What does sanity even mean?

But, of course, it’s the cheapest option. 50 cents at the gas station for a box of twenty. Not even noodles were as cheap as that, and it wasn’t like she had money to spare. She hadn’t even landed a fucking job, despite seemingly every damn place in the city being available for hire.

So, she begrudgingly bought it, along with the cheapest pack of water available. A quick snack that fills her stomach, even if it makes her want to throw herself into the road for the next passing car to smash her brains in.

She really should have thought it through when she decided to pay for herself. But how could she keep leeching off of her poor, elderly parents? They needed the money for their personal health and to buy that cabin in the woods they had always dreamed of. Its what they deserved, for being such loving and graceful people, towards both the strangers and neighbors around them, and towards their idiotic waste of a daughter.

God, why was she having an internal meltdown in the waiting room of some big-time company? Even if this interview went well, and she did land a job that let her afford better things to eat for breakfast and lunch (hell, maybe even for dinner), it was sure to be boring. Probably some mind-numbing office job no sane person would want to spend their free time on.

“Lilian Sephone?”

The voice of a young lady – probably in her early twenties, like Lily herself – snapped her out of her internal crisis. She shot to her feet, almost stumbling over herself (God, what a great first impression) and – of all things – saluted in her panic.

If God is real, he definitely didn’t bless her today.

“E-eheh- that’s me!” she exclaimed, awkwardly switching her salute to a head-scratch.

The lady raised an eyebrow, chuckling, “I will assume you are nervous? Well, don’t be! This interview should be rather short. Four questions long, actually!”

That, to say the least, took Lily by surprise. What kind of job only asked four questions? Regardless, she decided to give a shot. Anything to stop eating that damn seaweed. So, she nervously shrugged (what kind of response is that, anyways?) as she followed the lady into the office for her interview.

Reluctantly, she fumbled her way into the seat across from the interviewer, and smiled awkwardly, showing off her stupid braces and goofy teeth. God, she probably looked like the dumbest dork of all time. This interview was going splendid.

“Alrightie! Before I ask you the actual questions, I need to confirm the information that you gave me online, just so I know I do not need .”

“O-Okay!” Lily responded, probably forcing herself to sound a little too enthusiastic. The interviewer didn’t seem to mind.

“Your name is spelled L-I-L-L-I-A-N S-E-P-H-O-N-E. However, you prefer the nickname Lily?” she asked, staring down at a device that was built into the table. Lily would have been more intrigued if she weren’t so distracted by the question.

She could barely even remember applying for this job online. In fact, she didn’t recall ever applying. But that was probably just her exhausted college brain, considering she applied to many jobs online. Its not like they would have reached out to her to come in if she hadn’t applied first, anyways.

“Y-yes, that’s correct,” she cleared her throat, trying to stop the tremble in her voice. The lady smiled, pushing her glasses up her nose and a strand of her black hair behind her ear.

“Great! And you also said you are unemployed and are taking classes at the local university?”

Lily, for some reason, was beginning to feel creeped out. Its not like she had any reason to. These were probably being asked for scheduling purposes…but the way the lady was staring at her, the intensity in her eyes…it made Lily’s heart race.

“Yes. I am unemployed and am taking classes at Ebott University,” she laughs, probably as a fear-response, “how many other things did I say online?”

The interviewer leaned forward, just enough to make Lily uncomfortable, but not enough to be openly creepy. “Just that. Are you ready for the actual interview?”

Lily nodded, just wanting this to be done as quickly as possible. She really could go for some quiet time by the lake after this.

“Fantastic!” the lady clears her throat, making eye contact with Lillian, “Do you have any disabilities, disorders, or other conditions we should be aware of?”

An understandable question. They cared for her health (or at least wanted it to seem like they did, on the outside.) So why did it make her feel personally invaded?

“I have diagnosed depression and social anxiety, but nothing that should keep me from working hard, Ma’am.”

The lady laughed in response, “well, thank you for telling me! Are you on any medication or have any medical accommodations we should be aware of?”

“I am on Fluoxetine. 60 milligrams total, ma’am.”

The lady began typing on the device, probably keeping note of it, in case she passed the interview. Lily laughed awkwardly, impulsively splurting out, “Hope being mentally ill isn’t a dealbreaker!” The immediate embarrassment that hit her was soul-crushing, but the lady just laughed, shaking her head lightly.

“It may cause difficulties, but it definitely isn’t a dealbreaker of any sorts! Only two more questions left! Hope that isn’t too overwhelming for you,” she joked in response, to which Lily forced a laugh. This place really pulled every lever of discomfort for her. She couldn’t wait to leave the building and probably never come back.

“Do you live alone?”

The calm way of which she asked such a stalkerish question made Lily’s entire body shudder with goosebumps. It was such an unnatural and unnecessary question to ask a potential employee. Why would that be any of their business?

Lily wasn’t having this. She stood up, shoving the chair away, her instinct to flee stronger than her internalized manners.

“I-…I’m sorry, I don’t think- I’ve changed my mind- thank you for the opportunity, but-“

She tried to open the door. To her dismay, it was locked. The terror building in her chest caused her to begin hyperventilating, tears building in her vision. She wanted out and she wanted it now.

“Lily, you must calm down. This is by no means meant to be an uncomfortable conversation for you, but-“

“No, no, GET ME OUT, I WANT OUT! HELP!” she screamed, voice cracking in desperation. She was sure now, positive from the deepest depths of her soul that she did not ever apply here. They tricked her, they knew she was applying for jobs, and they lured her in- was it a cult? A sex-trafficking ring? She should have paid more attention, this building was clearly a façade, it was clearly made to look appealing to lure her in.

The woman approached. She screamed louder, begging God himself to save her.

The woman’s hand reached out towards her arm, brushing against her skin-

…

Lily awoke in tears, drenched in sweat. The taste of seaweed rested bitterly on her tongue, her throat feeling awfully dry.

Why did she keep having nightmares like that? Always a different person, in a different scenario, somehow finding their way to her. A date. A stranger at a coffee shop. A “new student” at college. And now, an interviewer.

They always came in nightmares related to her real life struggles. But she just couldn’t understand why she was having nightmares like that. She had never been stalked, harassed, or anything like it. Her life had been conveniently normal, asides from that strange sense of Déjà vu that seemed to haunt her constantly. But something as strangely useless as Déjà vu definitely didn’t warrant nightmares like that.

Perhaps, it was something she needed to contact a doctor over. Perhaps, she just needed to hear gentle reassurances from her parents over the phone.

She hopped out of bed. Perhaps starting her day early would ease her mind.

Her chest filled with warmth. Today would be better. She was determined for it to be.

======================================

CHAPTER 2: Whispers

======================================

Lily had never quite understood it when people said they had inner monologues. A voice inside of someones head sounded like an oddity to her; an abnormality that crazy people had.

She had never once experienced any voice in her head. And, originally, she had assumed if she did it would be her own voice.

So it was quite reality-wrenching when the voice of a child echoed in her mind. All the more terrifying that she could only just barely make it out, like a whisper in the distance. It was so faint, in fact, that she couldn’t even understand what it was saying to her. Or maybe it wasn’t even talking to her; maybe it was talking to itself, or someone else.

She had been terrified. The nightmares she had been having lately rang in her heart like alarm bells, and she could feel her heart pounding so hard that she (irrationally) feared it would break out of her chest.

She searched every room in her house expecting a hidden intruder. She checked the outside of her apartment at least forty times. She climbed the roof (to which her neighbors yelled, but she was too paranoid to care). She checked all her devices to see if a recording or video was playing somewhere. She ripped open her ceiling and floor boards, unscrewed lightbulbs and opened couch cushions, expected something, ANYTHING to reveal where the noise was coming from.

And then, only when she yelled out a frightful (and, to be honest, somewhat pissed) “WHO ARE YOU?!” did the voice abruptly stop. As if it really was a child, startled into silence.

It didn’t restart for the rest of the day. Nor did it begin again the next morning, after she failed to sleep.

Lily got herself a cup of her emergency coffee (only to be drank during the most important of times, as to save money) and grabbed her car keys, ready to surprise her psychiatrist with an extra visit.

She could use the counseling over spending her day in class anyways. One day missing from her college record wouldn’t destroy her future. Insanity would, though.

======================================

CHAPTER 3: Stir-Fry

======================================

“Schizophrenia: A mental disorder that affects a person's ability to think, feel, and behave clearly through hallucinations, delusion, paranoia, or a combination of these factors. Antipsychotics may work as treatment.”

Lily couldn’t stop re-reading that paragraph on her phone screen. It felt as though it were taunting her; laughing and mocking her for her confusion.

It just didn’t make sense. The words felt meaningless to her, confusing and contradicting. Her psychiatrist just…didn’t understand it when he had suggested it as a possibility. He didn’t understand just how detrimental the implications of this were to her life.

Now, Lily had nothing against people with schizophrenia. She herself had mental illnesses. But she already had too much on her plate, dammit!

But at the same time, it would explain so much. It would explain the paranoia, and the nightmares, and that voice that she could only hear in moments of dead silence.

Voice? More like voices. It always changed between sounding like a little kid, to a grown adult, and the occasional garbled sounds of what she could only assume was a drowning demon.

The part that bothered her was that she couldn’t make out a damn thing the person – or people – were even saying. She wouldn’t be so paranoid and anxious all the time if she knew they were discussing dinner or their day at work. For all she knew, the voices were planning genocide or arson!

No, no. This is stupid. The voices aren’t real. The psychiatrist is right; you probably are suffering from yet another mental illness.

She took a deep breath. In and out. At least the voices weren’t speaking right now. At least she had some kind of explanation to turn back on when all of life wishes to tear her to pieces. She took a sip of the iced tea her psychiatrist had so kindly bought her during their meet-up at the Café earlier that afternoon. The sweet lavender flavor blessed her tastebuds and helped her relax further.

Setting down her cup, she stood up to walk to her kitchen. No seaweed right now; she deserved to treat herself to a stir-fry. She opened the freezer, welcoming the cool breeze. It felt good. Reminded her of her childhood of sneaking popsicles during the night. Damn, were those popsicles good, and damn was she a brat. She really should have obeyed her parents more.

No time to dwell on it, though. She pulled out frozen peas, carrots, and green beans. Sure, they wouldn’t be as tasty as fresh veggies kept in the fridge, but…those veggies would go bad sooner, and she didn’t have the money to afford that.

She set the frozen veggies on the counter, moving on to open up the cupboard and pull out some noodles to boil. As she reached for the nearest box, though, a peculiar feeling arose in her chest. Her heart felt as though it was slowing.

Her eyes rolled into the back of her head, her vision going white, before-

…

She woke up with a start, yelping and slamming her head against the bar of her bed. Rapidly, she looked every which direction.

No, no, no! This didn’t make any sense! There was no nightmare! She never went to bed! How did she even get here?

She sprang out of bed, rushing to the kitchen. If she had somehow fallen asleep and made it to bed, that would mean she left out her frozen veggies and tea!

…The counters were bare. Perhaps she never actually got out veggies? Perhaps, she had fallen asleep before that, and drowsily walked to bed, before dreaming of eating because of her hunger? That would mean her tea would be on the table, though…

The table was bare, too, for everything except her phone. It just didn’t make sense. She yanked it up, opening it with her finger print, and pulling up the internet. When nothing but Google showed up, she decided to see her search history.

The last thing it said she had searched was “jobs hiring near me.” There wasn’t a single trace of her browsing of schizophrenia. Not any evidence of her searches for medication. Not any evidence of all the blogs she read by schizophrenics describing their experiences. Nothing, nothing, there was just fucking NOTHING!

She collapsed onto the couch, burying her face in her hands. She wanted so badly to bash her head in. A headache was already forming, anyways.

…

Wait, no. This had to be the nightmare. Not all the other stuff. Clearly, she had passed out while getting the noodles, and now she’s dreaming! All she has to do is wake up.

“Wake up,” Lily murmured, “please, please, wake up. Wake up, wake up, wake up. I have food to make. I have things to read. Just wake up.”

She closed her eyes, waiting. Nothing but silence. Who knows how long she kept her eyes shut for; a minute? Ten minutes? An hour? She didn’t even care. She was terrified she would open them, and be somewhere even worse than before. That she would open them, and all those people stalking her in her nightmares would be surrounding her.

But, as her stomach grew more and more desperate, growling in hunger, she could take it no longer. She opened her eyes, the light of the open windows blurring her vision. Her eyes slowly adjusted and…

…Nothing had changed.

…

Lily couldn’t stop herself from sobbing.

“Maybe,” she thought, “I am crazier than I thought.”

She hoped someone could hear the cries and drag her out of this mind-twisting purgatory. In fact, that’s exactly what she needed. Someone to talk to.

She grabbed her phone, and began to dial the number of her parents'.

======================================

CHAPTER 4: Haunted

Disclaimer/note: The part about Soul-Conjoinment is PURELY MADE UP for the context of Undertale, but all other forms of plurality mentioned (DID, OSDD, UDD, Endogenic) are REAL things. Please PLEASE do not treat them as fiction! Only the soul conjoinment is fictional!

Also, keep in mind that its like…2430, which is 400~ years ahead of us, so society has become generally more accepting. Ableist/racist/queerphobic assholes are WAY less common.

======================================

Lily scoffed down her newly-cooked stir fry and drank more of her emergency coffee. Despite the fact that she had mysteriously awoken in bed earlier, she still felt exhausted.

How many days had she missed of college? One day? No days? A week? She couldn’t tell. She didn’t even care to tell. She couldn’t sit in those classrooms, in those hard chairs that made her back and bottom ache, and act as if everything were normal right now. No, right now, she needed some solace. Some evidence that she was still alive and in reality.

As she ate and searched on her phone, she began falling down a rabbit hole she wasn’t sure she was fond of. She clicked on an article recently published by a popular psychologist.

“Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID): a condition in which ones mind forms alternate identities, typically to cope with traumatic events. These identities may have their own names, ages, genders, sexual orientations, races, appearances, and may even have memories of ‘other lives’ they have lived. Dissociation, time loss, and memory loss may occur upon switching control of the body.

Certain forms of OSDD (Otherwise Specified Dissociative Disorder) or UDD (Unspecified Dissociative Disorder) may also result in plurality. Non-disordered plurality (also known as “Endogenic Systems”) are still being researched.”

God, she did not want to have other people in her body. Perhaps that were offensive to plural people out there, but its not like she was judging them. She just didn’t want it to be happening to her specifically.

Then, in the recommended articles, she saw one titled “Soul Conjoinment: Fictional or Historical?”

Despite her anxiety of what it may entail, she clicked on it.

She had heard of souls once before; her Grandpa had told her all about her great-great-great-grandparents, and how they fought in “the war of Humans and Monsters.”

Apparently, souls are supposed to provide magic of some kind. And apparently that magic could only be activated in humans, by being around Monsters, because they were “made of magic” or something along those lines. She couldn’t remember it all in detail. She just knew that “true magicians do not exist anymore” because of the monsters being locked away.

Frankly, she didn’t believe him, even as a child, because no history books ever mentioned monsterkind. But according to him, any mention of Monsters and Magicians were cut from history books on purpose. Just as many history books used to cut out mention of queer people, people of color who played large roles, or women who played large roles…it had been done and done again and again, and Monsters too were a victim to it.

She still didn’t quite buy it, and teased him for being a liar at the time, but…

Maybe…

…

She began reading the article.

“Soul-Conjoinment is a long discussed and debated topic amongst the plural community. Someone who claims to have soul-conjoined siblings states that it is ‘like conjoined-twins’ except that there is ‘only one body and the souls are what is conjoined instead.’

Mainly claim this to be ‘ridiculous’ and ‘just an over-complicated way to describe endogenic systems’; however, historian Alina Maleway and biologist Marko Johnsan have come forward to give statements regarding this phenomenon.

Alina states, ‘Humankind has been trying to reject the idea of souls ever since the war against monsters occurred. Humans have accepted many types of people – people of every race and culture, the queers, the disabled, the neurodivergent – though they still face difficulty accepting that Monsters existed, and likely still exist, in the prison we shut them behind.’

Marko followed up, stating, ‘Souls are very much real – we just haven’t been in touch with ours since we rejected Monsterkind, and thus, rejected magic.’

…

Lily could hear the voice in the back of her head laughing. It was so distracting she couldn’t keep reading. Lily could do nothing but burst into tears, which pathetically dripped into the remainder of her stir-fry.

It was so stupid that the very thing she was looking for an explanation for was the same thing distressing her to the point she couldn’t read.

She banged her head against the table in front of her. It was sure to leave some bruises on her forehead, but she honestly could care less. She just wanted this to be over.

…she was taken aback when, despite her eyes being closed and her phone being out of her view, the voice continued reading the article. It was the first time the voice had been loud enough for her to actually understand its words, and she jolted up in surprise, gasping aloud.

“Humans need Monsters for their souls to work – blah, blah, blah, tons of professional garbage – red souls are the rarest souls-“ the voice laughed aloud, as if that were amusing and ironic somehow, before continuing, “every soul has seven forms of magic, but whatever color it is, is the dominant trait – blah, blah, blah- Jesus, you couldn’t have found a more boring article, could you?”

Lily shot to her feet, batting at the air around her. The remaining stir fry (that had been sitting in her lap) splattered on the ground, and the bowl smashed into pieces. Lily yelped in surprise, scrambling up onto the couch.

She was hyperventilating. She was delusional. She was psychotic. Something, God, anything had to be wrong with her, because there wasn’t a chance this was real!

The phone began scrolling down, as if someone was browsing. She could – just barely – see the incorporeal form of what looked to be a young man – or, perhaps, a large doll? – holding her phone with one hand. A black aura radiated around him, and he seemed to have a red outline…

The man half-glanced at her. His face morphed into an equal amount of surprised and amused, and he asked with a tone of snarkiness, “Wait a sec…you see me? Well, I can’t say I expected that, but now that we’re here, we-”

The shock and stress was too much. Her vision went dark, and she collapsed to the ground, passing out as she did.

…

When she awoke not in the living room, but rather in her bed the next day, she screamed into her pillow, all the while fantasizing about jumping out of the nearest and tallest building.

She worried that leaving her room may lead her to confronting whatever spirit was just in her living room, and she decided she was not down for that right now. So screaming she would continue.

However, in her mind, only one thought echoed.

“Some drinks with a bit more than just caffeine would really hit the spot around now…”

======================================

CHAPTER 5: Haunting

TW: mentions of child-abuse + dollification, thoughts of murder, touch-starvation

======================================

God, waiting for her to open her eyes was so boring.

Michael hadn’t been so bored since his time incacipated as a doll. The silence was mind-numbing, eating away at his brain like maggots in a rotten fruit. It didn’t help that his phantom companions were off on their own stupid “missions” to watch over loved ones, so he had no one to talk to. Not even his alternate selves – GK and Redacted_A – were around.

Why did this girl have to pass out so much? He mentally ticked off the amount of times he had witnessed it happen. This was the 47th, wasn’t it?

He chuckled to himself. Did most of those times even count anymore? Does an event stop counting as “real” once it’s been reset?

Should it even matter to someone like him, trapped in a literal lack of reality?

He paced around her house for the umpteenth time. It was kind of funny that she hadn’t caught on and realized that this day had already happened ten times. Then again, her schedule was so boring and redundant, that it was unsurprising she wouldn’t notice.

It did prove how much attention she paid at school, though, since she didn’t notice that the teachers were teaching the same lessons.

“I probably wouldn’t have noticed either,” he thought aloud, before laughing at himself. When he was a child, he used to feel so ashamed and stupid for being unable to focus on school; oh, how that had changed. He honesty found it hilarious how much confidence he lacked back then, compared to himself now.

Back when his father was still around, he beat him and locked him in the closet for hours if he got a bad grade. And then when his father “left”, Michael’s shame lingered with him, and his mother berated him. Her abuse was with words and not actions...at least, until the day she stripped him of his personhood and free will.

Why had he ever let his parents hurt him, anyways? He could have easily turned them into just numbers in his LV and EXP. They were bigger than him, sure, but he could have got them while they were sleeping. It would have been so easy. A single bullet to an unsuspecting Monster’s soul during their sleep would have done plenty of damage. Even if it didn’t kill them immediately, they would have been weakened enough to finish the job...

He giggled into his hands, clenching his eyes shut in amusement. If only. He would have never been stuck here in this void, without the touch of another living being. Would have never been violated and stripped of his rights. Torn to pieces by both his mother and his well-meaning siblings and stripped of true affection…

He would never say aloud just how badly he ached for affection; how badly he ached to be touched. His body had surely become sensitive to every sensation after such a long time without anyone (or much of anything, for that matter) to feel.

He deserves to be touched. He knows that now. He deserves to be hugged, held, kissed, caressed- he deserves intimacy. He doesn’t deserve the empty chill that he faces, day after day, hour after hour, second after second, sending shivers and goosebumps up his skin and through his poorly-sewn stitches, leaving him feeling hollow, leaving him to hold himself and pretend that it wasn’t his own arms, but the arms of someone else.

It was a lonely experience, to be certain, and he could admit that to himself. Just not to the people around him. Never to them. He refused to be infantilized – or worse, objectified – again.

He was taken out of his thoughts when he finally heard muffled pillow-screaming from Lily’s room. What a relief. It was offensively hilarious to think that seeing him could have knocked her out from shock. This was something he was definitely going to tease her about at some point.

He floated into her room, quietly phasing through the door and settling by her bed. She didn’t seem to notice him, not that it surprised him; she was hiding her face, after all.

“Mornin’, beautiful.”

Lily screamed, jumping out of bed and wacking her head against the wall. Michael couldn’t stop himself when he burst into laughter; something about those panicked, blood shot eyes got him feeling excited...which probably isn’t a normal reaction, but...

“I know I’m a looker, but I didn’t think I was good enough for you to scream~ At least...not until we’ve had some alone time~”

“WHAT THE FUCK, WHAT THE FUCK, OH MY GOD!” Lily backed against the wall, body trembling. Michael, however, was captivated by the terror and confusion laced in her eyes. The way her fear made her lips tremble. The softness and chub of her cheeks and arms...

A warm tingling feeling rocked through his chest, and despite everything, he felt an overwhelming desire to kiss her.

‘Guess being alone for so long made me a pervert...’

Now that thought made him chuckle again.

He waved his arms in front of him in a ‘relaaax’ motion, and brushed some of his hair out of his face.

“Relax, Lily. I’m not here to hurt you. On the contrary, I’m here to help you.”

“Who...w-who are you?” Lily asked, her voice dipping up and down from a whisper to a half-hearted shout.

“Michael,” he answers, without hesitation. Once in a lifetime, he would have hated being called by a name his poor-excuse of a father had shared. But now...the name felt powerful. It delighted him to know that the same man he was named after died at his childhood hands - albeit unintentionally, but still...it was him that killed his father.

“N-no I mean who are you?! L-Like...WHAT are you?? Why are you here? How are you here? A-are you the reason my life is a NIGHTMARE?? Cuz if you think this is funny, t-then we’re going to have some problems!”

Despite how clearly desperate she was to seem intimidating, he could easily tell she would (metaphorically) piss herself if he so much as moved too fast. It made him want to jump out and scare her. She would probably have a cute reaction...but now was not the time for that.

“I’m a phantom. A monster. A doll. All three, honestly,” he shrugs, “Basically, I’m not supposed to exist anymore, and you’re the only person I’ve found outside of the shithole I live in who can see me. As for your life being a nightmare...eh. That’s your magic doing that, not me.”

Lily fell into complete silence, staring at him as if he were spewing nonsense. Her mouth was slightly agape, her eyes half squinted as if staring at him hard enough would make things make more sense, and her eyebrows were scrunched together. He couldn’t stop the snort and snicker that came out of him at her expression.

Humans really had become so dumb and lackluster when it came to teaching these things in school. And for what? Just to forget about the monsters they had gladly tossed away like garbage?

“Okay, listen up, sweetheart,” he backed away from her, going to the doorway, “How bout this. You go get yourself some breakfast and coffee, and meet me on the couch. For someone as strong as you, you sure are dainty, and we just can’t be having you on an empty stomach for this.”

A moment of silence passed, before a look of concerned realization washed over her face.

“...’for this’? What the hell do you mean ‘for this?!’ F-for what!?” she half-yelled, half-whimpered. He had to bite his lip to stop himself from laughing at her.

“I’ll explain once you’ve gotten some food in your system. Now stop diddle-daddling around, and get the hell out of your bed. It was boring waiting for you.”

She gasped, shooting out of bed and approaching him with clenched fists.

“Excuse me!? Its not my fault you CHOSE to stalk m-HEY!”

Once she got close enough to him to touch, he slammed the door in her face, using his phantom-powers to lock it and keep it locked. There wasn’t any chance he was going to let her touch him; not when he wasn’t 100% positive he would be able to keep his cool, after so long without so much as a handshake being possible. Especially not when he was sure she was going to slap him or strangle him.

She slammed her fists against the door repeatedly, and continued shouting at him – most of it being profanities – but he just ignored her and settled himself on the couch. She would wear herself out eventually. And if she decided to do something drastic, like jumping out of her window, then only she would be at fault for whatever injuries would come with a fall like that.

He picked up her phone, turning it on and entering in her password – he had seen her put it in plenty of times by now – and began scrolling through her contacts. Luckily, she only had ten or eleven people’s numbers, so it wasn’t hard to find the one he was looking for.

Her Therapist. He deleted and blocked that contact with 0 hesitation. That lady may have been a therapist, but she sure wasn’t open to monsters and hybrids. In other words, she was working for the Humans Against Monsters Association.

He realized it when he saw her slipping in some strange powder into Lily’s iced tea. His suspicions were only confirmed when she passed out in her kitchen while attempting to cook stir-fry, and the world rewinded, proving that it was poison that had killed her. He was sure that if she hadn’t re-loaded, he would have witnessed members of HAMA show up to take her body away, and frame it as a “death of natural cause” or frame it as a runaway.

Luckily for Lily, dying meant that she had gone back to her SAVE point – which was before she had told her therapist any of the sketchy things going on with her life. Not that she even realized that; she hadn’t exactly caught on to her time manipulation yet. Which was fine – he would explain that to her once she stopped going ballistic screaming and trying to break down her door.

He put down her phone, and slumped back into the couch, closing his eyes. It was easy to tune out the noise; having his paralyzed dollified body dragged around by his screaming toddler siblings had trained him well.

He felt his eyelids grow heavy. Perhaps a short nap was due; it would give Lily plenty of time to waste her energy away, and give him plenty of time to recuperate for their talk.

Perfect.

======================================

CHAPTER 6: Conclusion

TW: extreme touch-starvation, knife-threats, injuries, masochism, referenced dollification + child abuse

======================================

It had been a very long time since Michael had felt weight on him. Actually, it had been a long time since he had felt anything on him – he hadn’t felt anything physically besides himself for 462 years. So feeling a weight on his lap – a warm one, at that – was jarring enough to wake him up immediately.

When his eyes met Lily’s gorgeous multicolored masterpiece of eyes, he tried (and failed) to keep himself from trembling. There was a girl. On him. A girl he could feel. A girl he could touch.

...She was also trembling from head to toe with a knife at his throat, but that was beside the point. The point was he could feel someone. And if Goner Kid and Redacted_A weren’t using their soul-link to stop him, he would have hugged her immediately, regardless of the danger that would potentially split open his neck.

Lily was trembling, in a mixture of exhaustion, fear, and most of all, anger. She growled at him, her voice worn-down from the yelling she did while locked away in her room.

“You absolute bastard. You absolute shithead. You absolutely fucked-up sicko. You have a HELL of an explanation to give me. And you better have a FUCKLOAD of money to pay for my GODDAMN THERAPY.”

Michael wanted to make a snarky response. In fact, he 100% would have, if only Lily’s thighs weren’t wrapped around his legs. If only her face wasn’t close enough to touch his. It took everything in him not to lean forward and attempt to kiss her, and his soul pounded so violently it made him nauseous.

He was going insane holding inside the pure euphoria of physical touch. He wanted to cry, to scream, to laugh. He wanted to burst into hysterics. It’s what he expected would happen, after such a long time without this basic necessity.

But, somehow, he couldn’t push any of the emotions boiling and steaming within his soul out of his chest and stomach. Maybe it was the result of literal centuries of psychological numbing and undermining of his own trauma.

Or maybe it was that crippling fear of rejection. After all, expressing his emotions is what got him trapped in this Godforsaken body in the first place...

‘Whatever. Not the time. Stop thinking about it.’

“I’m kind of impressed that you not only got out, but have the gall to use violence. Didn’t think you had that in you.”

Lily’s face, neck, and ears went red from rage and humiliation, and she violently grabbed his chin with her free hand.

“YOU- YOU- AGH! YOU’RE SO LUCKY I HAVEN’T KILLED YOU!!”

Michael decided it was time to get out of this situation. He concentrated on his energy, before teleporting – which always hurt a bit, since the molecular structure of an erased-being wasn’t exactly built for it – and, for the first time since he was six-years-old, began a battle.

The world around them faded to black, and Lily screeched, dropping her knife in surprise at both his disappearing act, and the entering of the void.

“Okay, on a more serious note, it seems you’re ready to talk. Your adrenaline is perfect for this.”

“THE HELL DO YOU MEAN- OHHHHMMYyyggoooddd?” Lily’s eyes went wide as her SOUL came forward and began to glow. Michael couldn’t stop the grin that tugged at his face; it was a beautiful sight for him to behold, even after seeing it many times before.

“Thats your SOUL. The culmination of your being. Where all your magic is stored.”

Lily reached out, taking it into her hands. Her eyes grew even wider upon contact, and small giggles emerged from her throat, subconsciously. The presence of her own magic was calming her down...not that Michael was complaining. It would hopefully make this easier.

“Yeah, you better appreciate it. Cuz that soul is a one-of-a-kind. It would be shocking to find any other person on earth who’s got a soul like that.”

Now that made Lily pause and look back up at him. Instinctually, she held her soul closer, as if trying to protect it. She seemed to be trying (and failing) to think of something intimidating to say, but was getting distracted by the pure energy radiating in her hands. Michael couldn’t hold back a laugh.

“Chillax, gorgeous. I’m not here to steal your soul or kill you or something. I’m just here to tell you what exactly you’re capable of...as well as what you are.”

Lily’s head snapped up, staring at Michael with eyes that could very well bore a hole into his brain.

“W...What do you mean...? I...I’m human...”

He sighed, and stepped forward. Lily’s immediate reaction was to attempt to swipe the knife back up from off the floor, but Michael grabbed her wrists with his tail, holding her arms gently but firmly, “None of that. I’m not threatening you, so there's no reason for you to be threatening me. Capiche?”

Lily’s soul sparked with energy, electric shocks radiating from it, and zapped Michael’s tail. He instinctively pulled his tail back, shaking it a few times, but didn’t feel bothered by the pain. In fact, the pain was just a pleasant reminder that he’s alive – which made him giggle.

Lily, on the other hand, gasped and squeeked in horror upon seeing what it had done to his tail. It was as if vines were growing underneath his skin, and attempting to escape, throbbing and bubbling.

“HOLY SHIT! Did- DID I DO THAT?! FUCK! GOD! I’m so, so, so sorry-!” she rushed forward, waving her arms around in a panic, as if internally panicking over whether to grab his tail or not.

Michael simply snorted, raising his eyebrows in amusement as she panicked. It hurt so badly that whimpers subconsciously emerged from his throat – it felt as though someone was boiling water inside his tail, and the hot bubbles were trying to escape from his skin – but, in all honesty, it wasn’t much worse than the injections his mother had given him all those years back.

“Ch-,” his sentence was interrupted by another whimper escaping his throat, of which he promptly ignored and continued on, despite the horror on Lily’s face, “Chillax. T-this is exactly the reason I’m here.”

“YOU’RE HERE SO I CAN HURT YOU!?” Lily cried hysterically, dropping to her knees and carefully pulling his tail into her arms, cradling it like it were an injured child. He could barely hold back from melting – the palms of her hands were so much softer than he imagined...he blushed, looking away, and forced himself to sputter out his defense.

“N-No, dummy! Im here s-so I can help you! Like I've been saying! Your soul is unique, which means it is dangerous! I’m here to help you control it!”

Immediately, despite her gentle and compassionate touch on his tail, she sneered. She shouted at him, “Then why have you been STALKING AND TORMENTING ME!?”

His patience was running low. He clenched his fists, snarling his teeth. She had to be the most aggravating person he’d ever latched onto...

“FOR FUCKS SAKE!! I HAVEN’T! BEEN DOING ANYTHING TO YOU! All I have been doing is trying to get your attention! Everything bad that’s been happening to you has been either your own LACK OF CONTROL over your magic, or the people trying to kill you! I’m here to HELP you so that STOPS HAPPENING!”

Lily fell silent, gaping at him, eyes wide. She slowly let go of his tail, which he promptly pulled into his own arms, holding it close like a lifeline. It still hurt like hell, but it no longer felt like it was boiling; just like the aftermath of a severe burn.

A minute of silence went by. It felt deafening. Despite everything, guilt settled in Michael’s chest – he couldn’t blame her for thinking he was the source of her problems. If he were in her position, he would probably assume the same thing...still, it was aggravating that she hadn’t been listening to what he was telling her, so he also couldn’t blame himself for snapping at her...

He realized she hadn’t stood up, and was still on her knees. He sighed, and cautiously kneeled down, to be face-to-face with her. He slowly and gently put a claw on her shoulder, to which she stiffened momentarily, before slowly relaxing.

“Look...I’m sorry for yelling at you. I get it. Weird situation, right? I must seem like a massive creep.”

“...It doesn’t help that you keep making weird comments...” Lily grumbled, looking away. Michael sighed.

“Okay, yeah, I can see why that makes it worse, but you’re the first girl I’ve talked to in 462 years, and the last one I talked to was my mother when I was seven, so I can’t exactly say I have experience wi-”

He stopped talking when he saw the look of suspicion and concern on her face.

“What?” he asked, a bit of annoyance slipping into his tone. Lily looked like she might cry. He couldn’t understand why.

“You said earlier I’m the only one who can see you...” she stated, biting her lip in anticipation.

“Yeah, and?”

“So...you’ve been alone...that whole time...?”

Those words hit him like a punch to the gut. He thought about that all the time, but hearing those words from someone else...hearing them from her...

His throat went dry. He pulled his claw away from her shoulder and shamefully looked away.

“I...guess. I have a few people to talk to...sometimes...but its not like I can touch-” he stopped himself when he heard the soft gasp that exited Lily’s throat. He almost didn’t want to look back at her...but curiosity got the better of him.

He immediately regretted looking, and ripped his gaze away, staring at his feet instead.

“...W-what’s that look for?” he asked. He tried to sound aggressive, but he knew it sounded forced. Lily slowly put both of her hands over her mouth, totally horrified.

“...oh my god...you...” she half-whimpered, half-whispered. Michael felt his cheeks growing hot in humiliation. He hated being pitied. He’s not weak. He doesn’t need pity or sympathy.

He doesn’t need anyone’s help.

He burst to his feet, stepping back from her. He decided to ignore the clearly-disturbed look in her eyes, and spoke up. He pretended not to notice how his soul was aching, and how hers was trembling...

“Back to what’s IMPORTANT! Your SOUL. You are a hybrid of Monster and Human. And before you ask, its your mother’s side that’s monster. I checked your parents’ souls for you, when you visited...uh...fifteen resets ago, I think.”

He cleared his throat and decided to pause for a minute, to see if she would say anything. She didn’t; just stared at him like a kindergartener learning algebra, and as if he was teacher insane enough to try to teach it. Strangely, that encouraged him to continue. Probably because it made him feel smart (for the first time in a long time.)

“Anyways, Grandp- ehm, I mean, Dr. Gaster, a very intelligent scientist who is in the Void with me, has determined that your mom is 1/16ths monster. So, she probably doesn’t know either; basically, one of your great-great grandparents was a Monster, and your parents and grandparents probably weren’t aware...or kept it a secret for future generations.”

He paused again, waiting to see if she would say anything. He grumbled a bit in annoyance,

“Do you understand so far?”

She slowly nodded, though he could see the doubt in her eyes. Regardless, he continued.

“Okay, so, Gaster told me that the easiest way to explain this to you would be like this; you know how sometimes, two black parents have a white baby, or vice-versa? Cuz the genetics were in them all along, and science is funky like that? Yeah, that’s basically what happened here. Instead of being born with a human soul – like you were supposed to – you were born with a soul that leans more towards the side of monster, instead of human. Basically, you look human, you sound human, you bleed like a human, but if you died, you would turn to dust, like a monster. And, most importantly, you can use monster-magic. Like you did a minute ago. You can create magical bullet-patterns.”

Lily looked at her soul, with a look of both fear and amazement. He couldn’t help but smile.

“You see how it's an upside-down heart-shape? Human souls are right-side up. However...Monster souls are normally white, and human souls are normally one color – orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, purple, or rarest of all, red. And from what Gaster has told me, monster-human hybrids usually only have two colors – three at most.”

He gave another moment of silence. For the first time since he started, Lily spoke, holding her soul as gingerly as one would hold a baby.

“...but...mine has...all the colors...”

He snaps his fingers, finger-gunning her, “Exactly! Your soul has all the traits – both human traits, and monster traits. And while that sounds cool – and is definitely pretty impressive – it also comes with some pretty bad side effects. Souls like yours, which have been recorded less than a dozen times, have always met the same fate; self-destruction. Once enough magic has built up in your soul, and your soul becomes active, it will begin to output that magic uncontrollably. Meaning attacks like this-” he lifts up his tail, “will become not only common, but uncontrollable for you.”

Her jaw dropped so hard, it took everything inside of Michael to hold back from laughing. He continued, although a small snort escaped at the beginning of his sentence.

“And no matter how much magic it outputs, it will keep re-filling, since that’s what souls do – they replenish magic once its been used. But your soul will replenish faster than you output- meaning it will overfill, and then...well. Death. For you, and everyone around.”

“...Are you saying I’m gonna DIE?!” Lily hisses, sounding absolutely terrified and baffled. Michael shrugs.

“You will die, hypothetically, unless you can empty all your magic at once, leaving behind only the DETERMINATION needed to live.”

“Okay, so lets do that, and quick!” Lily squeels, squeezing and caressing her soul as if it were a stress-ball. Michael waves his hands at her, as if telling her to ‘chill.’

“Thats exactly why I’m here. I have the perfect solution. As you’ve probably heard in legends and ‘myths’, Monsterkind is trapped under Mt Ebott.”

She nods slowly, seeming unsure of where this is going. Michael takes that as encouragement to go on.

“They are sealed by a magical barrier. One that requires seven human souls to break free of...or the equivalent to that.”

Her eyes sparkle with understanding, and she springs to her feet, snapping her fingers and finger gunning him this time.

“I can empty my magic into the barrier! A-and free monsterkind!”

He jumps to his feet, clapping, “Yes, yes! At the very least, it would be a HELL of a lot of magic, and weaken it a bit! It’d save you from impending death-”

“And get monsters a step closer to being free from their prison!”

Without thinking, Lily grabbed Michael’s hands, and spun him around. His hands tingled comfortably with the touch...and despite himself, he laughed. She laughed with him.

“Then your powers would stop fucking up your life, and you could go back to your everyday routine!”

“If you subtract the seaweed from my schedule, then I am so down!”

Lily stumbled over Michael’s foot, and the two fell into a pile on the floor. They burst into laughter. Despite the oddness of their situation, it felt good to let loose.

“God. Now I am glad you’ve been stalking me,” Lily said, through strained breath and giggles. Michael snorted, winking at her.

“And I am glad a babe like you can see me~”

She smacked his shoulder, albeit gently, with no harmful intent, “This is the weird comments I was talking about!”

“Well, don’t expect me to stop, cuz its just the truth!”

That made them both laugh once again. His cheeks were warm. Her cheeks looked warm, too. He wondered if she felt anywhere even remotely similar to how he felt.

“You know-” he snickered, “I am wondering, have you figured out that you were in a time loop?”

She gasped, looking at him with wide eyes. Slowly, realization dawned on her face.

“THOSE NIGHTMARES I HAD ABOUT BEING STALKED AND TRICKED BY PEOPLE WERE REAL, WEREN’T THEY?! OH MY GOD!! WAIT! Is that why I kept waking up in bed?! Holy shit! Were those people- do the- were they trying to- did they kill me because they knew I’m not-”

“Human?” he finished for her, sitting up, “yeah. We have lots to talk about. And don’t you worry, I’m not planning on going anywhere away from you for the time being. So how about...” he stands up, offering a hand to her, “we continue this conversation while we get you packed and ready for Mt. Ebott?”

Without hesitance, she took his hand.

“Sounds like a deal to me.”

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