You walk up to the door, taking another look at the eyes in the wall. You give then the dirtiest of glares, then pull the chain around your neck off, sliding the monocle into your pocket and holding the key in your left hand. With a steady hand, you open the door. The tunnel is pitch black.
You look inside. The cobwebs are all gone. It's just dark. It also seems significantly longer than before. But that doesn't stop you. You need to save the Alternate L. You need to save the ghosts.
You can't let your fear stop you.
"Be brave," You whisper. "Be brave."
You are fully aware that you are walking into a trap. The Manguer had full control over that world. Almost anything he didn't want to happen wouldn't happen. A part of you thinks he probably knew you'd come back once you read the note L gave you. He knew you'd come back for him. That must be why he let L give it to you. Why he let L have feelings. To use him against you against his will.
Clever. Horrible, but clever.
"Dimentio?" Mr. L's voice asks ahead of you, and you perk up. You see the other end of the door open, and you see his silhouette. "L?!" You ask, a glint of hope in your voice. "You can talk?!"
"Dimentio! You came back for me!!"
You quickly breathe a happy sigh of relief and crawl quickly to him, getting there and hugging him tightly around his waist. "I-I thought I lost you!" You cry.
"My king... why would you run away from me," He says, his voice becoming colder. You feel a cold, thin hand grasp your shoulder. You look at it and gasp, before shoving him away.
His form changes from the smiling alternate L to that stretched-out, demented Bleck form. Only now his neck is longer and his waste is thinner.
You clench your fists. "Where's L?!"
"Oh? Mr. L? In the real world, probably hopelessly looking for his missing friend." He replies.
You wince slightly at the implications that he's been spying on the real Mr. L too, but push that aside. "Not that one," You say. "Where is he?! Tell me!"
"Ohh, the lovely little trader. He's hanging around."
You glare and point an accusing finger at him. "WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM?!"
"Now, Dimentio, no need to be difficult. Have a seat, won't you?" He asks when suddenly two hands grab your waist and lift you up. You gasp and look behind you to see a deformed version of Nastasia. Her face looks almost melted and her body is almost pumpkin-like now. She mutters some unintelligible words, her voice incredibly slow and slurred.
She sits you down in a chair that looks like a large beetle, and you shiver. Then, the Manguer walks up to you and snatches the key from your hand. He smiles, locks the door, then holds the key over his mouth, dropping it and swallowing it.
You glare. "Why don't you have your own key?" You spit.
"Only one key," Nastasia drunkenly says, holding up a finger when the Manguer grabs her.
"The garden squash need tending, Nastasia. Why don't you go work on that, pumpkin." He says as he drags her out by the shoulders. She doesn't protest. She just lets him, mumbling things to herself.
You wait a few moments, looking around the room. "Where are you L?" You whisper, when you notice a small circle on a bug shelf a few feet from the door. You eye it a moment when you hear the Manguer call, "Breakfast time!"
You wince, then go to the dining room, where the Manguer is humming and cracking eggs into a bowl.
Be strong, Dimentio, you tell yourself, sitting down at the table.
The box with the yellow gems and the needle and thread is sitting right in front of your seat. You glance at it and begin to nervously sweat.
The Manguer flips some bacon.
"Why don't..." You start. "Why don't we play...a game? I know you like games," You say as confidently as you can.
He stops and looks at you with empty yellow eyes. "Everyone likes... games," He says.
"Uh-huh," you reply.
"What kind of game?" He asks.
"An... an exploring game. A finding things game."
He grins a horrifying grin. "Oh? And what is it you'll be finding, Dimentio?" His fingers are tapping loudly on the counter. They almost sound like metal hitting wood.
"The Alternate L," You say.
"Too easy," He teases.
"And," You start. "And the eyes of the two ghosts."
He straightens up and turns to give you your plate of food. "Hmm," He starts. "And what if you DON'T find them?"
You swallow, as his cold yellow eyes pierce into you. His grin sends chills down your spine. "If I lose," You start, "I'll stay here forever and let you love me."
You look at the gems in front of you and clench your teeth. "And, I'll let you sow the gems into my eyes."
His grin widens. "Hmm," He hums, crossing his arms. "And if you somehow... win this game?"
"Then you let me go," You say calmly. "You let everyone go. Me, the ghosts, L, everyone you've trapped here."
"The Alternate L wasn't trapped here, you know." He says.
"I don't care. You'll let him go too."
"Alright," He coldly says, a wicked grin on his face. He holds out a skinny hand. "Deal?"
You look at the hand and shake your head. "No, not until you give me a clue."
He frowns, then shrugs. "Hmm.... Alright...."
He walks behind you and grabs your shoulders. "In each of the three wonders I'VE made just for you, a ghost's eye is lost in plain sight. Four total eyes. Two for each ghost."
"Where's the fourth one?" You ask. He shakes his head, indicating he won't answer that question.
"Alright... and what about L?"
He chuckles and shakes his head, smirking.
"Fine, don't tell me," You spit. You briefly turn and let out a nervous huff, before standing up and holding out your hand. "It's a deal."
But he's gone. It's as if he completely vanished. You gasp and look around. There's nothing but a slowly dripping faucet left where he was just standing. You sigh and walk up to it, leaning on it. "What does he mean by wonders?"
But then you gasp in realization. "The garden, the circus, and the gallery!"
You take off running through the halls until you come across where O'Chunks' mouse circus was. You push the large, heavy doors open, revealing a dark room. It's dark, and you can hear soft, creepy circus music. You're not usually one to be creeped out by circuses, but this is different.
You walk inside when a few dim, orangeish yellow lights turn off, shining right in your face. You try to move aside, but the light follows.
Suddenly, a few mice run by and start crawling up you. You gag and quickly push them off, but not before they grab something off you. You see them sprint away with it and immediately chase them down. Once you arrive, you slam your foot down on the one holding the object in its mouth. The others scatter while you hear the cracking of bones from under your shoe.
You raise your foot to see what it grabbed. In its disfigured mouth is... Blumiere's monocle. You pick it up and eye it confusingly.
"Why would he want them to take this?" You question, holding it up. You slowly bring it to your eye, then gasp.
When you look through the monocle, everything in the room appears grey, except for a small, glowing orange orb. "That must be it!" You say, lowering the monocle. "That must be the eye!"
Then, from the dark, a large man jumps out at you, holding his arms out. You can't see his face, but you can tell by the size that it's O'Chunks. You let out a terrified squeak and jump back, gripping the monocle tightly.
He slumps to the floor and seems to move very quickly throughout the room. Then, he pops up next to you, voice sounding drunk.
"Hello, Dimentio," He says. You turn to him and gasp. In the light, you can see that it's not O'Chunks, but just his clothes. "Is this what ye're lookin' for?"
He holds the glowing yellow orb out to you with a gloved hand.
You nod and reach your hand out for it. "Uh-huh,"
He quickly snaps it back and crawls around, looking almost like a large hand crawling on the floor.
"Ye think winning da game ez a good thing?"
He disappears into the dark again and you hear a crash. Then his voice quickly comes from all different points in the room. You frantically look around the room, trying to pinpoint where his voice is coming from, but he keeps moving.
"Ye'll just go back and be bored and ignored and neglected. Same as always."
You hear his voice from above you and look up. His clothes are leaning over you from the tightrope. "Why don't you stay here with us? Here we love you!"
His gloves reach for you and snatch your jester's hat off your head. You wince and reach for it, but it's too late. He quickly tears it apart and lets the pieces drop.
You watch as they fall to the floor. You really wish you could care, and in most cases, you would. But there are more important things at stake here. You don't have time to be upset about a hat.
"Stay! We will listen to ye, and laugh with ye!!"
He falls off the tightrope head fist and slumps to the floor, before crawling backward.
"If ye stay 'ere, ye can 'ave whatever ye want!"
"You don't get it, do you?" You ask, slowly approaching him.
"I don't understand!" He says, the clothes moving around. Although his voice doesn't sound confused. It sounds more excited.
"Of course you don't understand," You say, stepping closer. "You're just a copy he made of the real O'Chunks."
He chuckles. "Not even that, my king...."
You reach for him and grab the shirt, pulling it away, revealing a group of large rats. They all let out gut-wrenching screams and suddenly all come running out, the largest rat holding the small eye. You hold up the monocle to see the orange glow as it moves around the room. You sprint for it, as rats crawl all over you, their tiny claws digging in through your clothes onto your skin. You can feel their teeth ripping holes in your pants and skin, and you feel a hint of blood trickling down from your knee.
"Gah!" You wince as more rats attack. You frantically chase the leader around the room until you collapse, the rats walking all over you, getting into your hair and biting into your neck and scalp.
Let out a scream, when the leader gets closer. You watch as it seems to mock your pain.
You feel as the rats bite all over, crawling into your shirt and under your poncho-like cloak, biting at your stomach and arms.
The leader runs up to you and stands on your chest, the orange ball in its mouth. It doesn't quite look like an eye, but more like a large marble. The rat just stands there as you writhe in pain as if it's taunting you.
Ignoring the excruciating pain of the rats eating at your arm, you quickly reach forward and grab the ball, snatching it from the rat.
You grasp it tightly and hold it to your chest, curling in on yourself. Then, the whole room goes grey, including the rats. They all freeze, then seem to whither away.
You slowly sit up, small cuts and bites all over you besides your face, which was protected by your mask. You are silently grateful for it, then slowly stand up. You run to the window and look outside.
What looks like a black gem is slowly moving over the moon, like a lunar eclipse. "Ah," You say. "A timer."
You shiver, then pocket the orange eye. "Three to go," You whisper, before heading for the next room.
Mimi's room.
You push the door open to see a large flashlight waiting on the ground for you. You pick it up and turn it on, looking around the room. It's dark and completely silent. It looks eerie, all the artifacts and paintings just silently sitting there.
You raise the monocle to your eye and see a glowing white ball in the center of the room. You lower the monocle to see an expensive-looking vase in front of you.
"Ah," You chuckle. "Mimi's favorite vase. How clever."
You raise the monocle to your eye again. Sure enough, the eye is inside. You sigh and approach the vase.
It's sealed shut. The only way to get the eye is to break the vase.
You sigh, then carefully wrap your arms around it. They sting from all the rat scratches and bites, but for the most part, the bleeding has stopped.
You slowly raise the vase into the air and drop it down onto the ground. It shatters, the white eye glowing brightly.
You smile and quickly grab it, making a sprint for the door before anything happens.
But,
Right as you reach for the door, when your hand is mere inches from the handle,
She falls right in front of you in her true form, letting out an animalistic screech that one could hear from miles away.
But she doesn't even look completely like her true form. Her skin looks like melted wax, and her eyes are still gems. Her legs are metal rods, and her body is nothing but gears. There's nothing left to cover the gears, besides a small head dangling upside down from them.
She blocks the door and screeches loudly, yelling, "THIEF! GIVE IT BACK! YOU BROKE IT! GIVE IT BACK! THIEF!"
You quickly scramble backward, before you hold up the flashlight, shining it in her gem eye. She winces, a moment, and you take this as your window for escape. You quickly slide under her and kick the door open, shutting it behind you while breathing heavily.
The floor below you and around you goes grey as well. You sprint to the nearest window to see that the moon is now half-covered by the black gem eclipse.
"Two to go," You whisper. "Two eyes, and one man in green."
You go to the third wonder next. The garden. You make your way outside to it, not daring to look back at the castle. That dark shadow continues moving over the moon, signifying that you're running out of time.
And you can't lose this game. You need to get the Alternate L home. You need him to experience the real world. You want to give him everything he deserves and more. Perhaps you could find him a way to get a chance to really live. You could negotiate with Jaydes, offer her anything to give him a shot at life. Anything for him to experience being real.
The garden is much darker and duller, the flowers wilting and the trees dying off. All the plants seem to follow you, watching you as you move.
All you hear.... is the distant sound of water.
Most of the plants move, seeming to breathe as you walk past them. You make a disgusted face and continue through the garden.
You walk past the bridge a few steps and pull up the monocle.
There's a small pumpkin patch right in front of you. In the middle, you can see the glowing pink eye. "There it is!" You chime, lowering the monocle-
Suddenly, the large praying mantis machine Nastasia used earlier to show you the garden from a birds-eye view lights up, two metal hands on it holding up a broken, Nastasia like a puppet.
The machine forces her to swing her arms around and control it, making it slowly crawl towards you with big, violent steps.
"Sorry," She says, her voice echoing and drunk sounding as the machine nearly hits you, forcing you to back up the bridge.
"So sorry! Bleck making me.." She says as the machine breaks apart the bridge.
"Nastasia!" You call, seeing the eye in her hand. "Please Nastasia!"
"Don't wanna hurt you!" She says as the machine starts to fall through, beginning to sink towards the water. "Scared of him!"
"BE BRAVE!" You say, reaching your hand out. "Be brave, Nastasia!"
Her golden eyes soften, then, she yanks one of her hands out of the mechanical glove and holds up the eye as the machine sinks into the black, murky water.
"Take it!" She cries, her voice low and robotic.
You immediately reach down and grab it, just before she sinks away into the water.
Then, the whole garden fades away. All the plants completely wilt, and the world turns grey.
You take a moment to catch your breath, looking down at where she just sank.
You guess that she felt things too... she was afraid.
But she was brave, just like the real one.
She felt things, just like L-
"L!" You say, perking up and looking at the moon. It was nearly covered. "I-I gotta find him!"
You quickly get out and run back towards the house.
"H-He's gotta be somewhere in there. Maybe he's on the-"
You freeze.