🌀 It Is Not What It Is 🌀

It would be a shame if someone were to intrude…

When he's sure he's shaken off his pursuers, he slows to a stop and slumps against a wall. He fumbles in his pocket for a pack of cigarettes, shaking a cig out of a black and red pack. He rests it in his lips as he rummages through his satchel for something else. After a bit, he produces what looks like a very simple welding tool. He sparks it on the barrel of his laser revolver, using it to light his cigarette.

nOw Don’T GIve mE AnY TroUbLE ThiS TImE… it complains under its breath, shooting a glare at the swarm of neon insects hovering nearby. It could never be mad at them for long, but the fewer wanderers they helped, the better.

They could swear they constantly see that thing in their peripheral vision, hear its grating voice in crowds… and every time, that dull pain accompanies the paranoia.

Did it mark them? No, it couldn’t have…

((HIIIIIII IT’S @3ris-d1st0rtionnn BACK AGAIN TO TORMENT YOUUUUU

Artifact lay on their shitty hotel bed with a frozen water bottle under the base of their neck in an attempt to numb it. The pain had come back. Again. It could have been from the liminal-ness that hotels had, some kind of memory of those stupid hallways surging back up as they walked the faded halls to their room, maybe they were imagining it! Maybe it was just some sort of ingrained memory, and their messed up brain had decided to make it real and then permanent. They couldn't possibly have been given another Mark, that would be five! Five was far too many, it was just absurd!

A sudden shot of pain jolts Artifact back from their disconnected state. It feels like something opened a wound back there… like something… escaped? No, what were they thinking? Why were they thinking that?

Artifact numbly lifted a hand to the base of their head. It came back bloody, and they stared at the crimson staining their fingers like it had personally insulted them.

No matter how much they stared, the blood remained infuriatingly real, and the pain remained, until their muddled thoughts decided it was probably a good idea to maybe do something about the blood.

Shakily, they stood. They had been certain their room had a bathroom in the room, but the door wasn't there. It must be in the hall, this must be one of those hotels that made the rooms share one restroom between a few rooms. Why had they come here, they hated hotels like this!

Another droplet of blood trails down Artifact’s neck. It feels strange, as if it’s moving in a direction that gravity just shouldn’t allow for. Is it somehow bleeding sideways?

"H-hello? Anyone there?"

The door creaks open slightly, revealing a short hallway that turns sharply to the left. This has to be the bathroom… but god, it’s built so strange. Probably normal for this cheap hotel though.

"Helloooo, anyone there? Sorry to wake you but I'm bleeding-" Augh no you idiot you can't just go around announcing you're bleeding, just get in there and solve it yourself.

A voice cuts through the uncomfortable silence. There’s a fair distance to it, and whoever it is doesn’t seem to be approaching from around that corner. If Artifact didn’t know any better, that voice would sound weirdly familiar… No, it has to be a coincidence.

You should really go see a doctor or something, call 911… Something like that. Who knows what could have gotten into you.

Had they left their phone in their room? Maybe they should just turn around and call 911, the mysterious voice was right.

But when they turned, the halls seemed unfamiliar, even though they had barely turned any corners to get here. Where..were they?

"Can you help me? I think something's wrong, my head feels weird and I don't know where I am."

Something was wrong. Just walk back to your room that's definitely still there, you didn't take that many turns, just remember your room number that is....

The voice sounds weirdly amused for a split second, much to Artifact’s confusion.

Look, maybe you shouldn’t go back… You could get lost, and it’s best to not trust your mind when this kind of thing is happening.

The hallway behind Artifact looks a few inches longer than they thought… God, they really must be out of it.

The hallway turns to the left again… and again. And again. It seems to be built like a loop, but Artifact never feels like they’re entering the same place again.

I swear we’re getting you checked out once you find us.

They were still bleeding, despite their attempts to stop it, and their head wasn't clearing. The sheer weirdness of this hotel wasn't helping, and Artifact was considering sitting on the tacky floor just to rest for a moment.

The voice almost sounds a little irritated now, unsettling Artifact. Do they actually care or not?

I know you can remember if you try hard enough! How about I give you a hint or something…

A bit of wallpaper appears to chip off the wall to Artifact’s right. The material underneath is painted black, covered in random paint splatters and holes.

Ah.

"You're an asshole, you know that?"

The fog still hadn't fully cleared but Artifact really thought they would have figured something like this out sooner, no matter how bad the pain was.

And there it is. Its fake “normal” tone slips entirely as the hallways morph into something more typical for its domain.

i P r O M i S E tHat’S NOt wHy yOu’Re hERe tHouGh! i’LL HolD tO My WOrd, jUsT tHis ONcE :)

God, that weird verbal smiley it does drives Artifact insane. How is it even doing that? Its painfully distorted form strides around a corner that clearly wasn’t there before, giving Artifact a weirdly… genuine smile. It sure seems giddy over something.

They reach up to the still bleeding wound that is suspiciously exit wound shaped.

It shrugs, putting on a sheepish expression.

yoU SeeMEd StrEsSEd, AnD i CouLDn’T jUst LeT yOu LEaVe wIthOUt sOmEOnE tO MakE SUre yOu’Re OKay :)

Eris giggles to itself, raising its hand as a strange centipede-looking creature crawls out of its jacket sleeve, leaving behind a trail of blood. So that’s the little bastard it put into Artifact.

The idea of having that many legs in them is repulsive, and the idea of sitting down is starting to sound good again. Preferably before passing out becomes an option.

"The hell you mean, symptoms. If you put more than one of those bastards in me I will find a way to kill you!"

The hallway they’re in appears to tilt violently if Artifact looks far enough into the distance. The patterns in the walls and floor are moving again. Yaaay.

Just before Artifact feels the need to sit down again, another shot of pain causes their knees to buckle. The feeling has seemingly migrated from their neck to somewhere in their chest.

oH DeaR :)

"What-what did you do!?"

It tilts its head, its vision burning holes through Artifact. It’s like it’s staring right into their soul.

mY HivE iS ITs Own AutOnOMouS EntIty, tHEy hAvE FreE WiLL! i Can’T TeLL tHem wHAt tO Do :)

They curl up on the ground, shaking as the pain from before they entered these halls again goes through their body.

"Get it outGetitoutgetitout-"

It stares at Artifact expectantly, practically vibrating with… excitement? And quite literally so, its form is starting to jolt and blur around the edges.

Something twitches under Artifact’s skin. It wants out just as much as they do.

It's in their chest, and now it's ready to leave.

A mixture of revulsion and fear passes through them as the skin breaks open. It's such a small gap between the clavicle and the throat, but it's still enough for the insect to painstakingly claw its way out.

Artifact weakly moves their head away from their chest as the old threat to blind them rings in their ears. The level of control Eris has over its swarm is not something they wish to test while weakened nor with their eyes in such close proximity to the creature tearing them open.

Unfortunately the movement has the unforeseen side effect of tearing the new wound further and they black out, coming back to themselves with the creature free of their body, an even newer bleeding wound, a raw throat, likely from screaming, and a wet face, from either blood or tears. Perhaps a mixture of both.

The wound on their chest pulses with a dulled, yet persistent pain. Just imagining the state of it makes them feel nauseous, but as they look down at the stained carpet, they notice something unsettling.

The liquid pooling under them isn’t blood.

It’s something like liquid technicolor. Something that constantly shifts and cycles through color and texture. Something crawling with tiny neon insects.

They try to push themselves up to a seated position and their arms give out again. Fine. They'll just stay here on the floor then.

"What are you talking about, why does my- why does it look like that!?" They gagged, closing their eyes just to avoid looking at the facsimile of blood.

"What did you do to me?"

Artifact would hug themselves if it wouldn't be pathetic. They can be pathetic when they get back to normalcy, because they are absolutely going to get out of here and they're going to be fine, maybe they'll just find some dirt and-no not burrow just...dig into it. Nothing bug related. Or burrowing, they're actually going to scrub that word from their vocabulary for a bit. Maybe they'll go visit their friend instead, hide under fifty weighted blankets and talk about random stuff with him until they both pass out. And maybe let him open all the doors for awhile.

It shrugs, leaning on the wall. “Leaning” may be a generous term, though… Half of its body is bisecting the architecture.

oH, DOn’T TeLL uS You’Re nOt HavinG a GoOd TImE! i WeNt oUT oF My waY To InvItE yOU BacK, aNd THis iS HoW You ResPonD?¿ :’)

There it goes again with its weird pedantic… sarcasm? Explanations? Whatever it’s aiming for?

nOw PLeaSe, Don’T Go CoLLapSinG oN Me! OnE oF My WanDerERs GoT TraPpeD iN The GeoMetRy LasT WeeK ANd i Can’T hAVe tHaT hAppEnINg aGaiN!

Artifact can’t exactly see much of it from their position, but it feels like it has one extra arm? No, there are only two. Is it even holding them up, or are they just floating in space? They can barely concentrate on anything.

They make the likely unwise decision to ignore the increasingly ominous doors and madness trying to once again ensnare them and instead indulge in one of their favourite hobbies, complaining.

"Well sorry but some of us have corporal forms that don't particularly enjoy having centipedes in our lungs. You may have Yogsothoth's preferred body but I'm stuck with holes in me and my blood turning into a pride parade, so if I want to collapse I'll damn well do it. If you're so concerned about my health maybe you shouldn't have put BUGS IN ME and then brought me back into the Funhouse Mirror but Also Worms Edition dimension! And since when did you care if I collapsed anyway, is it just because it's less fun?! Can't make me scared for my life if I'm too busy bleeding out on the floor? I've been dealing with your dumbass paranoia, which is supposed to be Eye by the way, for literal months, was that just not enough fear for you?? What, you still hungry? I'm not your fucking fear generator, bug phobia or not."

Eris’ form appears to dissolve behind Artifact somehow, sending them collapsing back down to the ground. It feels like a much longer fall than it should have been, and the floor is almost angling itself backwards…? Forwards?

weLL, yOu CAn’T ComPlaIN ThaT i LeT gO Of yOu :)

The patterns on the wallpaper shift and extend outward, taking on the creature’s form once again. What the hell is it gaining from this? Maybe it’s just showing off in some bizarre way… Typical Eris.

On one hand, they were happy Eris let go of them, and even happier their arms didn't give out, letting them actually sit instead of collapsing on the floor again. On the other hand, Eris was still there and being weird, which meant everything was awful and they needed a break from all the eyestrain and nonsense, a break they knew they would not get.

"They were rhetorical questions, I may be stupid but I'm not dumb enough to expect you to ever make any sense. And tends to do what, make them cranky? Cause it's really succeeding with me, you're doing a great job."

Even if that was the case, how the hell would Artifact know which door lead out of this damn place? Or whether it was telling the truth… or how they’d get all these damn bugs and glowstick juice out of their body.

It pouts cartoonishly and dramatically turns around, its torso appearing to pivot far before its legs do. In just a few steps, it’s already nothing but a speck at the end of the long hallway.

They struggle to their feet, leaning heavily on the wall closest to them and cringing at the sight of their new blood colour(s).

"Thanks ever so much for the well wishes-I'm sorry my what?!?"

A droplet of neon blood falls to the ground, almost in slow motion. It captures their attention for some odd reason as it soaks into the stained arcade-looking carpet… which begins moving. The patterns are moving.

"Eris, I swear to the Fears and whatever gods there are if you put a third bug in me I'll pull a Desolation. Don't test me, I'll do it! Stop putting bugs in me!"

Goddamnit there are more of those stupid neon Cootie-looking bugs. Great.

The twitching inside Artifact’s mind starts up again, almost as if it’s signaling for them to watch or responding to their outrage. The hovering swarm disperses, a few stray creatures moving a little too close to Artifact… Observing, maybe?

This was definitely going in top 10 concerning things they had seen, well, if they got out of Bugland alive. And what the everloving fuck was all the twitching about, if there was a bug in their head they swore...to do something, their good ideas and quick wit must has bled out into some of the bugs. Or their Head Bug ate it.

Wait, what had they been thinking about again? Right, right, glorious vengeance against Eris.

"Look if you're going to do something, just go ahead and do it, I am very tired, very cranky and I'm maybe going to succumb to blood loss in the next hour. Or is the blood loss what you want? Like a reverse flesh hive, instead of bugs in me I make bugs when pieces of me exit?"

The psychedelic insects were either one, pointing them towards an exit or two, directing them on a wild goose chase.

Unfortunately, their best chance of actually leaving was to follow the damn things. Wasn't like they could get more lost, so even if the creatures were leading them down the garden path, it made logical sense to risk it.

Sometimes they hated logic.

"Can't believe this is what my life has come to, I'm following a neon sign made of bugs formed from my blood in a nonsense hellscape. How simple! It'll be so easy to explain my new scars to people! 'How'd you get circular exit scars on the back of your neck and on your clavicle Artifact?' 'Oh well you see some BASTARD decided my internal organs needed more centipedes! Then my blood turned into a pride parade and spawned bugs, and I followed the neon sign they made like it's that fucking scene in Finding Nemo!' I am going to start buying six packs of Raid again, I swear."

"Are you kidding me. What do you want me to do, climb up to it like fucking Spider-Man!? I am neither Web nor Vast, thank goodness, I can't just float!"

Ok there had to be some way to get up there. They weren't going to try too hard, since technically the blood bugs could still be leading them down the garden path, but they did want to know what could be behind that door that made the reverse mosquitos interested in it.

Maybe it was Eris and they could try punching it in its approximation-of-a-face. Maybe it was an exit. Maybe it was just millions of centipedes, who knew! Certainly not them!

Bugs weren't known for making staircases with great structural integrity though, so that was out. Maybe try climbing the multitudes of doors like the world's worst rock climbing wall? Not that they were...good at rock climbing. They'd put that in "if I get desperate" and try to find an easier way to get up to the ceiling.

"Hey Eris, do you wanna do me a solid and, I dunno, flip the hallway? Would be nice and chaotic, right up your proverbial alley."

An abrupt shriek of static noise pierced the silence. Artifact’s vision went fuzzy for a moment, flickering rapidly like a TV switching through channels, and when they came to… the hallway was upside-down. It had indeed flipped, but their position hadn’t changed; the door was now on the floor, while Artifact was standing upside-down on the ceiling.

"Are you fucking kidding me. Y'know what, fuck it. Time to climb."

They placed one foot on a door knob and reached for the door above them, muttering more profanities under their breath. Had Artifact ever even used a climbing wall? Once, at a summer camp. When they were 11.

No possible problems here! Doorknobs were clearly the very best thing to ever climb with zero climbing experience.

"You are officially my least favourite Avatar, ever. Elias is better than you, you know that? He just files paperwork and is unbearably smug, he can't kidnap me to the WORM DIMENSION. Welcome to Door Hell! We won't even bother asking you to enjoy your stay because that is antithetical to the concept."

The complaints didn't stop, and neither did their attempts at climbing. They were, miraculously, making some small progress. At this point they expected for the wall to suddenly grow longer or for the floor to cease existing, but it was technically still progress, so there.

The insects still hovered nearby. They seemed to be watching pretty intently for entities with no visible eyes, but not like how Eris did… They almost seemed like they wanted to help get Artifact the hell out of here.

They continued their attempted climb, tiny step by step, about a third of the way up the wall… when the hallway flickered again for a moment, that telltale sign that something stupid was about to happen. The wall seemed to tilt, cutting into the ceiling and knocking Artifact off balance… and to their surprise, they were just standing on the wall. Sideways.

"Right yeah sure whatever this is a thing that happens now, why not! Logic? Never heard of it, have you perhaps heard of being the world's most annoying thing in existence? Cause that's what's in charge here in Door Hell, so you'll just deal with it!"

Well, at least walking was a hell of a lot easier than trying to climb, especially when you have both holes in you and the upper body strength of a slime mold. Reaching the door was easy enough now, but they were hesitant to actually open it. What if it had horrible awful worm things inside, or Eris itself.

Well if it contained Eris maybe they could punch it, but otherwise it might contain bad horrible things.

And the loud screeches of cut-up noise emanating from down the hallway.

i SwEAr tO ThE TwiStinG DeCEit… w̷͈̥̕h̷͈̥̙͒́A̷̫̲̓̌t̴͇̜̔ ̷̪̃̚ͅḧ̵̟̻̫́Ā̷̡̝̲̌V̸̻̠̎̅̊ȩ̴̈ ̶̘̤̈̍̈ȳ̸̼̾O̶̟͎͆͌ǔ̶̳̹͙̀ ̶͎͆̑D̴̡̡̀͐̀Ô̸͈͑n̸̪̿ḙ̸̙͂̽̍ ̴̧̪̝̑̾͝t̶̮̭̾̀͝H̵̱̩̤͗̋͌ĭ̷̡̀̍S̶͎̫̈͌ ̴̰͋T̶̡̨͔̃͝ị̵̃̀m̷̺̃È̴̺͓̐̎?̴̞̉̏͝¿̶̟͛͑̂!̵̳̀̍͠¡̸͖̓̌͝

Well it's not like they had much left as an option, they could sit here and twiddle their thumbs for all eternity, or more realistically, until it reached them, or they could gamble on the door.

Well when you phrased it like that-

The voice behind Artifact was nearly incomprehensible, like thousands of voices screaming over each other. The humanoid entity had just turned the corner before Artifact threw the door open, and before it could even react, they were gone.

How did they know which was the way out? How did it figure out how to even access it? Of course its swarm had gone rogue again… They had some explaining to do.

They could swear they constantly see that thing in their peripheral vision, hear its grating voice in crowds… and every time, that dull pain accompanies the paranoia.

Did it mark them? No, it couldn’t have…

((HIIIIIII IT’S @3ris-d1st0rtionnn BACK AGAIN TO TORMENT YOUUUUU

Artifact lay on their shitty hotel bed with a frozen water bottle under the base of their neck in an attempt to numb it. The pain had come back. Again. It could have been from the liminal-ness that hotels had, some kind of memory of those stupid hallways surging back up as they walked the faded halls to their room, maybe they were imagining it! Maybe it was just some sort of ingrained memory, and their messed up brain had decided to make it real and then permanent. They couldn't possibly have been given another Mark, that would be five! Five was far too many, it was just absurd!

A sudden shot of pain jolts Artifact back from their disconnected state. It feels like something opened a wound back there… like something… escaped? No, what were they thinking? Why were they thinking that?

Artifact numbly lifted a hand to the base of their head. It came back bloody, and they stared at the crimson staining their fingers like it had personally insulted them.

No matter how much they stared, the blood remained infuriatingly real, and the pain remained, until their muddled thoughts decided it was probably a good idea to maybe do something about the blood.

Shakily, they stood. They had been certain their room had a bathroom in the room, but the door wasn't there. It must be in the hall, this must be one of those hotels that made the rooms share one restroom between a few rooms. Why had they come here, they hated hotels like this!

Another droplet of blood trails down Artifact’s neck. It feels strange, as if it’s moving in a direction that gravity just shouldn’t allow for. Is it somehow bleeding sideways?

"H-hello? Anyone there?"

The door creaks open slightly, revealing a short hallway that turns sharply to the left. This has to be the bathroom… but god, it’s built so strange. Probably normal for this cheap hotel though.

"Helloooo, anyone there? Sorry to wake you but I'm bleeding-" Augh no you idiot you can't just go around announcing you're bleeding, just get in there and solve it yourself.

A voice cuts through the uncomfortable silence. There’s a fair distance to it, and whoever it is doesn’t seem to be approaching from around that corner. If Artifact didn’t know any better, that voice would sound weirdly familiar… No, it has to be a coincidence.

You should really go see a doctor or something, call 911… Something like that. Who knows what could have gotten into you.

Had they left their phone in their room? Maybe they should just turn around and call 911, the mysterious voice was right.

But when they turned, the halls seemed unfamiliar, even though they had barely turned any corners to get here. Where..were they?

"Can you help me? I think something's wrong, my head feels weird and I don't know where I am."

Something was wrong. Just walk back to your room that's definitely still there, you didn't take that many turns, just remember your room number that is....

The voice sounds weirdly amused for a split second, much to Artifact’s confusion.

Look, maybe you shouldn’t go back… You could get lost, and it’s best to not trust your mind when this kind of thing is happening.

The hallway behind Artifact looks a few inches longer than they thought… God, they really must be out of it.

The hallway turns to the left again… and again. And again. It seems to be built like a loop, but Artifact never feels like they’re entering the same place again.

I swear we’re getting you checked out once you find us.

They were still bleeding, despite their attempts to stop it, and their head wasn't clearing. The sheer weirdness of this hotel wasn't helping, and Artifact was considering sitting on the tacky floor just to rest for a moment.

The voice almost sounds a little irritated now, unsettling Artifact. Do they actually care or not?

I know you can remember if you try hard enough! How about I give you a hint or something…

A bit of wallpaper appears to chip off the wall to Artifact’s right. The material underneath is painted black, covered in random paint splatters and holes.

Ah.

"You're an asshole, you know that?"

The fog still hadn't fully cleared but Artifact really thought they would have figured something like this out sooner, no matter how bad the pain was.

And there it is. Its fake “normal” tone slips entirely as the hallways morph into something more typical for its domain.

i P r O M i S E tHat’S NOt wHy yOu’Re hERe tHouGh! i’LL HolD tO My WOrd, jUsT tHis ONcE :)

God, that weird verbal smiley it does drives Artifact insane. How is it even doing that? Its painfully distorted form strides around a corner that clearly wasn’t there before, giving Artifact a weirdly… genuine smile. It sure seems giddy over something.

They reach up to the still bleeding wound that is suspiciously exit wound shaped.

It shrugs, putting on a sheepish expression.

yoU SeeMEd StrEsSEd, AnD i CouLDn’T jUst LeT yOu LEaVe wIthOUt sOmEOnE tO MakE SUre yOu’Re OKay :)

Eris giggles to itself, raising its hand as a strange centipede-looking creature crawls out of its jacket sleeve, leaving behind a trail of blood. So that’s the little bastard it put into Artifact.

The idea of having that many legs in them is repulsive, and the idea of sitting down is starting to sound good again. Preferably before passing out becomes an option.

"The hell you mean, symptoms. If you put more than one of those bastards in me I will find a way to kill you!"

The hallway they’re in appears to tilt violently if Artifact looks far enough into the distance. The patterns in the walls and floor are moving again. Yaaay.

Just before Artifact feels the need to sit down again, another shot of pain causes their knees to buckle. The feeling has seemingly migrated from their neck to somewhere in their chest.

oH DeaR :)

"What-what did you do!?"

It tilts its head, its vision burning holes through Artifact. It’s like it’s staring right into their soul.

mY HivE iS ITs Own AutOnOMouS EntIty, tHEy hAvE FreE WiLL! i Can’T TeLL tHem wHAt tO Do :)

They curl up on the ground, shaking as the pain from before they entered these halls again goes through their body.

"Get it outGetitoutgetitout-"

It stares at Artifact expectantly, practically vibrating with… excitement? And quite literally so, its form is starting to jolt and blur around the edges.

Something twitches under Artifact’s skin. It wants out just as much as they do.

It's in their chest, and now it's ready to leave.

A mixture of revulsion and fear passes through them as the skin breaks open. It's such a small gap between the clavicle and the throat, but it's still enough for the insect to painstakingly claw its way out.

Artifact weakly moves their head away from their chest as the old threat to blind them rings in their ears. The level of control Eris has over its swarm is not something they wish to test while weakened nor with their eyes in such close proximity to the creature tearing them open.

Unfortunately the movement has the unforeseen side effect of tearing the new wound further and they black out, coming back to themselves with the creature free of their body, an even newer bleeding wound, a raw throat, likely from screaming, and a wet face, from either blood or tears. Perhaps a mixture of both.

The wound on their chest pulses with a dulled, yet persistent pain. Just imagining the state of it makes them feel nauseous, but as they look down at the stained carpet, they notice something unsettling.

The liquid pooling under them isn’t blood.

It’s something like liquid technicolor. Something that constantly shifts and cycles through color and texture. Something crawling with tiny neon insects.

They try to push themselves up to a seated position and their arms give out again. Fine. They'll just stay here on the floor then.

"What are you talking about, why does my- why does it look like that!?" They gagged, closing their eyes just to avoid looking at the facsimile of blood.

"What did you do to me?"

Artifact would hug themselves if it wouldn't be pathetic. They can be pathetic when they get back to normalcy, because they are absolutely going to get out of here and they're going to be fine, maybe they'll just find some dirt and-no not burrow just...dig into it. Nothing bug related. Or burrowing, they're actually going to scrub that word from their vocabulary for a bit. Maybe they'll go visit their friend instead, hide under fifty weighted blankets and talk about random stuff with him until they both pass out. And maybe let him open all the doors for awhile.

It shrugs, leaning on the wall. “Leaning” may be a generous term, though… Half of its body is bisecting the architecture.

oH, DOn’T TeLL uS You’Re nOt HavinG a GoOd TImE! i WeNt oUT oF My waY To InvItE yOU BacK, aNd THis iS HoW You ResPonD?¿ :’)

There it goes again with its weird pedantic… sarcasm? Explanations? Whatever it’s aiming for?

nOw PLeaSe, Don’T Go CoLLapSinG oN Me! OnE oF My WanDerERs GoT TraPpeD iN The GeoMetRy LasT WeeK ANd i Can’T hAVe tHaT hAppEnINg aGaiN!

Artifact can’t exactly see much of it from their position, but it feels like it has one extra arm? No, there are only two. Is it even holding them up, or are they just floating in space? They can barely concentrate on anything.

They make the likely unwise decision to ignore the increasingly ominous doors and madness trying to once again ensnare them and instead indulge in one of their favourite hobbies, complaining.

"Well sorry but some of us have corporal forms that don't particularly enjoy having centipedes in our lungs. You may have Yogsothoth's preferred body but I'm stuck with holes in me and my blood turning into a pride parade, so if I want to collapse I'll damn well do it. If you're so concerned about my health maybe you shouldn't have put BUGS IN ME and then brought me back into the Funhouse Mirror but Also Worms Edition dimension! And since when did you care if I collapsed anyway, is it just because it's less fun?! Can't make me scared for my life if I'm too busy bleeding out on the floor? I've been dealing with your dumbass paranoia, which is supposed to be Eye by the way, for literal months, was that just not enough fear for you?? What, you still hungry? I'm not your fucking fear generator, bug phobia or not."

Eris’ form appears to dissolve behind Artifact somehow, sending them collapsing back down to the ground. It feels like a much longer fall than it should have been, and the floor is almost angling itself backwards…? Forwards?

weLL, yOu CAn’T ComPlaIN ThaT i LeT gO Of yOu :)

The patterns on the wallpaper shift and extend outward, taking on the creature’s form once again. What the hell is it gaining from this? Maybe it’s just showing off in some bizarre way… Typical Eris.

On one hand, they were happy Eris let go of them, and even happier their arms didn't give out, letting them actually sit instead of collapsing on the floor again. On the other hand, Eris was still there and being weird, which meant everything was awful and they needed a break from all the eyestrain and nonsense, a break they knew they would not get.

"They were rhetorical questions, I may be stupid but I'm not dumb enough to expect you to ever make any sense. And tends to do what, make them cranky? Cause it's really succeeding with me, you're doing a great job."

Even if that was the case, how the hell would Artifact know which door lead out of this damn place? Or whether it was telling the truth… or how they’d get all these damn bugs and glowstick juice out of their body.

It pouts cartoonishly and dramatically turns around, its torso appearing to pivot far before its legs do. In just a few steps, it’s already nothing but a speck at the end of the long hallway.

They struggle to their feet, leaning heavily on the wall closest to them and cringing at the sight of their new blood colour(s).

"Thanks ever so much for the well wishes-I'm sorry my what?!?"

A droplet of neon blood falls to the ground, almost in slow motion. It captures their attention for some odd reason as it soaks into the stained arcade-looking carpet… which begins moving. The patterns are moving.

"Eris, I swear to the Fears and whatever gods there are if you put a third bug in me I'll pull a Desolation. Don't test me, I'll do it! Stop putting bugs in me!"

Goddamnit there are more of those stupid neon Cootie-looking bugs. Great.

The twitching inside Artifact’s mind starts up again, almost as if it’s signaling for them to watch or responding to their outrage. The hovering swarm disperses, a few stray creatures moving a little too close to Artifact… Observing, maybe?

This was definitely going in top 10 concerning things they had seen, well, if they got out of Bugland alive. And what the everloving fuck was all the twitching about, if there was a bug in their head they swore...to do something, their good ideas and quick wit must has bled out into some of the bugs. Or their Head Bug ate it.

Wait, what had they been thinking about again? Right, right, glorious vengeance against Eris.

"Look if you're going to do something, just go ahead and do it, I am very tired, very cranky and I'm maybe going to succumb to blood loss in the next hour. Or is the blood loss what you want? Like a reverse flesh hive, instead of bugs in me I make bugs when pieces of me exit?"

The psychedelic insects were either one, pointing them towards an exit or two, directing them on a wild goose chase.

Unfortunately, their best chance of actually leaving was to follow the damn things. Wasn't like they could get more lost, so even if the creatures were leading them down the garden path, it made logical sense to risk it.

Sometimes they hated logic.

"Can't believe this is what my life has come to, I'm following a neon sign made of bugs formed from my blood in a nonsense hellscape. How simple! It'll be so easy to explain my new scars to people! 'How'd you get circular exit scars on the back of your neck and on your clavicle Artifact?' 'Oh well you see some BASTARD decided my internal organs needed more centipedes! Then my blood turned into a pride parade and spawned bugs, and I followed the neon sign they made like it's that fucking scene in Finding Nemo!' I am going to start buying six packs of Raid again, I swear."

"Are you kidding me. What do you want me to do, climb up to it like fucking Spider-Man!? I am neither Web nor Vast, thank goodness, I can't just float!"

Ok there had to be some way to get up there. They weren't going to try too hard, since technically the blood bugs could still be leading them down the garden path, but they did want to know what could be behind that door that made the reverse mosquitos interested in it.

Maybe it was Eris and they could try punching it in its approximation-of-a-face. Maybe it was an exit. Maybe it was just millions of centipedes, who knew! Certainly not them!

Bugs weren't known for making staircases with great structural integrity though, so that was out. Maybe try climbing the multitudes of doors like the world's worst rock climbing wall? Not that they were...good at rock climbing. They'd put that in "if I get desperate" and try to find an easier way to get up to the ceiling.

"Hey Eris, do you wanna do me a solid and, I dunno, flip the hallway? Would be nice and chaotic, right up your proverbial alley."

An abrupt shriek of static noise pierced the silence. Artifact’s vision went fuzzy for a moment, flickering rapidly like a TV switching through channels, and when they came to… the hallway was upside-down. It had indeed flipped, but their position hadn’t changed; the door was now on the floor, while Artifact was standing upside-down on the ceiling.

"Are you fucking kidding me. Y'know what, fuck it. Time to climb."

They placed one foot on a door knob and reached for the door above them, muttering more profanities under their breath. Had Artifact ever even used a climbing wall? Once, at a summer camp. When they were 11.

No possible problems here! Doorknobs were clearly the very best thing to ever climb with zero climbing experience.

"You are officially my least favourite Avatar, ever. Elias is better than you, you know that? He just files paperwork and is unbearably smug, he can't kidnap me to the WORM DIMENSION. Welcome to Door Hell! We won't even bother asking you to enjoy your stay because that is antithetical to the concept."

The complaints didn't stop, and neither did their attempts at climbing. They were, miraculously, making some small progress. At this point they expected for the wall to suddenly grow longer or for the floor to cease existing, but it was technically still progress, so there.

The insects still hovered nearby. They seemed to be watching pretty intently for entities with no visible eyes, but not like how Eris did… They almost seemed like they wanted to help get Artifact the hell out of here.

They continued their attempted climb, tiny step by step, about a third of the way up the wall… when the hallway flickered again for a moment, that telltale sign that something stupid was about to happen. The wall seemed to tilt, cutting into the ceiling and knocking Artifact off balance… and to their surprise, they were just standing on the wall. Sideways.

"Right yeah sure whatever this is a thing that happens now, why not! Logic? Never heard of it, have you perhaps heard of being the world's most annoying thing in existence? Cause that's what's in charge here in Door Hell, so you'll just deal with it!"

Well, at least walking was a hell of a lot easier than trying to climb, especially when you have both holes in you and the upper body strength of a slime mold. Reaching the door was easy enough now, but they were hesitant to actually open it. What if it had horrible awful worm things inside, or Eris itself.

Well if it contained Eris maybe they could punch it, but otherwise it might contain bad horrible things.

And the loud screeches of cut-up noise emanating from down the hallway.

i SwEAr tO ThE TwiStinG DeCEit… w̷͈̥̕h̷͈̥̙͒́A̷̫̲̓̌t̴͇̜̔ ̷̪̃̚ͅḧ̵̟̻̫́Ā̷̡̝̲̌V̸̻̠̎̅̊ȩ̴̈ ̶̘̤̈̍̈ȳ̸̼̾O̶̟͎͆͌ǔ̶̳̹͙̀ ̶͎͆̑D̴̡̡̀͐̀Ô̸͈͑n̸̪̿ḙ̸̙͂̽̍ ̴̧̪̝̑̾͝t̶̮̭̾̀͝H̵̱̩̤͗̋͌ĭ̷̡̀̍S̶͎̫̈͌ ̴̰͋T̶̡̨͔̃͝ị̵̃̀m̷̺̃È̴̺͓̐̎?̴̞̉̏͝¿̶̟͛͑̂!̵̳̀̍͠¡̸͖̓̌͝

Maybe it should find some company.

Like a spider in its web, Eris feels someone enter its halls, presumably through a door it or others left open, and they are currently sprinting through the halls. Coincidentally, the person is sprinting away from it.

She shoves herself to her feet, rummaging through her satchel as she sprints in what she thinks is the opposite direction of the laughter. She has... fuckall useful, just three emps—useless against whatever organic beast is hunting her—a metal foam bomb, and her ritual stuff.

Aurora shrieks in horror upon rounding a corner and seeing Eris, having unknowingly sprinting right to it.

Aurora looks relatively normal, if Eris ignores the fact that she's a 5'6" bright pink vaguely humanoid moth. She's wearing a cozy looking cream sweater over what looks to be white coveralls. She has an amber amulet hanging around her neck and a purple, jagged sickle clutched in her hand.

"Uh.... hello?"

Eris doesn’t verbally respond to Aurora, instead staring intently at her and tilting its head at a rather painful-looking angle, as if its neck had broken.

yOu MusT Be NEw hErE… i’D RecOGniZe yOu iF YOu wErE paRt oF My HiVE :)

"Uh, yeah! Very, very new. Uh, sorry for intruding?"

She's really not all that sorry, running for your life usually knocks the manners out of you. There's an awkward pause before she clears her throat, bravely taking a few steps towards Eris and holding out a hand.

"I-I'm Aurora, you are..?"

Its name hangs in the air as it speaks: in the moment, it barely even sounds like a name in the first place. The entity slowly extends its own hand in return, fingers unfolding with audible snaps… and it just stands there. Does it even know what a handshake is? Is it trying to mess with her?

Aurora says slowly, rather intently staring at Eris' face. She's heard that name before. Isn't Eris one of Mich's friends, from his time on The Bouchard? With how much the young engineer has talked her ear off, she really ought to be more certain...

"Well, in my defense, you-"

Aurora is cut off by a cutesy 8-bit chime from a device—some sort of PDA—hanging from her belt. She makes a frankly insulted sounding noise, pulling her PDA off of her belt and opening an application. She stares at the screen, seeming aghast.

"How the fuck can I get news here????"

She squeaks out, eyes darting over the article. She then makes an offended buzzing sound.

It conspicuously leans over to look at the small screen, chuckling to itself. Aurora is certainly calmer than its average visitor, so why not take advantage of that?

Aurora makes a strange strangled noise when Eris blames her.

"I- Wh- look, I know I'm the Door Heretic, but I can't just, make a door to who-knows-where! I. I think I can't, anyway...."

Aurora stares a bit blankly at the carpet, sinking into thought. Was the door her fault? Surely not, there's no way. She's not that close to her goal, to be freely intruding into it, is she?

Aurora's antenna suddenly straighten, and she jolts slightly, eyes widening in what could only be fear.

Someone who seems rather troublesome.

…We hAVe cOmPAnY :)

It tilts its head toward the source of the noise, smiling uncomfortably wide.

Aurora's voice is a higher pitch than before, and she sounds plainly terrified. Of course he'd show up. Of course of course...

She grabs Eris' arm, before planting a hand on the closest wall.

"ut navigare hunc labyrinthum..."

She almost hisses out, a thrum of energy running through her arm and into the halls. Eris feels the energy—dancing sparks like painless shocks—trace the hallways, seemingly mapping the unmappable.

Aurora now has a headache. Every turn is endless and impossible and she can barely understand it. But she understands it enough to run from him. She starts to half-run, pulling Eris along away from the visitor.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

An uncharacteristic amount of shock is evident in its tone. For the decades it’s spent in this domain, it’s never had a wanderer have the audacity to pull it around; it’s almost impressive, if not a bit annoying.

mAy i ASk… W̷h̸A̵T̴ ̷i̷N̶ ̵T̷h̴e̴ ̵T̵w̴i̵S̸T̴i̷n̷G̵ ̴D̵e̶c̶e̸i̸T̶’̷s̷ ̵N̶a̷m̴E̷ ̶A̷R̸e̴ ̴y̵O̷u̴ ̶D̷o̴i̵N̴G̴?̷¿̶!̷

"Trying to get you away from him."

Her voice is a mix of vitriol and morose, a tone that almost echoes with deep seated pain.

"He'll kill you. He'll kill us."

Mothkin, on a biological level, cannot cry. They lack tear ducts or equivalent.

That said, Aurora is crying, curled up on herself and desperately trying to not break down. These halls aren't helping. Eris isn't helping. She needs to run. Aurora fumbles with her satchel, pulling out that jagged sickle and clutching it tightly. Energy flows into it and it shatters, causing Aurora to vanish.

Eris can still feel her in its halls, of course, but she is far away. Unlike the newcomer...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Like a hound smelling blood, Hunts feels the disturbance of cult magic, even in a place as cloudy as this. He turns around, storming after the scent.

He rounds the corner, staring down the hall at Eris. He's a lizard man, his scales a rich green and eyes glinting red behind his tinted glasses. He's wearing a preacher's robes, with two pistols holstered on his shoulders. His hands hover over the grips of his pistols as he stares down Eris.

"What the fuck are you."

Eris turns around to face him, casually leaning against the nearest wall. Its arm appears to bisect it, clipping through and flickering like a bad 3D graphic. Out of all the wanderers demanding to know its name, being called a “what” is just what it needed today.

yOu seEm… bOtHEreD. THis PlacE Won’T HeLp yOu aNy, YOu knoW?

Hunts growls, his clawed hands wrapping around the grip of the pistols. The monster before him is right, of course. Nothing here will bring him peace. But what is he without his duty? Especially after today.

He draws both pistols, leveling them at Eris and firing, hoping the familiar recoil will help clear his mind.

The bullets spark through the air in a manner one can only describe as righteous, tearing into Eris as if it was wet paper. The bullets burn as they imbed into it's chest, like the will of something greater deemed it to come to harm.

wHaT… whaT diD you…

A swarm of neon insects crawls out of the wall, piling into the bullet holes in an apparent effort to hold the entity’s form together.

wEll… goOd mOve thEre… weLl PlayEd…

"What's the matter? Did you forget what pain feels like?"

He asks tauntingly, leveling the pistols at Eris and starting to stalk towards it.

"Don't worry, I'm glad to remind you."

He fires, aiming low. He wants this to last, no need to go for a kill so soon into this little hunt. He wonders if his bosses will let him keep a trophy...

To make matters worse, Eris can feel a third person entering, because two clearly wasn't enough...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Look, Mich knows this is stupid. If he somehow didn't know going into the murder-door was a bad idea, the three people who warned him definitely would have given him a clue.

But, frankly, how could he not? The situations perfect. Go in, kill Hunts, recover the body, claim Aurora or whatever-the-fuck lives here did it, and win. It gets his objective done so gorlex gets off his ass, he saves Aurora, and gets off scot free with both crimes.

tHeRe’s N o w A y i N H e L L i’M GivInG yOu ThE SaTisFacTioN :)

A strained, manic burst of laughter escapes through its gritted teeth. Eris glares up at the figure as its form appears to devolve, becoming rough shapes, fields of color and tangled patterns that match the wallpaper… and it’s gone from sight. Nothing but a few scattering bugs mark where it once stood.

GOd daMn tHiS… it hisses, taking a moment to process what’s happened. It’s somewhere inside the geometry now, the space between realities that wanderers never find unless it wants them to. It can’t see the bullet holes anymore but the pain remains… This can’t be good, at least while it’s still trying to pull itself back together.

They could swear they constantly see that thing in their peripheral vision, hear its grating voice in crowds… and every time, that dull pain accompanies the paranoia.

Did it mark them? No, it couldn’t have…

((HIIIIIII IT’S @3ris-d1st0rtionnn BACK AGAIN TO TORMENT YOUUUUU

Artifact lay on their shitty hotel bed with a frozen water bottle under the base of their neck in an attempt to numb it. The pain had come back. Again. It could have been from the liminal-ness that hotels had, some kind of memory of those stupid hallways surging back up as they walked the faded halls to their room, maybe they were imagining it! Maybe it was just some sort of ingrained memory, and their messed up brain had decided to make it real and then permanent. They couldn't possibly have been given another Mark, that would be five! Five was far too many, it was just absurd!

A sudden shot of pain jolts Artifact back from their disconnected state. It feels like something opened a wound back there… like something… escaped? No, what were they thinking? Why were they thinking that?

Artifact numbly lifted a hand to the base of their head. It came back bloody, and they stared at the crimson staining their fingers like it had personally insulted them.

No matter how much they stared, the blood remained infuriatingly real, and the pain remained, until their muddled thoughts decided it was probably a good idea to maybe do something about the blood.

Shakily, they stood. They had been certain their room had a bathroom in the room, but the door wasn't there. It must be in the hall, this must be one of those hotels that made the rooms share one restroom between a few rooms. Why had they come here, they hated hotels like this!

Another droplet of blood trails down Artifact’s neck. It feels strange, as if it’s moving in a direction that gravity just shouldn’t allow for. Is it somehow bleeding sideways?

"H-hello? Anyone there?"

The door creaks open slightly, revealing a short hallway that turns sharply to the left. This has to be the bathroom… but god, it’s built so strange. Probably normal for this cheap hotel though.

"Helloooo, anyone there? Sorry to wake you but I'm bleeding-" Augh no you idiot you can't just go around announcing you're bleeding, just get in there and solve it yourself.

A voice cuts through the uncomfortable silence. There’s a fair distance to it, and whoever it is doesn’t seem to be approaching from around that corner. If Artifact didn’t know any better, that voice would sound weirdly familiar… No, it has to be a coincidence.

You should really go see a doctor or something, call 911… Something like that. Who knows what could have gotten into you.

Had they left their phone in their room? Maybe they should just turn around and call 911, the mysterious voice was right.

But when they turned, the halls seemed unfamiliar, even though they had barely turned any corners to get here. Where..were they?

"Can you help me? I think something's wrong, my head feels weird and I don't know where I am."

Something was wrong. Just walk back to your room that's definitely still there, you didn't take that many turns, just remember your room number that is....

The voice sounds weirdly amused for a split second, much to Artifact’s confusion.

Look, maybe you shouldn’t go back… You could get lost, and it’s best to not trust your mind when this kind of thing is happening.

The hallway behind Artifact looks a few inches longer than they thought… God, they really must be out of it.

The hallway turns to the left again… and again. And again. It seems to be built like a loop, but Artifact never feels like they’re entering the same place again.

I swear we’re getting you checked out once you find us.

They were still bleeding, despite their attempts to stop it, and their head wasn't clearing. The sheer weirdness of this hotel wasn't helping, and Artifact was considering sitting on the tacky floor just to rest for a moment.

The voice almost sounds a little irritated now, unsettling Artifact. Do they actually care or not?

I know you can remember if you try hard enough! How about I give you a hint or something…

A bit of wallpaper appears to chip off the wall to Artifact’s right. The material underneath is painted black, covered in random paint splatters and holes.

Ah.

"You're an asshole, you know that?"

The fog still hadn't fully cleared but Artifact really thought they would have figured something like this out sooner, no matter how bad the pain was.

And there it is. Its fake “normal” tone slips entirely as the hallways morph into something more typical for its domain.

i P r O M i S E tHat’S NOt wHy yOu’Re hERe tHouGh! i’LL HolD tO My WOrd, jUsT tHis ONcE :)

God, that weird verbal smiley it does drives Artifact insane. How is it even doing that? Its painfully distorted form strides around a corner that clearly wasn’t there before, giving Artifact a weirdly… genuine smile. It sure seems giddy over something.

They reach up to the still bleeding wound that is suspiciously exit wound shaped.

It shrugs, putting on a sheepish expression.

yoU SeeMEd StrEsSEd, AnD i CouLDn’T jUst LeT yOu LEaVe wIthOUt sOmEOnE tO MakE SUre yOu’Re OKay :)

Eris giggles to itself, raising its hand as a strange centipede-looking creature crawls out of its jacket sleeve, leaving behind a trail of blood. So that’s the little bastard it put into Artifact.

The idea of having that many legs in them is repulsive, and the idea of sitting down is starting to sound good again. Preferably before passing out becomes an option.

"The hell you mean, symptoms. If you put more than one of those bastards in me I will find a way to kill you!"

The hallway they’re in appears to tilt violently if Artifact looks far enough into the distance. The patterns in the walls and floor are moving again. Yaaay.

Just before Artifact feels the need to sit down again, another shot of pain causes their knees to buckle. The feeling has seemingly migrated from their neck to somewhere in their chest.

oH DeaR :)

"What-what did you do!?"

It tilts its head, its vision burning holes through Artifact. It’s like it’s staring right into their soul.

mY HivE iS ITs Own AutOnOMouS EntIty, tHEy hAvE FreE WiLL! i Can’T TeLL tHem wHAt tO Do :)

They curl up on the ground, shaking as the pain from before they entered these halls again goes through their body.

"Get it outGetitoutgetitout-"

It stares at Artifact expectantly, practically vibrating with… excitement? And quite literally so, its form is starting to jolt and blur around the edges.

Something twitches under Artifact’s skin. It wants out just as much as they do.

It's in their chest, and now it's ready to leave.

A mixture of revulsion and fear passes through them as the skin breaks open. It's such a small gap between the clavicle and the throat, but it's still enough for the insect to painstakingly claw its way out.

Artifact weakly moves their head away from their chest as the old threat to blind them rings in their ears. The level of control Eris has over its swarm is not something they wish to test while weakened nor with their eyes in such close proximity to the creature tearing them open.

Unfortunately the movement has the unforeseen side effect of tearing the new wound further and they black out, coming back to themselves with the creature free of their body, an even newer bleeding wound, a raw throat, likely from screaming, and a wet face, from either blood or tears. Perhaps a mixture of both.

The wound on their chest pulses with a dulled, yet persistent pain. Just imagining the state of it makes them feel nauseous, but as they look down at the stained carpet, they notice something unsettling.

The liquid pooling under them isn’t blood.

It’s something like liquid technicolor. Something that constantly shifts and cycles through color and texture. Something crawling with tiny neon insects.

They try to push themselves up to a seated position and their arms give out again. Fine. They'll just stay here on the floor then.

"What are you talking about, why does my- why does it look like that!?" They gagged, closing their eyes just to avoid looking at the facsimile of blood.

"What did you do to me?"

Artifact would hug themselves if it wouldn't be pathetic. They can be pathetic when they get back to normalcy, because they are absolutely going to get out of here and they're going to be fine, maybe they'll just find some dirt and-no not burrow just...dig into it. Nothing bug related. Or burrowing, they're actually going to scrub that word from their vocabulary for a bit. Maybe they'll go visit their friend instead, hide under fifty weighted blankets and talk about random stuff with him until they both pass out. And maybe let him open all the doors for awhile.

It shrugs, leaning on the wall. “Leaning” may be a generous term, though… Half of its body is bisecting the architecture.

oH, DOn’T TeLL uS You’Re nOt HavinG a GoOd TImE! i WeNt oUT oF My waY To InvItE yOU BacK, aNd THis iS HoW You ResPonD?¿ :’)

There it goes again with its weird pedantic… sarcasm? Explanations? Whatever it’s aiming for?

nOw PLeaSe, Don’T Go CoLLapSinG oN Me! OnE oF My WanDerERs GoT TraPpeD iN The GeoMetRy LasT WeeK ANd i Can’T hAVe tHaT hAppEnINg aGaiN!

Artifact can’t exactly see much of it from their position, but it feels like it has one extra arm? No, there are only two. Is it even holding them up, or are they just floating in space? They can barely concentrate on anything.

They make the likely unwise decision to ignore the increasingly ominous doors and madness trying to once again ensnare them and instead indulge in one of their favourite hobbies, complaining.

"Well sorry but some of us have corporal forms that don't particularly enjoy having centipedes in our lungs. You may have Yogsothoth's preferred body but I'm stuck with holes in me and my blood turning into a pride parade, so if I want to collapse I'll damn well do it. If you're so concerned about my health maybe you shouldn't have put BUGS IN ME and then brought me back into the Funhouse Mirror but Also Worms Edition dimension! And since when did you care if I collapsed anyway, is it just because it's less fun?! Can't make me scared for my life if I'm too busy bleeding out on the floor? I've been dealing with your dumbass paranoia, which is supposed to be Eye by the way, for literal months, was that just not enough fear for you?? What, you still hungry? I'm not your fucking fear generator, bug phobia or not."

Eris’ form appears to dissolve behind Artifact somehow, sending them collapsing back down to the ground. It feels like a much longer fall than it should have been, and the floor is almost angling itself backwards…? Forwards?

weLL, yOu CAn’T ComPlaIN ThaT i LeT gO Of yOu :)

The patterns on the wallpaper shift and extend outward, taking on the creature’s form once again. What the hell is it gaining from this? Maybe it’s just showing off in some bizarre way… Typical Eris.

On one hand, they were happy Eris let go of them, and even happier their arms didn't give out, letting them actually sit instead of collapsing on the floor again. On the other hand, Eris was still there and being weird, which meant everything was awful and they needed a break from all the eyestrain and nonsense, a break they knew they would not get.

"They were rhetorical questions, I may be stupid but I'm not dumb enough to expect you to ever make any sense. And tends to do what, make them cranky? Cause it's really succeeding with me, you're doing a great job."

Even if that was the case, how the hell would Artifact know which door lead out of this damn place? Or whether it was telling the truth… or how they’d get all these damn bugs and glowstick juice out of their body.

It pouts cartoonishly and dramatically turns around, its torso appearing to pivot far before its legs do. In just a few steps, it’s already nothing but a speck at the end of the long hallway.

They struggle to their feet, leaning heavily on the wall closest to them and cringing at the sight of their new blood colour(s).

"Thanks ever so much for the well wishes-I'm sorry my what?!?"

A droplet of neon blood falls to the ground, almost in slow motion. It captures their attention for some odd reason as it soaks into the stained arcade-looking carpet… which begins moving. The patterns are moving.

"Eris, I swear to the Fears and whatever gods there are if you put a third bug in me I'll pull a Desolation. Don't test me, I'll do it! Stop putting bugs in me!"

Goddamnit there are more of those stupid neon Cootie-looking bugs. Great.

The twitching inside Artifact’s mind starts up again, almost as if it’s signaling for them to watch or responding to their outrage. The hovering swarm disperses, a few stray creatures moving a little too close to Artifact… Observing, maybe?

This was definitely going in top 10 concerning things they had seen, well, if they got out of Bugland alive. And what the everloving fuck was all the twitching about, if there was a bug in their head they swore...to do something, their good ideas and quick wit must has bled out into some of the bugs. Or their Head Bug ate it.

Wait, what had they been thinking about again? Right, right, glorious vengeance against Eris.

"Look if you're going to do something, just go ahead and do it, I am very tired, very cranky and I'm maybe going to succumb to blood loss in the next hour. Or is the blood loss what you want? Like a reverse flesh hive, instead of bugs in me I make bugs when pieces of me exit?"

The psychedelic insects were either one, pointing them towards an exit or two, directing them on a wild goose chase.

Unfortunately, their best chance of actually leaving was to follow the damn things. Wasn't like they could get more lost, so even if the creatures were leading them down the garden path, it made logical sense to risk it.

Sometimes they hated logic.

"Can't believe this is what my life has come to, I'm following a neon sign made of bugs formed from my blood in a nonsense hellscape. How simple! It'll be so easy to explain my new scars to people! 'How'd you get circular exit scars on the back of your neck and on your clavicle Artifact?' 'Oh well you see some BASTARD decided my internal organs needed more centipedes! Then my blood turned into a pride parade and spawned bugs, and I followed the neon sign they made like it's that fucking scene in Finding Nemo!' I am going to start buying six packs of Raid again, I swear."

"Are you kidding me. What do you want me to do, climb up to it like fucking Spider-Man!? I am neither Web nor Vast, thank goodness, I can't just float!"

Ok there had to be some way to get up there. They weren't going to try too hard, since technically the blood bugs could still be leading them down the garden path, but they did want to know what could be behind that door that made the reverse mosquitos interested in it.

Maybe it was Eris and they could try punching it in its approximation-of-a-face. Maybe it was an exit. Maybe it was just millions of centipedes, who knew! Certainly not them!

Bugs weren't known for making staircases with great structural integrity though, so that was out. Maybe try climbing the multitudes of doors like the world's worst rock climbing wall? Not that they were...good at rock climbing. They'd put that in "if I get desperate" and try to find an easier way to get up to the ceiling.

"Hey Eris, do you wanna do me a solid and, I dunno, flip the hallway? Would be nice and chaotic, right up your proverbial alley."

An abrupt shriek of static noise pierced the silence. Artifact’s vision went fuzzy for a moment, flickering rapidly like a TV switching through channels, and when they came to… the hallway was upside-down. It had indeed flipped, but their position hadn’t changed; the door was now on the floor, while Artifact was standing upside-down on the ceiling.

"Are you fucking kidding me. Y'know what, fuck it. Time to climb."

They placed one foot on a door knob and reached for the door above them, muttering more profanities under their breath. Had Artifact ever even used a climbing wall? Once, at a summer camp. When they were 11.

No possible problems here! Doorknobs were clearly the very best thing to ever climb with zero climbing experience.

"You are officially my least favourite Avatar, ever. Elias is better than you, you know that? He just files paperwork and is unbearably smug, he can't kidnap me to the WORM DIMENSION. Welcome to Door Hell! We won't even bother asking you to enjoy your stay because that is antithetical to the concept."

The complaints didn't stop, and neither did their attempts at climbing. They were, miraculously, making some small progress. At this point they expected for the wall to suddenly grow longer or for the floor to cease existing, but it was technically still progress, so there.

The insects still hovered nearby. They seemed to be watching pretty intently for entities with no visible eyes, but not like how Eris did… They almost seemed like they wanted to help get Artifact the hell out of here.

They continued their attempted climb, tiny step by step, about a third of the way up the wall… when the hallway flickered again for a moment, that telltale sign that something stupid was about to happen. The wall seemed to tilt, cutting into the ceiling and knocking Artifact off balance… and to their surprise, they were just standing on the wall. Sideways.

They could swear they constantly see that thing in their peripheral vision, hear its grating voice in crowds… and every time, that dull pain accompanies the paranoia.

Did it mark them? No, it couldn’t have…

((HIIIIIII IT’S @3ris-d1st0rtionnn BACK AGAIN TO TORMENT YOUUUUU

Artifact lay on their shitty hotel bed with a frozen water bottle under the base of their neck in an attempt to numb it. The pain had come back. Again. It could have been from the liminal-ness that hotels had, some kind of memory of those stupid hallways surging back up as they walked the faded halls to their room, maybe they were imagining it! Maybe it was just some sort of ingrained memory, and their messed up brain had decided to make it real and then permanent. They couldn't possibly have been given another Mark, that would be five! Five was far too many, it was just absurd!

A sudden shot of pain jolts Artifact back from their disconnected state. It feels like something opened a wound back there… like something… escaped? No, what were they thinking? Why were they thinking that?

Artifact numbly lifted a hand to the base of their head. It came back bloody, and they stared at the crimson staining their fingers like it had personally insulted them.

No matter how much they stared, the blood remained infuriatingly real, and the pain remained, until their muddled thoughts decided it was probably a good idea to maybe do something about the blood.

Shakily, they stood. They had been certain their room had a bathroom in the room, but the door wasn't there. It must be in the hall, this must be one of those hotels that made the rooms share one restroom between a few rooms. Why had they come here, they hated hotels like this!

Another droplet of blood trails down Artifact’s neck. It feels strange, as if it’s moving in a direction that gravity just shouldn’t allow for. Is it somehow bleeding sideways?

"H-hello? Anyone there?"

The door creaks open slightly, revealing a short hallway that turns sharply to the left. This has to be the bathroom… but god, it’s built so strange. Probably normal for this cheap hotel though.

"Helloooo, anyone there? Sorry to wake you but I'm bleeding-" Augh no you idiot you can't just go around announcing you're bleeding, just get in there and solve it yourself.

A voice cuts through the uncomfortable silence. There’s a fair distance to it, and whoever it is doesn’t seem to be approaching from around that corner. If Artifact didn’t know any better, that voice would sound weirdly familiar… No, it has to be a coincidence.

You should really go see a doctor or something, call 911… Something like that. Who knows what could have gotten into you.

Had they left their phone in their room? Maybe they should just turn around and call 911, the mysterious voice was right.

But when they turned, the halls seemed unfamiliar, even though they had barely turned any corners to get here. Where..were they?

"Can you help me? I think something's wrong, my head feels weird and I don't know where I am."

Something was wrong. Just walk back to your room that's definitely still there, you didn't take that many turns, just remember your room number that is....

The voice sounds weirdly amused for a split second, much to Artifact’s confusion.

Look, maybe you shouldn’t go back… You could get lost, and it’s best to not trust your mind when this kind of thing is happening.

The hallway behind Artifact looks a few inches longer than they thought… God, they really must be out of it.

The hallway turns to the left again… and again. And again. It seems to be built like a loop, but Artifact never feels like they’re entering the same place again.

I swear we’re getting you checked out once you find us.

They were still bleeding, despite their attempts to stop it, and their head wasn't clearing. The sheer weirdness of this hotel wasn't helping, and Artifact was considering sitting on the tacky floor just to rest for a moment.

The voice almost sounds a little irritated now, unsettling Artifact. Do they actually care or not?

I know you can remember if you try hard enough! How about I give you a hint or something…

A bit of wallpaper appears to chip off the wall to Artifact’s right. The material underneath is painted black, covered in random paint splatters and holes.

Ah.

"You're an asshole, you know that?"

The fog still hadn't fully cleared but Artifact really thought they would have figured something like this out sooner, no matter how bad the pain was.

And there it is. Its fake “normal” tone slips entirely as the hallways morph into something more typical for its domain.

i P r O M i S E tHat’S NOt wHy yOu’Re hERe tHouGh! i’LL HolD tO My WOrd, jUsT tHis ONcE :)

God, that weird verbal smiley it does drives Artifact insane. How is it even doing that? Its painfully distorted form strides around a corner that clearly wasn’t there before, giving Artifact a weirdly… genuine smile. It sure seems giddy over something.

They reach up to the still bleeding wound that is suspiciously exit wound shaped.

It shrugs, putting on a sheepish expression.

yoU SeeMEd StrEsSEd, AnD i CouLDn’T jUst LeT yOu LEaVe wIthOUt sOmEOnE tO MakE SUre yOu’Re OKay :)

Eris giggles to itself, raising its hand as a strange centipede-looking creature crawls out of its jacket sleeve, leaving behind a trail of blood. So that’s the little bastard it put into Artifact.

The idea of having that many legs in them is repulsive, and the idea of sitting down is starting to sound good again. Preferably before passing out becomes an option.

"The hell you mean, symptoms. If you put more than one of those bastards in me I will find a way to kill you!"

The hallway they’re in appears to tilt violently if Artifact looks far enough into the distance. The patterns in the walls and floor are moving again. Yaaay.

Just before Artifact feels the need to sit down again, another shot of pain causes their knees to buckle. The feeling has seemingly migrated from their neck to somewhere in their chest.

oH DeaR :)

"What-what did you do!?"

It tilts its head, its vision burning holes through Artifact. It’s like it’s staring right into their soul.

mY HivE iS ITs Own AutOnOMouS EntIty, tHEy hAvE FreE WiLL! i Can’T TeLL tHem wHAt tO Do :)

They curl up on the ground, shaking as the pain from before they entered these halls again goes through their body.

"Get it outGetitoutgetitout-"

It stares at Artifact expectantly, practically vibrating with… excitement? And quite literally so, its form is starting to jolt and blur around the edges.

Something twitches under Artifact’s skin. It wants out just as much as they do.

It's in their chest, and now it's ready to leave.

A mixture of revulsion and fear passes through them as the skin breaks open. It's such a small gap between the clavicle and the throat, but it's still enough for the insect to painstakingly claw its way out.

Artifact weakly moves their head away from their chest as the old threat to blind them rings in their ears. The level of control Eris has over its swarm is not something they wish to test while weakened nor with their eyes in such close proximity to the creature tearing them open.

Unfortunately the movement has the unforeseen side effect of tearing the new wound further and they black out, coming back to themselves with the creature free of their body, an even newer bleeding wound, a raw throat, likely from screaming, and a wet face, from either blood or tears. Perhaps a mixture of both.

The wound on their chest pulses with a dulled, yet persistent pain. Just imagining the state of it makes them feel nauseous, but as they look down at the stained carpet, they notice something unsettling.

The liquid pooling under them isn’t blood.

It’s something like liquid technicolor. Something that constantly shifts and cycles through color and texture. Something crawling with tiny neon insects.

They try to push themselves up to a seated position and their arms give out again. Fine. They'll just stay here on the floor then.

"What are you talking about, why does my- why does it look like that!?" They gagged, closing their eyes just to avoid looking at the facsimile of blood.

"What did you do to me?"

Artifact would hug themselves if it wouldn't be pathetic. They can be pathetic when they get back to normalcy, because they are absolutely going to get out of here and they're going to be fine, maybe they'll just find some dirt and-no not burrow just...dig into it. Nothing bug related. Or burrowing, they're actually going to scrub that word from their vocabulary for a bit. Maybe they'll go visit their friend instead, hide under fifty weighted blankets and talk about random stuff with him until they both pass out. And maybe let him open all the doors for awhile.

It shrugs, leaning on the wall. “Leaning” may be a generous term, though… Half of its body is bisecting the architecture.

oH, DOn’T TeLL uS You’Re nOt HavinG a GoOd TImE! i WeNt oUT oF My waY To InvItE yOU BacK, aNd THis iS HoW You ResPonD?¿ :’)

There it goes again with its weird pedantic… sarcasm? Explanations? Whatever it’s aiming for?

nOw PLeaSe, Don’T Go CoLLapSinG oN Me! OnE oF My WanDerERs GoT TraPpeD iN The GeoMetRy LasT WeeK ANd i Can’T hAVe tHaT hAppEnINg aGaiN!

Artifact can’t exactly see much of it from their position, but it feels like it has one extra arm? No, there are only two. Is it even holding them up, or are they just floating in space? They can barely concentrate on anything.

They make the likely unwise decision to ignore the increasingly ominous doors and madness trying to once again ensnare them and instead indulge in one of their favourite hobbies, complaining.

"Well sorry but some of us have corporal forms that don't particularly enjoy having centipedes in our lungs. You may have Yogsothoth's preferred body but I'm stuck with holes in me and my blood turning into a pride parade, so if I want to collapse I'll damn well do it. If you're so concerned about my health maybe you shouldn't have put BUGS IN ME and then brought me back into the Funhouse Mirror but Also Worms Edition dimension! And since when did you care if I collapsed anyway, is it just because it's less fun?! Can't make me scared for my life if I'm too busy bleeding out on the floor? I've been dealing with your dumbass paranoia, which is supposed to be Eye by the way, for literal months, was that just not enough fear for you?? What, you still hungry? I'm not your fucking fear generator, bug phobia or not."

Eris’ form appears to dissolve behind Artifact somehow, sending them collapsing back down to the ground. It feels like a much longer fall than it should have been, and the floor is almost angling itself backwards…? Forwards?

weLL, yOu CAn’T ComPlaIN ThaT i LeT gO Of yOu :)

The patterns on the wallpaper shift and extend outward, taking on the creature’s form once again. What the hell is it gaining from this? Maybe it’s just showing off in some bizarre way… Typical Eris.

On one hand, they were happy Eris let go of them, and even happier their arms didn't give out, letting them actually sit instead of collapsing on the floor again. On the other hand, Eris was still there and being weird, which meant everything was awful and they needed a break from all the eyestrain and nonsense, a break they knew they would not get.

"They were rhetorical questions, I may be stupid but I'm not dumb enough to expect you to ever make any sense. And tends to do what, make them cranky? Cause it's really succeeding with me, you're doing a great job."

Even if that was the case, how the hell would Artifact know which door lead out of this damn place? Or whether it was telling the truth… or how they’d get all these damn bugs and glowstick juice out of their body.

It pouts cartoonishly and dramatically turns around, its torso appearing to pivot far before its legs do. In just a few steps, it’s already nothing but a speck at the end of the long hallway.

They struggle to their feet, leaning heavily on the wall closest to them and cringing at the sight of their new blood colour(s).

"Thanks ever so much for the well wishes-I'm sorry my what?!?"

A droplet of neon blood falls to the ground, almost in slow motion. It captures their attention for some odd reason as it soaks into the stained arcade-looking carpet… which begins moving. The patterns are moving.

"Eris, I swear to the Fears and whatever gods there are if you put a third bug in me I'll pull a Desolation. Don't test me, I'll do it! Stop putting bugs in me!"

Goddamnit there are more of those stupid neon Cootie-looking bugs. Great.

The twitching inside Artifact’s mind starts up again, almost as if it’s signaling for them to watch or responding to their outrage. The hovering swarm disperses, a few stray creatures moving a little too close to Artifact… Observing, maybe?

This was definitely going in top 10 concerning things they had seen, well, if they got out of Bugland alive. And what the everloving fuck was all the twitching about, if there was a bug in their head they swore...to do something, their good ideas and quick wit must has bled out into some of the bugs. Or their Head Bug ate it.

Wait, what had they been thinking about again? Right, right, glorious vengeance against Eris.

"Look if you're going to do something, just go ahead and do it, I am very tired, very cranky and I'm maybe going to succumb to blood loss in the next hour. Or is the blood loss what you want? Like a reverse flesh hive, instead of bugs in me I make bugs when pieces of me exit?"

The psychedelic insects were either one, pointing them towards an exit or two, directing them on a wild goose chase.

Unfortunately, their best chance of actually leaving was to follow the damn things. Wasn't like they could get more lost, so even if the creatures were leading them down the garden path, it made logical sense to risk it.

Sometimes they hated logic.

"Can't believe this is what my life has come to, I'm following a neon sign made of bugs formed from my blood in a nonsense hellscape. How simple! It'll be so easy to explain my new scars to people! 'How'd you get circular exit scars on the back of your neck and on your clavicle Artifact?' 'Oh well you see some BASTARD decided my internal organs needed more centipedes! Then my blood turned into a pride parade and spawned bugs, and I followed the neon sign they made like it's that fucking scene in Finding Nemo!' I am going to start buying six packs of Raid again, I swear."

"Are you kidding me. What do you want me to do, climb up to it like fucking Spider-Man!? I am neither Web nor Vast, thank goodness, I can't just float!"

Ok there had to be some way to get up there. They weren't going to try too hard, since technically the blood bugs could still be leading them down the garden path, but they did want to know what could be behind that door that made the reverse mosquitos interested in it.

Maybe it was Eris and they could try punching it in its approximation-of-a-face. Maybe it was an exit. Maybe it was just millions of centipedes, who knew! Certainly not them!

Bugs weren't known for making staircases with great structural integrity though, so that was out. Maybe try climbing the multitudes of doors like the world's worst rock climbing wall? Not that they were...good at rock climbing. They'd put that in "if I get desperate" and try to find an easier way to get up to the ceiling.

"Hey Eris, do you wanna do me a solid and, I dunno, flip the hallway? Would be nice and chaotic, right up your proverbial alley."

An abrupt shriek of static noise pierced the silence. Artifact’s vision went fuzzy for a moment, flickering rapidly like a TV switching through channels, and when they came to… the hallway was upside-down. It had indeed flipped, but their position hadn’t changed; the door was now on the floor, while Artifact was standing upside-down on the ceiling.

They could swear they constantly see that thing in their peripheral vision, hear its grating voice in crowds… and every time, that dull pain accompanies the paranoia.

Did it mark them? No, it couldn’t have…

((HIIIIIII IT’S @3ris-d1st0rtionnn BACK AGAIN TO TORMENT YOUUUUU

Artifact lay on their shitty hotel bed with a frozen water bottle under the base of their neck in an attempt to numb it. The pain had come back. Again. It could have been from the liminal-ness that hotels had, some kind of memory of those stupid hallways surging back up as they walked the faded halls to their room, maybe they were imagining it! Maybe it was just some sort of ingrained memory, and their messed up brain had decided to make it real and then permanent. They couldn't possibly have been given another Mark, that would be five! Five was far too many, it was just absurd!

A sudden shot of pain jolts Artifact back from their disconnected state. It feels like something opened a wound back there… like something… escaped? No, what were they thinking? Why were they thinking that?

Artifact numbly lifted a hand to the base of their head. It came back bloody, and they stared at the crimson staining their fingers like it had personally insulted them.

No matter how much they stared, the blood remained infuriatingly real, and the pain remained, until their muddled thoughts decided it was probably a good idea to maybe do something about the blood.

Shakily, they stood. They had been certain their room had a bathroom in the room, but the door wasn't there. It must be in the hall, this must be one of those hotels that made the rooms share one restroom between a few rooms. Why had they come here, they hated hotels like this!

Another droplet of blood trails down Artifact’s neck. It feels strange, as if it’s moving in a direction that gravity just shouldn’t allow for. Is it somehow bleeding sideways?

"H-hello? Anyone there?"

The door creaks open slightly, revealing a short hallway that turns sharply to the left. This has to be the bathroom… but god, it’s built so strange. Probably normal for this cheap hotel though.

"Helloooo, anyone there? Sorry to wake you but I'm bleeding-" Augh no you idiot you can't just go around announcing you're bleeding, just get in there and solve it yourself.

A voice cuts through the uncomfortable silence. There’s a fair distance to it, and whoever it is doesn’t seem to be approaching from around that corner. If Artifact didn’t know any better, that voice would sound weirdly familiar… No, it has to be a coincidence.

You should really go see a doctor or something, call 911… Something like that. Who knows what could have gotten into you.

Had they left their phone in their room? Maybe they should just turn around and call 911, the mysterious voice was right.

But when they turned, the halls seemed unfamiliar, even though they had barely turned any corners to get here. Where..were they?

"Can you help me? I think something's wrong, my head feels weird and I don't know where I am."

Something was wrong. Just walk back to your room that's definitely still there, you didn't take that many turns, just remember your room number that is....

The voice sounds weirdly amused for a split second, much to Artifact’s confusion.

Look, maybe you shouldn’t go back… You could get lost, and it’s best to not trust your mind when this kind of thing is happening.

The hallway behind Artifact looks a few inches longer than they thought… God, they really must be out of it.

The hallway turns to the left again… and again. And again. It seems to be built like a loop, but Artifact never feels like they’re entering the same place again.

I swear we’re getting you checked out once you find us.

They were still bleeding, despite their attempts to stop it, and their head wasn't clearing. The sheer weirdness of this hotel wasn't helping, and Artifact was considering sitting on the tacky floor just to rest for a moment.

The voice almost sounds a little irritated now, unsettling Artifact. Do they actually care or not?

I know you can remember if you try hard enough! How about I give you a hint or something…

A bit of wallpaper appears to chip off the wall to Artifact’s right. The material underneath is painted black, covered in random paint splatters and holes.

Ah.

"You're an asshole, you know that?"

The fog still hadn't fully cleared but Artifact really thought they would have figured something like this out sooner, no matter how bad the pain was.

And there it is. Its fake “normal” tone slips entirely as the hallways morph into something more typical for its domain.

i P r O M i S E tHat’S NOt wHy yOu’Re hERe tHouGh! i’LL HolD tO My WOrd, jUsT tHis ONcE :)

God, that weird verbal smiley it does drives Artifact insane. How is it even doing that? Its painfully distorted form strides around a corner that clearly wasn’t there before, giving Artifact a weirdly… genuine smile. It sure seems giddy over something.

They reach up to the still bleeding wound that is suspiciously exit wound shaped.

It shrugs, putting on a sheepish expression.

yoU SeeMEd StrEsSEd, AnD i CouLDn’T jUst LeT yOu LEaVe wIthOUt sOmEOnE tO MakE SUre yOu’Re OKay :)

Eris giggles to itself, raising its hand as a strange centipede-looking creature crawls out of its jacket sleeve, leaving behind a trail of blood. So that’s the little bastard it put into Artifact.

The idea of having that many legs in them is repulsive, and the idea of sitting down is starting to sound good again. Preferably before passing out becomes an option.

"The hell you mean, symptoms. If you put more than one of those bastards in me I will find a way to kill you!"

The hallway they’re in appears to tilt violently if Artifact looks far enough into the distance. The patterns in the walls and floor are moving again. Yaaay.

Just before Artifact feels the need to sit down again, another shot of pain causes their knees to buckle. The feeling has seemingly migrated from their neck to somewhere in their chest.

oH DeaR :)

"What-what did you do!?"

It tilts its head, its vision burning holes through Artifact. It’s like it’s staring right into their soul.

mY HivE iS ITs Own AutOnOMouS EntIty, tHEy hAvE FreE WiLL! i Can’T TeLL tHem wHAt tO Do :)

They curl up on the ground, shaking as the pain from before they entered these halls again goes through their body.

"Get it outGetitoutgetitout-"

It stares at Artifact expectantly, practically vibrating with… excitement? And quite literally so, its form is starting to jolt and blur around the edges.

Something twitches under Artifact’s skin. It wants out just as much as they do.

It's in their chest, and now it's ready to leave.

A mixture of revulsion and fear passes through them as the skin breaks open. It's such a small gap between the clavicle and the throat, but it's still enough for the insect to painstakingly claw its way out.

Artifact weakly moves their head away from their chest as the old threat to blind them rings in their ears. The level of control Eris has over its swarm is not something they wish to test while weakened nor with their eyes in such close proximity to the creature tearing them open.

Unfortunately the movement has the unforeseen side effect of tearing the new wound further and they black out, coming back to themselves with the creature free of their body, an even newer bleeding wound, a raw throat, likely from screaming, and a wet face, from either blood or tears. Perhaps a mixture of both.

The wound on their chest pulses with a dulled, yet persistent pain. Just imagining the state of it makes them feel nauseous, but as they look down at the stained carpet, they notice something unsettling.

The liquid pooling under them isn’t blood.

It’s something like liquid technicolor. Something that constantly shifts and cycles through color and texture. Something crawling with tiny neon insects.

They try to push themselves up to a seated position and their arms give out again. Fine. They'll just stay here on the floor then.

"What are you talking about, why does my- why does it look like that!?" They gagged, closing their eyes just to avoid looking at the facsimile of blood.

"What did you do to me?"

Artifact would hug themselves if it wouldn't be pathetic. They can be pathetic when they get back to normalcy, because they are absolutely going to get out of here and they're going to be fine, maybe they'll just find some dirt and-no not burrow just...dig into it. Nothing bug related. Or burrowing, they're actually going to scrub that word from their vocabulary for a bit. Maybe they'll go visit their friend instead, hide under fifty weighted blankets and talk about random stuff with him until they both pass out. And maybe let him open all the doors for awhile.

It shrugs, leaning on the wall. “Leaning” may be a generous term, though… Half of its body is bisecting the architecture.

oH, DOn’T TeLL uS You’Re nOt HavinG a GoOd TImE! i WeNt oUT oF My waY To InvItE yOU BacK, aNd THis iS HoW You ResPonD?¿ :’)

There it goes again with its weird pedantic… sarcasm? Explanations? Whatever it’s aiming for?

nOw PLeaSe, Don’T Go CoLLapSinG oN Me! OnE oF My WanDerERs GoT TraPpeD iN The GeoMetRy LasT WeeK ANd i Can’T hAVe tHaT hAppEnINg aGaiN!

Artifact can’t exactly see much of it from their position, but it feels like it has one extra arm? No, there are only two. Is it even holding them up, or are they just floating in space? They can barely concentrate on anything.

They make the likely unwise decision to ignore the increasingly ominous doors and madness trying to once again ensnare them and instead indulge in one of their favourite hobbies, complaining.

"Well sorry but some of us have corporal forms that don't particularly enjoy having centipedes in our lungs. You may have Yogsothoth's preferred body but I'm stuck with holes in me and my blood turning into a pride parade, so if I want to collapse I'll damn well do it. If you're so concerned about my health maybe you shouldn't have put BUGS IN ME and then brought me back into the Funhouse Mirror but Also Worms Edition dimension! And since when did you care if I collapsed anyway, is it just because it's less fun?! Can't make me scared for my life if I'm too busy bleeding out on the floor? I've been dealing with your dumbass paranoia, which is supposed to be Eye by the way, for literal months, was that just not enough fear for you?? What, you still hungry? I'm not your fucking fear generator, bug phobia or not."

Eris’ form appears to dissolve behind Artifact somehow, sending them collapsing back down to the ground. It feels like a much longer fall than it should have been, and the floor is almost angling itself backwards…? Forwards?

weLL, yOu CAn’T ComPlaIN ThaT i LeT gO Of yOu :)

The patterns on the wallpaper shift and extend outward, taking on the creature’s form once again. What the hell is it gaining from this? Maybe it’s just showing off in some bizarre way… Typical Eris.

On one hand, they were happy Eris let go of them, and even happier their arms didn't give out, letting them actually sit instead of collapsing on the floor again. On the other hand, Eris was still there and being weird, which meant everything was awful and they needed a break from all the eyestrain and nonsense, a break they knew they would not get.

"They were rhetorical questions, I may be stupid but I'm not dumb enough to expect you to ever make any sense. And tends to do what, make them cranky? Cause it's really succeeding with me, you're doing a great job."

Even if that was the case, how the hell would Artifact know which door lead out of this damn place? Or whether it was telling the truth… or how they’d get all these damn bugs and glowstick juice out of their body.

It pouts cartoonishly and dramatically turns around, its torso appearing to pivot far before its legs do. In just a few steps, it’s already nothing but a speck at the end of the long hallway.

They struggle to their feet, leaning heavily on the wall closest to them and cringing at the sight of their new blood colour(s).

"Thanks ever so much for the well wishes-I'm sorry my what?!?"

A droplet of neon blood falls to the ground, almost in slow motion. It captures their attention for some odd reason as it soaks into the stained arcade-looking carpet… which begins moving. The patterns are moving.

"Eris, I swear to the Fears and whatever gods there are if you put a third bug in me I'll pull a Desolation. Don't test me, I'll do it! Stop putting bugs in me!"

Goddamnit there are more of those stupid neon Cootie-looking bugs. Great.

The twitching inside Artifact’s mind starts up again, almost as if it’s signaling for them to watch or responding to their outrage. The hovering swarm disperses, a few stray creatures moving a little too close to Artifact… Observing, maybe?

This was definitely going in top 10 concerning things they had seen, well, if they got out of Bugland alive. And what the everloving fuck was all the twitching about, if there was a bug in their head they swore...to do something, their good ideas and quick wit must has bled out into some of the bugs. Or their Head Bug ate it.

Wait, what had they been thinking about again? Right, right, glorious vengeance against Eris.

"Look if you're going to do something, just go ahead and do it, I am very tired, very cranky and I'm maybe going to succumb to blood loss in the next hour. Or is the blood loss what you want? Like a reverse flesh hive, instead of bugs in me I make bugs when pieces of me exit?"

The psychedelic insects were either one, pointing them towards an exit or two, directing them on a wild goose chase.

Unfortunately, their best chance of actually leaving was to follow the damn things. Wasn't like they could get more lost, so even if the creatures were leading them down the garden path, it made logical sense to risk it.

Sometimes they hated logic.

"Can't believe this is what my life has come to, I'm following a neon sign made of bugs formed from my blood in a nonsense hellscape. How simple! It'll be so easy to explain my new scars to people! 'How'd you get circular exit scars on the back of your neck and on your clavicle Artifact?' 'Oh well you see some BASTARD decided my internal organs needed more centipedes! Then my blood turned into a pride parade and spawned bugs, and I followed the neon sign they made like it's that fucking scene in Finding Nemo!' I am going to start buying six packs of Raid again, I swear."

They could swear they constantly see that thing in their peripheral vision, hear its grating voice in crowds… and every time, that dull pain accompanies the paranoia.

Did it mark them? No, it couldn’t have…

((HIIIIIII IT’S @3ris-d1st0rtionnn BACK AGAIN TO TORMENT YOUUUUU

Artifact lay on their shitty hotel bed with a frozen water bottle under the base of their neck in an attempt to numb it. The pain had come back. Again. It could have been from the liminal-ness that hotels had, some kind of memory of those stupid hallways surging back up as they walked the faded halls to their room, maybe they were imagining it! Maybe it was just some sort of ingrained memory, and their messed up brain had decided to make it real and then permanent. They couldn't possibly have been given another Mark, that would be five! Five was far too many, it was just absurd!

A sudden shot of pain jolts Artifact back from their disconnected state. It feels like something opened a wound back there… like something… escaped? No, what were they thinking? Why were they thinking that?

Artifact numbly lifted a hand to the base of their head. It came back bloody, and they stared at the crimson staining their fingers like it had personally insulted them.

No matter how much they stared, the blood remained infuriatingly real, and the pain remained, until their muddled thoughts decided it was probably a good idea to maybe do something about the blood.

Shakily, they stood. They had been certain their room had a bathroom in the room, but the door wasn't there. It must be in the hall, this must be one of those hotels that made the rooms share one restroom between a few rooms. Why had they come here, they hated hotels like this!

Another droplet of blood trails down Artifact’s neck. It feels strange, as if it’s moving in a direction that gravity just shouldn’t allow for. Is it somehow bleeding sideways?

"H-hello? Anyone there?"

The door creaks open slightly, revealing a short hallway that turns sharply to the left. This has to be the bathroom… but god, it’s built so strange. Probably normal for this cheap hotel though.

"Helloooo, anyone there? Sorry to wake you but I'm bleeding-" Augh no you idiot you can't just go around announcing you're bleeding, just get in there and solve it yourself.

A voice cuts through the uncomfortable silence. There’s a fair distance to it, and whoever it is doesn’t seem to be approaching from around that corner. If Artifact didn’t know any better, that voice would sound weirdly familiar… No, it has to be a coincidence.

You should really go see a doctor or something, call 911… Something like that. Who knows what could have gotten into you.

Had they left their phone in their room? Maybe they should just turn around and call 911, the mysterious voice was right.

But when they turned, the halls seemed unfamiliar, even though they had barely turned any corners to get here. Where..were they?

"Can you help me? I think something's wrong, my head feels weird and I don't know where I am."

Something was wrong. Just walk back to your room that's definitely still there, you didn't take that many turns, just remember your room number that is....

The voice sounds weirdly amused for a split second, much to Artifact’s confusion.

Look, maybe you shouldn’t go back… You could get lost, and it’s best to not trust your mind when this kind of thing is happening.

The hallway behind Artifact looks a few inches longer than they thought… God, they really must be out of it.

The hallway turns to the left again… and again. And again. It seems to be built like a loop, but Artifact never feels like they’re entering the same place again.

I swear we’re getting you checked out once you find us.

They were still bleeding, despite their attempts to stop it, and their head wasn't clearing. The sheer weirdness of this hotel wasn't helping, and Artifact was considering sitting on the tacky floor just to rest for a moment.

The voice almost sounds a little irritated now, unsettling Artifact. Do they actually care or not?

I know you can remember if you try hard enough! How about I give you a hint or something…

A bit of wallpaper appears to chip off the wall to Artifact’s right. The material underneath is painted black, covered in random paint splatters and holes.

Ah.

"You're an asshole, you know that?"

The fog still hadn't fully cleared but Artifact really thought they would have figured something like this out sooner, no matter how bad the pain was.

And there it is. Its fake “normal” tone slips entirely as the hallways morph into something more typical for its domain.

i P r O M i S E tHat’S NOt wHy yOu’Re hERe tHouGh! i’LL HolD tO My WOrd, jUsT tHis ONcE :)

God, that weird verbal smiley it does drives Artifact insane. How is it even doing that? Its painfully distorted form strides around a corner that clearly wasn’t there before, giving Artifact a weirdly… genuine smile. It sure seems giddy over something.

They reach up to the still bleeding wound that is suspiciously exit wound shaped.

It shrugs, putting on a sheepish expression.

yoU SeeMEd StrEsSEd, AnD i CouLDn’T jUst LeT yOu LEaVe wIthOUt sOmEOnE tO MakE SUre yOu’Re OKay :)

Eris giggles to itself, raising its hand as a strange centipede-looking creature crawls out of its jacket sleeve, leaving behind a trail of blood. So that’s the little bastard it put into Artifact.

The idea of having that many legs in them is repulsive, and the idea of sitting down is starting to sound good again. Preferably before passing out becomes an option.

"The hell you mean, symptoms. If you put more than one of those bastards in me I will find a way to kill you!"

The hallway they’re in appears to tilt violently if Artifact looks far enough into the distance. The patterns in the walls and floor are moving again. Yaaay.

Just before Artifact feels the need to sit down again, another shot of pain causes their knees to buckle. The feeling has seemingly migrated from their neck to somewhere in their chest.

oH DeaR :)

"What-what did you do!?"

It tilts its head, its vision burning holes through Artifact. It’s like it’s staring right into their soul.

mY HivE iS ITs Own AutOnOMouS EntIty, tHEy hAvE FreE WiLL! i Can’T TeLL tHem wHAt tO Do :)

They curl up on the ground, shaking as the pain from before they entered these halls again goes through their body.

"Get it outGetitoutgetitout-"

It stares at Artifact expectantly, practically vibrating with… excitement? And quite literally so, its form is starting to jolt and blur around the edges.

Something twitches under Artifact’s skin. It wants out just as much as they do.

It's in their chest, and now it's ready to leave.

A mixture of revulsion and fear passes through them as the skin breaks open. It's such a small gap between the clavicle and the throat, but it's still enough for the insect to painstakingly claw its way out.

Artifact weakly moves their head away from their chest as the old threat to blind them rings in their ears. The level of control Eris has over its swarm is not something they wish to test while weakened nor with their eyes in such close proximity to the creature tearing them open.

Unfortunately the movement has the unforeseen side effect of tearing the new wound further and they black out, coming back to themselves with the creature free of their body, an even newer bleeding wound, a raw throat, likely from screaming, and a wet face, from either blood or tears. Perhaps a mixture of both.

The wound on their chest pulses with a dulled, yet persistent pain. Just imagining the state of it makes them feel nauseous, but as they look down at the stained carpet, they notice something unsettling.

The liquid pooling under them isn’t blood.

It’s something like liquid technicolor. Something that constantly shifts and cycles through color and texture. Something crawling with tiny neon insects.

They try to push themselves up to a seated position and their arms give out again. Fine. They'll just stay here on the floor then.

"What are you talking about, why does my- why does it look like that!?" They gagged, closing their eyes just to avoid looking at the facsimile of blood.

"What did you do to me?"

Artifact would hug themselves if it wouldn't be pathetic. They can be pathetic when they get back to normalcy, because they are absolutely going to get out of here and they're going to be fine, maybe they'll just find some dirt and-no not burrow just...dig into it. Nothing bug related. Or burrowing, they're actually going to scrub that word from their vocabulary for a bit. Maybe they'll go visit their friend instead, hide under fifty weighted blankets and talk about random stuff with him until they both pass out. And maybe let him open all the doors for awhile.

It shrugs, leaning on the wall. “Leaning” may be a generous term, though… Half of its body is bisecting the architecture.

oH, DOn’T TeLL uS You’Re nOt HavinG a GoOd TImE! i WeNt oUT oF My waY To InvItE yOU BacK, aNd THis iS HoW You ResPonD?¿ :’)

There it goes again with its weird pedantic… sarcasm? Explanations? Whatever it’s aiming for?

nOw PLeaSe, Don’T Go CoLLapSinG oN Me! OnE oF My WanDerERs GoT TraPpeD iN The GeoMetRy LasT WeeK ANd i Can’T hAVe tHaT hAppEnINg aGaiN!

Artifact can’t exactly see much of it from their position, but it feels like it has one extra arm? No, there are only two. Is it even holding them up, or are they just floating in space? They can barely concentrate on anything.

They make the likely unwise decision to ignore the increasingly ominous doors and madness trying to once again ensnare them and instead indulge in one of their favourite hobbies, complaining.

"Well sorry but some of us have corporal forms that don't particularly enjoy having centipedes in our lungs. You may have Yogsothoth's preferred body but I'm stuck with holes in me and my blood turning into a pride parade, so if I want to collapse I'll damn well do it. If you're so concerned about my health maybe you shouldn't have put BUGS IN ME and then brought me back into the Funhouse Mirror but Also Worms Edition dimension! And since when did you care if I collapsed anyway, is it just because it's less fun?! Can't make me scared for my life if I'm too busy bleeding out on the floor? I've been dealing with your dumbass paranoia, which is supposed to be Eye by the way, for literal months, was that just not enough fear for you?? What, you still hungry? I'm not your fucking fear generator, bug phobia or not."

Eris’ form appears to dissolve behind Artifact somehow, sending them collapsing back down to the ground. It feels like a much longer fall than it should have been, and the floor is almost angling itself backwards…? Forwards?

weLL, yOu CAn’T ComPlaIN ThaT i LeT gO Of yOu :)

The patterns on the wallpaper shift and extend outward, taking on the creature’s form once again. What the hell is it gaining from this? Maybe it’s just showing off in some bizarre way… Typical Eris.

On one hand, they were happy Eris let go of them, and even happier their arms didn't give out, letting them actually sit instead of collapsing on the floor again. On the other hand, Eris was still there and being weird, which meant everything was awful and they needed a break from all the eyestrain and nonsense, a break they knew they would not get.

"They were rhetorical questions, I may be stupid but I'm not dumb enough to expect you to ever make any sense. And tends to do what, make them cranky? Cause it's really succeeding with me, you're doing a great job."

Even if that was the case, how the hell would Artifact know which door lead out of this damn place? Or whether it was telling the truth… or how they’d get all these damn bugs and glowstick juice out of their body.

It pouts cartoonishly and dramatically turns around, its torso appearing to pivot far before its legs do. In just a few steps, it’s already nothing but a speck at the end of the long hallway.

They struggle to their feet, leaning heavily on the wall closest to them and cringing at the sight of their new blood colour(s).

"Thanks ever so much for the well wishes-I'm sorry my what?!?"

A droplet of neon blood falls to the ground, almost in slow motion. It captures their attention for some odd reason as it soaks into the stained arcade-looking carpet… which begins moving. The patterns are moving.

"Eris, I swear to the Fears and whatever gods there are if you put a third bug in me I'll pull a Desolation. Don't test me, I'll do it! Stop putting bugs in me!"

Goddamnit there are more of those stupid neon Cootie-looking bugs. Great.

The twitching inside Artifact’s mind starts up again, almost as if it’s signaling for them to watch or responding to their outrage. The hovering swarm disperses, a few stray creatures moving a little too close to Artifact… Observing, maybe?

This was definitely going in top 10 concerning things they had seen, well, if they got out of Bugland alive. And what the everloving fuck was all the twitching about, if there was a bug in their head they swore...to do something, their good ideas and quick wit must has bled out into some of the bugs. Or their Head Bug ate it.

Wait, what had they been thinking about again? Right, right, glorious vengeance against Eris.

"Look if you're going to do something, just go ahead and do it, I am very tired, very cranky and I'm maybe going to succumb to blood loss in the next hour. Or is the blood loss what you want? Like a reverse flesh hive, instead of bugs in me I make bugs when pieces of me exit?"

They could swear they constantly see that thing in their peripheral vision, hear its grating voice in crowds… and every time, that dull pain accompanies the paranoia.

Did it mark them? No, it couldn’t have…

((HIIIIIII IT’S @3ris-d1st0rtionnn BACK AGAIN TO TORMENT YOUUUUU

Artifact lay on their shitty hotel bed with a frozen water bottle under the base of their neck in an attempt to numb it. The pain had come back. Again. It could have been from the liminal-ness that hotels had, some kind of memory of those stupid hallways surging back up as they walked the faded halls to their room, maybe they were imagining it! Maybe it was just some sort of ingrained memory, and their messed up brain had decided to make it real and then permanent. They couldn't possibly have been given another Mark, that would be five! Five was far too many, it was just absurd!

A sudden shot of pain jolts Artifact back from their disconnected state. It feels like something opened a wound back there… like something… escaped? No, what were they thinking? Why were they thinking that?

Artifact numbly lifted a hand to the base of their head. It came back bloody, and they stared at the crimson staining their fingers like it had personally insulted them.

No matter how much they stared, the blood remained infuriatingly real, and the pain remained, until their muddled thoughts decided it was probably a good idea to maybe do something about the blood.

Shakily, they stood. They had been certain their room had a bathroom in the room, but the door wasn't there. It must be in the hall, this must be one of those hotels that made the rooms share one restroom between a few rooms. Why had they come here, they hated hotels like this!

Another droplet of blood trails down Artifact’s neck. It feels strange, as if it’s moving in a direction that gravity just shouldn’t allow for. Is it somehow bleeding sideways?

"H-hello? Anyone there?"