Preface

Creeper's Key
Posted originally on the Archive of Our Own at http://archiveofourown.org/works/34524058.

Rating:
Teen And Up Audiences
Archive Warning:
Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Fandom:
Zampanio
Language:
English
Stats:
Published: 2021-10-16 Words: 1,304 Chapters: 1/1

Creeper's Key

Summary

Abbreviated Key. Hope you have a good memory.

Creeper's Key

Waystations (pink)

 

1: You find yourself at the entrance of poorly constructed maze.

 

2: The room appears to be a study, with rich, dark wood and plush burgundy rugs. There's bookshelves lining the walls-

 

3: Papers are scattered everywhere in this room, but it is otherwise empty-

 

4: As you go back towards the study you find the glass maze inside of it has shifted. You now have access to the book shelves and-

 

5: The room you enter is completely empty. White walls. White floor-

 

6: There is a stillness to the air, as if you are the first to move in unknowable eons-

 

7: The walls are faintly damp, though there is no mold or plantlife taking advantage of this fact-

 

8: There are clocks ticking on every wall, on every shelf, on every possible surface in an endless cacophony-

 

9: The edges of this room are a smooth white tile, slick with moisture-

 

10: There is a cool dampness to the air. With each breath, your lungs feel a bit more...sticky-

 

11: You are hit with a sudden wave of fatigue-

12:  You aren't tired-

 

13: The smell of cooking meat wafts in the air-

 

14: Everything is fuzzy in this room-

15: In the center of the room is what appears to be an "Exposition Booth", with the sign crossed out and a post it note on top of it reading "Gopher Gold Shop"-

 

16: You are JR.

 

You don't remember making just about any part of this maze-

 

17: If you're in here, you realize you're exactly what I'm looking for, right?

 

18: You can't see yourself in this room-

 

19: You come face to no-face with JR-

 

20: You shield your eyes against the glare-

 

21:  There is the faint smell of cinnamon in the air-

 

22: You gag at the taste of embalming fluid in the air-

 

23: Your skin itches the second you enter this room-

 

24: Apples.

 

Oranges.

 

Tangerines. 

 

P-pineapples-

 

25: You stare in mute incomprehension at the graffiti on the wall. 

 

It's not in some shitty cipher, which for some reason you are surprised by.

 

https://discord.gg/tZmtKwnbac

 

You feel hysterical laughter bubbling up inside of you. You desperately try to hold it back, terrified that if it escapes it will never stop. 

 

26: You wind up in a dark, waterlogged room, surrounded by flora. An overgrown tree lays as the centerpiece of the room, its legless bark forming a flat surface, along with stumps working as chairs. Flowers populate the place, feeding off the tree and whatever the water can muster. The thorns prick your legs as you walk, slowed by the weight of the water reaching your knees.

 

The center of the room is illuminated by a computer display: in front of it, a hooded girl hunches over, rubbing her eyes-

 

27: You accidentally kick a wooden duck figure on your way through- 

 

28: There’s a large egg in the middle of the room, hovering over the wooden floor with an ominous presence-

 

29: The floor is made of wooden planks. You step on one, and it emits a squeak; the room breaks into uproar- 

 

30: Static fills the air. The edges of your skin fade out into it. Your lungs let out a scream at the helplessness of it all-

 

31: Family photos line the walls. Parents. Children. All smiling at each other. Holding hands. Hugging. Supporting each other-

 

32: Sightless dolls  are lined up carefully along the walls. All of their heads are angled towards the door you've entered-

 

33: The room has cheap carpet on the floor, plaster on the walls and a plastic fold out table with a couple of aluminum chairs at its center. The wallpaper is a stained yellow that was probably cheerful once-

 

34: You wander.

 

It's what you do.

 

It's what you are. The Wanderer. The Observer-

 

35: There are rows upon rows of beds in this room. 

 

Each is unmade, with sheets coiled and wadded up from restless sleep-

 

36: You see a room, laid terrifyingly bare. ON it's walls are scrawled philosophical treatises on existance, on personhood, on Masks, and reality.

 

There is no one in this maze. Not even you-

 

37: There is a hallway of fluttering sheets that had once been white as you enter the room.  They appear to be hanging from a ceiling by loosely spaced hook-

 

38: The room is coated in a fine layer of dust. The floor. The carefully arranged porcelain figures. The books and their shelves. All of it-

 

39: As you step into the room you notice the floor is lava-

 

40: If only you were NotTheseus, you muse. Then you could use some NotYarn to make your way finally out of this horrible maze-

 

41: You find yourself in a miniature forest-

 

42: In the center of an otherwise unremarkable room of white plaster, you see a spiralling fractal tree-

 

43: A black feather hits your eyes. You must've stepped in some sort of red void, or at least that is your first guess; your eyes trail below and your guess is swiftly corrected. A trail of crimson spirals below and above you and everywhere else, splitting in every direction like vines off a wall. It all reeks of rust and copper. Your stomach sinks with a need to hurl. 

 

At the center of it all stands a tower of carousels-

 

44 : The end is never the end is never the end is never the end is never the end-



Hydration Stations (blue)

 

1: You find a sealed plastic water bottle-

 

2: You find an empty water bottle with a sticky note-

 

3: You find a water bottle glistening with condensation-

 

4: On a small shelf along one of the walls you find a jug with a spigot in its side.

 

At first you think the jug is an opaque black-

 

5: There is a tall glass of water here, lightly covered in condensation-

 

6: In an unobtrusive corner you find a small table with a few disposable plastic glasses, a jug of room temperature water and a trash can-

 

7: You listlessly pick at the cardboard cutout of a water cooler next to JR. They are practically vibrating next to you, anticipating your questions-

 

8: There is a dead beetle inside this water cooler-

 

9: There is a glass of muddy water on the floor-



Fakes (green)

 

1: You move back to the door you came through, only to find it now leads to a smothly polished wooden wall. 

 

You slam the door in frustration. 

 

You hear a gasp behind you. 

 

One of the small mosaics of glass-

 

2: You open a door only to find a blank solid plaster-

3: You try to go NORTH only to find the door opens into a brick-

 

4: You open the door to the SOUTH only to run smack into a solid wooden wall.  You bang on it in-

 

5: You can't take anymore. You can't deal with the constant rush of alternating hope and despair.  You want to just move on. Go back to the endless corridors.

 

 You flee around the former Exposition Booth and fling open the door beside it.  

 

Ah. Yes. Of course. Brick wall.  That ...that scans.  

 

Of course you can't actually-

 

6: You open the door the right of JR and grit your teeth as you see a brick wall with three smiley faces spray painted onto it.

 

JR grins wide enough to split-

 

7: You try to open the door behind JR and hear a delighted little giggle as a brick wall is revealed behind it.

 

They crow about -

 

8: You swing open the door to the NORTH and are utterly unsurprised to see a black void behind it. 

 

You tentatively wave your hand-

Afterword

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