A man awoke to find himself bound to an altar, in a dank underground chamber dimly illuminated by torchlight. The shadows cast by the flickering flames danced upon the cave walls like ghoulish specters. As his vision finally came into focus, the man then noticed a large circular gathering of Penumbras around the altar. He felt a mixture of confusion, horror and betrayal. These penumbras had taken him into their castle when he was stranded in a deadly blizzard. They had been so hospitable to him, they kept him well-fed and taken care of. What had it all been for?
The sounds of dragging chains and jingling keys announced the presence of another being, emerging from the shadows. Its figure was a rightfully ghoulish and intimidating one, wearing a mask with antlers as if a beast. “You need not be afraid…” He spoke in a hushed rasp. “You have been brought here for a reason…”
The man’s fear and confusion only seemed to deepen at this. “W-what?! What purpose?”
The figure scoffed. “Perhaps the highest, most sacred duty I could impart upon a mortal…” At his signal, the gathering of penumbras proceeded to chant something in a guttural growl; perhaps a dead language, or complete gibberish. The rhythm and volume gradually rose, and the figure called forth one of the Penumbras from the circle. His bony hand unfurled to reveal a tarnished jagged key from his fingertip. The penumbra kneeled before the altar, tearing the flesh from the lower half of his face to expose a mouth of gnashing teeth.
Perhaps exploring a massive abandoned castle was a bad idea, especially in a level with entities that don't exactly like Facelings. But Maria was not like other girls; she had bravery and a moderate lack of self-preservation instincts. She had been careful to avoid the settlement in the castle, following the echoes in the hallways but staying away from activity, only watching from a distance if she ever came across anyone.
In her exploration, Maria came upon a slightly ajar door in the cellar – which she of course gently pushed open, slipping into a series of caves and mineshafts. She explored the passageway with a bounce in her step, keeping an ear out for anything interesting. Her naturally curious mind led her to ponder such questions like if the cave was mined by the penumbras or was naturally occurring, and if there were any entities down here or humans in need of rescue. She trailed her hand along the wall of the cave as she went, her eye gradually adjusting to the brightness (or lack thereof) of her environment.
After some time of wandering, the monotony of cave tunnels was finally broken when Maria found a stone ledge, overlooking some type of chamber. However, the scene taking place within it was quite horrific.
The chanting culminated in a wail as the horned figure plunged his key-finger into the man's throat with a sickening crack. He then turned the key, as if unlocking something, before withdrawing it. Blood spurted from the man’s throat as he gurgled in agony, drowning in himself. The warm crimson fluid seeped through the engraved crevices of the altar, before dripping into the torn-open mouth of the penumbra. Upon the first drop of blood entering his mouth, his eyes sharpened as something primal awakened within him. He hungrily gulped down the rest of the blood until it ran dry, before doubling over and emanating animalistic noises. His skin crawled and his bones snapped as his form violently contorted, shifting into a configuration most efficient for hunting and killing. Its stature grew, looming tall above the other penumbras as its horns branched out farther.
Maria inhaled sharply at the sight, eye wide in shock. Blood and gore were nothing new to her – the Backrooms were her home, after all. But this was different. He looked like her friend, The Keymaster, but was that truly him? He had keys, but those chains and horns were new. No, it couldn’t be. This wasn’t her Keymaster. She knew him, he wouldn’t do this to a human. Her eye trailed the blood on the corpse, her body frozen. She knew she had to get out of here. However, escape would not prove so easy. The beast wiped its mouth with one of its gnarled claws, before instantly turning in the direction of Maria’s gasp upon hearing it. They locked eyes, followed by everyone else in the chamber – including “The Keymaster”. He paused and silently stared at her, almost as if in recognition.
The feral penumbra suddenly roared animalistically, as it leapt over the ledge and bounded after Maria in pursuit – even running on all fours at some points. With the swipe of its hand, a wall of stone came crashing down, which Maria only narrowly dodged as she sprinted out of the cellar, adrenaline pumping through her veins. She briefly stumbled, but ignored the pain from the cut she received, getting back up and going as fast as her legs could take her. She leaned down to gain speed, turning corner after corner to throw off the terrifying monster.
The penumbra growled, scratching its claws along the wall in visible marks. Maria looked behind her to see this, only to trip again and hit the ground, crawling backwards away from it and hyperventilating. She screamed in terror, her voice high-pitched and piercing.This temporarily stunned the penumbra, halting its approach as it winced from the high-pitched noise. Suddenly, from behind Maria, several chains lashed out towards the penumbra and ensnared it, proceeding to cleanly rip it apart. Maria slowly turned around to see “The Keymaster” emerge from the wall, his chains slithering back towards himself like snakes retreating into their den.
Looking down upon Maria, his demeanor appeared to soften. “Why, hello there, child. There is no need to be afraid…” he softly rasped, extending a hand towards her.
Maria peered into the eyes of his mask and saw nothing but pure evil behind them. With fear in her gaze, she chomped down on his outstretched hand. “The Keymaster” yelped and withdrew his hand, cradling it as he staggered back slightly.
Maria saw her opportunity to quickly scramble away, pulling out an emergency level key that she kept on her. “The Keymaster” saw this, and immediately fixated on it. He lunged towards Maria, who activated the key and disappeared.
Maria fell into The Hub, hitting the ground with a thud. She crawled back into a corner and looked around for any sign of the dangerous man, hyperventilating.
The Keymaster, who was talking with The Alchemist and Philia at that moment, turned around to face Maria upon sensing her arrival. “Maria? What are you doing here?” he asked, taking note of her condition; she was covered in scrapes from hitting walls on quick turns while running from the feral penumbra, as well as a scratch on her face from a claw, and a bruise on her knee from tripping. He was initially unfazed by this, having been used to Maria acquiring minor injuries in her usual escapades. But the look on her face told him something very troubling had occurred. “…What happened?”
Maria initially flinched at his voice, reminding her far too much of the raspy call of the bad keyman. She slowed her breathing, trying to calm herself down and remind herself that it wasn’t him, that this was her Keymaster. She pushed herself up and ran to him, practically slamming her body into him as she wrapped her arms around him. A sob wracked through her tiny frame, hiding her face in his coat. She could apologize for the blood from her wounds getting onto his clothes later. For now, she needed comfort.
The Keymaster was caught off guard by Maria’s embrace, not used to her being this clingy. This concerned him even more, realizing that whatever happened to her had clearly shaken her. He pulled away from her slightly to look her in the face. “Maria. What happened?” he repeated, in a more concerned tone.
Maria’s hands quickly began signing. “A bad Keymaster showed up”, she told him, “he hurt a human”. She recounted what she saw, that Keymaster ripping a jagged key out of that human. She recalled the chase, her hands trembling as adrenaline wore off and the pain from her wounds began to set in. “I was scared.” She signed to him, sniffling.
The Keymaster was confused to hear all these details. He needed more information. “This…‘bad keymaster’, can you draw him for me? Show me what he looks like.”
Maria nodded, taking a moment to gather her bearings. She shrugged off her backpack, taking out her notebook and marker. She recalled what the bad keymaster looked like, scribbling it down. She remembered his mask, his antlers, the chains, and drew what she could, showing it to her Keymaster.
Looking at the drawing, The Keymaster could feel a shiver run down his spine. Despite its simplicity in detail, it conveyed a foreboding aura around the depicted figure. “And, where is the bad keyman? Where does he live?”
Maria flipped through her notebook to a page of failed penumbra drawings. She showed it to The Keymaster, attempting to convey that he was in Level 813.
The Keymaster was puzzled by this information, not quite sure what to make of it all. He looked down at Maria and saw her become weaker, as her adrenaline had now fully worn off and her wounds caught up to her. The Keymaster scooped Maria up and brought her to her own room in his tower that he made for her, before then looking at Philia and the Alchemist, who all this time had been watching everything unfold from afar. “You two, help heal her.” Maria, who just now noticed the two strangers, ducked behind the Keymaster, peeking out from behind him. “Don’t worry, they are friends of mine. They are nice,” he tried to reassure her.
“Maria? Who is Maria?” Asked Philia, while frantically looking around.
“Oh, right, I suppose I haven’t properly introduced her to you two. Philia, Alchemist, this is Maria. She is very dear to me. I suppose you could consider her my…daughter, in a sense.” The Keymaster seemed to become shy as he stated this.
Philia’s eyes lit up with excitement. “Aww, how adorable!I Wish you told us earlier so I could have brought a gift! Would you mind telling me more about how you met her?' I'm proud of you for holding up to this much responsibility, you know. You really needed something to make you less grumpy.” She poked his cheek softly with her finger, chuckling.
“Well, it would be more accurate to say she adopted me rather than the other way around. I simply found her here one day and she instantly took to me. She is quite the adventurous sort, but she needs someone to look after her, and her parents are not around very often. So I stepped in.”
Philia gave him a hug, while pinching his cheeks. “I’m very proud of you, you got a good heart under all that tough exterior of yours. Who knew my grumpy Keymaster would take care of a kid all on his own!”
The Keymaster could not help but become slightly bashful, blushing faintly. “I will admit, I did not think much of her at first. In fact, I even found her presence quite annoying. But over time, I slowly grew fond of her, and she eventually grew on me. Now...I cannot help but see her as a daughter.” He sighed.
Philia and The Alchemist walked over to Maria, who flinched away at first, moving away from them as they reached out. She looked to her Keymaster, who nodded with reassurance, before she allowed them to tend her wounds. She turned her head to stare at the Alchemist, noting how similarly he appeared to a faceling like herself.
The Alchemist tried to gauge how comfortable Maria was in his presence. He wasn't, historically, great with kids. She did have come cuts, and he was happy enough to close them up... but it would hurt far more than Philia's method. Luckily, Philia stepped in to use her healing powers before he had the chance to take out his surgical tools. It didn't hurt at all, though now Maria smelled like glitter and flowers.
After helping Maria calm down and fall asleep, the three court members stepped outside her room. “So, what exactly happened to Maria? I didn’t check her memory because I don't look into the heads of children,” The Alchemist said with his arms crossed.
Hesitantly, The Keymaster showed Maria's drawing to the Alchemist, who intently studied it in silence for a moment.
“May I also be informed?” Asked Philia, unable to see the drawing due to her blindness.
“It seems to be some sort of being in my guise, though with a far more sinister nature. He's bound in chains and wears a horned mask. Apparently, he has been residing in Castle Crey in the Gelid Isle,” The Keymaster answered.
Philia’s eyes widened, as if realizing something. “...I see.”
The Alchemist, wanting to know the reason behind Philia’s strange reaction, stared into her mind – his demeanor instantly shifting upon learning the answer. “I say we kill him! Or, hmm...yes. I say we kill him. I don't think it's safe to let him reside there.”
Philia seemed opposed to this idea. “We shall not kill him, but merely disarm him. Not until it's actually necessary.”
“He’s not from here though, is he? It’s spelled disaster before, having somebody over from elsewhere.” The Alchemist turned to The Keymaster. “Isn't that right?”
“Then we will send him back to where he comes from,” Philia replied, seeming quite nervous.
“Well, sure, I suppose we could... but do you really think he came here for no reason?”
“What if I talk to him?” She said, more determined now.
“What if you- HAH! Have him over for tea and biscuits, why don't you? It would never work. The regular Keymaster takes not even half that level of reasoning. We could never hope to get through to this intruder.”
“It wouldn't hurt to try. I just...I wish to know his exact motivations before we do anything rash.” It felt like a personal statement, coming from her.
Before anyone could converse any further, The Keymaster sensed a disturbance in The Hub. Suddenly, an explosion rocked the structure, and he knew that this being had now arrived here. The Keymaster looked back to The Alchemist and Philia. “You two, stay here! Keep Maria safe. I will deal with this myself.” With that, he went to the main hall of the tower to confront his doppelganger.
The horned Keymaster sat upon The Keymaster’s throne quite comfortably, not seeming fazed in the slightest by The Keymaster’s presence. “Hello, brother…” he softly rasped.
Looking upon his horned counterpart, The Keymaster could see a lot of himself within him, even in spite of the mask obscuring the face. He slowly paced back and forth across the chamber, attempting to read him. “Why have you come? What are your intentions?”
The horned Keymaster silently grinned from behind his mask. “I see no need for any hostilities between us. In fact, we could even help each-other…” He arose from his throne. “Do you not wish to break the cycle? To be free of endless torment?”
The Keymaster seemed confused. “What do you speak of?”
The horned Keymaster tossed his head back and cackled. “You don’t get it, do you? It always ends the same, and nothing changes. Everything dies, only to come back and die again. Everyone is asleep, slaves to unseen forces which rob them of free will. It all begins and ends with us.”
By this moment, The Keymaster had already mentally checked out, concluding that this doppelganger was utterly insane and not worth listening to. “That is all well and good…but do you happen to know about the little girl you’ve terrorized?”
The horned Keymaster tilted his head in confusion, before The Keymaster suddenly punched him hard in the face, sending him flying into the wall. He rose back onto his feet, cracking his neck and glaring at The Keymaster. “I feared this would be your decision. Very well, I suppose I must resort to my secondary plan.” The horned Keymaster lashed his chains out towards The Keymaster, ensnaring him and dragging him backwards. “You take so much for granted…” He sneered, constricting the chains around The Keymaster’s throat and strangling him.
The Keymaster thrashed about, trying to free himself from the snare. He no-clipped through the floor and reappeared behind the horned Keymaster, attempting to throw a punch. However, the horned Keymaster turned around just in time to catch The Keymaster’s fist, throwing him into the wall with the momentum of his attempted blow. The Keymaster’s body slammed against the wall harder than the horned Keymaster, leaving a crater as he fell to the ground. He weakly tried to stand, only to be lassoed by the chains yet again. The horned Keymaster swung The Keymaster’s body all about the hub with his chains, smashing him against every possible surface like a pinball.
The Keymaster was left incapacitated, his body having taken a great deal of punishment. The horned Keymaster triumphantly stood above him, lowering himself down to kneel on one knee. “I grieve that you must meet your end this way, but necessity demands it.” With his sharp key-like claws, the horned Keymaster reached into The Keymaster’s chest and extracted something from him: a small glowing white key. He attached it to his key ring, feeling a surge of power course through him.
The horned Keymaster dropped The Keymaster’s weakened body to the floor. “My work has only just begun. There is so, so much more to be done. There are many more worlds for me to visit…” He then turned his attention to one of the doors in the tower, slowly approaching it. “...But I no longer need this.” With a burst of energy from his hand, he destroyed the door. Then, through his own sheer will, he tore open a rift in reality with his bare hands, revealing the gateway to infinity, with all possibilities in time and space lying behind it. The horned Keymaster turned to The Keymaster one last time. “Farewell, brother. When my work is done, I hope you will understand that this was for our father...” With that, he stepped through the rift, into the infinite.
The Keymaster could only watch helplessly as he succumbed to his weakness, falling unconscious.