Ao3 Version

I knew in an instance who was approaching me.
But this time, I refused to cower in fear and regret. No matter what he would
ask me, I would not let it stop me from burning this hotel to the ground…

 

“I am
Judgement Boy!” The monster descended from the ceiling once more with his roar
of: “JUDGEMENT!”

Its wide
grin stretched further when it saw Mabel, and it asked her the question: “You
find yourself in a hotel in another dimension. You learn that it was not only
your neglect, but also this hotel, that played a role in the death of your
brother, whom you love very much. The question is… Who killed your brother?”

“I did,”
Mabel said without hesitation. “I could have saved him if I had been a better
sister; if I had taken the time to listen to him, and help him, like he always
helped me. Even if this hotel didn’t exist, my brother would have still taken
his life… But that doesn’t change the fact that this place must be destroyed,
and that it still played a role in my brother’s death.”

“You have
chosen not to avert your eyes from the truth, but to meet it head-on,”
Judgement Boy’s tone of voice seemed different as he said this. Almost like he
was… approving of Mabel’s answer. “Yet instead of cowering in regret, you
decide to take action, and do what you can to make up for your role in your
brother’s death.”

This time,
the golden dollar symbol fell instead of the heart, and with that Judgement Boy
left.

Mabel
smiled to herself and continued going in the direction she had been walking in.

It didn’t
take long before she saw it; The Eternal Flame. There was no doubt in Mabel’s
mind that was what it was. She picked up the glass jar and released the orange
flame inside. It immediately began to burn its surroundings, and seeing how fast
everything was catching on fire, Mabel hurried away, knowing she still had to
leave the hotel.

 

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

 

It’s done. Soon the hotel will be no more. The
souls still trapped will, hopefully, be free. But even if that isn’t the case,
at least new souls won’t be joining them. I won… No, we won, Dipper.

 

Mabel
walked out of the hotel and began to make her way towards the forest, when she
spotted Cipher; he was walking out of said forest, only to get a look of
absolute fear as he saw the smoke rising from the hotel.

“What have
you done!?!” he howled, but didn’t wait for an answer. He broke into a run and
sped past Mabel, into the infeno.

Mabel
watched as he ran in there, wondering if perhaps he would try to put out the
flames. She wasn’t sure if that was possible, but she still preferred to wait
and see; none of this would matter if the hotel didn’t get destroyed.

Soon after,
Will came running out of the hotel’s front door. He looked surprised at seeing
her.

“Why are
you still here!?” he asked, his voice and expression full of panic. “Go!”

“I have to
make sure this place truly disappears!” she argued. “For everyone who ever died
there.”

“But…” Will
didn’t finish his sentence, as from the front doors, Cipher ran out, carrying
someone wrapped in a blanket. Cipher was covered in burn marks, but the blanket
was free of burns, meaning it was probably a fire-safe blanket. “Go.” Will
commanded her, but now Mabel was curious; why wouldn’t Cipher have used the
blanket on himself? What was so special about this person, that he had run into
a burning building to rescue them?

“Are you
okay?” Cipher asked the person as he placed them on their legs; which were bare
and wrapped in a few vines. Cipher’s voice was tender and full of concern; his
eyes looked like they were close to tears.

“Yes, thank
you,” the person said in a voice which Mabel recognized all too well. They
pulled of the blanket, but their back was turned to her, revealing only brown
hair which looked a little longer and wavier than Mabel remembered, also with a
few vines intertwined with the locks.

“… Dipper?”
Mabel whispered as tears began streaming down her cheeks. She almost couldn’t
believe it. She stepped closer and reached out a hand, just as the person
turned around to see her.

There was
no longer any doubt; it was Dipper. At first Mabel thought he looked younger,
but then she realized it was the absence of stress wrinkles and eye bags that
gave that impression. His skin looked pristine; almost as if it was carved from
polished wood, but it still looked soft and warm. His brown eyes now had a
vague glint of green in them, and he was wearing what looked like a cocktail
dress made from pine needles.

“It’s
really you,” Mabel cried and tried to get closer to him, but Dipper ran over to
Cipher and hid behind him; a look of hatred and disgust spread on Dipper’s
face. “Dipper? I-“

“You almost
killed me!” Dipper shouted, clinging on to Cipher like a lifeline. “If Bill
hadn’t saved me, I would have burned alive in that fire you started!”

“I- I
didn’t know you were in there!” Mabel tried to explain. “I- I thought- Dipper,
please! I’m so sorry-“

“Why are
you calling me that?” Dipper asked with an angry frown. “My name is Pine Tree.”

“Oh…” Mabel
shook her head. “What did Cipher do to you?”

“Why are
you saying it like that?!” Dipper, or Pine Tree, finally stepped out from
behind Cipher. “Bill has done nothing but treat me like a treasure. Then you
come along, nearly kill me, destroy our home, and try to what? What exactly are
you trying to accomplish here?”

“I… I
don’t,” Mabel shook her head. Her brother had still been there. She had almost
killed him. Why had she done that? She had a realization and turned to Will
with a look of betrayal. “You said my brother was dead! You told me to burn
down the hotel, knowing I would have killed him!”

“Mabel!”
Will shouted. “That’s not your brother! Your brother was gone the moment he
decided to stay at the hotel! All that’s left of him is that soulless husk!”

“How dare
you!” Cipher hissed and stepped in front of Dipper in a defensive stance. “You
don’t get to speak to him like that!”

Mabel
looked at the now burnt remains of Cipher’s House. She almost couldn’t
comprehend this; Cipher seemed to really care about her brother, her brother
seemed to like living in the hotel, and Will… the guy she thought had been
helping her, had lied to her and almost made her kill Dipper.

“Mabel,
listen to me,” Will implored. “You wanted to stop the hotel, right? You need to
leave now, or none of this will have mattered at all.”

Mabel
looked at her brother and Cipher; Bill was holding him close, softly stroking
his hair. Her brother seemed genuinely sad and betrayed.

“Dipper,”
Mabel stepped closer to her brother. “Or… Pine Tree… Were you really happy at
the hotel?”

“Yes,” he
replied.

“Are you
sure you don’t want to come with me? Back to reality?”

“No!” Pine
Tree reminded Mabel more of her brother than ever, now that it looked like he
was getting close to a panic attack. “All I remember about that place is pain!
I never want to back there!”

“Alright
then,” Mabel sighed with a small smile. “I guess this is my chance to finally
be a good sister.”

“You can be
that if you leave!” Will said, his voice full of panic again. “Let your
brother’s soul find rest-“

“No,” Mabel
said decisively. “I promised when I first got here that I wouldn’t leave
without my brother. I’m going to keep that promise. I’m staying here.”

With those
words, the hotel began to repair itself; it looked like the destruction was
happening in reverse, as all the fire damage was undone.

Bill and
Pine Tree looked on with expressions full of joy and happiness. Will looked
like he was filled with despair at the sight.

“We’re back
in business!” Bill yelled with a large grin.

 

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

 

And so another cycle is completed, and the
hotel returns to normal. Another guest joins the ranks of the souls who will
never escape Cipher’s House. For no one can escape Cipher’s House.

 

Pine Tree
liked the hotel’s new permanent guest; her name was Shooting Star, and even
though the fact that she was made out of rocks burning in pastel colors meant
that her flames could accidentally hurt him, she was kind and energetic, and
loved spending time with him. The two of them seemed to have a connection that
Pine Tree couldn’t place, but he didn’t really care to analyze it.

The two of
them were sitting in the hotel lobby and having a talk, when Pine Tree’s other
favorite person showed up.

“It’s time
to return to your rooms soon~” Bill said as he stood behind Pine Tree, placing
one hand on each of his shoulders. “Our new guest is expected to arrive any
moment now, and we can’t have him see anything too… disturbing on his first
night.”

“Oh, but
Bill,” Pine Tree gave him an exaggerated pout and bit his thumb. “I still need
to do one more thing before going to bed.”

“Did you
forget to change the sheets?” Bill asked with a slight smirk; of course he
already knew Pine Tree would never forget one of his duties, especially not one
that was crucially to keeping the charade going for just long enough.

“Of course
not,” Pine Tree laughed and playfully slapped Bill’s hand.

A knock was
heard on the hotel’s front door.

“Oh!
Whatever it is, it will have to wait until I’ve shown our guest her new room!”
Bill said and swung over to the door.

Pine Tree
and Shooting Star both left for the door behind the check-in counter; there was
a small peephole through the wall in there that they could use to scope out the
new guest.

Pine Tree
looked through the hole, watching as a young, frazzled looking woman was helped
inside by Bill. She looked pale and her eyes were bloodshot.

“Who is it?”
Shooting Star asked, leaning over Pine Tree’s shoulder.

“Hmm, if I
remember the files correctly, she’s that one who was kicked out by her family
and lived on the streets,” Pine Tree said. He observed Bill talking to her and
escorting her to the guest room. “Alright, coast is clear.”

They both
left the backroom; Shooting Star made her way to her room, while Pine Tree
grabbed a tray of food and water he had left on the coffee table in the lobby.
He walked with the tray down the hall to a newer addition to the hotel; a big
steel door seemingly bolted shut, but Pine Tree retrieved his key to the door
and opened it.

“And how
are we doing today?” he asked sweetly as he stepped inside, shutting the door
behind him.

Inside, the
room looked a dungeon, with dirt floor and cold stone walls, with the only
light coming from a window with bars on it. Under this window, chained to the
wall, sat Will. His body looked beaten and malnourished, and his mouth was
partially sewn shut, only allowing it to open the tiniest bit. Various parts of
his body were also covered in random stitches, and even one of his eyes was sewn
completely shut.

“I have
soup,” Pine Tree said as he placed the tray on the ground and picked up a spoon
to feed Will.

“He used
you,” murmured Will in a weakened voice after a couple of spoonfuls.

“Huh?” Pine
Tree tilted his head in confusion.

“When he ‘saved’
you from the fire,” Will clarified.

“What?”
Pine Tree gave him a hard to read look.

“He doesn’t
care about you; he just knew seeing you would-“

Then Pine
Tree laughed. He let out a strong, cruel laughter.

“I already
know that!” Pine Tree said. “Whose plan did you think it was?”

“What?” now
it was Will’s turn to look confused.

“Yeah, the
whole get her to burn the hotel, almost kill me?” Pine Tree elaborated. “That
was my idea.”

“But… how-?”

“Did I know
you would suggest The Eternal Flame to her?” Pine Tree giggled. “What did I say
to you? ‘What if she burns down the building while Bill’s gone?! I would be
gone in an instance!’ Oh, don’t give me that look, Will; I already knew you were
a traitor. I might not remember much from my first days at the hotel, but I
remember you trying to ‘help’ me leave. Bill refused to believe that a member
of his family would ever betray him, so I suggested this plan to prove it. And
now, I just happen to have your old job, as I’m the only one Bill would trust
that position to~”

“But… Bill
is manipulating you…”

Pine Tree
laughed again. “Really? You think he’s the one manipulating me? I have him
wrapped around my finger. A little pout there, a wave with my eyelashes there,
and he’ll do whatever I say. So yeah,” he rose to his feet. “I manipulate him…
but I also really love him. He saved me after all. It’s your fault you can’t
understand the love we share.”

And with
that, Pine Tree turned towards the door.

“Don’t
worry; I’ll leave the rest of your food there,” he pointed to the tray sitting
about five feet away from the chained up Will. “In case you get hungry or
thirsty later.”

Will
snapped and tried to pull himself free of the chains, but it didn’t work, and
Pine Tree left him there; alone again.

Ao3 Version

I think I’ve gone insane. There is no way this
place can be real… No, I have to stay strong. My brother is trapped somewhere
here, and if I don’t find him… I won’t even think about what might happen to
both of us…

 

Mabel ran.
At that point, it was all she could do. She had to find Cipher’s room so she
could finish her deal with Saki. Then, she’d find her brother, somehow, and
they’d escape this living hell.

When she
arrived at a staircase, she leaned against the railing for a moment, trying to
catch her breath, before proceeding to climb the stairs. She came face to face
with a door; it looked so much different from all the other doors, like it
didn’t belong in this hotel. It was made from dark, almost black wood, and it
lacked a number plaque, instead it just had some weird pattern carved into it.

Mabel
carefully opened the door, poking her head inside. Inside was a short hallway,
three doors on each side, with the hallway ending in a final seventh door. The
seventh door had a golden pattern similar to the one she had just gone through.
It only made sense that the souls would be hidden behind that door, so Mabel
ran to it, trying to open it, only to find it locked. She heard footsteps from behind
the door; they sounded panicking. She then heard the sound of someone running
up the stairs.

Panicking,
Mabel ran to one of the other doors, ripped it open, and hid inside, praying
that whoever was coming wouldn’t find her.

Luckily,
she heard the footsteps walk right past her and open what she was pretty sure
was the door she had tried to open.

“Is
everything alright!?” she could hear a muffled voice ask; it sounded worried,
scared even. She couldn’t hear the response, but it didn’t seem to soothe the
other person’s worries. “What?!” they exclaimed.

There was
the sound of another door opening, and someone else speaking; “It was me, Bill.
I wanted to give you an important message, and I thought you were in your
room.”

“Well? What
is it?” the first speaker asked, and now that Mabel knew it was Bill, she felt
even more scared than before; she seriously doubted Bill would forgive her for
breaking into what appeared to be his home.

“Our guest
decided to leave,” the other person said. “Guess she gave up on finding her
brother.”

“What!?”
Bill exclaimed. Mabel could faintly hear someone respond to his outburst, but
it seemed to be the person who had been in the room Mabel tried to break into;
the one Mabel couldn’t clearly hear. “Will, keep Pine Tree in your room; guard
him with your life. If anything happens to him while I’m gone…”

He didn’t
finish his sentence, but even Mabel could feel his threatening gaze. There were
more sounds of footsteps along with more doors opening and closing. Mabel
waited for a couple of seconds with bated breath before she dared to go back
into the hallway.

 

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

 

The hallway was abandoned once again. I don’t
know who the two people Cipher spoke to was, but… One of them was either
seriously misinformed or, the somehow more likely solution, they covered for
me…

 

Mabel
decided to try the door she had originally wanted to go through; it was no
longer locked and, as she poked her head inside, it was empty. The room was
golden and black in color, and basically looked like a normal bedroom; a very
fancy and expensive bedroom to be fair, but still. There was a king-sized bed,
a violin lying on said bed, a dresser, a desk and office chair, both of which
was covered in papers and documents, in front of the door was a big mirror, a
low table underneath it, with two ceramic pots growing flowers; the room was
also decorated with some potted plants. Cipher hadn’t seemed like the caring
type of guy, but maybe he acted differently to plants than his hotel guests.

She walked
over to the desk and began to look through the various papers; at first she was
curious what they were, but then she realized that they were all related to the
hotel. There were work schedules, lists of activities and arrangements,
maintenance notes; they looked like they could have belonged to a normal hotel.
Then, after digging through various notes, she found stacks of papers that were
different; they looked almost like… police files or public records.

The first
one she picked up had a picture of a young man with a strained smile. Then
there were pages on pages describing what appeared to be his life, specifically
how he had been verbally abused by his mother for playing with dolls, how that
had led to issues socializing with others, how that had turned him into a
hermit, and so on, escalating until the last page described how he, in a fit of
rage, had murdered his mother by stabbing her repeatedly with a knife, then
attempted to… sew her back together, and when it didn’t work, the file simply
said: “He could no longer face reality.”

Mabel
looked through some of those other files, and they were all the same; from
early childhood they would describe how certain events led to others,
eventually escalating to some kind of tragedy, and then ending with the words
saying that they “could no longer face reality”.

She
clutched her head in her hands. What did all of this mean? Who were these
people? How did Cipher have such detailed files on their lives? And why did
they all end the same way?

It was then
that Mabel spotted another file, hidden between the various papers strewn
about. She could only see part of the picture poking out, but there was no
doubt about it; that was a picture of her. She hesitated for a moment, but
forced herself to pick up the file and read it.

It had her
name, her age, her birth date. It detailed how she and her brother had been
friends since they were born. How they had always considered each other their
best friend. How Dipper had excelled in school, and Mabel had grown jealous. How
said jealousy had caused her to seek away from her brother, getting new
friends. How when Dipper had begun to struggle in school, Mabel had been
secretly happy. How Mabel had still tried to help her brother, but had
eventually given up and convinced herself that her brother was just lazy and
didn’t try hard enough. How she had abandoned her brother when he needed her
the most to pursue her own social life. How her brother had stopped answering
her scarce phone calls and messages after his exam. How after he came back, he
got his grades back, and learned he had failed. How Mabel had told him to just
try harder. How her brother had gone quiet once again. How a suicide note had
been found in his dorm room. The file ending such: “Realizing she had caused her
brother’s death, she could no longer face reality.”

Mabel let
go of the file. It had been right. Mabel couldn’t deny it any longer. She knew
now why she was in this hotel, and why she was being tormented like this; she
had killed her brother. She curled into a ball on the chair and started rocking
herself back and forth, crying softly.

“Are you
really gonna give up like that?” a voice asked from behind her. Mabel turned
around and almost screamed at who she thought was Bill, but she realized it
wasn’t Bill, just someone who looked a lot like him.

“Who are
you?” Mabel asked, drying away a tear.

“My name is
Will,” he responded. “You know now why you’re here?” he nodded towards the
various papers and files.

“Because I
killed my brother,” Mabel sobbed.

“No!” Will
shouted. “Come on! It literally says it in every single file!”

Mabel
blinked her tears away, mostly because sorrow was getting replaced with
confusion.

Will picked
up Mabel’s file, which was still on the last page, and used a finger to
underline the last sentence.

“I can’t…
face reality?”

“You
couldn’t face the fact that your brother was dead,” Will confirmed. “But it
seems like you’re able to now, which is… interesting.” He got a pondering look
on his face.

“I need to
know one thing,” she paused and tried to brace herself for the answer. “Did my
brother ever… end up here?”

“… Yes,”
Will responded. “I actually thought he’d be the first to escape, but… he came
back. And now, he’s dead.”

“So… he
came back because he couldn’t face reality either,” Mabel nodded to herself.
Now she knew what had happened to her brother; after everyone, including Mabel,
had pushed him away, he had decided he would rather return to the hotel and die
there, than face reality.

“Don’t
blame yourself,” Will said and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. “This
hotel has taken so many souls; it’s to blame.”

“No,” Mabel
shook her head and stepped away from Will. Her voice was hoarse with emotions,
but her expression was steadfast and stern. “I am not going to lie to myself
any longer. If I had been a better sister, my brother wouldn’t have died. But
that doesn’t mean this place doesn’t share some of the blame. I am going to
leave this place, but not before I destroy it, so it can never hurt anyone
again.”

“Wow,” Will
looked at her in shock, but slowly a smile crept on to his face. “Yes,” he
nodded. “That could work… In one of the hotel’s hallways, there’s a jar
containing The Eternal Flame. If you let it lose, it can burn down the entire
hotel. But you have to promise to never return to hotel, otherwise it won’t
work.”

“Okay, but
first, I have one last piece of unfinished business; Saki saved my life, and in
exchange I promised to bring her one of Cipher’s souls… Also, how do I find
that Eternal Flame?”

“Follow
me,” Will led her out of the room and through another door, which led to an
enormous room filled with shelves upon shelves of jars with different colored
lights inside. Will surveyed them before grabbing one and rearranged the
others, so that it was less obvious one had been taken. “Here.”

Will handed
Mabel the jar. “Give this one to Saki. And don’t worry about finding her or The
Eternal Flame; this hotel has a habit of showing people exactly what they want
to see…”

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

 

I know now why I’m here. I can choose to either
give up and receive my punishment for letting my brother die, or I can make
sure that no one will ever suffer because of this hotel, again.

 

Wandering
through the hallways, it didn’t take long before Mabel arrived at a hotel door
different from the others; like the door to Cipher’s home, it lacked a number
plaque and was also more fancy than the other doors, albeit not to the same
degree as Cipher’s.

Mabel
knocked on the door and it didn’t take long before it opened. Saki’s head poked
out and, as soon as she saw the jar with the soul, she snatched it out of
Mabel’s hands and popped opened the lid.

“Oh! I’ve
waited so long for this,” she said with an almost orgasmic delight. She plucked
the soul out of the jar using her thumb and forefinger, and proceeded to lick
and suck on it while making obscene sounds.

“Um… I’m
just gonna go now,” Mabel said and began to shuffle away.

“Mhm,
sure,” Saki nodded between her moans and headed back inside her room. Mabel
wondered how long that soul would even last…

As Mabel
began to traverse the hallways once more, hoping to find that Eternal Flame
that Will had mentioned, she heard that familiar song from behind her, slowly
getting louder; “Do you know who I am? They call me Judgement Boy~”