Chapter Text
The Uumuu was finally dead, and Quirrel now knew why he knew its name. Why the architecture around him was so familiar. While only a small amount of his memories had returned, it was enough to know where he was going next. His small friend, the one who had landed the killing blow on the Uumuu, was already waiting there.
“Did she call you too then?” Quirrel asked once he had landed next to the tiny wanderer. “I realize it's no coincidence we arrive together. Though much of my memory is blank, this place I recall. Within these chambers the Teacher sought to store the Kingdom’s knowledge and at its core, she stored herself. To save Hallownest, the Teacher willingly became a seal, but upon herself she enacted an additional protection. Though I cannot recall its happening, I played a part in that feat. She called me here now, to reverse that protection. All in aid of you.”
If the wanderer had been affected at all by what Quirrel said, it didn’t show. He took off the mask on his head, holding it up. In all of his time spent traveling, he hadn’t once questioned where it came from. He hadn’t even noticed how one of the three masks of the Black Egg temple was identical to the one he wore. The mask seemed to disintegrate out of his hands, reforming inside of the container that held his former Teacher. As soon as Quirrel saw her again, more memories began to return in the back of his mind.
“Do not hesitate. The choice to reform was hers, not mine. She knows what you would do and seems to welcome it.”
Again, the wanderer seemed to have no response. Then they began walking towards the tank until they were standing only a few inches away. Quirrel wasn’t exactly sure what they were going to do, he knew it had something to do with prying into the dreams of others, but other than that he had no idea. The wanderer pulled out a small glowing nail, and struck out at the tank. Immediately, they collapsed to the ground, going still.
“Friend? Are you alright?” Quirrel had been startled by how suddenly the small thing fell, but then realized they were probably sleeping, having gone into Monomon’s dreams. At least he thought that was how it worked. He felt a bit silly for calling out immediately, both Monomon and the wanderer knew what they were doing. Probably. He stepped back, sitting down. He would have some time to think while he waited for the wanderer to finish what had to be done.
If it had been his choice, he would have found some other way to do this. While Quirrel couldn’t remember much, he knew he cared about this person. He didn’t want to lose her immediately after getting her back. Why did they even need to reverse the protection? Hallownest was already gone, what was there still to save? Nothing worth more than the life of his teacher. At once, Quirrel scolded himself for thinking so selfishly. Of course there were still things left to save. There were the people he had met on his travels such as the Nailsmith he had sought out and that Relic Seeker, there was the Mantis Tribe, who while not allies, still deserved to live, and even that sad little town on the surface. If nothing were done, he knew that the infection would overcome all of them eventually. He didn’t know why he knew that whatever the wanderer was doing could halt the infection, he just did.
Quirrel really wished he had all of his memories back.
He looked up at Monomon again, desperately trying to reach into the back of his mind to any kind of memories at all. They all felt so far away. There weren’t any clear memories, just blurry and vague images that held no meaning at all. He remembered information about Hallownest and the archives, he remembered that it was Monomon who had created the Uumuu and the other smaller beings like it, and he remembered where all of the important notes stored across the archives were, but he couldn’t remember her. He could feel tears of frustration welling up in his eyes, and he felt pathetic that he could barely remember anything about someone so important to him, and-
He then realized his small friend hadn’t moved for some time. It shouldn’t be taking them this long, Monomon wouldn’t put up a fight for something she wanted to happen. Maybe something had gone wrong? Were the two maybe… talking? He didn’t know if it was possible. He had only heard stories about the moth tribe, and how they were able to traverse the dreams of others. He had always wondered how that would work, and he never actually expected to witness it happening- kind of. It just looked like the wanderer was sleeping, not traveling through someone’s thoughts.
Quirrel took a closer look at the wanderer, they didn’t appear to be breathing. But perhaps he was just missing it. Quirrel moved closer to them, and gently laid a hand on their sleeping body. They were freezing. Quirrel almost pulled his hand away in shock, and panic began to set in. Maybe something really did go wrong, and he had just sat there lost in his own thoughts instead of doing something to help! Quickly, he felt for a pulse on the wanderer’s neck. Nothing. He tried again on their wrist. Also nothing. This wasn’t good at all, something must have gone terribly wrong and Quirrel had no idea how to fix it. He could feel himself starting to cry again, his friend may have just died in front of him! He looked up at Monomon, as if she would somehow have an answer to this. She just continued to float peacefully in her tank, obviously still alive.
“Oh what do I do now!” Quirrel said aloud, putting his hands over his face. Was Hallownest doomed now? Was it his fault? His anxiety levels were rising with each new thought, when he heard a noise that snapped him out of it.
He looked up, and saw his friend was sitting up, alive and well. Quirrel breathed a huge sigh of relief, nearly falling backwards.
“Oh friend, you gave me quite a scare there,” Quirrel tried to say calmly, hoping that the panic still wasn’t apparent in his voice. “That was quite a long time you were asleep, I was worried something bad had happened.”
With the wanderer awake, then that had to mean Monomon was gone. But when Quirrel looked into the tank, she was surprisingly still there and still alive.
“Um. Did something go wrong?” Quirrel asked.
The wanderer shook their head. Quirrel was surprised he actually got a response.
“Why didn’t you complete the task then?” He didn’t want to say kill. “Did you spare her?”
The wanderer nodded.
“Why do you hesitate?” Quirrel asked. “Mercy is a fine thing, but you and her agree this must be done. Please, be brave, friend.”
His small friend just stared at Quirrel for a few seconds before turning around and descending past Monomon’s tank. They had clearly made up their mind, and Quirrel couldn’t do anything to change it.
“Ah, if you are waiting a bit longer to do this, please be careful of the acid on the way out,” Quirrel warned them. “The archives have flooded since I had last been here.”
Again, the wanderer didn’t seem to hear him at all. Then, Quirrel watched in absolute horror as the little wanderer took a flying leap directly into the acid.
“FRIEND!!! NO!!!!”