The carpet beneath her feet was the same carpet they had in her flat. The wallpaper was the same wallpaper they had. The picture that was hanging in the hallway was the same picture that they had hanging in their hallway. She knew where she was: she was in her own home. She hadn't left.
But this was also the third time now that her home had been used against her, and honestly, Coraline was sick of it.
She stormed out of the Pink Palace, not even bothering to change into her school uniform or put on her raincoat. She only hesitated for a moment, trying to decide whether she should see what her parents looked like, before deciding that it did not matter if they had buttons in their eyes or not.
It was only once she stepped outside that she saw what was really going on. This was not the town of the Pink Palace. This was not the town of her home.
Coraline climbed the stairs up to Mr. Bobinsky's door to get a better view. She wanted to jump up to the roof like she had seen him do so effortlessly, but she could not quite reach. But she could see enough from here. The garden and tennis court of the property and the overgrown meadows behind it were intact. However, that was where the similarities ended. What laid before her now was a town she could not recognize. It moved in a patchwork pattern, like puzzles pieces that belonged to different pictures that had been slammed together. There was a school and a librarby, and then there was a thick forest in the middle of town. There was a neighborhood, and there was the Mystery Shack, far less robotic than when Coraline had last seen it. Even the buildings looked radically different, some old and decrepit, others bright and new.
It was different than the Other Mother's World or the Bubble, where everything had been perfect and new. This had to be something else. But who, and why?
She had to get to the Mystery Shack, Coraline realized. The Stans might know something, but more than that, she wanted to make sure the others were okay.
Dipper and Mabel were fine. It was the Mystery Shack they were worried about.
"Seriously, you don't remember anything?" said Dipper. "Bill, Weirdmageddon, the Shack-tron…nothing?"
"We don't remember it because it didn't happen, kid." said Grunkle Stan. "You must have been imagining it. Watched too much of those Japanese cartoons."
"It's anime, and you should know that because that's how we built the Shack-tron," said Mabel. "Great Uncle Ford, don't you remember anything? Weren't you in another dimension or something?"
"Of course not," said Great Uncle Ford. "I've been here for the last 30 years, working on studying Weirdness with Stan."
His words sounded almost robotic, like an actor who has said a line so many times that it lost all meaning. Dipper fought off the urge to shudder and slipped into the hallway.
Mabel may have only remembered the battle with Bill, but Dipper could still remember something else. It was more idea than memory, fragmented and fleeting, but it was there.
Dipper pulled the phone out of his vest pocket. It was not his phone. It was the phone Toriel had given them in the Underground, with modifications made by Alphys. There was only one recent call, with no timestamp and garbled text instead of a name. He hit redial anyway.
He was met with a crash of static, piercing and pulsating. He scrambled to hang up, but he did not need to. The phone hung up on its own.
Dipper stormed back into the kitchen and grabbed Mabel by the sweater sleeve, careful but firm.
"We're going to school," said Dipper.
"It's August," said Mabel.
He ignored her until they were outside, away from prying Grunkle ears.
"I think something's really wrong," said Dipper.
"Yeah, no kidding!" said Mabel. "You have any ideas yet?"
"Not yet," said Dipper. "I want to find the others first."
He was not even sure if they could find the others. Maybe they were in another dimension entirely, and that was why he could not call them. Maybe they were in blissful ignorance, like Ford and Stan. But he was worried about them, Wirt most of all. He could be dead again, or worse. And after that phone call, he did not want to wait around to find out.
"I'm worried about them too," said Mabel, sensing what Dipper was thinking. "But how are we going to find them? We don't know where they are, we don't know where we are—"
"I wasn't lying," said Dipper. "We're going to school."
"I was afraid you'd say that," said Mabel.
Norman had wanted things to be normal. He wanted there to be some sort of reason why his grandmother sat with his parents, eating breakfast like nothing was wrong. He wanted to pretend that everything was alright as his father smiled at him. But he remembered Coraline and the other world, and he ran out of the house.
It was not fair. He only wanted to be normal. He only wanted to be treated better. Why did it have to be held against him?
"Norman!"
Coraline's voice shook him out of his thoughts. He must have looked pretty terrible, because as soon as she was able to, she wrapped her arms around him and pulled him into a big hug. Norman froze, not used to the contact from someone other than his mother. Was this something friends usually did? He never had enough human friends to ask, and his ghost friends would pass through his body. But it felt nice, so Norman decided to pretend it was.
"I'm sorry," said Coraline. "It's not fair. None of this is."
"It's okay," said Norman. It wasn't, but he would rather focus on solving the issue than wallow in self-pity. "This isn't…her, is it?"
"I don't think so," said Coraline, breaking the hug. "It's too normal to be her or Bill. It's too weird to be anything else."
She was shaken out of her thoughts as a car pulled up behind her. She spun around, not prepared for who she came face-to-face with.
"My children," said Toriel. "Are you alright?"
That was Toriel alright. But she was different, far removed from the look of the caretaker of the Ruins. Instead of purple robes, she wore a purple cardigan and flowery skirt, with a pair of glasses perched on her snoot. It looked like something her mother would wear. It looked…normal.
"Uh," said Coraline. She glanced over at Norman, looking just as confused as he felt.
"You will be late to school at this rate," said Toriel. "Do you need a ride, perhaps?"
Ew, school? Still, it beat standing in the road. Besides, they might be able to ask Toriel some questions along the way.
"Sure," said Norman, speaking for the both of them.
The car was designed to hold at least six people, but the backseats looked un-touched. There was no garbage or belongings left behind, and the seats were stiff, like they had not been used before. It was only a couple minute drive before they reached the school, not long enough for Norman to even figure out what questions were the right questions to ask.
The schoolhouse itself looked unfamiliar to Norman, even in the hodge-podge of memories she had collected. But Toriel seemed to have no indication that it was anything out of the ordinary as she led the two of them inside.
"Now then, my children," said Toriel. "Is there anything else I can assist you with?"
The building was unfamiliar, the hallways were unfamiliar…but just over Toriel's shoulder, Norman could spot someone familiar. Time to change plans, then.
"We should be good for now," said Norman. "Thanks, Ms. Toriel. Maybe we can meet up after school?"
"Oh," said Toriel. "You know that you two are always welcome in my classroom. I will make some tea just for the occasion!"
Seemingly satisfied, Toriel turned down the hallway and disappeared into a classroom, presumably hers.
Five humans met in the hallway.
"So, uh," said Dipper. "This is weird right?"
"Real weird," said Coraline.
"Super weird," said Norman.
"Good, we're all on the same page," said Wirt.
"But, uh, where's Greg?" said Norman.
"Outside, playing in the leaves," said Wirt.
"And the other kid?"
No one had an answer. Even if they did, the ringing of the school bell ensured they could not answer it. Guess that means they have to go to class. They followed the gaggle of incoming monsters into a classroom.
"G-good morning, everyone!"
And that was obviously Alphys standing at the front of the classroom. Like Toriel, she had changed out of her usual, unusual clothing. If it weren't for the fact that she was a three-foot lizard, she looked almost ordinary. She must be the teacher.
No one bothered to say good morning back to her, least of all the humans. They filed into their desks, the humans hesitating for just a moment as they tried to figure out what desks were theirs.
Wirt took a seat near the window, where he could watch Greg. Greg spotted him as well. As if to make his point after the fact, he gestured to the school before sticking his tongue out and his thumb down. Wirt couldn't blame him.
"O-okay, everyone," said Alphys. "This month we're going to be working on group projects. S-so go ahead and partner up."
The five humans looked at each other. It was no questions that they would rather work with each other, just as it was no question that whatever they worked on was not going to be related to whatever group project Alphys had in mind.
"Uh, Dr. Alphys," said Norman, raising his hand. "How many people in a group?"
"O-oh! W-well, I guess there's an odd number of you…" said Alphys, like she had not even considered it before. "W-well, why don't you go ahead and—"
The door slammed open, cutting her off. The monster that stood in the doorway was not one Coraline recognized. She stood at least a head taller than Norman, at least three heads over Alphys, with messy hair and torn clothes blocking most of her features. Norman could just make out a purple snout made of tough-looking scales, like an alligator or a dinosaur.
"O-o-oh, Susie," said Alphys.
"…am I late?" the monster asked.
"N-not at all," said Alphys. "W-we were just picking partners for the group project, and uh…Susie, you're with Coraline!"
The monster stared at Coraline. Her expression was still hidden, so Norman could not tell if it was meant to be intimidating or confusing. Coraline met her gaze, unflinching.
"…fine," said Susie.
"A-a-alright then," said Alphys. "N-now that everyone's here, I'll go ahead and write the assignment…"
Susie did not sit down. Her gaze was still firmly focused on the humans.
"Uh…has anyone see the chalk?" said Alphys. "This is the third time it's gone missing, and I can't start class without it."
No one said a word. Susie was still staring at them. It would have freaked Norman out, if there wasn't twelve million other things he had to freak out about.
"Hey," said a reindeer monster. "There might be some spare chalk in the storage closet."
The humans exchanged a glance. They didn't come here to do actual schoolwork, and there was no way they would be able to talk with Susie glaring over their shoulders.
"We'll go," said Coraline.
"A-all of you?" said Alphys.
"It could be well-hidden," said Mabel.
They were out the door before Alphys could object further.
"That was a bust," said Coraline.
"I feel like I've learned even less," said Dipper.
The door swung open again, and Susie stepped out.
"…Alphys wanted me to make sure you actually got it," said Susie. "So…are you skipping class or what?"
"Fine, we'll get the stupid chalk," said Wirt.
"…whatever," said Susie, as she reached into her coat pocket and took a chomp out of—wait, was that chalk? It honestly did not mean anything to Wirt that she could have stolen chalk, but the fact that she was eating it like a cheese-stick made his skin crawl.
The six headed down the hallway, exchanging looks along the way. What was with her? Was she really that d̶e̶t̵e̸r̸m̷i̵n̴e̸d̵ to make sure they couldn't come up with a better plan, or was she just-
"That's the baby classroom, not the storage closet," said Susie. "No, wait, let's go down that way. Maybe I can find a better partner."
Barely restraining their glares, the humans turned and followed Susie down a different hall.
"Well," said Susie. "Here's the closet. Too bad…we were getting to know each other…"
She opened the closet door, only to be met with darkness.
The five exchanged a look with one another. Even Susie looked uncertain.
"Uh, is it just me, or…" said Susie. "Is it, like, really dark in there?"
"I'm not afraid of the darkness," said Wirt.
He moved forward, slightly bumping into Susie along the way. That just pissed her off even more. She shoved into the others as she stormed inside. The others followed in cautiously.
It was completely dark within the storage closet, with only the light from the hall behind them allowing them to see. However, as Norman reached towards the walls to find a light-switch, he could find nothing. No lights, no furniture, no walls. The more they moved forward, the more it seemed like the storage closet stretched on forever.
"I think this closet's, uh…broken," said Susie.
"Well, we did our best," said Dipper. "Let's just go back to class and get back to planning."
The door slammed behind them.
"H-HEY!" Susie scrambled to the door.
She pulled on the knob, banged her fists against the door, kicked against the wall. Nothing would open the door.
Until it did.
"I saw you leave the classroom," said Greg. "Are we skipping school now?"
"Wait, don't-!"
Too late. Greg shut the door behind him as he stepped inside. Before anyone else could react, the floor beneath them began to shake. Norman took a few steps backwards, only to find the floor fall apart completely.
He fell.
Once upon a time, a legend was whispered among shadows.
It was a legend of HOPE. It was a legend of DREAMS.
It was a legend of LIGHT. It was a legend of DARK.
This is the legend of DELTARUNE.