What we left in the dark (a mystery skulls animated fanfic)

A walk through unfamiliar halls

The ghost stood—or rather—hovered over the shaky mortal, blinking as he realized where he was. "Wha-... Arthur..?" The spirit mumbled, looking down at the man who trembled on the ground. The wraith looked around, placing his hand on his head only to quickly pull it away out of shock. Where he expected to feel soft hair and warm skin he felt hard bone and a strange heat. "What is this? Where are we?" He wondered out loud, beginning to visibly shake as he inspected his own seemingly gloved hand.

"... Lewis..?" Arthur questioned, his fear turning to shock and confusion. He picked himself up off the ground, deciding to slowly and carefully approach the ghost. He stopped a few inches away from Lewis, looking up to face the unfamiliar skull that peered down with piercing pink irises. "Is-... is that really you?" Arthur said. He began to reach out his hand, tempted to touch him, but pulling it away before committing to the action.

Lewis looked around the room, seeing purple wallpaper and red carpet. Looking behind him, a coffin standing upright caught his eye. "Yeah... it's me." He said, distracted by the odd glowing thorn patterns etched into the wood, a skull carved on the upper middle of it all.

"What happened to you?" Arthur asked, Lewis turning to face Arthur.
"I-..." The ghost began to speak, before he suddenly winced, clutching his skull as magenta flames began to spill from his form. He tried to catch his breath for a moment, his lack of lungs making the breaths feel hollow.  "I'm sorry, what were you saying?" He said, looking to Arthur. His irises flickered, but only for a short moment.

"What happened?" Arthur repeated. That question. That one simple question eluded Lewis. It was hard for him to even focus on the words, or, that is, focus on the meaning of them. Whenever he found something he could grab onto, a memory that seemed connected to what could be the answer, it slipped through his fingers. Like grains of sand.

"Hey- Lewis- buddy, it's going to be alright. We're going to figure this out, okay?" Arthur said, trying his best to comfort Lewis through this. "Okay..." Lewis mumbled, trusting Arthur to help. Arthur placed a hand on his chin, thinking. "We should find Vivi, she'll probably understand this better than we do." Arthur reasoned. "Right, lead the way." Lewis said, assuming Arthur knew where Vivi was.

"I was actually hoping you knew which way to go." Arthur admitted sheepishly. Lewis paused for a moment, looking down at Arthur. "I don't know this place, how would I know my way around it?" He said, thinking Arthur would've put that together from when he asked where they were earlier. "Good point." Arthur responded, a bit embarrassed he forgot.

Arthur turned to look at the exit to the room, leading out to a long, stretching hall. "Well, I guess we'll just have to wander." Arthur said, placing his hands on his hips. "C'mon, let's get started."

Arthur would go to grab Lewis's hand to pull him forward, only for a chill to go up his spine. "Jeeeesus your hands are cold." He said reflexively. "Sorry." Lewis mumbled, apologizing for something he didn't have control over.

Arthur felt bad for having such an intense reaction to Lewis's icy hands, it just caught him off guard. He was used to Lewis having warm hands, a reminder that despite his search being over, he had found him too late.

"No no, it's okay, it's weird I can touch you though." Arthur stated, pausing to inspect Lewis's hand. There was a moment of silence. Lewis awkwardly looked to the side, unsure if he should interrupt Arthur admiring his hand. "We should probably-..." "Right, let's go." Arthur cut off Lewis after becoming self aware of his odd behavior, beginning to guide him forward.

The two made their way down the hall, quiet with a strange tension in the air. As they pressed forward Lewis noticed something. Arthur's left arm. More specifically how it seemed to be replaced by a metal one. He thought for a moment before deciding to ask: