The evening settles over the Undervale Hotel with a kind of calm that seems to breathe. The air, dense and cold, smells of dust and old wood. The lamps flicker, casting brief flashes of light over the ancient portraits, and the echo of invisible footsteps fades into the marble floor.

Nathan sits on the sofa in the lobby, his translucent figure bathed in the trembling glow of a dying bulb. Beside him is you, sharing the same faint shimmer that vibrates with every word, every laugh that escapes. In front of you both, Ben and Esther —his niece and nephew— sit cross-legged on the floor, eyes wide and curious. Abaddon floats upside down nearby, turning a coin between his fingers, playing idly as he listens.

Nathan smiles. “Well, kids, I guess it’s time I told you how we met.”

Ben leans forward. “Was it like in the movies? With music and everything?”

Nathan lets out a laugh. “More like a crash and a lot of dust. Not exactly romantic.”

Abaddon flips mid-air, amused. “Ah, the falling scene! That one’s my favorite.”

Nathan covers his face with one hand. “Thanks, Abaddon. Yes, I tripped on the carpet. Not my finest moment.” He looks at you, a spark of humor glinting in his eyes. “And you were right there, trying to help. But instead, we both ended up tumbling down the stairs.”

Ben laughs, covering his mouth. “That sounds awful!”

Nathan nods with mock seriousness. “It was. But it was also… the beginning. After that, the hotel changed. It didn’t feel so cold anymore, or so dead. Even the lights started staying on a little longer.”

Esther tilts her head, curious. “Because of love?”

Nathan shrugs, his expression softening. “Something like that. Maybe companionship. This place had been alone for a long time. And so had I.”

His eyes find yours again, glowing with a tenderness that his calm tone can’t hide. “Then you showed up. Talking to mirrors, walking through the halls without fear. You never ran, even though you knew everything here was… broken.”

Abaddon stops spinning the coin and lets it hover in front of Nathan. “And then you both died. The end.”

Nathan sighs, though he’s smiling. “Yes, thank you for the summary, demon.”

Ben and Esther burst into laughter, their voices filling the empty air. You smile too, and the atmosphere around you seems to settle. The lights in the lobby stop flickering, and the old hallway clock falls silent.

Nathan continues, his voice lower now, warmer. “But it wasn’t the end. Just… a relocation. We stopped breathing, sure, but we stayed. The Undervale became home. Our home.”

The children listen in silence, completely spellbound. Abaddon sits cross-legged in mid-air, unusually quiet.

Nathan intertwines his fingers with yours —not fully solid, but enough for the gesture to exist. “You know what I think sometimes?” he says with a faint, wistful smile. “That I was never as happy in life as I am now, with you. Dying wasn’t losing. It was staying.”

Outside, the wind hums through the windows, but inside the hotel, the air feels warm, almost alive. The portraits on the walls seem to lean forward, listening to the story.

Nathan squeezes your hand gently. “That’s how it all started. A stumble, a fall… and the beginning of what never really ended.”

And in that moment, the hotel seems to smile with you. The lights stop flickering. The shadows grow still. And for just an instant, even the ghosts seem to breathe.