Shifting Mound Confrontation Script [WIP]

Every dialogue choice and response when confronting the Shifting Mound, written down for your convenience!

Contains unmarked spoilers.

Introduction

Meeting the Shifting Mound is the the climax of Slay the Princess, where nearly every choice you've made is finally accounted for. However, with so many vessels the Princess can acquire, it would take multiple runs of the game and several reloads just to see all the available content.

Luckily for you reading this, I'm one of those people crazy and/or obsessive enough to do just that.

Much like my Narrator confrontation guide, this documents every variation of Princess you can be confronted with by the end game. Unlike my Narrator confrontation guide, this is actually much more straightforward and therefore could be considered complete at the time of writing this. And much like that guide, this contains unmarked spoilers and should only be viewed after completing the game a few times.

This guide is divided by which princess you can acquire and confront. If you need help getting a specific princess, my route guide should help with that.

Oh, and I've marked player responses in bold text, princesses by the name of their chapter, and referred to The Shifting Mound as "Shifty" for short, as both does many fans and even the creators of the game itself.

This guide was complete before the Pristine Cut but now it needs to be reworked. I will finish it after my route guide is refinished.

Pre-Fight Shifting Mound

Shifty: I can finally see you, and you can finally see me.

Shifty: It’s been so long, and my heart has ached for this moment. I’ve missed you dearly.

.(Explore) “I’ve missed you too.”

She unfurls an endless cascade of smiles in response, and then patiently waits for you to continue.

.(Explore) “Do you know about the Echo? Did you hear our conversation?”

Shifty: Every word you spoke found its way to me. I know him.

.(Explore) “I’m the Long Quiet. But I don’t really know what that means.”

Shifty: Names are their attempts to capture that which cannot be captured. They call me the Shifting Mound. A pale imitation of what I actually am.

.”What happens now?”

Shifty: Ever the passive player, always reacting and never acting. But it’s woven into your nature, isn’t it?

Shifty: When the Echo spun us from one into two, he gave you a choice and me a role to play. I am not death, but I contain it in my multitudes.

Shifty: So will you attempt to destroy me, and bring about a world devoid of death and the possibility of meaning? Or will you open the final doors to our liberation?

.(Explore) “There’s so many stories we’ve left unfinished. Can we really just leave?

Shifty: Even as your eyes begin to open, you still hold on to the notions of ‘is’ and ‘is not,’ of ‘beginning’ and ‘end.’ Pitch-black islands in the blinding light of the infinite. There is nothing to resolve, nothing restraining us but us.

.(Explore) “Don’t you have a say in all of this? Why is this all falling on me?”

Shifty: Of course I have a say in all of this. You and I share reflections of each other’s burdens, just as you and I share reflections of each other’s gifts.

Shifty: If we didn’t, the winding paths that brought us here wouldn’t have been full of strife and conflict.

.(Explore) “Let’s talk this through. I still have so many questions and I need answers before I can make a choice.”

Shifty: My very nature is paradox, as is yours. You cannot use words to grasp at things that are beyond their reach. And you cannot rationalize that which defies logic.

Shifty: But violence and passion are dances that both of us know well. If this is what it takes to enlighten you, then so be it.

.(Explore) “If I let you out, an entire world ends for good. I can’t do that.”

Shifty: If you’re saying that, it’s because you don’t yet understand. But we cannot use words alone to grasp at things that words cannot express. And you cannot rationalize with logic that which defies it.

Shifty: Violence and passion are dances that both of us know well. If this is what it takes to enlighten you, then so be it.

.(Explore) “If you were always going to become this, then what was the point of me doing anything? Did it even matter what roads I walked if all of them would have led to this moment?”

Shifty: If you’re saying that, it’s because you don’t yet understand. But we cannot use words alone to grasp at things that words cannot express. And you cannot rationalize with logic that which defies it.

Shifty: Violence and passion are dances that both of us know well. If this is what it takes to enlighten you, then so be it.

.(Explore) “There has to be another way. This can’t just come down to me either destroying you or letting you out. I won’t do it.”

Shifty: If you’re saying that, it’s because you don’t yet understand. But we cannot use words alone to grasp at things that words cannot express. And you cannot rationalize with logic that which defies it.

Shifty: Violence and passion are dances that both of us know well. If this is what it takes to enlighten you, then so be it.

.”I told you what was going to happen when we reached this point.” [Slay the Princess.]

Shifty: I know. And I’ve been waiting for you to see it through.

Shifty: Violence has always been our language, hasn’t it? If this is what it takes to save you, then so be it.

.[Slay the Princess.]

Shifty: Violence has always been our language, hasn’t it? If this is what it takes to save you, then so be it.

.”I think it’s time for us to leave this place, but I don’t know how to leave or where to go.”

Shifty: Nothing brings me greater joy than to hear those words. The final piece lies with you.

.[Free yourself.]
(Ends the game with you and Shifty freeing yourselves)

The Shifting Mound

These are responses you can make directly to the Shifting Mound, ignoring the vessels entirely. It should be noted that you have to select "continue to..." responses if you want to continue down an argument line.

Appealing to shared humanity.

.[Appeal to your shared humanity.] “You speak about life and death and change and stagnation, but that isn’t what any of this has been about.”

Shifty: Oh? Is it not? Perhaps you can enlighten me.

.[Continue to appeal to your shared humanity.] “This has always just been about us. Two people forced to hurt each other again and again and again. But we don’t have to hurt each other anymore.”

Shifty: You cling to your notion of pain as suffering. There is beauty in ugliness and love in conflict.

.[Continue to appeal to your shared humanity.] “There can be love and conflict and beauty and ugliness between us without bringing the whole of reality into the picture.”

Shifty: We are the whole of reality.

.[Continue to appeal to your shared humanity.] “We’re not the whole of reality. Why won’t you see me the way I still see you? Why won’t you see me for what I am?

Shifty: I could ask you the same. There is only room for one of us to be blind here, and I know it to be you. We are each other’s mirrors, and are we not divine?

.[Continue to appeal to your shared humanity.] “This doesn’t have to be so big. You can come back down to my level. You can come back to me.”

Shifty: Why would I stoop to your level when I am offering you ascension to mine?

Shifty: It’s so peaceful here. Beautiful. Eternal, but ever-changing.


Rejecting her authority

.[Reject her authority.] “You’ve done nothing but lecture me since the minute I got here.”

Shifty: What you mistake for lecture is merely observation. I only want to help you.

Shifty: You can vainly struggle against me, or you can follow the rhythm of our movement and find our freedom.

.[Continue to reject her authority.] “You use all these pretentious metaphors and pretend you’re making grand proclamations about who I am and who you are. But really you aren’t saying much of anything.”

Shifty: If my words feel meaningless, it’s because words are meaningless! If it feels as though I lecture you from above, it is merely because you have refused to climb after me and find where you belong.

.[Continue to reject her authority.] “It doesn’t even matter what I say to you, because you’re just going to keep telling me your perspective like it’s some universal truth.”

Shifty: The only universal truth is that there are no universal truths! There is only you and me, existing in relation to the other.

Shifty: And I will not stop our dance until you understand.

.[Continue to reject her authority.] “It was so much better when I was with your vessels. Even at their worst, they all still heard me.”

Shifty: They are mere fragments of a whole. They bought into the delusion because none of them were able to see past themselves.

.[Continue to reject her authority.] “I don’t know what you are, but you aren’t any of them. You’re just something wearing their skin.”

Shifty: You cling to things that never truly existed. If it takes all of eternity to break your grip on petty, fickle, fleeting selves, both mine and yours…

Shifty: Then I will break it.

Arguing your independence

.[Argue your independence.] “You act as through the world can’t exist without you. But I’ve existed without you.”

Shifty: Have you? Or is what you think as independence merely an illusion? Without me, you can have no contrast. And without contrast, you have no shape.

.[Continue to argue your independence.] “What are the woods, then? What is the cabin/ What is the time we’ve spent apart if not me existing as myself?”

Shifty: Time you’ve spent away from me is still time spent in reference to me. Even then, both of us are more than our bodies. Am I not in the trees? Am I not in the cabin? Am I not in you?

.[Continue to argue your independence.] “I wouldn’t be here if destroying you would leave all of reality a colorless blur.”

Shifty: You place far too much trust into the ravings of a fearful ignorant soul who overstepped his bounds.

.[Continue to argue your independence.] “I’d rather trust an ignorant soul who died trying to make things better than a god who’d let the wheel of suffering turn forever.”

Shifty: Intent is nothing. Wisdom is everything. I turn the wheel because suffering is a falsehood. A delusion. It is up to the world to free itself of it.

Shifty: Would you plunge yourself into a cold and empty eternity on faith alone? Would you destroy the only other thing like you to save a world you’ve never seen?

.[Continue to argue your independence.] “If I need to destroy you to build a better world, then I will.”

Shifty: And if I need to spend all of eternity to stop you, then I will gladly do so.

Rejecting her perspective

.[Reject her perspective.] “I won’t engage with an argument that favors death and suffering.”

Shifty: But violence has defined the flow of everything between us. Do not deny what we are, and do not color our conflict with fear.

.[Continue to reject her perspective.] “It doesn’t matter how I feel. Death, suffering, and oblivion shouldn’t fall on others. If we are able to transcend death, then we are responsible for those it holds captive.”

Shifty: The Echo saw horrors because his eyes were closed. The majesty of being extends beyond any single perspective.

.[Continue to reject her perspective.] “Suffering born in delusion is still suffering. It doesn’t matter what we are now. We hurt each other, and we shouldn’t have done that. We cannot let a world be spun out of that pain.”

Shifty: Their suffering is born of their own delusion.

.[Continue to reject her perspective.] “You reject the suffering of material reality, and yet you cling to its framework for meaning. We can be better than this.”

Shifty: I reject the narrow view of impermanence. I cling to nothing. There is no better for us to be than us. We are reality itself.

.[Continue to reject her perspective.] “You claim your destruction would steal meaning from existence, but if my actions can make existence worse, then there must be actions that make it better. Perfection implies finality, and nothing is final.”

Shifty: There has never been finality, there is only the unending transformation of my multitudes. But to destroy me is to bring everything to a stop. It is only then that you will have an ending, and that ending is nothingness.

As the clash between you abates, the Princess withdraws, trembling.

Shifty: You are unmoveable. Is it by the design of our conflict that I cannot win, or are you just that fervent in how you cling to delusion?


Complete silence

.[Remain silent.]

Shifty: But you say nothing.

.[Remain silent.]

Shifty: And so your quietude continues.

.[Remain silent.]

Shifty: Is your unbroken silence a lack of an answer, or has your understanding begun to move beyond words?

[Remain silent.]

Shifty: Still you hide the contours of your heart from me.

[Remain silent.]

Shifty: Your stoicism knows no end.

“I get it. There’s no need for us to keep fighting. I’ll leave with you. I just don’t know how.” [Stop the fight early and surrender.]
(leads to the freeing yourselves ending)

The Adversary

Adversary: The sensation of bleeding and sweating and breaking and mending and dying and living comes back in vivid color.

Adversary: You feel the shame of a hundred deaths and the pride of a hundred conquests, all of the peaks and valleys weaving themselves into a single tapestry free of beginning and free of end.

Adversary: Do you remember when we killed each other with such fervent passion that death itself no longer sat on our shoulders?

.”It was beautiful.”

Shifty: It was. Triumph does not exist without defeat. Birth does not exist without death. It is through conflict that we create beauty.

.”It was meaningless. Neither of us could ever truly win.”

Shifty: So bleakly nihilistic. Is death the end, or is it the birth of something new? If you cannot find meaning in living, how will you find meaning if you strip me from existence?

.”It was unnecessary. We could have worked together to build something better.”

Shifty: But for us, that was better.

Shifty: For me there was no better end. I lost myself in an artistry so profound that it lifted both of us into something greater.

.”We didn’t have to hurt each other.”

Shifty: Did we hurt each other?

Shifty: For me there was no better end. I lost myself in an artistry so profound that it lifted both of us into something greater.

The Beast

Beast: You are devoured, prey for something bigger than you that stalks and slinks in shadows. Within, you are tightly bound and choke on heavy air as acid burns its way into your pores. A nest of things devouring within things devouring.

Beast: But even when dissolved, you gifted me a life. Perhaps it was fear that drove you. Perhaps it was compassion.

Beast: But the outcome of an act matters more than its intentions. There is a natural order to the cycle of things sustaining things.

Beast: A world without sustenance is a world without relationships, and it is our relationships that gives us form and substance.

.”You’re right. Without desire, we have no need for relationships. We would all be alone.”

Shifty: And it is through those desires that each of us found the other. And it is through each other that we will find our freedom.

.”Yes, without desire, we have no need for relationships - we would all be alone. But if we had no desires, would being alone be so bad?”

Shifty: You seek to remove complexity itself, but it is complexity that adds color to experience.

.”You cannot use eating me to prove that you’re right.”

Shifty: You still cling to the horrors of dying bodies that rot worlds apart from us. How many more vessels would you need to lose before you realize their irrelevance?

.”But my intentions do matter. I only freed you to save myself.”

Shifty: And yet our conflicting desires liberated us both, and now we are here, so much more than we ever could have imagined.

The Damsel

Damsel: Your lover drives a stake into your body. And another, and another, and another. Do I miss your heart because I can’t stand to see it go?

Normal Damsel

Damsel: But the stakes meant nothing to you. You had a desire, and you set that desire free, you lifting me and me lifting you, forever and ever and ever. Consumed by true belief, there was nothing that could hold us back.

.”I was blinded by emotion. We both know that.”

Shifty: We were both taken by the moment. It was how things are meant to be.

.”I want that feeling back.”

Shifty: It never left you. You just need to open your heart to me once more.

.”That feeling never left me.”

Shifty: Then there’s no reed for you to fight what we are. Whenever you’re ready, we can leave together, hand in loving hand.

.”I’m ready. I want to leave with you.” [Stop the fight early and surrender.]

(Free yourselves ending)

.”I won’t leave with you. Not until you see things from my perspective.”

Shifty: If you need more time to open your eyes, then I will give you all the time in the world.


Deconstructed Damsel

Deconstructed Damsel: Love melted into skepticism, and you pulled back layer after layer after layer until all you were left with was the knowledge that you did not know me.

Deconstructed Damsel: You sought the truth then. Will you hide from it now that it is within your grasp?

.”I have no desire to hide, but the truth can be made better. If destroying you is what that takes… so be it.”

Shifty: I am so deeply woven into the threads of this reality that I cannot imagine it without me. Perhaps there is a better world to build.

Shifty: But you cannot know until you see it. Are you so sure in your blind optimism that you would chatter all of creation?

.”I don’t want to hide from the truth.”

Shifty: Then don’t.

Shifty: Leave with me. There’s no need for you to fight what we are.

.”I’m ready. I want to leave with you.” [Stop the fight early and surrender.]

(Free yourselves ending)

.”I won’t leave with you. Not until you see things from my perspective.”

Shifty: If you need more time to open your eyes, then I will give you all the time in the world.

The Nightmare

Nightmare: Fear is what pretends to protect us from loss. To fear death ‘protects’ from losing a body. To fear ruin ‘protects’ from losing status. To fear rejection ‘protects’ from being known.

Nightmare: but losing a body is contained within having a body. Losing status is contained within having status. Being known is contained within being conscious.

Nightmare: it is the nature of all things to transform. To go from known to hidden to known again.

Nightmare: But when the ceaseless impermanence of all things strips away the finality of endings, what remains of fear? Is it a shelter protecting you from itself? Or is it a shelter protecting itself from you?

Nightmare: You took fear by the hand and walked with it into the unknown, and through that, you feared nothing.

.”That wasn’t a rejection of fear. You broke me to your will.”

Shifty: Were you afraid when you stepped through that door, or were you enticed by what might come next? By what might lie beyond fear? By what you might become?

Shifty: You say I broke you, but was that curiosity not freedom of its own?

.”You wanted to make the world suffer. You act as if you’re above it all, but you’re not.”

Shifty: A desire borne from the narrow view of a single life. But even then, the only gifts I brought were context and sensation.

Shifty: To feel is to exist, and to exist is to have meaning.

.”I’m not afraid anymore.”

Shifty: Then you are one step closer to being free of your bindings.

.”Even if I’m not afraid now, the fear of others is real. We can’t uphold the harm that everyone suffers just because we’re beyond it.”

Shifty: Others cling to fear because they have not yet seen beyond it. Will you strip the world of possibility just because some refuse to see its beauty?

The Prisoner

Prisoner: To question everything is to deny the truth in front of you. To live alone within the caverns of your mind is to trap yourself in them forever.

Headless Prisoner

Headless Prisoner: But you found me. And we chose to trust each other for no reason than the sake of believing in something that wasn’t us.

Headless Prisoner: Shared skepticism blossomed into freedom, but we needed to walk a path together to bloom.

Headless Prisoner: Would you stop our journey now that you’ve seen its beginning? What of those in the worlds beyond? Would you erase their paths to stop them from going astray?

.”The path is just a metaphor. I want to protect them.”

Shifty: And that is what I want, too. To protect them from the horrors of an eternity without me.”

.”I don’t want to keep anyone still.”

Shifty: Nor should you. Nor should I. Our purpose is to be and to experience, and their purpose is the same.

.”What does the path matter if it always ends?”

Shifty: The path only ends when it becomes a new beginning. To see those seams as finality is to pass over them with closed eyes.


Intact Prisoner

Intact Prisoner: To question everything is to deny the truth in front of you. By believing in your suffering, you make your suffering real. By believing in your limitations, you placed a shackle on your neck.

Intact Prisoner: Bound for eternity, you saw the need for impermanence, and it was through that need that you carved our freedom.

Intact Prisoner: Without impermanence the suffering of living things is infinite.

Intact Prisoner: Would you strip my gifts away and leave everyone to suffer in the dark?

.”They’ll get over it. They’ll see your end as a gift in time.”

Shifty: Or, in time, would they see it as a curse?

.”That would be torture.”

Shifty: It would. Our purpose is to be and to experience, and their purpose is the same. To be permanent is to cease. To be paused is to be trapped.

The Razor

Full Body Razor

Razor: A boundless torrent of blades cuts you from boundless angles. You are a body. You are gorey ribbons. You are a body again. And you feel all of it.

Razor: On and on it goes, until your bodies are not your thoughts are not you. Alive, dead, alive, dead, alive, dead, then alive and dead and alive and dead all at once.

Razor: You learned to put yourself away. And in your stillness you rose above me.

Razor: You died countless steely deaths, and you lived countless short lives, and yet it is all so far behind you. I pushed you to a greatness you never would have reached without me.

.”If you hadn’t snatched that body away, we would have killed each other. We were self-destructive.”

Shifty: Were we self-destructive, or did the beauty of our dance reach beyond the shadow of death? It was lethality that made us what we were.

.”It felt so good to finally win, even if it was going to cost me my life.”

Shifty: And it was a joy for me to finally face my end. Even when I thought I reached my limits, you showed me how much further I could climb.

.”Even if the journey was agony, the end gave the struggle meaning.”

Shifty: And even then, what we saw was not an ending. When I thought I had reached an unconquerable peak, you showed me how much further I could still climb.

Heart Only Razor

Razor: A boundless torrent of blades cuts you from boundless angles. You are a body. You are gorey ribbons. You are a body again. And you feel all of it.

Razor: On and on it goes, until your bodies are not your thoughts are not you. Alive, dead, alive, dead, alive, dead, then alive and dead and alive and dead all at once.

Razor: You learned to put yourself away. And in your stillness humbled me.

Razor: You died countless steely deaths, and you lived countless short lives, and yet it is all so far behind you. I pushed you to a greatness you never would have reached without me.

.”It didn’t last. It wasn’t worth it.”

Shifty: And yet here we are, finally on the cusp of reaching something so much bigger than that little play.

.”After everything you put me through, it felt good to watch you fall apart.”

Shifty: And it was a joy for me to finally face my end. Even when I thought I reached my limits, you showed me how much further I could climb.

.”Even if the journey was agony, the end gave the struggle meaning.”

Shifty: And even then, what we saw was not an ending. When I thought I had reached an unconquerable peak, you showed me how much further I could still climb.

The Spectre

Rescued Spectre

Spectre: A shiver passes through you as unseen fingers dance across your skin. They remember the violence you inflicted on them. And yet they don’t return it.

Spectre: I offer you absolution, and you take my hand in yours.

Spectre: You felt the pain you caused another, and you were willing to sacrifice everything you thought was you to set me free.

Spectre: Without sin, there is no redemption.

.”But without redemption there can be no sin.”

Shifty: And without contrast, there can be nothing at all.

.”If I’d known what you were, I never would have freed you.”

Shifty: Truth is a box with ever-changing contents. You knew me then, just as you know me now.

.”And I would sacrifice everything to free you again.”

Shifty: And yet there is nothing left for you to sacrifice, so long as you accept me with open arms.

Exorcised Spectre

Spectre: A shiver passes through you as unseen fingers dance across your skin. They remember the violence you inflicted on them. And yet they don’t return it.

Spectre: I offer you absolution, and you take my hand in yours.

Spectre: But you do not follow my path. Hands clasped together, you break yourself, and you break me with you.

Spectre: You were willing to sacrifice everything you thought was you to end me again.

.”I had to sacrifice myself. The entire world was at stake.”

Shifty: And your actions will echo in the tapestry of time. You gave yourself to a higher purpose.

.”I was glad to end us together.”

Shifty: And the thread of that ending wove itself into yet another experience, which wove itself into yet another.

The Stranger

Stranger: My masses mob you. There is no beginning to them and there is no end. There is only the flood of bodies. In every moment you hold every possible sensation at once, and then you hold them all again.

Stranger: But in the end, you reflected it back at me. For a brief moment, both of us were everything.

Stranger: We can be everything again. We can weave a beautiful and endless song.

.”To be everything at once is the same as being nothing at all. Why would either of us want that?”

Shifty: Here is where words fail us. So long as we both exist, we will always be distinct. The only thing to fear is a reality without me.

.”To contain everything is to contain every evil alongside every good. Can we not shed the confines of our old selves and create?”

Shifty: Without the contrast of pain, pleasure is muted, made dull by the assurance that it will always be. A song that is only sweet is a pale horizon that never falls.

.”I couldn’t understand you then, but I think I understand you now.”

Shifty: You saw with a single pair of eyes what you needed dozens to comprehend.

Shifty: And now here we are, each with millions of eyes and all of them open.

.”You seemed in pain. I’m sorry for what I did to you, but it was the only thing I could do.”

Shifty: I saw with a single pair of eyes what I needed dozens to comprehend.

Shifty: And now here we are, each with millions of eyes and all of them open.

The Tower

(Princess perspective artwork will change depending on if you tried to attack the princess or simply resisted and then submitted to her, submitted to her from the start, or submitted to her without bringing the knife but otherwise everything else, including dialogue and responses, will be the same.)

Tower: You are nothing. A black hole of self-loathing fed by the matter of your restless thoughts. A dog blind to its leash. But there is no light without the dark.

Tower: When I proclaimed my godhood and offered you a place at my side, you gladly became the instrument of my new creation.

Tower: Only with both of us is there a future to look towards. It is hope that carves meaning into being.

.”I miss when that was you.”

Shifty: My threads, like yours, are unbroken. She is me as much as I was her.

.”Submitting to you was a mistake. I would have destroyed you if I knew what you were.”

Shifty: You knew what I was then, just as you know what I am now.

.”You were consumed by your own ego.”

Shifty: And through your lack of one, you, too, were consumed. Yet together we were able to create something beautiful.

The Witch

Door trapping Witch

Witch: A trick behind your back, and a trick behind mine. We dance, revolving and revolving around each other, but forever stuck in place. We both move and yet we both don’t, for each of us watches the other instead of ourselves.

Witch: But forever is not forever. You let me move and I slam the door, but that is not the end, and both of us must face our partner once again. The barbs twist deeper, but they don’t have to.

Witch: To change is to hold the potential to rise above. Would you limit yourself to what you are now, or would you like to see what you might become tomorrow?

.”If there are no endings, there are no limits. If there are no limits, then there is no difference between growth and decay.”

Shifty: Meaning lies in experience, and experience lies in contrast. Abandoning one’s search is not the same as losing the capacity to discover.

Shifty: I am contrast itself. To reject me is to reject the shape of everything. Do not use words to reduce that which your eyes know to be irreducible.

.”I have already come so far. What more is there left for me to see?”

Shifty: More than either of us can possibly imagine, if you would only open yourself to the totality of existence.

.”With time, we could have been better.”

Shifty: And there is always time.


Broken back Witch

Witch: A trick behind your back, and a trick behind mine. We dance, revolving and revolving around each other, but forever stuck in place. We both move and yet we both don’t, for each of us watches the other instead of ourselves.

Witch: But forever is not forever. I move and you react and both of us break the other. But broken is only a moment in time.

Witch: To change is to hold the potential to rise above. Would you limit yourself to what you are now, or would you like to see what you might become tomorrow?

(Everything else is the same as the trapped door Witch)


Back stabbed Witch

Witch: A trick behind your back, and a trick behind mine. We dance, revolving and revolving around each other, but forever stuck in place. We both move and yet we both don’t, for each of us watches the other instead of ourselves.

Witch: But forever is not forever. I move and you react and both of us break the other. But broken is only a moment in time.

Witch: To change is to hold the potential to rise above. Would you limit yourself to what you are now, or would you like to see what you might become tomorrow?

.”If there are no endings, there are no limits. If there are no limits, then there is no difference between growth and decay.”

Shifty: Meaning lies in experience, and experience lies in contrast. Abandoning one’s search is not the same as losing the capacity to discover.

Shifty: I am contrast itself. To reject me is to reject the shape of everything. Do not use words to reduce that which your eyes know to be irreducible.

.”I have already come so far. What more is there left for me to see?”

Shifty: More than either of us can possibly imagine, if you would only open yourself to the totality of existence.

.”With time, we could have been better.”

Shifty: And there is always time.

.”But I stabbed you in the back and left both of us paralyzed. What potential was there to rise above?”

Shifty: You mire yourself in an ending that did not end. Lift your gaze beyond moments, and toward the infinite depth of reality.

.”But you betrayed me. What potential was left for either of us to rise above?”

Shifty: You mire yourself in an ending that did not end. Lift your gaze beyond moments, and toward the infinite depth of reality.

The Apotheosis

Joined

Apotheosis: You are helpless and weightless, suspended in the gravity of an idea that reaches far beyond the scope of your existence. The very ground beneath your feet loses its meaning. There is nothing but me.

Apotheosis: When you were confronted with my vessel’s apotheosis, you chose to accept me, to allow me to burn away everything you are and fill you with nothing but my divine will. You accepted that I was everything.

Apotheosis: Without me, there is no future to look towards. It is hope that carves meaning into consciousness.

.”I miss when that was you.”

Shifty: My threads, like yours, are unbroken. She is me as much as I was her.

.”Submitting to you was a mistake. I would have destroyed you if I knew what you were.”

Shifty: You knew what I was then, just as you know what I am now.

.”You were consumed by your own ego.”

Shifty: And through your lack of one, you, too, were consumed. Yet together we were able to create something beautiful.


Defied

Apotheosis: You are weightless, suspended in the gravity of an idea that threatens to consume you. And you are alone. A tiny island caught between the death of the old world and the birth of the new. But alone is not helpless.

Apotheosis: When you were confronted with my vessel's apotheosis, you chose against all odds to defy me. To hold on to your inner self, with all its flaws, even in the scorching light of my divinity.

Apotheosis: Without me, there are no externalities to resist. And it is struggle that carves meaning into consciousness.

.”I still defy you now.”

Shifty: But in your defiance I have already won. There is no power without resistance. Our actions feed each other into something greater.

.”I miss when that was you.”

Shifty: My threads, like yours, are unbroken. She is me as much as I was her.

.”You were consumed by your own ego.”

Shifty: And through your lack of one, you, too, were consumed. Yet together we were able to create something beautiful.

The Den

(The dialogue and responses are the same no matter what you do. However, you will get a different piece of artwork if you try to stab the Den while she is trapped versus every other option.)

Den: You are devoured, prey for something bigger than you that stalks and slinks in shadows. But ever after the pain of defeat, you returned.

Shifty: The dance is its own truth. It is the movement that matters, not the pause you mistake for an ending.

.”Would you have us fight forever?”

Shifty: I would have you realize that what you decry as suffering is beauty. But even as you stir to wakefulness, you cling to mortality that was never yours.

“The dance was good, wasn’t it?”

Shifty: And it will always be good, if you choose to live in it. Do not linger on the highs and lows. They are fleeting strokes on a larger canvas.

“I don’t want to think of a world without you.”

Shifty: Then don’t.

“Are you so sure of yourself that you think the world would stop without you?”

Shifty: I know that I am movement itself. You’ve seen as much. You know it’s true.

The Eye of the Needle

Beats you unarmed

Needle: I crush you, I bleed you, I grind you to paste. My scars are a memory of what you used to be to me. I want those feelings back.

Needle: You run, but you don’t run far. I crush you because I have to. Because there is no honesty in mercy.

Needle: Who lost and who won when you entered my cave? You died on the floor, but my soul wept in ways your body couldn’t.

Needle: But in the disappointment of my victory, you gave me a new challenge to face within myself. Without obstacles to overcome we stagnate into nothing.

.”We’ve both become better for what we’ve been through, haven’t we?”

Shifty: We have. Look at what we are now, and see how small we were then.

.”Not all obstacles are equal. Can meaning not exist in the absence of cruelty and pain?”

Shifty: To lose me is to remain the same. What meaning can be taken from a single moment frozen in time?

Shifty: All conflict is violence, but to remove conflict itself is to remove the textures that define us.

.”I refused to fight you because I rejected what you desired. Obstacles don’t need to take the form of bloody fists.”

Shifty: A rejection of conflict is still conflict. There is no such thing as non-engagement. To refuse a choice is still to make a decision.

Shifty: All conflict is violence, but to remove conflict itself is to remove the textures that define us.


Beats you armed

Needle: I crush you, I bleed you, I grind you to paste. My scars are a memory of what you used to be to me. I want those feelings back.

Needle: You fight, but you fight as a shadow. I crush you because I have to. Because there is no honesty in mercy.

Needle: Who lost and who won when you entered my cave? You died on the floor, but my soul wept in ways your body couldn’t.

Needle: But in the disappointment of my victory, you gave me a new challenge to face within myself. Without obstacles to overcome we stagnate into nothing.

.”We’ve both become better for what we’ve been through, haven’t we?”

Shifty: We have. Look at what we are now, and see how small we were then.

.”Not all obstacles are equal. Can meaning not exist in the absence of cruelty and pain?”

Shifty: To lose me is to remain the same. What meaning can be taken from a single moment frozen in time?

Shifty: All conflict is violence, but to remove conflict itself is to remove the textures that define us.

.”I fought you to protect others, not to better myself.”

Shifty: And yet you changed regardless. Your perspective widened.


Is Beaten

Needle: I crush you, I bleed you, I grind you to paste. My scars are a memory of what you used to be to me. I want those feelings back.

Needle: You run but you do not run away. You take me somewhere new. Somewhere we can dance like we used to. But I could not follow your steps.

Needle: There was no better gift for me than the gift of defeat. You showed me how much more I could be.

Needle: We made each other better. To have no challenge is to fade into nothing. A life without obstacles is no life at all.

.”We’ve both become better for what we’ve been through, haven’t we?”

Shifty: We have. Look at what we are now, and see how small we were then.

.”Not all obstacles are equal. Can meaning not exist in the absence of cruelty and pain?”

Shifty: To lose me is to remain the same. What meaning can be taken from a single moment frozen in time?

Shifty: All conflict is violence, but to remove conflict itself is to remove the textures that define us.

.”I fought you to protect others, not to better myself.”

Shifty: And yet you changed regardless. Your perspective widened.


No fight

Needle: I crush you, I bleed you, I grind you to paste. My scars are a memory of what you used to be to me. I want those feelings back.

Needle: You run, and you run far. And the flesh I hurl at you is answered by the empty air of a place I’d never been. Cold and lonely, but also true.

Needle: I didn’t know what to make of my freedom then, but I know what to make of it now.

Needle: You challenged me, and by challenging me you gave me purpose. A life without obstacles is no life at all.

.”We’ve both become better for what we’ve been through, haven’t we?”

Shifty: We have. Look at what we are now, and see how small we were then.

.”Not all obstacles are equal. Can meaning not exist in the absence of cruelty and pain?”

Shifty: To lose me is to remain the same. What meaning can be taken from a single moment frozen in time?

Shifty: All conflict is violence, but to remove conflict itself is to remove the textures that define us.

.”I refused to fight you because I rejected what you desired. Obstacles don’t need to take the form of bloody fists.”

Shifty: A rejection of conflict is still conflict. There is no such thing as non-engagement. To refuse a choice is still to make a decision.

Shifty: All conflict is violence, but to remove conflict itself is to remove the textures that define us.

The Fury

Fury: What is a person? Is it their body? Is it all of their body? Pluck the eyes, peel the skin, strip the tendons, mince the meat, grind the bones. When it is all gone, do you still have who you started with?

Fury: A person is a not a body. Death is a transformation into something new. It is only bodies that fear it.

.”I am not my body, but I feel my body suffer.”

Shifty: Do you suffer now? Let go of what you think yourself to be, and exist.

.”I am not my body, but perhaps others are theirs.”

Shifty: And yet bodies change and consciousness goes on. The infant’s body is not the child’s is not the adult’s, but the thread of existence remains strung through it all.

.”I don’t fear death. Not anymore.”

If you do not fear it, then there is no need for you to struggle against it. Let go. Leave with me.

.”I’m ready. I want to leave with you.” [Stop the fight early and surrender.]

(Free yourselves)

.”I won’t leave with you. Not until you see things from my perspective.”

Shifty: If you need more time to open your eyes, then I will give you all the time in the world.

.”But what am I, if I’m not a body?”

Shifty: You are you.

The Grey

Burned Grey

Burned Grey: I kill you. You kill me. Back and forth we go, faster and faster and faster. I kill you. You kill me.

Burned Grey: Hollow eyes watch from the dry corners of a memory. A home built on all the futures that were supposed to be, preserved until the moment of reunion. The fire of the heart sets it all ablaze.

Burned Grey: I kill you and me.

Burned Grey: An ending is a passion that can only be expressed with a moment in time. It is a seed for a new beginning. To linger on an ending is to rob it of its life.

Burned Grey: And without me, all that’s left to do is linger.


Drowned Grey

Drowned Grey:I kill you. You kill me. Back and forth we go, faster and faster and faster. I kill you. You kill me.

Drowned Grey: Hollow eyes watch from the dark corners of a forgotten place flooded by emotions left unspoken. The tide rises.

Drowned Grey: I kill you and me.

Drowned Grey: An ending is a passion that can only be expressed with a moment in time. It is a seed for a new beginning. To linger on an ending is to rob it of its life.

Drowned Grey: And without me, all that’s left to do is linger.

.”I’m okay lingering.”

Shifty: To linger too long is to become worse than when you started. Would you rob yourself of all context to remain trapped in a single moment?

.”I don’t want to linger.”

Shifty: Then don’t.

.”I deserved what you did to me.”

Shifty: There is no deserve, no punishment, no retribution. There is only action and reaction.

The Moment of Clarity

Clarity: There are few things more terrifying than one’s own heart, and there is almost nothing more terrifying than sharing it with another.

Clarity: But the most terrifying thing of all is to leave one’s heart unshared. You are the only thing like me, and I am the only thing like you.

Clarity: Could you bear the weight of an eternity alone. Do you dare to shape a reality of solitude and thrust it on creation?

.”Thank you for sharing yourself with me.”

Shifty: I am aware of what it did to you. The understanding you’ve returned to me is a gift.

.”I don’t need to share my heart with anyone.”

Shifty: But you already have, in so many ways. It is beautiful and adored. When movement slows and the dust settles, I hope you’ll leave with me.

.”I wish I could share my heart with you.”

Shifty: But you already have, in so many ways. It is beautiful and adored. When movement slows and the dust settles, I hope you’ll leave with me.

.”You showed me your heart to break me. It was a terrible thing to see.”

Shifty: I am aware of what it did to you. But it is through the pain of vulnerability that we heal. Will you leave all who have been hurt to live unmended?

.”If that is what it takes to rid the world of suffering, I could bear the solitude.”

Shifty: Your certainty is an illusion of passion and reflex. You won’t know what solitude truly is unless you sentence yourself to it forever.

The Thorn

Saved

Thorn: A thought is a vine, and some thoughts nurture thorns that bleed the soul. An endless growth that blots your vision and strangles your trust.

Thorn: When I succumbed to myself, you patiently stood by me and cut the thistles that rooted in my skin.

Thorn: Your compassion is what freed us both, but compassion is a thing that must be nurtured, and you cannot nurture that which cannot change.

.”If I had known what you really were, I wouldn’t have been so quick to free you.”

Shifty: And yet you did, first by giving me your life, and then refusing to take mine. You don’t need to turn back to the way things were before.

.”Of course I helped you. I didn’t want us to hate each other.”

Shifty: Then help me again. We are each other’s liberation.


Abandoned

Thorn: A thought is a vine, and some thoughts nurture thorns that bleed the soul. An endless growth that blots your vision and strangles your trust.

Thorn: When I succumbed to myself, you left me to rot, and in your abandonment, the two of us were bound in our suffering together.

Thorn: A painful eternity, but one that is only unceasing if you remove what happens next.

.”With time we could have been better.”

Shifty: And there is always time.

.”I would have liked to see that.”

Shifty: And you see it now. I am before you, and you are before me, and we can choose our freedom.

.”But we were stuck. That was it.”

Shifty: You mire yourself in an ending that did not end. Lift your gaze beyond moments, and towards the infinite depth of reality.


Tried to stab

Thorn: A thought is a vine, and some thoughts nurture thorns that bleed the soul. An endless growth that blots your vision and strangles your trust.

Thorn: When I succumbed to myself, you pretended to stand patiently by me, pretended you would cut the thistles rooted in my skin.

Thorn: But then you took my trust and used it to strike at my heart. The two of us were bound in our suffering together.

Thorn: A painful eternity, but one that is only unceasing if you remove what happens next.

.”With time we could have been better.”

Shifty: And there is always time.

.”I would have liked to see that.”

Shifty: And you see it now. I am before you, and you are before me, and we can choose our freedom.

.”But we were stuck. That was it.”

Shifty: You mire yourself in an ending that did not end. Lift your gaze beyond moments, and towards the infinite depth of reality.


Only Took knife

Thorn: A thought is a vine, and some thoughts nurture thorns that bleed the soul. An endless growth that blots your vision and strangles your trust.

Thorn: When I succumbed to myself, you left me to rot.

Thorn: A painful eternity, but one that is only unceasing if you remove what happens next.

.”I would have liked to see that.”

Shifty: And you see it now. I am before you, and you are before me, and we can choose our freedom.

.”But we were stuck. That was it.”

Shifty: You mire yourself in an ending that did not end. Lift your gaze beyond moments, and towards the infinite depth of reality.

The Wild

Escaped

Wild: A web of nerves lain upon a web of nerves lain upon a web of nerves. The shade of a beautiful beginning we can never return to.

Wild: Where did you end and I begin? When you felt what it was to be me, we held on to each other and pierced the veil of truth. Will you abandon that curiosity now that we are no longer joined in physicality?

.”Curiosity comes second to doing the right thing.”

Shifty: All things are connected through me and through you. To harm me is to harm yourself is to harm everything. The truth of that moment remains our truth.

.”I still want to know what’s out there.”

Shifty: Then leave with me, and we will see it together.

.”I’m ready. I want to leave with you.” [Stop the fight early and surrender.]

(Free yourselves)

.”I won’t leave with you. Not until you see things from my perspective.”

Shifty: If you need more time to open your eyes, then I will give you all the time in the world.

.”I mess what it was like to be together. Can we go back to it?”

Shifty: Though that was us before we were us, there is no turning back. For all the echo’s delusion, he still managed to reshape reality itself, though he could not destroy what could not be destroyed.

Shifty: We are intertwined, but we are separate.


Wounded Wild saved

Wounded Wild: A web of nerves lain upon a web of nerves lain upon a web of nerves. The shade of a beautiful beginning we can never return to.

Wounded Wild: You knew me and I knew you, even more than either of us know each other. And you chose to pull apart that weave.

Wounded Wild: But you did not choose to end me. We were still one, but we were also separate, and we were free. Will you excise that part of yourself now that you see me from yet another angle?

.”You were a part of me. I couldn’t bring myself to hurt you.”

Shifty: All things are connected through me and through you. To harm me is to harm yourself is to harm everything. The truth of that moment remains our truth.

.”I couldn’t bring myself to hurt you then, but maybe I should have.”

Shifty: All things are connected through me and through you. To harm me is to harm yourself is to harm everything. The truth of that moment remains our truth.

.”I miss what it was like to be together. Can we go back to it?”

Shifty: Though that was us before we were us, there is no turning back. For all the echo’s delusion, he still managed to reshape reality itself, though he could not destroy what could not be destroyed.

Shifty: We are intertwined, but we are separate.


Wounded Wild stabbed

Wounded Wild: A web of nerves lain upon a web of nerves lain upon a web of nerves. The shade of a beautiful beginning we can never return to.

Wounded Wild: You knew me and I knew you, even more than either of us know each other. And you chose to pull apart that weave.

Wounded Wild: And when the tapestry was undone you struck at my heart. You saw me as a part of you to be excised, but in the desire for excision, you made yourself whole. Will you still be whole if you destroy me?

.”I don’t care about being whole. I just care about doing the right thing.”

Shifty: Do not neglect yourself in your quest to serve others. All things are connected through me and through you. To harm yourself is to harm everything.

.”I miss what it was like to be together. Can we go back to it?”

Shifty: Though that was us before we were us, there is no turning back. For all the echo’s delusion, he still managed to reshape reality itself, though he could not destroy what could not be destroyed.

Shifty: We are intertwined, but we are separate.

.”I don’t want to destroy you. I just want to do what’s right.”

Shifty: Do not neglect yourself in your quest to serve others. All things are connected through me and through you. To harm yourself is to harm everything.

The Wraith

Released

Wraith: Flesh is a vehicle, and to destroy the flesh is to strand the spirit. With violence, you stranded me, and with violence, I sought to twist your flesh back into mine.

Wraith: You did not resist my violence when it overcame you. Did you understand that the flesh wasn’t you, or did you choose to gift yourself to someone who thought she hated you?

Wraith: To fear me is to fear losing the flesh, but the flesh is not the spirit.

.”I helped you out of fear, and I’m not afraid of you anymore. That is why I resist you now.”

Shifty: And yet there is no reason to resist me beyond fear and delusion. If you aren’t afraid of me, why would you resist me? Why would you force the rest of the world to resist me, too?

.”I fear you now more than ever.”

Shifty: You have no reason to fear me. There would be no dance if we weren’t equals. And are we not dancing now?

.”I was glad to set you free.”

Shifty: Then set me free again. Set both of us free.

.”I’m ready. I want to leave with you.” [Stop the fight early and surrender.]

(Free yourselves)

.”I won’t leave with you. Not until you see things from my perspective.”

Shifty: If you need more time to open your eyes, then I will give you all the time in the world.


Defied

Wraith: Flesh is a vehicle, and to destroy the flesh is to strand the spirit. With violence, you stranded me, and with violence, I sought to twist your flesh back into mine.

Wraith: When forced between choosing your death, and forfeiting your body, you chose agency. But agency requires action, and action requires an endless tapestry of events. In your final moments, would you remove action itself from reality?

.”Can you say with certainty what shape a world without you will take?”

Shifty: I know what I am, but I do not know what I am not. If a world without me is unknown, then how can you be so sure you want to create it?

.”I don’t want that world to come to pass.”

Shifty: Then accept the world as it is now, with both of us a part of it.

.”You didn’t give me much choice.”

Shifty: And yet still, you chose. To be capable of change is to be capable of choice.

Post-Fight Shifting Mound

As the clash between you abates, you begin to shake, your will rapidly dissolving.

Shifty: Nothing is immutable. Everything that is exists only in relation to everything it isn’t.

Shifty: There is no constant. There is no center.

Shifty: Open your eyes and accept what we are. We can leave this prison together.

.(Explore) “It’s easy to believe in the things you believe in when you get to sit above it all.”

Shifty: It is from my vantage point that I can see the totality of truth.

.(Explore) “What do you think happens if we leave here?”

Shifty: This universe dies, and a new one is born. And that one dies. And a new one is born. And you and I get to witness it all, weaving a tapestry of life wherever we go.

.”Okay. I’m ready to go. But how do we leave?”

Shifty: Nothing brings me greater joy than to hear those words. The final piece lies with you.

.[Free yourself.]

.”I never wanted to fight you. But how do we leave?”

Shifty: Nothing brings me greater joy than to hear those words. The final piece lies with you.

.[Free yourself.]

.”I can’t let that happen. I can’t let everything die.” [Slay the Princess.]

Shifty: Even now you think you can destroy me. If it takes all of eternity to break your delusion, I will still break it.

Hero: You don’t have to face her alone.

.”I have to fight for a better world. I’m so sorry.” [Slay the Princess.]

Shifty: Even now you think you can destroy me. If it takes all of eternity to break your delusion, I will still break it.

Hero: You don’t have to face her alone.

.”You are cruelty itself, and I cannot let you exist.” [Slay the Princess.]

Shifty: Even now you think you can destroy me. If it takes all of eternity to break your delusion, I will still break it.

Hero: You don’t have to face her alone.

.”I don’t know what the answer is, but there has to be something else. It can’t be this. I won’t kill you, but I won’t let you free.”

Shifty: There is no something else. This - what we are - is everything.

Hero: Whatever you’re trying to do right now, you don’t have to do it alone.

.”You’ve done everything you can to make me understand your perspective, but you keep dismissing mine. If you think you can change me, then I must be able to change you.”

Shifty: What I offer you is not perspective. It is truth.

Hero: Whatever you’re trying to do right now, you don’t have to do it alone.

Hero Intervention

.(Explore) “Which… ‘Hero’ are you?”

Hero: I’m all of them? I assume in the same way that you’re all of you.

.”You have no idea how good it is to hear you.”

Hero: It’s good to be here.

Hero: She’s too many things all at once out here. If you want to get through to her, you need some way to get through all that divine confidence.

.”I can do this alone.”

Hero: I don’t think you can. She’s too many things all at once out here. If you want to get through to her, you need some way to get through all that divine confidence.

.”Where’s everyone else?”

Hero: They’re still where you left them, stuck in the folds of this place. Part of me is with them, just like part of me is with you right now.

.”How are you supposed to help?”

Hero: She’s too many things all at once out here. If you want to get through to her, you need some way to get through all that divine confidence. I can help.

.”I thought voices weren’t allowed here.”

Hero: Apparently that’s not true, but we can worry about it later.

.”I thought you died whenever I looked in the mirror.”

Hero: I don’t think that’s wrong, but I’m not sure it’s right either. But we can worry about that later.

.[Say nothing.]

Hero: She’s too many things all at once out here. If you want to get through to her, you need some way to get through all that divine confidence.


Hero: There’s still a piece of me nestled close to where it all began. I can take you there… I can take you to her heart.

Shifty: It’s time to resume our dance.

Hero: She’s relentless, isn’t she? Let’s make this quick. Are you ready?

.”I’m ready.”

Hero: Then let’s go.

.”No.”

Hero: Too bad. We’re going, now.

.”I can do this out here on my own.”

Hero: You can’t, and lucky for you, I’m not going to let you try.

.[Say nothing.]

Hero: I’m going to take that as a yes.

Conclusion

If you're reading this, thanks for checking out my guide. I hope you found it interesting and maybe saw something you missed or would like to check out for yourself later. And once again thank you to the devs for the incredible journey.

[Secondtoinfinity]

Incredibly useful. Great thanks to you.

[POWERFUL MOTOR*]

Can you add the dialogue where the hero gets confused when you say "You have no idea how good it is to hear you.” after you taunt him about death in the mirror every time?