The Lost Ones

A Pixel character type introduced after the Labyrinth was, but refined after a certain space - the Place of Convergence - was revealed.

There are three known ways for a character to become a Lost One:

If a character dies within the Labyrinths, once they respawn, their soul is connected to an hourglass within the empty space of the Place of Convergence (one forms if there aren’t any unassigned), and it flips. When the bottom is more than three-quarters full, a small circular portal appears below the character in question and in the, and they start to melt. The only thing that passes the portal is their melted mass as it falls into the liquid in the hourglass through the top. . As the character’s body is absorbed into this liquid, it is mixed and a special property comes forth that helps them lose grip on themselves, which only serves to melt them faster. Once they are completely absorbed, they have lost hold of themselves but hold small traces of it in their new bodies, which are then released from the hourglass to form a Lost One.

If a character begins to lose track of reality or slips away from themselves, a strange white liquid starts to form on them, which brings forth a special property that causes them to gradually lose grip on themselves as they are consumed and their body absorbed by this mass, being made a part of it in the process. Once they have been completely consumed, they have lost hold of themselves but hold small traces of it in their new bodies, which are then sent to the Place of Convergence to form a Lost One.

If a character finds themselves inside a Lost One’s internal mass, they won’t drown, but a special property of it comes forth to cause them to gradually lose grip on themselves as they are digested by the Lost One. Once they have been completely melted away, they remain a part of the Lost One, seeing through their eyes within their bodies until the Lost One reforms their prey as one of them.

The Lost Ones have an appearance slightly similar to Meteor Elementals with a strange, milky white liquid serving as their internal mass surrounded by husks of stone that can be in any shade of gray save white itself, with cracks that split their shell into distinct pieces, which can’t be removed except by the Lost One themselves, but spread apart when their bodies distend. The only clear holes in this mass are two large ones in place of eyes that allow them to see perfectly well but give the appearance of being glazed over, and any part that would be in the Lost One’s accent color, such as ears or paws. However, this pattern presents an interesting exception: their faces are surrounded by a ring separated into small segments that light up when they absorb Pixel Power and represent that absorbed power. These segments also represent the number of different Skills they can absorb, and this number is usually different for each Lost One. Dispelling these powers is as simple as removing the segment temporarily, which clears it.

The cracks in a Lost One’s outer body do not allow characters other than themselves to remove them, but they can be broken with enough damage, and as the rock that it is made of specifically comes from the Place of Convergence, it cannot be repaired until they can get back to it, which, because the inner mass melts as the outer shell takes damage, it may not be able to be repaired.

Because of their character design, you would be forgiven for assuming that the Lost Ones don’t have mouths, but they do. Their mouth takes the form of light from the inner mass that passes through their outer shell, and corresponding to cracks in this outer shell near it should they choose to open it to swallow something…..or someone.

The Lost Ones speak in an empty, resigned tone, but can still express the little emotion they have left through body language. When the Lost Ones speak, anyone who can hear them will hear them as possessing its own echo, echoing subtly in the listener’s mind.

However, calling them Lost Ones is a bit of a misnomer. Due to their inner mass coming from the Place of Convergence, they have an innate connection with both it and the Labyrinths, affording them knowledge of the entire system, its layout, where it leads, and what leads back to it that they can tap into at will. Because of this, some Lost Ones like to act as guides for other characters, leading them either to exits or where they want to go. Lost Ones are also more thoughtful than other characters, and usually close their eyes when they are lost in thought, although most people can’t see that as their “eyes” look a bit more like eye sockets than actual eyes. It has been rumored that the Lost Ones’ thoughtfulness is due to their lack of innate Pixel Power and that this lack of power opens more of their minds to thought.

When Lost Ones swallow things, it is simply trapped in the general location a stomach would be in their internal mass and gradually absorbed into it. This can cause their bodies to distend, but it doesn’t happen often. If a Lost One swallows another Lost One, their respective internal mass wouldn’t be able to absorb each other’s, and they can effectively fuse if they manage to line up their shells and repair themselves while they’re lined up.

When transformed, the Lost Ones’ body composition can’t change for unknown reasons, but their shape can.

The hourglasses in the Place of Convergence float within an endless void, made of something that looks like glass, framed in some indestructible kind of stone and filled halfway with the same kind of liquid that the Lost Ones have as their internal mass. These hourglasses are completely airtight except for two holes, one on top and one on the bottom, both Pixsealed so that anything can go in, but nothing can ever come out except when absorbed mass is released. A notable exception is when Lost Ones come to be repaired, at which point they can go into the hourglass and the liquid inside will repair their shells, sending them back out on top again.