He was sprawled on the floor, trembling, alone, cold.
He had called and called and called, but no one came. He wouldn't have minded so much.... but he had been dreaming.
Again.
He clutched his key like it were his lifeline, and shut his optics tightly, trying to block out the world and all its memories, its horrors, and its joys that had slipped from his pen-nib fingertips.
After what had seemed like hours, he opened his makeshift eyes once again, and stared at the wall. He could witness his own descent into insanity. No matter what 5, who had been like an older brother to him, or 2, who had been like a father to him, tried, 6 was going insane. More so than ever before. The scrawls that 6 had been drawing had become more and more simple, and more of the same thing.
He was tormented by his own mind, his own visions.
The tortured artist could not even look at his friends without remembering his dreams and the horrors within them, and so would avoid looking at anyone unless he needed to.
But one drawing on this wall that was quickly becoming enveloped in tormented madness caught his eye. It wasn't even really all his.
It kept him somewhat sane.
6 stood up, but his knees buckled and he fell to the ground with a yell. He lay there for a moment more, feeling sobs creeping up his mechanical chest. He finally stood up again, releasing a single heartbroken sob, and then tottered over to the picture. He wouldn't even touch it, for fear of ruining it, and so he merely embraced it with his gaze.
He remembered the day. They had been living in the Sanctuary for three months, and were still all together, though 7 and 1's fights were becoming harsher and more frequent.
But for the moment they were happy, content. 2 and 5 were ecstatic over the completion of their telescope, and would bring the twins and 6 up to the watchtower every night to gaze and the stars in the sky, millions of miles away. 6 didn't care for it much, it made him feel small. 3 didn't seem all too interested in it either. 4, however, would gaze up at the stars for hours, her optics bright. Her intrigue made 6 smile, so he would never leave the group at these times.
On the day the drawing was born, the sun had been creeping into his room through the cracks, and it had been warm, and wonderful. 6 was not drawing, for once. He was preoccupied, and mouthing his fingertips nervously. 4 was going to visit him any minute, like she always did, but this time, 3 would not be with her. (He was going to help 2 and 5 scavenge, which he was ecstatic about). 6 had been mulling over his thoughts when 4 was around, because for whatever reason, they made more sense, and were happier.
So he waited.
And waited.
And waited.
And when he was just about to lose hope, she came in, looking a little worn out, as if she had rushed there. She gazed around the room, her eyes flickering, until her optics rested on 6. She rushed over and knelt down in front of where 6 sat on the wooden floor. She rose her hand in a little wave, and smiled.
"Hi." she mouthed, resisting the urge to allow her eyes to flicker.
6 smiled sheepishly. "H-hi... 4...".
4 noticed the worried and a little crestfallen expression on 6's face, and her smile turned into a frown. "I'm sorry." she mouthed, truly looking sorry for her lateness.
6 looked down for a moment before reaching his arms out and clutching 4 in a tight hug. "No, no. Don't. I... I under...stand." he mumbled into her hood. 4 let out a little mechanical sigh and hugged him back, before sitting back.
There was some amount of an awkward silence, as the dust hung in the air around the two stitchpunks, and the sun bathed them in yellow light.
"So." 4 began. "I found another song."
6's optics lit up. "You mean a-an us song?"
4 smiled at his comment, then nodded. "An 'us' song, yes, I think so."
6 couldn't really hide his excitement, so he simply didn't. A wide, goofy grin spread across his face, like some young child being given a puppy. 4 sat against him and turned her head to an empty wall, and began to project a very fuzzy video of two people dancing methodically to a strange song. The song was an interesting concoction of elegant sounding piano and rough sounding violins, that together created something quite beautiful and melodious. 6 watched and listened carefully, whilst giving support to 4, who was using up a good part of her energy in projecting the film.
Too soon, the film had been over, and 4 had fallen limply into 6's arms, thoroughly exhausted. 6 looked at her face while she came to, studying every stitch mark in the fabric. 4 shook off the last traces of confusion, and looked back up at 6.
"I personally think that's the best one yet." she commented.
6 nodded, the yarn on top of his head flapping about. "Yes." he replied simply. He would've loved to hear it again, but he knew how much it tired 4 out to replay these things, so he didn't ask. Instead, he helped 4 up again.
4 pursed her lips. "We need an 'us' picture, I think. To go with our song."
6 hesitated. He often went to a dark place while drawing. Finally, he said, "Okay."
4 grinned triumphantly. "It will be most wonderful, and colorful, and lovely."
"Okay."
"And it will have both of us."
"Okay."
"But you draw me, and I'll draw you."
"Okay."
4 clapped her metallic hands together with a clink! She then proceeded to take out a large piece of parchment. 6 walked awkwardly to the corner where he kept his ink, and dragged some blue ink and some purple ink into the center of the room.
"We need some red too." 4 said thoughtfully, obviously envisioning the picture already. 6 complied and returned to his ink stash, before lugging over an inkwell of solely red ink.
4 knelt down and began humming. She dipped her fingertips in the blue ink and began drawing 6 (as best as she could; 4 wasn't exactly the best artist in the world). 6 smiled and dipped his pen-nib fingers into the purple ink, and drew 4 on the page holding 6's hand. 4 looked up at him and rose and eyebrow, but was actually quite pleased with this addition to the picture. 6, now absorbed in his drawing, began to hum the song 4 had just played for them. 4 added misshapen swirls as the scribble 6's hair, and scrawled some messy stripes down his body. She added a ridiculously large and childish smile. 6, upon noticing this smile on the drawing, drew one on the 4 drawing as well. The twin began laughing at the looks on the drawing's faces, and 6 did as well.
And they laughed.
And laughed.
And laughed.
And stopped laughing.
And gazed into each others optics.
But 4 nervously looked away, and back to the picture. She flickered her eyes quickly, forgetting to mouth out the words, so 6 was left to guess what she meant.
He guessed that she wanted to finish the picture, so he slid the red ink into her reach. She dipped her fingers into the ink and he did the same, and jointly they drew a beautiful red background with grass and trees that 4 showed 6 how to draw, with little hearts dripping off of their tangled branches.
They hung it together, just as the sun was setting, and the room was blanched in pink. They stood back and gazed at it in wonder, grins on their faces.
"It's perfect." 6 said, his voice blanketed in amazement.
"Absolutely." 4 replied. She gave him a sidelong glance. She was thinking about something, and 6 could see it.
"What are you t-thinking about..?" he asked.
She put her hands on her hips and sighed. "Complete nonsense, I assure you." She kept her serious expression for just a moment before grinning widely again and embracing a very surprised 6. She nuzzled her forehead into his chest, and then broke away just as quickly as she had hugged him.
"I love you." she barely whispered, before turning around and scuttling out into the throne room.
6 stood there, shocked, amazed, and happy, for a very long time, before falling into a deep and wonderful sleep.
That was the last night 6 had seen 4. 7 had taken her away from him. And, without knowing it, she had also taken his sanity.
6 continued trembling before the picture they had drawn. More and more sobs escaped his throat, and a strange burning, prickling feeling zapped behind his optics. Brokenhearted, he began trying to hum the song 4 had played for him that day.
"Hummmm hummm hmmmmmm..." He broke down sobbing again.
He couldn't go on like this.
6 began tearing the fabric below his knee, the sparking behind his eyes becoming more intense, and his sobs more frequent.
Then, he stopped when he remembered the newcomer. 9. The chosen.
"The source..." mumbled 6, before turning his attention to the blank parchment in the middle of his room. He dipped his fingers into the ink, and began to draw the thing that had taken over the walls of his room. The talisman.
~*~
4 sighed. She held her face in her hands, listening, mesmerized, to the song she had shown 6 a year ago.
She missed him. Truly and wholly.
The twin heard a pattering of footsteps behind her and turned to see 3 skittering towards her. 4 turned back forward, not even acknowledging the twin she was so close to.
3 skidded to a halt and sat himself beside 4. "Hey. What's wrong?" he flickered at his sister.
"I-... nothing. Nothing." 4 said, her expression giving away her lie.
3 cocked his head. "Why do you lie?" he asked innocently.
4 looked up at her twin. "Because I hurt."
"Oh." the twin hesitated. "Sorry, if you want me to go, I-"
4 broke down then. "Don't go, no, please don't leave me!" she flickered frantically, throwing her arms around her brother and burying her face into his shoulder. "Don't go." she said into his shoulder.
"I won't leave you." 3 replied comfortingly, holding his sister to him. They were silent for a few minutes. "You miss him, don't you."
4 didn't answer. She just clung to her brother more tightly.
3 sighed. "1 ought to go boss around the dust, it'd keep him busy, eh?"
4 smirked. "He'd order 8 to slap it around."
"For not finding him some doll-prostitutes or something? Probably."
They both laughed a bit. Finally 3 began to stand up, helping 4 to do the same. "Come on. I found the taxidermy room, it's quite wonderful." 3 said, grabbing 4's hand. 4 nodded blindly.
As 3 led her towards the stuffed creatures, 4 could only think of those mismatched optics and striped face.
In her head, 4 played their song over and over.
Later that day, 5 visited. Along with a newcomer.
They had awoken the Scientist's machine.
But worst of all, they mentioned 6.
4 hurt.
~*~
6 looked back at the Sanctuary, which was going up in flames.
He hadn't saved their picture.
6 looked up. Charred pieces of paper flitted in the air like snowflakes. His optics searched for something-anything- from their picture.
And he saw it.
And he reached for it.
And he caught it.
But when he opened his hands, there was only dust.
6 ran to catch up with the others, the prickling and stinging behind his optics worsening.
~*~
"They're coming here!" 3 blinked excitedly.
4 stopped looking through the book at her feet, and turned to face her brother. "What?" she asked.
"They-they're coming! Everyone! The Sanctuary's gone!" 3 repeated.
4 looked down, feeling sad for such destruction, until she remembered what that meant. "All of them?"
"Everyone but 2... of course."
They were quiet for just a moment, remembering what 7 had told them. The elder was gone, and they couldn't do anything about it.
There was commotion in the front room. 3 and 4 exchanged glances before jumping onto the elevator and hurrying down to where everyone was meeting.
~*~
6 was nervous. There were a lot of people in the room. They were yelling about something or another. There were two newcomers. 6 lost recognition of everyone- his picture was gone. He couldn't remember his song. He was lost.
But 6 recognized what the depiction was in the book. It was the talisman. Part of his brain whirred and clicked: oh. The Source.
6 realized he was drawing. He squinted and looked down at his drawing: oh. The Source. He looked from his drawing to the one in the book, and realized they were both of: oh. The Source.
He stood up uneasily and tottered over to the book, spreading his picture over the one in the book.
The newcomer, 9, looked at him seriously. "What's that a picture of?" he asked.
"The Source." replied 6, matter-of-factly, clinging to the only thing he really was sure of.
9 was about to ask more, until 1 growled and began yelling. 6 always looked down and shivered and shut out 1's voice, so he couldn't tell what he was talking about.
There was a lot more yelling.
7 screamed something and held her spear to the self-declared leader's throat.
And then she released the pressure from his throat.
And she ran. She ran away, away, away.
~*~
More screaming. This was fear, not anger. 6 turned his head towards the noise. 9 shouted some command which he didn't understand, and the two smaller dolls nodded and scuttled off. There was something familiar about them.... but 6's fogged mind couldn't remember. Whatever it was, part of 6 was screaming at him that he should know. He didn't know what to make of this part of him, so he shut it out of his conciousness and slumped tiredly against an old record player.
~*~
One of the smaller dolls approached 6 during the screaming. He stepped back a little, afraid. But something in his mind told him it was okay. So he stopped moving back, and stood still, though perhaps shaking slightly.
The stitchpunk that continued to approach him mouthed his name. "6?"
Something clicked in 6's head once again. Memories crawled back to him... a smile, a silent laugh, her face bathed in yellow light, red and blue and purple ink on an old parchment, her body curled in his arms...
And their song. The melody with pieces of both of their souls, twirling itself around them like some beautiful tendril of life.
6 blinked owlishly, beginning to feel some of his sanity crawling back to him. "4...?" he asked slowly, still somewhat confused.
Her broken-hearted frown curled into a smile. "6." she breathed, and moved forward, and embraced him, burying her face into his chest without bothering to avoid his key. It was cold against her cheek, contrasting the rest of her body's heat. 6 froze momentarily, before wrapping his arms around her and resting his head on the top of her hood.
"4." he mumbled, remembering the name and the stitchpunk that it belonged to, and plastered it into his mind. "I m-missed you..."
4 merely nodded into his neck. 3 shifted from foot to foot awkwardly, happy for duo, but equally ready to go somewhere else entirely. Neither of them noticed his discomfort.
The moment was shattered by a screech from a nearby room. 4 broke away and stared fearfully out of the room. She glanced at 6, before turning her attention to 3 and flickering a quick, frantic message at him. She then grabbed 6's hand and led him towards the fray.
They flitted through stacks of books with dusty, dry pages, and through shadows, and through areas of painful, revealing brightness.
6 witnessed the best with wide optics that were full of recognition. "It has him, it has him, it has him!" he mumbled in an incomprehensible blur of words. 4 skidded to a halt behind an overturned globe, causing 6 to run into her and topple them both over. It wasn't an awkward moment, being one of terror and urgency, and so 4 simply helped 6 sit up. They both watched the fight in front of them, and felt useless.
The beast was terrible, it' face mocking human childhood with a blindingly red had many thin, sharp limbs that were entined with a brilliantly red thread. 4 realized with horror that the monster held a struggling 7 in its grasp. A look of triumph flashed across its broken eye, and it slithered away, despite 9's attempt to rescue the warrior.
4 let a strangled sob escape her, having someone so close to her being ripped away once again. 6 held her tightly. "She will survive. She will." he muttered confidently, knowing for a fact he had seen her alive in his dreams.
5, his face contorted in pain, the kind of pain inside your heart, walked by, holding 2's limp corpse in his arms. 9 followed, his eyes hollow and unable to believe what he had just witnessed. 4 stood up and followed them quietly, with 6 in tow.
~*~
3's hand tightened around 4's as they watched his body drifting away, away, away... until it went completely out of sight. 3's eyebrows were scrunched together, and his mouth hung open limply, wishing he could cry. 3 had been much closer to 2 then 4 had been. But he still didn't feel the extent of pain that 5 felt. 5 knelt in front of the water, staring at the ripples that were the last trace of 2's being.
6 tottered over to 5, and put his hand on his shoulder. "F-f...5?" he stuttered. "5? It's... it's okay. You'll see him again. We all will." 5 looked up, his one eye blinking in incoherence and miserableness. 6 just patted his shoulder and tottered back over to the twins. 5 gazed into the water, which was now almost still, trying to understand what 6 meant. Then he shook it off, and slipped back into his comfort zone of complete sorrow.
~*~
It was still night, and the others were still in the front room, including 3. 4 and 6 sat together on the outstretched, dead hand of a statue, feeling the moon bathe them in its cold light.
Finally, 4 sighed. "Oh lord, lord, lord..." she mouthed, her eyes flickering once.
6 looked down, ashamed of himself. He knew he wasn't strong enough, or smart enough, or even just plain good enough for anyone. "I... I know, I know. I'm... I just..." His striped head hung low. "Dumb."
4 shook her head. "No, absolutely not. You're smarter than most of us. Maybe even me. I couldn't tell you."
6 followed 4's gaze to the moon. "Mm. No." he mumbled.
4 sighed again. "Yes."
6 frowned. "I forgot everyone, everything, I just... I forgot."
4 shrugged. "Insanity occurs to the best of us, I think. All of us. You, Me, humankind... everyone."
6 looked at her with mismatched optics that glinted in the silvery moonlight. "I forgot you."
4 had nothing to say to this, so instead she just leaned against him. Her eyes lit up and began projecting something into the air, so nothing was visible.
A song, however, crawled out of her chest and began to touch the air. It was an interesting concoction of elegant sounding piano and rough sounding violins, that created something quite beautiful and melodious.
It was the song.
A sudden sadness overcame 6. "I lost it!" he yelped. "The drawing! I lost it! It burned... I... I couldn't- didn't save it..." the music stopped flowing through the air, and 4 shook her head, trying to clear it.
"It doesn't matter. We're together." she mouthed, resting her tired head upon his striped shoulder. "I won't let anything separate us again."
6 was about to voice his agreement before something overtook his mind. His vision went blank and then changed to something new, he was somewhere else. He looked down, seeing nothing past his- and yes, they were his- feet, but horrifying, glinting metal, and a canyon.
There was a flash of green light. A horrible, familiar flash.
And then 6 was back on the hand, 4 leaned over him, horrified, her hood resting upon her back. 6 realized he was yelling, and immediately quieted himself. He was shaking quite badly, and the stinging and tingling behind his eyes was unbearable.
4 looked like she wanted to say something, but simply didn't know what. After looking confused and disturbed for a moment more, she simply mouthed, "Are you alright...?"
6 blinked rapidly. "I-I'm f-... no. No. I'm not. I..." 6 sat up and grabbed his key instinctively. "I saw... the-...my..." he clamped his mouth shut, trying to decide whether to tell 4 what he had witnessed.
She looked at him with worried optics, the moonlight glinting on her now bare head. She looked so beautiful in that moment to him. He couldn't hurt her again. He couldn't lie.
6 looked down, fumbling with his key. "I..." he shut his optics tightly. "I'm going to... leave."
He dared to look up. 4's lip trembled. "Where...?!" she demanded.
6 merely shrugged. "Where... 2 is. Where 2 is."
4 understood what he meant. She tried her best to keep those pesky sobs from escaping her. "No, no, no... you... CAN'T. You can't!" She peered downwards for a moment, sucking on her lip, before gazing back at the artist. "Why?" she simply asked.
6 touched one of his optics with a metallic finger. It clanked softly. "I don't understand it." he said softly. "I don't understand any of it."
The twin couldn't help but let a silent sob escape her. "I don't either. I never have. Never." she mouthed. Then she looked straight at 6. "I love you." she said simply.
6 smiled brokenly. "I love you, too, 4."
4 fell into his arms at that moment, weeping openly. 6 wrapped his arms around her and weeped as well. They shared their mournful sobs for what seemed like a lifetime, the moon a witness to their sorrow.
Finally they were both silent once again. 4 gazed up at 6, the light glinting off her optics almost blindingly. "You won't leave me, will you? You'll still be with me."
6 nodded. "I couldn't leave part of myself behind."
4 watched the shadows on the statue's face for a while, mulling over her thoughts. Finally, deciding something unknown to 6, she let her lips brush against his, not particularly knowing what she was doing aside from the books and films she had seen about the human behavior. 6 didn't understand it either, but it had a wonderful feel about it, as if locking their connection.
Something occurred to 6 then, and he let go of 4, leaning back. "Can I draw something on you?" he asked, not minding that the question was perhaps a bit obscure.
4 was not hesitant in her answer, and she nodded.
6 grabbed a small vial of ink given to him from 2 out of his chest cavity, and dipped a finger into it. He traced a heart over her chest, and scrawled a little message into it:
I will never leave you.
"And don't forget our song, either." he mumbled with a weak, half-hearted smile.
"I wouldn't dream of it." 4 told him sincerely.
~*~
They fell asleep as the clouds drifted apart to reveal a sky glimmering with millions of bright stars, which could have illuminated the entire world. They curled into each other perfectly, and innocently, like two sides of a beautiful puzzle.
For the moment, they would forget their fate.
For the moment, they were together.
For the moment, his death wasn't reality.
And the world span madly on.