Chapter 14:

Six

The elevator ride from the Guest Area to the Lady's Quarters was a tense one. Six's mind whirled with thoughts about the Nome she'd eaten, Shadow Six, the Lady. She tried to push aside things that were unhelpful to her, but within a few seconds they'd return, buzzing around in her brain like stubborn gnats.

Right now her sole focus was the Lady. Defeating her. Killing her? Six didn't know how she would go about taking the life of someone that powerful. She'd killed the Janitor, sure (or at least she believed she had; there'd been no way to confirm that the puppet-like monster had actually died) - but how would she face off against a woman who had the ability to change children into Nomes, conjure shadows with a flick of her hand and who probably had a whole other set of powers as well?

The elevator doors slid open with a hiss, and Six glanced left and right before darting into the new room and taking shelter under a small table. She needed to work out a plan, and quickly. The fate of the entire Maw rested on her shoulders. She thought of Eight, waking up scared and alone after she'd abandoned her. She thought of Fifteen, the boy in the Prison's cafeteria who had almost given up hope. Not to mention all the other children she'd caught sight of or heard about on her journey - the young boy who she'd tried to shush, who had been taken away by the Janitor. The boy Eight had been escaping with, Seven. Even the Nomes who sat hunched or wandered aimlessly in circles, waiting for a way out. Their lives were in her hands now. This was something she had to do alone.

What happens if I fail? Six asked herself. If the Lady kills me or turns me into a Nome, what happens next? Children will starve, the Guests will keep eating and nothing would have changed. Six steeled herself with a deep breath. Only I can do this. Only I know how to bring the Lady down. If I can defeat her and...and absorb her essence...then I'll know how to get me and everyone else off the Maw.

But what happens if you become like her? A small voice countered her own.

Six knew what it was saying, what it meant. If she defeated the Lady and took her essence, then she'd gain some of the Lady's power and knowledge - power and knowledge that would help free everyone from the Maw and undo at least some of the evil and injustice that thrived all around her.

But...she'd also absorb some of the Lady's weaknesses. Fears. Motivations. Personality. Evil. Six shivered. Would she lose her sense of self? Her identity? Would consuming the soul of someone that powerful be too much for her tiny body? Shadow Six might become even stronger with the Lady's essence, so much so that she overtook Six herself and harmed innocents in an effort to gain more power.

Six crouched under the table for a long time, weighing up the advantages and disadvantages of taking action against the Lady. Her legs were aching by the time she'd made her decision and formed her plan. She focused only on succeeding - she didn't allow thoughts of failure to cross her mind.

Six straightened and cautiously came out from underneath the table, rubbing her aching legs. To her left was an open doorway which yielded a carpeted staircase made of dark wood, like she had seen through the Eye. Padding slowly into the space and setting foot on the first stair, Six felt as if the portraits hanging from the walls were staring right through her.

They were even more hideous in person than they'd been through the Eye. Children with fixed, permanent grins that looked more like pained grimaces; adults with puffy eyes and grey-tinged sags of skin; bloodshot eyes that bore into her like drills.

Six knew now why the Lady had these paintings decorating her rooms. It was for the same reason that she let the grotesque Guests onto the Maw, and why the Janitor and Twin Chefs were so uncomfortable to look at. The Lady needed to surround herself with ugly things and ugly people in order to feel beautiful.

Once upon a time she probably had been beautiful, upholding the traditional, polished elegance of a geisha. But Six guessed that as she aged, the Lady's beauty had started to falter. Her hair would have greyed; wrinkles would have lined her skin. Perhaps the Lady had tried to cover up these imperfections by using magic and donning the white porcelain mask so she didn't have to look at her reflection.

Six reached the top of the staircase and carefully followed the wall to where another door stood slightly open. From inside, she could hear someone humming a melancholy, yet strangely inviting tune. It was familiar in her ears - Six took a few seconds to place it, but then realised that it was what she had heard through the Eye. The image of the Lady came back to her, the one with her sitting before a smashed mirror and stroking her long hair as she hummed the very same three-note tune.

Six's chest tightened uncomfortably. I can do this, she told herself firmly. I can defeat her, but first I have to find the mirror…

Six snuck into the room and tip-toed across the carpet. She put almost all her attention on the way she lifted and placed down her bare feet, doing so in a way that would cause minimal noise. The Lady was mere metres away, engaged in her humming. If she heard Six the consequences would be dire. Not completely known, but dire.

Six inched closer and closer towards the Lady. She'd just have to pass her and get into the next room to continue her search for the small mirror - that was all. Simple. The sound of her own heartbeat pounded in her ears, and Six was convinced the Lady could hear it too - but peeking up from beneath her hood, the Lady didn't appear to know Six was there.

Step after painstaking step and Six had eventually crossed the threshold into the next room. A breath that Six didn't know she'd been holding slowly released itself, and she allowed her shoulders to drop and relax a little. She didn't dare come out of her crouch though. Just because the Lady couldn't see her now didn't mean she couldn't hear her.

A small, simple bedroom was what surrounded Six now, with a four-poster bed and a desk holding a porcelain vase decorated with a single blue eye. All this eye imagery was creepy, to say the least. Everything from the carpet to the wallpaper seemed to stare into her being in a way that deeply unsettled her. Her thoughts roamed to the Wax Bellman's carved Eye. Was she being watched? Were there times when she had been?

Six took in a quick, steadying breath of air. The sooner she could leave this room, the better. She had to find the dusty little mirror, and then she would be able to face off against the Lady.

Six had no idea if the mirror would work, or what role it would play, or how or why it even existed - but it was her only shot. Some hunch, some intuition made her believe it would be the way to defeat the Lady, and all she could do was trust it. A lot of things on the Maw happened that way. Six had just been following her instincts the whole time she'd been here, just like all the other kids, or so she assumed. She didn't have anything else to go on. And her instincts hadn't failed her yet. What was one more fight, one more enemy? She could do it - she would do it.

Six searched the room for the mirror, but there was nothing that resembled it. She remembered the image of it she'd seen: dusty, forgotten, surrounded by dark. It had to be somewhere else, surely not here. Were there any little nooks or crannies around that would lead to it? Six looked...but no. The only other place that could possibly lead to the mirror was a padlocked door at the bottom of the stairs. But to get there she'd need a key, and to sneak back past the Lady, who was still humming incessantly.

The repetitive drone of her voice was intoxicating, and Six felt if she stayed there too long it would fog her thoughts. She ordered herself to stay on task. To find the mirror, the key. But where?

Her eyes locked onto the porcelain vase, and the painted blue eye stared back at her. Would a key be in there? It was worth exploring, and she'd exhausted all other options. Six hesitantly came out of her crouch, standing to her full height, and hurried over to the desk. She deftly climbed up, her hands and feet silent on the polished wood, and peered inside the dark vase.

Something gold glinted dully back at her. A key! Six stretched out her little arm, reaching down towards the bottom of the vase and straining her fingers to grab it, but it was just out of reach. She huffed and tried again. Even with the lip of the vase at her underarm and her fingers straining at maximum, she was just shy of the key. She stood on tip-toe, reaching as far as she could and leaning most of her body over the vase's opening.

The vase wobbled in protest, closer to the edge of the desk than was safe. Six felt it tip too far - just a fraction too far - and her eyes widened in alarm as she mouthed 'No!'. And then it toppled off the desk, causing her to lose her balance too.

The vase hit the floor first and smashed into dozens of jagged pieces; Six came abruptly after, landing gracelessly on the pile of broken shards. At least the height from which she fell had not been impactful enough for the shards to cut her, and landing on her stomach in the raincoat had protected her from most of the sharp edges.

She was slightly winded, but Six almost ignored that factor when she laid eyes on the tarnished golden key before her. Maybe breaking the vase had been necessary, just not the tumbling down after it. Either way, she had access to the key now. Six caught her breath, scooped up the key and made to creep back past the Lady when she noticed something - or rather, something missing.

The Lady had stopped humming. In the excitement, Six must have missed the exact moment it stopped, but she guessed that the Lady had heard the vase smash and was somewhere around here...waiting. The hairs on the back of Six's neck stood up. Still, she continued to crouch and sneak until she'd reached the locked door.

The padlock fell off with a heavy thud, causing Six to cringe a little - she was supposed to be quiet. She maneuvered around it, pushing open the door (which, irritatingly, gave a creak). Six was hyper-alert now, head up and all senses in overdrive. The Lady was here, she was somewhere here, and she knew Six was here too. This was it. No going back now.

Find the mirror, find the mirror!

Her environment was dark. Dust stuck in her throat, itching, and she resisted the urge to cough. She sensed that the space was a narrow yet long corridor. She'd have to draw out her lighter to see, even if it meant giving away her location. That's if the Lady didn't already know where she was...

Six pulled the lighter from her pocket, jumping slightly as she pricked herself on something else within the raincoat. She flicked the lighter on and used it to illuminate what was in her other hand. A bunch of pins. Of course...Eight had given her these in the kitchens. A hollow sadness settled in Six's stomach at the sight of them. She wanted to feel Eight's hugs again, hear her giggle, see her smile and just be in her company again.

And she would, she promised herself. She just had to do this first.

Six boldly ran deeper into the room, using her lighter to illuminate the cobwebs and stone-still mannequins lining either side of the narrow space. Some of them wore masks identical to the Lady's, and they were about the same height as the monster herself. Perfect doppelgängers. Six tore her eyes away from them and looked only ahead. Her tiny feet kicked up puffs of dust as she hurried forward, and she wondered how long this room had been forgotten. But courage flared inside her - judging by her dark, dusty surroundings, the mirror had to be close by.

The door slammed shut behind her when she was about a quarter of the way across the corridor. It slammed even without being touched by anything. But Six didn't let this slow her down - she kept running.

Even when the Lady materialised seemingly out of nowhere and glided across the floor behind Six, she kept running. Wisps of shadow, the same particles of blackness that Six had seen in her nightmare of the Lady, flickered in the corners of her vision. Six dared not look over her shoulder; the rattles and shivers of the mannequins were the only indications that the Lady was still silently stalking her.

Almost to the end of the corridor, but where was there to go now? A shelf-lined wall loomed before her in the darkness, and Six spied a tiny opening underneath it. She'd barely made the decision to slide under it before her feet took action. She flicked off the lighter briefly while she skated across the dusty floorboards and crawled out into the next room.

A black, smoky haze chased her through and she coughed, fanning it away from her eyes so she could see - but the Lady was nowhere in sight. Six had had the vague sense that the Lady had vanished into thin air as she'd slid into the next room. She wasn't able to watch the scene fully, but she was fairly certain the Lady had teleported in some sense before hitting the solid wall, disappearing in a cloud of dark mist.

Six flicked on her lighter again and ran straight, the only direction she could go. The corridor soon opened into a wide, wide room, almost like an abandoned wardrobe fit for royalty. More ancient wooden mannequins stood posed around the room, still draped with dark-coloured kimonos. Six skirted around a few that lay knocked over onto their sides, feeling cobwebs snag across her knees.

No time to worry about those now, because she knew where the mirror was.

A boarded-up space had caught her eye and she raced over to it, tugging on one of the wooden planks until it flew off and knocked her backwards. Crawling inside, Six found a small room that was somehow even more dusty and forgotten than the previous one.

And...lo and behold was the same little mirror that had been revealed to the young girl through the carved Eye. As Six climbed onto the low table and stood over the mirror, she had a sense of something like fate or destiny, but she couldn't put a name to it. Staring into her own blurry reflection, she lifted the mirror and used her sleeve to wipe off the dust. Her heart raced in anticipation. This was it. It had to work.

Brimming with child-like invincibility, Six bravely stepped out of the boarded room carrying her new weapon and shield. Had she been a child with a typical upbringing, maybe she would have felt like a knight going into battle; like a hero in a fairytale off to slay a dragon. But Six had no knowledge of fairytales. Instead, this was simply her life. Just the next chapter in her long journey of escape.

Upon returning to the wide room, Six spotted a tall, dark figure standing towards the far wall. There was a carved wooden Eye above her; Six thought fleetingly that though the Lady was the leader of the Maw, maybe even she was trapped here like those she imprisoned.

Either way, Six was still determined to do what she had come to do. She approached the Lady with the mirror held before her - but there was no crouching or creeping. No hiding. Six felt nothing but bravery - perhaps a dangerous bravery - but it faltered slightly when the Lady spoke.

"Little rat, little flea…" she said calmly, oh so calmly. Her voice was quiet and level. She didn't turn around to look at Six from beneath her mask, but instead looked towards the carving of the Eye. "My little canary…"

Six raised the mirror, sensing a trap. But the Lady made no movement to hurt her.

"Do you feel it?" The Lady asked. Her voice was scarcely above a whisper. "Our bond? Did you dream of me?"

Six flinched but said nothing. Her stance didn't falter, despite the mirror being nearly as big as her.

"Curser and cursed," the Lady continued as if Six was not there. "But I never suspected you'd live to actually lay eyes on me." She gave a low laugh, the sad chuckle of someone in despair. "The Hunger was only supposed to deter you; to weaken you, if not kill you entirely. I never foresaw that it would be combined with essence absorption. That's something you developed all on your own, little canary…"

There was a tinge of anger in those last words; the Lady's voice raised just a fraction and betrayed her emotion. Six didn't completely know what she was talking about, but at the words 'essence absorption' she immediately thought of Shadow Six.

"What are you talking about?" Six dared to demand, struggling to keep a tremor out of her voice. It was the first time she had spoken directly to one of the Maw's monsters.

The Lady merely chuckled, but her back was still turned. "You're smart, little Six. Smart enough for me to have the need to curse you, to slow you down in your escape. But there are many things you still don't know. Many things you'll never know."

Six's question had still not been answered. She was about to form a reply, trying to articulate words in her mind, but the Lady spoke again.

"I admire your bravery," she said smoothly. "There was a little boy here earlier who had a similar bravery. But I did away with him. Was he your friend?"

Six made no answer, but her stomach clenched to think that a child had slipped through her fingers, that she hadn't been able to save him. The Lady seemed to sense this, and went on.

"Why do you try to escape, little canary? The outside world is a terrible, senseless place...more terrible than the Maw itself. There is no hope for you. Did you want to get out of here with your little friends? The other little rats? Is that what you wanted?"

"That's what I will do," Six said defiantly. Her voice was laced with an anger she couldn't bite back.

"Oh? And I suppose you'll think of yourself as a hero then, won't you? Little Six wants to be the legend in the crayon drawings. How naive and foolish you are. Tell me, has your Hunger made you hurt any of the other little fleas yet?"

Rage was brewing inside Six's small body like she was a cauldron of poison soon to bubble over. She bit her lip, holding back a string of retorts that would otherwise come spilling out. The Lady knew she'd opened a wound on Six, and was shaping her words to rub salt into it. The calmness in her voice had been overtaken by sharpness. Her tone was unlike anything Six had ever heard: strong and commanding...yet slow and matter-of-fact.

"Things will not change even if you escape the Maw, Six. Outside is a cruel, cruel world where you'd die in an instant. Crushed like the measly flea you are. The little things you call friends would die too, at your own hands. Your Hunger will not go away just because you leave here. At least on the Maw you have a role. Had you behaved and not escaped, you would've served the greater good."

"Is that greater good keeping your disgusting face under that mask?" Six spat, all self-restraint gone. Her words were vicious, crafted to sting. "Is that why you have the Maw? Your paradise where you can see all the ugliness around you and feel better about your own? You wouldn't leave the Maw even if you could - you fear the outside too much, you fear people knowing your secret. You're trapped here just as much as anyone else you f-"

Too far. The Lady whipped around fast as lightning, shadows erupting from every inch of her being and arcing towards Six like sentient spears, shot out with the intent to puncture, to murder - but as soon as the Lady's mask became reflected in the tiny mirror, a brilliant white light flared from its surface and scorched her and the tendrils of darkness.

Six hardly knew what had happened - she'd thrust the mirror in front of her as protection, scrunching her eyes shut as the blistering white light burst from the mirror. The shrieks of the ancient geisha had reverberated through her tiny body and the force from the mirror's power had thrown Six backwards.

She lay now on the grimy floor, panting heavily and tingling with shock. The Lady had vanished, but Six didn't hesitate to scramble to her feet and pick up the mirror again, which was completely unscathed. She held it before her again, its glassy side facing into the dark space, and waited with hushed breath. She couldn't begin to fathom how the mirror was working, but now wasn't the time to even consider it.

Silent seconds passed, crawling by like centuries. Six remained in her defensive stance, looking carefully both ways in case the Lady crept into her peripherals. The darkness around her had seemed to somehow, inexplicably, become darker still.

Six heard a rush of air behind her and faced it as quickly as she could as she shielded herself with the mirror. The Lady glided past her like a wolf circling a newborn fawn, but all Six could see of the Lady was her ghostly white mask. Then...without another word or movement, she vanished again, cloaked by her shadows.

The afterimage of the mask swam in Six's vision as she turned 360 degrees on the spot, anticipating the Lady's next strike. Her breath misted in the air; it had grown suddenly colder.

Another rush of air to her right, and Six pivoted instantly towards it. The bone-white mask was upon her but Six was ready. The mirror captured the Lady in its surface and the scorching white light shrivelled her shadows, her power. She staggered back with another scream and transformed into a cloud of black mist.

Six gasped as she was flung backwards again by the mirror's power, but wasted no time standing back up. She hardly had time to recover though, for the Lady swooped in from the left this time, and Six only just managed to swivel the mirror towards her before the shadows pierced her. The Lady fought as hard as she could to get closer to the tiny raincoated girl, but she could only take a single step forward before the mirror's power proved too much. She backed off again, camouflaging into the shadows with an unhuman growl of frustration.

"You're just a child!" The Lady's shriek seemed to come from everywhere but nowhere, crowding Six's mind.

Once, twice, thrice more the Lady struck, growing more and more determined each time she appeared, and more and more rageful each time she had to retreat back into the gloom. Her hellish screams were a crescendo of hatred and grievance, but only Six and the forgotten mannequins bore witness to them.

The final time the Lady struck, Six readily turned to meet her and shoved the mirror outwards. The mirror did its work, reflecting the Lady's mask and sending out rays of vivid light. There was a violent shriek of pain; the splintering of glass. Six and the Lady were both thrown backwards. Six's little body hit the floor and blackness engulfed her.

...oOo...

She didn't remember losing consciousness, but when she woke, the Hunger was tearing at her insides. Six slowly took in the scene, reality quickly returning - albeit hazy from her curse. The mirror lay shattered beyond repair, surrounded by hundreds of tiny glass splinters.

The Lady was still here, back underneath the carved Eye. Six could hear her panting on her hands and knees. The mirror had proven too much. Six staggered as she regained her footing, clenching her teeth against a sharp pang in her stomach. She needed to eat, and her meal was a few steps away.

The Lady's kimono had come loose, exposing her pale neck and shoulder. Her hairstyle had fallen apart in the battle; black hair cascaded down to the floor in sweaty tangles. Her porcelain mask lay in halves a few metres away from her. She knew her time was running out, but never did she think that she'd be bested by a child.

Six saw a trail that had been cut through the dust, and the Lady's dark kimono hanging dishevelled from her thin frame. She had evidently tried to crawl away from Six but was too weak to move any further.

But in her Hunger, Six didn't notice the tears that the Lady shed behind her curtains of hair, or the small, sad smile that stretched across her delicate lips. She didn't notice the minuscule way the Lady's arm moved aside to let her come closer, the consensual movement that seemed to say: Feast, little canary…

As Six leapt for the Lady's neck and began to devour flesh, blood and essence, she didn't notice that the Lady lay motionless under her, not attempting to struggle or fight back even once. Only when Six's thoughts had cleared did she notice the Lady's expression: soft...almost peaceful. Not quite happy...but peaceful. Her face was beautiful, worlds away from the gruesome vision of the face that Six had seen after eating the Nome. Six guessed that only mirrors had the ability to nullify the Lady's magic and show her true face, but at any other time, she appeared young and beautiful. Even so, the mask had still been a vital precaution in keeping her secret safe.

Like the Lady, Six felt peaceful too. Not sad, not happy - simply relieved that her actions had been successful. There was no triumph, no jubilant excitement. Just relief, peace and perhaps some level of emptiness.

You don't seem as pleased as you should be, little canary.

Shadow Six's voice was behind her, mocking. She twirled mischievously around Six, bounding over to the Lady's body and splashing her feet in the crimson pool of blood as if it were a mere puddle to play in. Though the Lady had been her enemy, something about it angered Six. But she detached and remained calm. She ignored Shadow Six's antics and walked back over to the shattered mirror, kneeling to inspect it.

Shadow Six pouted and skipped over to Six, standing by her side. Six noticed that she didn't leave any footprints, despite having just walked through the Lady's blood.

You'd be wise not to ignore me, little rat, Shadow Six said in a sweet sing-song voice. Under her childish tone, Six picked up an unmistakable warning. I know you're trying hard to stop it, but the Lady's essence will kick in veeery, very soon. And do you know what happens then?

Six tensed but didn't speak. Shadow Six grinned under her black hood, showing equally black teeth.

Then I'll have full control over you.

- End of Chapter -

A/N: Phew, this took a while to write but hopefully you enjoyed it! I'd love to know what you thought! Stay tuned for the aftermath of the Lady's death lol ;)