When Mono was small, very small, everything was scarry.
He was small and fragile, lost in a cold world with nothing but tattered memories and a faint hum constantly ringing in his ears and buzzing beneath his skin.
He lost a part of himself in the static of the Tv he had passed through, he still wasn't sure what happened to the pieces of himself he had lost, only that they were still missing, even to this day.
Regardless, the forest clearing Mono had found himself in was dark and cool, the sounds of the surrounding woodlands demanded his attention every moment, and despite the soft, reassuring sound of static humming away between his ears, Mono still found himself horribly on edge…
The dew logged grass and patches of mud were uncomfortably wet and cold beneath his feet, chilling his toes until they were painfully red.
But Mono carried on, because he knew he couldn't just stay put. He was small, but even so small, he could feel his heart beating with worry, the desire to run and hide were not ingrained in his bones as they were for many children, rather, those instincts flowed through him like blood and static.
Which was why he had offered Her his hand in the first place.
Because, unlike Her, without an immediate cause, his instincts would ebb with his heart, and in times of calm, the need to run and hide would ease.
Perhaps he was a fool.
Maybe that's why She let him fall…
Regardless, She stayed with him, or, mayhaps She merely allowed him to follow Her.
They were both very small, She, a small bit smaller than himself, but together they were strong and clever and when they managed to kill the Hunter, despite their size, he had wanted to cheer, cheer and laugh as they had survived.
She hissed at him scornfully, bidding him silent with fewer words.
He listened, sheepish and quiet, trailing after Her as they made their way to the beach.
The static beneath his skin suddenly more pronounced now that the fluttering of his heart was subsiding…
Together they found an aged door, weathered and abandoned, and together they clambered atop and allowed themselves to bob their way across the bay.
Two, incomprehensibly small, so very small, specks amidst a vast sea of dark water.
Compared to the both of them, the Pale City was a looming monstrosity.
And every gentle wave they rode towards the watchful dead city, brought the buzzing beneath his skin to grow louder and louder.
Mono noticed, and sometimes, he wondered if She did too, when the roar of the static within his head became so loud he found himself deafened, he wondered if She could hear it too.
He didn't know why the Pale City sang to him in fits of discordant clicks and hums, he didn't know why the further they delved into the decrepit empire, the songs grew louder…
He didn't know why he took comfort in such horrific noises, why the sensation of static beneath his skin he acquainted closer to a guiding hand or even a familiar hug in some instances, rather than something wrong.
Then again… He didn't question a great deal of things…
Maybe he was a fool…
His foolishness was proven when he decided to listen to the static.
Beneath all of the static, the clicks and the humming was… Not a voice pre-say… More like… A notion, a silent, formless thought that slipped beneath his fingertips and into his own blood and static and up, up, up into his head as he pressed his hands to the Tv before him.
[You're. Still. Alive. ?]
She dragged him out of the static storm before he could even think of a response, let alone figure out how to return a message…
But that didn't stop whatever was within the static from trying to reach out to him. Every source of power, of static they stumbled across, that he could interact with, the same… Notion of thought would greet him.
All throughout their trek through the horrible boarding school, the fluorescent lights would hum softly, Mono was never able to hear what they were saying, but they seemed, or, the thing within them, seemed to be guiding him, warning him…
In the hospital, as they toyed around with the massive X-ray screen, the same not voice reached out to him when he moved to turn the machine off.
[You. Look. Well.]
It hummed softly into his head, the sensation of relief settling over him as he stared blankly at the machine before him, suddenly lost in the soft static buzzing beneath his skin.
[We. Are. So-]
The static cut off abruptly, violently.
She was at his side, looking at him with a curious sort of disappointment, a curious sort of disgust… A large key clenched in Her tiny hands, Her hands were blackened by soot.
She took the lead, he followed, silent and somewhat ashamed...
And then She was gone.
They had found themselves in a quiet corner of the monstrous city, an apartment complex devoid of any corrupted adults, it was quiet and safe, they could rest.
She didn't want to.
He, by that point, was too tired to care what She wanted.
She didn't leave him however.
He took his time exploring the small safe haven, all the while fully aware of the call of soft static reaching out to him, louder and louder.
When he found the Tv, She made some disgruntled scoffing sound of irritation.
He ignored Her, pressing his small hands to the Tv screen, feeling the static beneath his palms, beneath his skin as he pressed himself into the screen.
[There. You. Are.]
The static hummed as he and it worked to align themselves, to tune the transmission.
Something popped inside of his head, and suddenly, he found himself back in that familiar hallway, far closer to the door.
[Go. On.]
The thought settled, urging him on gently.
[Go. On. Mono.]
Mono listened, slowly making his way down the hall, feeling, breathing, relishing in the static buzz surrounding, consuming, guiding him.
[We. Are. Waiting.]
The too tall door opened on silent hinges, revealing a room, a simple blank room, occupied by a too tall man.
[Welcome. Home. Mono.]
Then, he felt the familiar sensation of Her hands grappling him, trying to pull him out, and in response the static became a scream, shrill and piercing, drowning out the confusion Mono felt, replacing the calm with a burning desire to run and hide as She too screamed somewhere behind him.
Urging the too tall man to rise.
[No. No. No. No!]
The static howled as he turned away, back to the hall, running, running, but everything felt wrong.
[Come. Back!]
"̴̤̈́C̵̞͝o̶̙̕m̵̄͜e̵͍͂ ̷̦̈B̸̨̐a̷͔͝c̴̤͝k̷̨͐!̵̬͆"̴̟̌
Both the static and the too tall man yelled in chorus, in horrid, horrid chorus, their voices overlapping inside his head, Mono tried to blott the sound out, pressing his palms to his ears as he ran, though it did him little good.
And then he was toppling over Her in his haste to run.
She hissed at him to be quiet but he wasn't the one howling, and by the time either of them noticed the two large, large hands pressing against the screen of the Tv from the other side, they almost didn't have enough time to run.
But run they did.
She went on ahead as she always did, unperturbed by the roar of static and the sickening crawl of time that affected Mono.
The tall man rose, not to his full height however, while they were small and nimble, he was tall and long and thin as a nail.
They had enough trouble navigating the too large world, but he had difficulties passing through shallow doorways.
They were small and fast and nimble, but it wasn't enough.
She made a fatal error, she hid poorly.
She was taken.
Mono cowered beneath the bed he had ducked under, pressing his palms to his ears as he desperately tried to block out the roar of static as the too tall man howled.
"̶̹̱̗̪̅̚W̶̘̲̞̪̱̫̌̾͗͆̐h̶̻̠͚̊̽ę̸̤̥̺͍̐̈́̅̎͝r̵͕̓̇̋̚ḙ̶͙͎̋ ̵̧̼̫̹͉̦̓͐i̴̯̦̠̖̿͑͂̚ŝ̸͍̻̫̹̰̅̐̾ ̴͙̥͕͎́͐̆̏͠h̶̩͔͕̥̓̅́͜͝e̵̛̲̙͐̇̕?̵̧̩̝͛̚͘!̷̤̠̼͎̯̅̍̅̿̚͝ͅ?̶̜̰̻̦͙̓́̏̚͠͝
She didn't answer, Mono didn't think she could, but the silence only proved to enrage the too tall man further and before Mono could recover from the deafening cry of static ringing in his ears.
They were gone.
And with them went the static howling, but not the feverish buzzing beneath Mono's skin, which stubbornly remained, no longer calm and comforting, but irritated and anxious.
Mono could feel his heart flutter in his chest in response.
He carried on regardless, suddenly on edge, flinching at every flicker of movement, terrified and alone.
The only thing to keep him company being the hum of static, but he found the company suddenly unwanted, no matter how softly it called to him through the ringing in his ears.
He followed the call regardless of how desperately he wished to turn tail and run, he owed Her that much.
He found Her briefly, struggling against the static as She hurled her tiny fists against the screen of the Tv, he grabbed Her and tried to pull Her free, simultaneously trying to tune the transmission to ease the process.
He was small, he wasn't strong. He was fast and nimble, but he wasn't fast enough.
Too large, too slim and long hands wrapped around Her waist again, dragging Her back into the grainy static filled screen.
He cursed and cried, pressing his hands to the screen, feeling the buzzing hum of static beneath his palms as he attempted to follow.
[Stop. Mono!]
The static yelled, but Mono ignored the intrusive thought as he began to try and tune the transmission, to follow Her, to find Her.
[Mono!]
The static hissed, barking his name silently as two massive hands pressed against the Tv screen from the other side, right up against Mono's own.
He scrambled back, cutting himself off from tuning the transmission so quickly, so abruptly that his head ached with the same pained whimper to crawl from the Tv's speakers.
Not that he could afford to care at that moment, as the too tall man slipped through the Tv screen, gangly and horrific, far, far too tall.
Mono turned tail and fled, the purring rumble of static around him dulling his senses and tugging at his limbs, slowing his would-be feverish run to a crawl.
All the while, the static called out to him.
[Mono.]
"̵̲̻̠͂̀̌M̶̨̺̼̆͐̓o̶͚͌n̶̢̿̄̅o̸̲̤̞̅."̵̯̬͇͛
[Mono.]
"̸̹̗̈M̸̦̜̮͊̓̚ǫ̵̯̅̃ñ̴̲͇͘ọ̶̤̓͛̚.̶͙͇̪̾̔̂"̸̭̔̕
[Mono!]
"̶̲̈͗M̶͚͔̥̰͍̮̈̉̋͘o̷̩̠͔͎̐͜ͅń̷̘̦̈́́ͅͅo̶̞͓͊̎̊̇!̵͖̥̳̋"̵̡̤̬̰̠̈́̿̕̚
[Mono!]
"̴̧̝̖̬͙̆̿͐̐M̸̞̂̊͂ơ̵̡̺̠̞̪̿̃̔̄̓̅ͅn̸̢̛̥͔̹̰̄̿̉̾̂̀͜ơ̸̪̖̲͈͊̈̂ ̵̭̖̱̜̯͈̰̎̅S̵͇̭͂͗̿͆̇̉̈́t̵̤͓͙̋͐͑̅ͅǫ̸̠̞̟͖̙́̽̓p̶̹̺̮̣͆͘!̸̙̖̤̰̔̄̿ͅ"̵̡͉͍͍͕̂̈̈́̂̅͂̉
He didn't.
He couldn't.
The train rumbled beneath him, the engine chugging away, leaving the dead weight of the coach cart in it's trail, and with it, the too tall man, who watched him silently, before disappearing in a burst of static.
And then the train crashed, Mono swore he could hear his bones creaking beneath his skin and blood and static as he was flung against the door of the engine car.
It hurt, it really hurt, and Mono found himself not caring in the slightest that he was laying in the middle of the train tracks, breathless and bruised, alone and afraid…
The static beneath his skin sobbed with him when he finally found himself able to breathe. And he finally managed to get himself back to his feet, the first thing he noticed was the familiar silhouette standing just before him.
The second was the cry of anguish the static churning in his blood made as Her shadow beckoned for him to follow.
Of course, he followed after Her, he owed Her that much.
Of course, he was a damn food…
He fought his way through the Pale City, vehemently ignoring the thoughts in the static whenever he forced himself to tune a Tv.
[Mono.]
[Mono. Stop.]
[Mono.]
When he finally reached the Signal Tower, the too tall, too thin man appeared in a burst of static.
"̶M̷o̸n̵o̷.̷.̶.̸"̵
The too tall adult addressed him quietly, taking slow, steady steps towards him.
̶"̷M̸o̸n̷o̶,̴ ̷i̶t̵'̸s̶ ̷t̸i̶m̴e̴ ̶t̴o̸ ̶s̶t̶o̶p̶.̵"̷
The static between them churned and thrashed viciously, dangerously.
Mono watched and felt as the tall man reached out to him with a long, spindly arm, the Transmission ceasing it's violent uproar to settle. Where the Transmission once howled and cried, it then hummed, cooing softly, reassuringly, and instinctively, Mono reached out to tangle the transmission.
The scream of static was ear splitting.
̶̤̠̄̎͒̿͋̍ͅ"̷̟̩̝͙̪̥̂̂̏M̶̜͓̲̯͛̄͂͜o̵̻̟̬̯̬̫̿̓n̶͙̪̽̿̓̅͜͠ͅỏ̴̢̲̱̬̓!̴͖͇̹͎̱̪̄̽"̸̥̬̰͚̗̈́͒͊̈
The adult yelled, his voice high and tight with a sudden panic.
In the moment of hesitation, Mono went on the offensive, reaching out to the adult, untuning the transmission.
"̷͇̈̄Ḿ̶̱̘̤̘̎͒͊̐ō̸̗̱̓n̶̢̛͉̭̗̎̀̀̄o̴̹̠̺̞̊̏́!̶̤̱͒ ̴̯͙̮͍̋̀̾̌̀͝Ẻ̸̙̰̆̅̚ǹ̸̡͍̝̞̈̇̄̇͜͝o̶͎͊͒̈́͗͘͝u̴̥̤̼̫̾ĝ̵̻̞̓͒h̴̛̃ͅ!̵̲̪̦͔̌̑͠"̴̢͕͎͍͍͚̒̈́̈́̅̐̕
But Mono wasn't in a listening mood.
In retrospect, Mono realized that there should have been no way he could have defeated the too tall, far older adult who had years to master the same skills Mono was only just attempting to comprehend.
But he was small and young and very, very desperate.
So when the too tall man paused, and the static around them seemed to freeze before they both faded from Mono's eyes.
He had, foolishly, thought he had won…
A victor, a knight in shining armor, that was what he foolishly assumed himself to be as he made his way into the depths of the Signal Tower to find his lost companion, battling Her corrupted, twisted form to free Her from Her prison…
And then She let him fall…
Down, down, down he fell, into that abyss…
All the while, the static in his heart howled, howled and roared and bayed in wrath.
And when the static grew hoarse, it sobbed, sobbed with Mono as he sat in the dark and wept.
[We. Are. So. Sorry. Mono.]
It whispered to him softly.
[We. Are. So. So. Sorry.]
And Mono thought that he must be a fool.
A king among fools even…
Because even as the static in his veins apologized endlessly, over and over again… All Mono could ponder was...
Did She feel sorry too?