A/N: Wow, I haven't written something for this series in a loooong time; I just haven't had any inspiration... until now! So prepare yourself for some more world building for this AU, a dash of angst and feels, and of course some more Six & Triple sisterly fluff! Oh, and happy Thanksgiving!
No matter how different the locations, or the monsters, or the threats, there was always one constant in Six and Triple's world: music. It was everywhere. Six had noticed it not long after she had woken up inside a giant suitcase, her head filled with almost nothing but fog.
Though the noises in The Maw couldn't be described as melodious, per se, there was still something that was distinctly musical about them. The creaking and groaning in the depths of the ship, the wind whistling through unseen gaps, even The Guests' feasting had a strange kind of wailing rhythm droning on in the background. But of course, that didn't mean there weren't any actual songs.
That song. Six would never be rid of it. Even though she had only heard it three times and would never hear it again, Six had every note permanently burned into her brain. It was the soundtrack of almost every one of her nightmares now; it along with the very seeming to synchronize its every movement with its haunting three-toned melody. The rolling and wining of the gigantic boat, as well as Six's own heartbeat played perfect accompaniment to the ceaseless, unavoidable humming. Even though she herself was the song's victim and knew its performer personally, Six still found it hard to believe that that simple little tune could hold such power. That not only Six's body, but the entire Maw for that matter or so it seemed, stopped everything it was doing and obeyed its wicked whims.
Six asked Triple about it one time, and the shadow girl seemed a bit uncomfortable and reluctant to answer. But Six knew her sister well enough now to know that she would answer honestly despite her shortcomings. "Well, it isn't the song that holds the power, exactly." She explained. "It's more of a kind of code. A code that tells the magic to wake up and do its thing. I... I had to place the curse while you were asleep. It did activate a few times on its own, but not nearly often enough for... my purposes. So, I had to do it manually. Why do you ask?"
"I thought that if I knew more about it, it'd be less scary."
Triple nods understandingly. "Is it?"
Six shrugs. "I don't know... but it did give me an idea."
"Oh? What is it?"
"Is there... could it be possible there are nice songs out there? Nice song codes, I mean? That activate nice spells that do good things?"
Triple smiles, but it's a bit of a sad one. "I've never come across one, but that doesn't mean they don't exist. It very well could be possible."
Six smiled at this, but then had quite a depressing thought. "But what if there aren't? What if there are only mean ones that do bad things like The Hunger Curse, and the song that Mo-The Lady used to keep The Maw running?"
"Then... we'll just have to make our own."
Six perked up immediately. "Wow, really? That's something we could do?"
"Of course! Both The Hunger Curse and The Maw Song are both spells of The Lady's own creation. Spellcasters make there own stuff all the time, and there are no rules on what you can and cannot do. Although given the current state of things there probably should be, but that's a discussion for another time. The point is, we could probably do it quite easily."
"Cool! I think we should make one that makes people throw up rainbows!"
"Ummm... that sounds more like a cure rather than a nice spell, Six."
"Does not."
"Does so."
"It does not!"
"Oh, it definitely does."
And just like that, a serious conversation had dissolved into playful squabbling. And musical songs weren't discussed again, until they were. In a much more prominent and direct manner.
They had been in a fight, a hard and terrifying fight with a gigantic humanoid thing covered in light purple goop. Its slime seemed to be made out of some sort of acid that it could turn on and off, as Six got seriously burned but everything else it touched seemed fine. But its slimy fire was no match for an avenging sister with dark powers, and the creature learned the hard way that it wasn't a good idea to mess with girls in raincoats. Too bad it didn't live long enough to use that lesson for anything...
Still, no amount of shadow bashing and absorbing could fix Six's wounds, and they were hurting something fierce. She had cleaned all the acid from them and was now in the process of looking for bandages with Triple's help, but nothing she had done seemed to take the pain away. Not even the slightest bit. And then a memory came to her, seemingly for nowhere at all.
It was one of the few pleasant memories she had on The Maw, from within the playroom with the electrified bars. She had been playing around with all of the toys as she had figured out how to get back out with the seesaw and thus wasn't worried about getting trapped inside. Eventually, she had discovered a music box. The song it played was one of the few non-horrifying sounds she had heard in this place, a downright joyous and hopeful melody that yearned for a brighter future. Still, there was an element of sadness to the tune, for it also sang of the hopeless. Children listening quite its comforting tones and beging for freedom, when that simply was not to be. But there was nothing Six could do except slowly sway to the bittersweet song, and hope her own path had a happier ending.
As Six stood there in the old abandoned doctor's office, her right upper arm stinging terribly from where the viscous fluid had touched her, she suddenly felt compelled to sing that song. And so she did. Without another thought or a single hesitation, Six began to hum, swaying back and forth as she had done the time before. The music guided her movements, and it may have just been her overactive imagination, but she could have sworn that the world around her stopped what it was doing. When she took a breath, the world took a breath. When she sang, the world accompanied her. Wait, something was accompanying her.
At first the familiar otherworldly humming caused her to falter in her own, before Six realized what was happening. That no, she wasn't in danger. It was just Triple, and she was not humming a song of desperation and disaster. She was humming the same song Six was, and hey! They actually sounded quite nice together!
Triple emerged from the hallway, floating gracefully through the air in sync with the music as everything else seemed to be. The gauze she had apparently found had come loose from its roll as was flowing out behind her like carp streamers.
The two of them sang and danced for what seemed like an eternity and a mere couple of minutes simultaneously. They skipped and swirled around the room, accompanied by what seemed to be an entire orchestra. No longer was the song a mere tinkling in the depths of a ship, doomed to be unheard by almost everyone. It was now a great torrent of raw emotion, not asking to be listened to, but telling. Demanding to receive the freedom and happiness that everyone rightfully deserved. It would not be snuffed out by some random corruption, it would drown out any evil that was foolish enough to try and extinguish its undying flames of hope and courage.
When finally their singing came to a halt, they both felt extremely full and happy. Breathing hard with exhilaration and excitement, Six was overcome with a fit of the giggles. She felt so light and fluttery all over, like she could just fly off into the sky. It was truly incredible! "Wow! That... that was great!" She managed once she had finally calmed down. She expected her sister to reply with a mutual sentiment, but none came. Confused, Six turned to face her.
Triple stood motionless, her mouth hung agape. Her gaze was locked upon Six's arm, where her wound had once stood. ... Wait! Once stood?
The angry burn that had once been present was now completely gone. The pain had vanished as well. It was as if she had never been hurt in the first place. "T-Triple?" She asked in a small voice. To her slight surprise, the shadow girl broke into a grin.
"Well, Six? It seems you have discovered one of those nice spells you were talking about."
"B-but you said they didn't have any power, and that the songs were just codes. Unless..." Six gasped, the realization hitting her like a truck. Her eyes suddenly began stinging. "M-Mommy." She sniffles, trying to regain her composure. "S-sorry, I know you... you didn't have a good relationship with her."
Thankfully, Triple didn't seem at all bothered. In fact, she looked quite sympathetic. Even though her arm was practically weightless, it still felt extremely comforting wrapped around her shoulders like this. "It's okay. Don't let my feelings interfere with yours. I made that mistake, and I won't let you make it too. Don't filter your feelings for my sake. You're allowed to miss her. Even I miss her sometimes, although it's a bit different. ... Can you miss something you never really had in the first place? The point is, don't be ashamed of how you feel. Or crying, don't be ashamed of that either. Despite what people say, it can and does solve some problems. So, cry if you need to. I don't mind."
So Six threw her arms tightly around her sister and did just that, burying her face in her dark ethereal raincoat. As Triple returned the hug, the weeping girl felt a gentle heaviness similar to that of night air, indicating that the shadow girl was using more than just her arms to hold onto Six with. Needless to say, it was more than the ideal location to have a good long cry. And that's exactly what she did.
Her sobs turned into hiccups, which soon turned into a long yawn. As amazing as Triple's hugs were, maybe they were just a bit too comfortable at times. Slowly, gently, Six extricated herself just enough to speak. "Think m gunna fall azleep on you." She slurs.
"Meh, it's fine. I don't mind carrying you, and besides. We'll probably covered a lot more ground without you running off and getting into trouble."
Six was too tired to protest. As she relaxed in her sisters grasp and began drifting off, a resolve built inside her. If that awful song dared to appear in her dreams again, she'd sing the nice hopeful song and drown it out. She had a feeling she would be doing that a lot, as well as in the waking world. In would be her new little melody.
A/N: Dang! I didn't originally intend this to be the emotional rollercoaster that it is, but I hope you enjoyed it nonetheless.