To Save Us All
Chapter 17~
The red glare from the rising sun evaporated into a golden orange, and soon everyone was awake. 8 stood to allow 5 on his shoulders, and the inventor groggily stepped on to take the nail. He pushed upward to land the great Balloon, and 9 glanced down at their destination.
The building was now almost directly below them, and since there was no wind, they were headed for the roof. 6 was standing next to 9, looking down below as well but something in his optics telling 9 he was... searching for something.
Suddenly, a milky white, colorfully dotted stitchpunk came into view, looking upward, sheilding her optics from the sun. When she spotted the Balloon, 6 waved to her as if she was an old friend he hadn't seen in a long time. F waved back with the same enthusiasm.
"How did she-" 9 began to ask 6, who was still looking over the edge of the Balloon and smiling hugely, the corners of his mouth being pulled by sheer happiness and hope toward his optics.
"Saw." the artist said simply, locked in a stare with F that made 9 wonder if he had actually seen her before.
9 gave up, he would soon learn everything.
The Balloon touched down on the roof and everyone got out as 5 locked the nail in place and put out the fire with the metal covering. When 8 and 5 finally climbed out, the Balloon's clothing had started to wilt like a dying flower as it released the hot air that originally made it rise.
The stitchpunks stood in a group near it, all silent with sleep (with exceptions to the twins- who were silent no matter how awake they were), watching the Balloon collapse. 9 got their attention by coughing loudly. The twins fell asleep standing up, leaning on each other for balance- like a triangle of cuteness. 9 coughed again, this time with a smile, and the twins straigtened up and opened their droopy optics.
"Now, G knows these guys better than any of us ever could, so I want you to trust whatever he says about them. If he tells you not to ask a certain question, you respect it. Got it?"
Nods and murmers went flowing through the sleepy group, including a scoff from 1, and G came over to 9, to help lead the way down.
"After you." said 9, making sure everyone was following. G nodded and headed for a gutter pipe with stab markings in it. He smiled to 9 adventurously before gracefully diving through, screaming madly all the way down. 9 looked to the others, showing them with his look that he wasn't going until everyone had gone down.
After a moment of silence, in which 1 gave the pipe a stare of pure horror, the twins pushed through the small crowd and dived through, feet first, and together. 3 ended up riding on 4's lap, and 9 was sure they would have screamed or laughed if capable.
9 turned to the others, "Who's next?"
7 stepped forward, gracefully sprinting at the pipe and sumersaulting into it, yelling happily as she fell. That was one thing that 9 seemed to have learned about 7: she never actually screamed- at anything.
9 turned questioningly to the others. 5, 6, 1, and 8 were now left, and 6 looked like he was only slightly hesitant to try.
"Come on, 6, it looks like fun." said 9, urging the nervous artist to the pipe.
6 smiled but turned, holding a hand out for 5, who made a scared little yip as 6 pulled him toward the shute.
"You first!" said 6, smiling as 5 shook his head rapidly- not able to express how terrified he waswith words.
"Hey, are you guys coming down or what?" said 7 from the pipe, and 5 looked into it curiosly- forgetting he was scared to go down there.
"You can hear-" he asked, but never got to finish. 6 had grabbed onto his middle and pushed them both down with his feet on the roof. 5 screamed all the way down, and 6's laughter rang through the pipe long after they reached the ground.
9 turned back to 1 and 8, "We don't have all day."
Without warning, and to the great surprise of 1, 8 ran forward and dove headfirst into the pipe, yelling a loud verberating "WEEEEE!!!!" as he fell, and a grunt as he landed.
Only 1 was left, but he was being stubborn.
"Come on, 1. Everyone else liked it." said 9, nodding toward the pipe.
"It's too dangerous." the elder said stubbornly, shaking his head and pointing his staff towards the Balloon. "Just take me down there. I'm sure it isn't that hard."
"1, there are beasts down there. It's a lot more risky than sliding down a pipe."
"Hmph!" said 1 as he walked back to the Balloon.
"What, are you a coward?" asked 9, not meaning it in a bad way but just trying to get 1's attention. 9 didn't come all this way only to be stopped by 1. He knew 1 was just as important as any of the others in this battle between the beasts and the ragdolls. His teasing seemed to work, the old leader stopped and spun around to face 9 with a glare.
"How dare you!" he hissed, stomping over to 9.
"I thought you were a leader, driven by courage." said 9, making sure 1 understood.
1 stopped and glared at the pipe, where several voices were now cheering him on.
"Come on 1!" called 8 cheerily.
"Oh please, it isn't that bad." said 7.
G was simply chuckling.
"Fine!" he yelled, pushing past 9 rather harshly as he stormed up to the pipe's mouth. He peered inside cautiously. He looked worried for a second, but then his fear morphed into determination as he jumped in, yelling in his raspy voice as he dropped. "FOOLS!!!"
9 knew there was a smile in that yell. He knew they needed 1, but he didn't know the old man could be so likable at times.
9 chuckled as he heard the grunt that meant 1 touched down to the floor that couldn't be seen.
9 took one last look at the Balloon and jumped in without another thought, laughing at the empty feeling in his middle section as the pitch black air rushed past him.
"Wooooo!" he yelled, laughing blissfully, surprised at how fun this was, just sliding down a pipe.
Then came the landing. It turned out the others had landed on a chunk of mattress, so as to break their fall. 9 bouced off of it and went flying, his hands held in front of him as he continued to yell happily. He landed painfully a foot away from the mattress, at the feet of the rest of the stitchpunks.
7 lent 9 a helping hand, and 9 took it eagerly, wincing at the pain in his bottom as he stood.
He took a look around the hallway he realized he was in, and noticed the only thing he could actually see was the nearest wall and carpet.
"Now that everyone's down, I can show you the tunnels." said G from somewhere in the darkness, following a sound of rummaging through something. The sound of a match being struck was heard, and light filled the hallway. G was holding some sort of portable lantern, and the others saw him bring the fire of the match down to it, to light it. G then shook the match until it faded, smoking as it's sister flame was alive in the lantern.
G then handed the lantern to the twins, and they cataloged it breifly before recognizing the fire from 2's hat and cataloged the rest of it. G undid his peircings and took out his pocketknife, preparing it for a fight. 9 saw 7 study G and grip her spear tighter, seeing that he was only taking precautions and thinking she may as well too.
"Let's go." he said, letting the twins carry the light. After a few mintues of walking in the same direction, and after passing a few piles 9 was sure the twins seemed to want to rummage through, 9 gently relieved the lantern from them. They ran off to a nearby pile. 7 beckoned them over after a minor scolding to 9 and told them they could look around if they stayed near the group. 9 smiled in the darkness, the mother in 7 was beginning to show.
9 held the lantern's light upwards, letting the glow creep up the walls. 5 looked upward with him, but the others kept their pace. There were paintings collected on these walls, spaced equally, all having to do with nothing in particular. The first time 9 noticed them, it was one of an old man, stroking a particularly long white beard, wearing a uniform. The next was a child, a small girl really, dancing in the moonlight the artist seemed to capture so well. She was wearing a beautiful white dress and an equally white umbrella, captured in a pose of dance 9 didn't know.
The next they came upon was the strangest one so far. It didn't even seem real, like something from a human dream, or from what 9 gathered about 6, one of his visions. There were a whole bunch of timepieces- on chairs, on tables, hooks- that all had one thing in common: they were melting. 9 didn't know what to think about it- clocks didn't melt, did they? How could they? What was this piece implying? Why would anyone paint melting clocks? Did this have to do with time travel?
"Keep up!" he heard 7 call to him and 5, who were wordlessly admiring yet contemplating over this mysterious artwork, "The twins are faster than you two!"
5 walked on, and 9 took one last look at the weird painting before following him.
G lead them to a small crack in the wall, one only stitchpunks could fit through. He lead them down a narrow staircase and into an underground tunnel. Everyone tensed suddenly as the fire in 9's lantern blew out, leaving everyone in total darkness.
"It's OK, it's just a draft. Sometimes happens in winter. Just let your optics adjust." said G, giving everyone time to adjust. 9 instinctivly looked to 6. the prophet didn't appear worried, so 9 didn't fret over anything he didn't understand.
"This way," said G again, his voice not echoing at all, showing 9 they were almost out of the tunnel. Sure enough, they rounded a corner and light could now be seen, albeit dim, yellow, candlelight that flickered dangerously at the draft, but still good enough to see by.
6 suddenly ran forward and up the stairs, and his apparent reunion with F was heard in the tunnel. The twins bravely scampered forward and up the stairs as well, and 6 started to introduce them to the others who were out there, still unseen.
One by one, the other stitchpunks began to file out of the tunnel, and soon 9 was left inside alone, shifting on his feet awkwardly, not really hearing the conversations and occasional flickers of light that meant the twins were cataloging. He didn't want to face F and the others, only to tell them how sorry he was. He couldn't bare it.
"9," called 7's voice, sounding... angry. At him? "Come here. I think you would like to see this."
9 furrowed his stitched brows and without another thought had found himself climbing the stairs.
And what he saw amazed him. And made him want to stab G.
"W-who are they?" asked 9, looking at the three stitchpunks he had never met before, but had heard so many things about... so many apparently false things...
They were all new to him, and since there was no logical explaination, he had trouble taking their details in at first.
One was small and fragile, like 2, and held another lantern staff like 9 had been holding, except lit. The light illuminated a single letter on the side of his face.
B.
The apparently old stitchpunk squinted his optics and was scanning 9 with that smile 9 knew so well from one glimpse of it on 2's face so very long ago. This elder had half moon optics, a lot like 1's pupils only reaching the rim around the optics. As the mysterious new body took 9's features in, 9 noticed the half moon optics could shift positions, changing his expression entirely at any moment.
"Hello, there 9." said B. 9 flinched at his elderly voice... so much like 2's...
"W-what's going on?" asked 9, helplessly looking from G ot 6 to F to all the others, only the three first ones holding their heads down in shame.
9 looked to the other two he had never met before. One was massive, towering a full two inches over 9, casting huge scary shadows. A hurried scrawl was tattooed on this one's stomach.
H.
H had a huge bolt that had been sharpened repeatedly until it's tip was pointed, and strung on a tight chain, bound on his arm. If H punched you, it would hurt.
9 looked to the last, and noticed immediately the red "A" painted right on the stomach. A was sitting on top of H's shoulder's, gracefully crossing one leg over the other and her his held high.
"9," G spoke up, not meeting 9's optics as he apologized. "I'm sorry. I had to tell you they were... 6 made me! He came to me in my dreams and told me everything! I had to do it, 9!" By now, G had both of his hands on 9's shoulders and was exaggerating and shaking them dramatically.
"G!" yelled 9 over G's hysterical voice, "Calm down!"
G let go and looked down in shame as 7 came over from hiding F and the twins from the noise. The twins huddled with F instead, and eventually as the tension simmered down began to catalog her. C and D where nowhere to be seen yet.
Everyone began to converse with themselves again, 9 ignoring the new stitches that had apparently been alive this whole time.
"6," 9 called the artist over. the shy quiet 6 scampered over to 9, pulling F by the shoulders. When the only people who could hear the conversation were F, 6, 7, and himself, 9 took 6 by the shoulders and stared right into his optics.
"You have to tell me now. Do you have some sort of power you've been hiding?"
6 fumbled with his pen nib fingers and looked down, nodding. 9 looked to F, who answered the question as well.
"So you really do know each other." said 9, thinking to himself. 7 was staring in shock at 6.
"How? What can he do?" she asked to 9, who was thinking, putting the pieces together so 6 wouldn't have to try and word it.
6 did have some strange ability, 9 had somehow known all along. 6 was here to lead him to the source, the Scientist, but could he now be leading him elsewhere? 6 had been the only one to come back as a pure soul. The others certainly couldn't do that. 6 had shown him those pictures: him saving everyone with 7 and the other showing... something a lot more intimate with 7...
And 6 was already known for having visions, what could they mean? And when 9 had first come back to when 2 was killed, the only one who remembered him was 6, even before 6 was supposed to have met him. And then, something clicked.
Melting clocks.
"6..." said 9, not sure if he had just hit a dead end and would have to result to decyphering 6's language - which was getting increasingly easier to do - or if he had hit the answer. He begged 6 with his look for it to be true.
"Can you time travel?"
F and 6 both nodded.
"What in the-" said 7, staring at them in amazment, 9 stopped her, he was still looking into 6's optics, and the artist didn't need to say anything for 9 to know there was something else.
"You can do other things, can't you?" 9 said, now frantically thinking back to every time 6 had done something... well, amazing.
"Yes." said F, answering for her friend.
"Good," said 9, ignoring 7's awe for the two stitchpunks, "We're getting somewhere."
Slavador Dali's "Persistence of Memory"