Chaos of a Broken Cycle

by UnseenBlade

In the same room as every loop he sat, wallowing in despair. No one could save him, no one had ever tried. Abandoned by the one person he thought he could count on. Little did he know that he would save himself, quite literally. The Loop was broken, and because of that amazing things happened. But the world is not done with Mono, far from it, but he's not alone anymore.

13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13: The Conquest of Time

Hello again! Back with another chapter. Between last chapter and now, Little Nightmares 3 has been announced, very very excited and cannot wait.

If some of you also haven't heard yet but theres also a Podcast released called The Sound of Nightmares with lots of lore for the franchise, I heavily recommend it.

I guess here's my Tumblr too, I honestly don't use it that often but I will probably start being more active considering LN 3 hype. Honestly don't know what I'll post other than ideas for the story. Also for a better picture of the boat I described, it was in reference to another commission I had done. Pinned onto my Tumblr. chorusofkhonshu

A discord server for Little Nightmares Writers that I'm a part of- /wFBBvutnzB

Below is a Ko-fi link to an artist that I commissioned for some character drawings

/i/IR6R2MXCF9

The rain slowed immensely once they had reached the forest, where they caught sight of the small group of kids under a large tree. They were wearing tattered cloaks that somewhat protected them from the weather as they huddled around a tree as the duo approached, paying not too much mind as they whispered among themselves.

"What's up, Pale City boy! Glad to see you again!" Cheery voice caught his attention as he turned to one of the cloaked kids who kicked and skipped toward him, getting uncomfortably up in Mono's face, who took a few seconds to recognize who was before him.

"Ah… Bel? Um, it's good to see you again, I guess." He said, muttering the last part under his breath and giving some much needed distance as he backed away.

The girl simply snickered. "I knew you'd be glad to see me again! I jumped at the chance to do this when the boss said someone needed to accompany you to the Pale City."

"Speak for yourself. I didn't volunteer for this! I can see it now; we will disappear like all the other groups." The voice of a boy said from amidst the small group across from them. Mono wasn't sure but he looked like he was another one of the guards that he had met in his time down in the arena. In any case that wasn't important.

"Did she tell you guys why you were coming with us? She didn't actually explain to me much of what's happening." Mono questioned looking among the cloaked ones for answers, but most kept quiet, a wary look in their eyes as they huddled together with their backs to each other, they were on edge and it clearly showed.

"Yeah, we know why. Though question, do you know how many kids go to the Pale City? If you thought more than zero, you'd be wrong! Maybe in the past different groups of kids for one reason or another have traveled there before, but I can't say I've heard of any of them ever returning, so eventually kids just stopped going. Though then you show up claiming to be from said city; and the boss wasn't going to pass up an opportunity to get ahead, and has been sending out other groups of kids besides us." The boy explained.

Mono paused. "So… what? You guys are going to report back to her?" Mono asked a tad incredulously.

"Provided we live, yes." He answered honestly.

"Well um, that's great to hear! I'm sure you'll love it there once you see it, and trust me when I say it's the safest place to be." Mono said hoping to gain some confidence, though he noticed his words had the opposite effect on the castaways as they simply eyed him with suspicion.

"Try not to oversell it kid; you sound like a scammer." Sloth muttered.

The boy from before sighed. "No offense, chief, but we hear stuff like that all the time. Kids find a seemingly safe place, only to be run down, pillaged, killed, or simply disappear under none ordinary circumstances. At best, we're hoping for a steady stream of supplies that can be salvaged from this place; maybe an outpost on the coast where we can send the less fortunate, but in any case let's move on before the water soaks through my shoes; there's a cave on our way toward our destination that we need to reach before nightfall." The boy said the last part loud enough for everyone else to hear as they quickly began to scurry off into the forest ahead.

Mono was at a loss, this wasn't entirely what he was expecting, but then again what he did expect was maybe a bit unrealistic for these kids who know nothing of where they are headed. Looking back he noticed that Seven was missing until he spotted them already on the trail after the others, looking back to him they simply gave him a shrug before waving for him to follow.

'

The group rather quickly made their way toward a well-worn path that led off deeper into the gnarled woods without a second thought. While Bel led ahead of the group, the boy who had announced their next course of action walked closer to Mono.

"I'm gonna assume the boss gave you a map, right? We know part of the way there, but we'll need it at a certain point, as nobody ventures past certain points. The cave we're making our way towards is the furthest some of us have ever gone." he explained.

"Oh, yeah I got it right here," Mono said while patting and fishing it out from his pockets.

"Ok, good, make sure not to lose it. If we follow this trail, we should reach the cave before the sun starts going down." he said, periodically looking off to the sides of the trail as if waiting for something to jump out at any moment.

"So, what's your name? I already met Bel earlier." Mono said, trying to see what he could learn.

"Huh? Oh, names Pym, I uh, I keep track of information for the boss." Pim said absent-mindedly, his eyes still refusing to tear his gaze away from the tree lines. It made some sense to Mono as the further the group walked, the more brush there seemed to be, diminishing their view of their surroundings on the trail.

"You seem worried? Is it not safe here?" Mono asked. Though his eyes were strangely well adapted for darkness he was still having trouble seeing through this thorny brush, there almost seemed to be something unnatural in the way it blotted light.

"When is it ever safe? This trail is far enough from the main road to avoid adults but not that far, if the trail went any farther, I'm sure we would have seen something else. Then again I don't leave the city often, if ever. I mostly just vet information about the goings ons in the city for the boss, but even I know we must walk a fine line between the forest and the main road. Didn't you see anything on the way to the city?" Pym questioned.

Thinking for a moment Mono recalled his journey to the city with a cringe. "Yeah, I did see a moose, or at least what I thought was a moose at first. It had tentacles and lots of bloated meat." Mono said, a tad nervous as the memories flooded back, and Pym started to shudder.

Then he noticed a light suddenly among the other kids, looking ahead Mono worried that maybe an adult might have spotted them, that is until he caught a glimpse of his fellow vice, who was seemingly meshing into the group rather well before suddenly darting off to a different group entirely.

"Haha! They are pick-pocketing them; ah it's always funny to see fools get duped." Sloth pauses a moment. "Ah, wait a second; check your pockets." In response, Mono quickly rummaged through his pockets, but it seemed they were untouched, much to his relief. Though seeing Seven so at ease within this forest made him feel less endangered. After all if anyone was going to notice danger first it would be the vice of greed and their strange eyes.

"Things get weirder the farther kids get from cities, so kids never make camps or try to survive in the wild. Weird stuff happens in the middle of nowhere. We try to stick as close to the roads as possible without getting caught by adults-." The boy is interrupted as Pym suddenly shrieks, looking to the nearby bushes something could be heard rustling through the underbrush, the other kids turned towards the sound and readied to scatter.

A moment of silence passed as everyone waited as the shaking brush got closer and closer before finally… A small creature popped its head out of the brush, startling the kids, though before they could run away the small animal promptly ducked back into the brush and disappeared. A collective sigh was let out as the group now far more on edge continued their trek in silence.

After a few more hours, the rain finally died down and they had to slow their pace. The ground was muddy, and they dragged their feet to avoid making loud splashes in the puddles. They had went over a small hill and saw a cornfield with a barn far across the other side. The road they had been following from a distance cut through the field.

"Ok, you all know the drill; we need to walk along the road. No one takes a single step into the cornfield. If you walk in there, we will not go in after you; you'll be on your own, got it? We must keep making haste before an adult comes down the road." Pym said to the group.

"Wait, why aren't we going through the field?" Mono asked,

"Not safe; we need to go through the road as long as possible while it is still clear of adults. Now everyone hurry up!" Pym yelled in a hushed tone before the entire group began to run diagonally toward the road they had been avoiding up until now.

Mono sprinted after the group, catching up and running alongside Pym. The labored breath of other kids and the clinking of items they carried rang loudly.

"I thought we were trying to avoid the road…gasp…..now we're trying to take the road? Why….aren't we…gasp..going through the field." Mono asked while stopping to breathe as they sprinted full speed, finally getting onto the road, their heavy steps meeting the hard asphalt.

"Something lives in the field….gasp … it's fine, though; it only leaves the field at night." Pym explains between breaths. They had finally reached the section of the road that cut through the field. The corn stalks towering over them from both sides, the road ahead being the only way through. As they were running, Mono looked at both sides of the cornfield, looking for any sign of the monster that Pym was talking about when he vaguely heard someone call out.

"Is someone there?" A raspy voice rang out. Every kid was about to turn to look towards the voice before Pym yelled out.

"Don't stop; keep running! Whatever your hearing isn't real; the monster is trying to trick us!" Pym informed the group, not stopping to say it again. Of course, this didn't stop some of the kids from looking in the voice's direction Mono included. Though as he looked nothing was moving in the cornfield; the only thing that stood out a fair distance away was a raggedy old scarecrow hung up upon a cross made of rusted pipes.

"I'm lost. Won't anybody help me?" The voice once more rasped out, asking far into the field, just seemingly out of sight. No one stopped to try to help or even thought of doing so. The voice coming from the field didn't sound even remotely human; the voice itself was incredibly off-putting and disturbing, making the kids run even faster. Looking straight ahead down the road, Mono saw a black dot on the horizon making its way closer.

"I think there's a car coming down the road!" Mono yelled. The many stopped and froze at his words as they looked up and watched the dot that was getting closer and closer. They had made it to the barn that was near the road, so the group quickly began to scatter into its general direction in hopes to hide from the passing vehicle. Mono and a few others hid securely behind the barn, peeking around the corner to keep an eye on the road for when the car passed. Some eyes still peeled on the cornfield that was now at their backs. The car came into view, a large truck with a long bed, the back covered in a large tarp. The vehicle passed the barn and was about to be out of view for them to continue forward, but suddenly a tire on the truck blew, causing the car to swerve into the cornfield. Only the front of the truck was within the cornfield, the back of it sticking out of the field. The adult driving the car stumbled out. They were short but stout with the body shape of an egg in overalls, this oddly shaped being made its way to the blown tire as Mono and the group watched it from a distance. It looked like the adult was prepared to replace the tire of the truck, but just as it was about to make its next move, the same voice they had all heard earlier made itself known again.

"I'll help you. Follow my voice…." it creaked further from within the field. The startled adult turned in the direction from which it came, and it rushed to its truck, pulled out a shotgun, and aimed it in the voice's general direction.

"Come closer, closer…." The voice goaded with a hint of glee, as the adult ambled through the corn stalks that rustled as they moved. Mono and the group watched in bated breath for what would happen, and it did not take long to find out as before the adult could even scream or fire its gun a black shadow moved through the corn stalks like a terrible gale of wind and before they knew it the adult was gone, with the only indication of the adult previously standing there was the gun that fell to the ground with a thump.

"Fucking hell, that thing carried off a full-grown adult like it was nothing, and we still didn't even see it." One of the kids voiced in a hushed whisper.

"Let's get out of here before the sun sets." Pym said as they all slowly came out from behind the barn. They raced back to the road, eyes still watching around where the car had crashed for signs of anything. As the group was preparing to continue forward, another voice called out.

"Hello?! Is anyone out there?" It called out and Mono paused. This time the voice sounded normal, it sounded unsure and hushed but much more real than whatever took the adult away, and from the sounds of it the voice was coming from the car not halfway into the cornfield.

"Hey, come on, don't go over there. It's probably another trick; that truck is too close to the field. We can't pull you out if you go and get pulled in!" Pym hissed annoyed to have stopped in such a revealing place.

Even so Mono was not deterred as curiosity won over. "I'm just gonna check; it's not a problem as long as I don't step into the field, right?" He tried to assure but the look on Pym spoke volumes of what he thought of Mono's choice.

Quickly as to not leave the others waiting Mono approached the truck, eyes drifting to the cornfields that engulfed half of the vehicle. Once near, he crouched and moved slowly. Looking over he saw that it had been the truck's back tire that had popped. A rusty shard of metal sticking out of it. Grasping and pulling he yanked the metal shard out almost effortlessly. The traveling group watched him from a distance, their feet planted so they could run at the slightest hint of danger. Seven seemed to be looking not quite at Mono but around him instead, he was glad someone was at least keeping look out for him around Mono; he already knew their eyes could see far more clearly and from angles that no one else could; as long as they seemed fine, it didn't look like he was in any immediate danger.

Standing up from his crouch Mono approached the back of the truck. The entire back was covered in a tarp that trembled lightly in the whistling wind. Grabbing it by the corner of the flap, he peered inside the back. Inside the dark confinements was a wall of cages on each side, stacked to the ceiling with only a small walkway between them. A dozen pairs of eyes looking at him from these cages. Raising the tarp more, the light was allowed to leak in, a ray of light revealing kids within the enclosures. Some fit in their cages comfortably, while others looked more cramped within the confines of a small space. The kids looked at Mono warily, unsure of what he would do. A natural distrust that he was finding to be not uncommon in the world they lived in. Walking up to the nearest cage he checked the opening to see a padlock preventing the kids from escaping.

"Ok, I can get you guys out; just give me a minute to think." Mono said before leaving the back of the truck, looking for anything to help him open the locks. Mono remembered that Sevens knack for tools and hoped that they knew how to pick a lock or two. exiting the back of the truck to call them, but when he lifted the tarp, sat across from him, he saw a crow perched upon the highest point of the barn, simply looking down at him.

"Hurry up! Let's go; we don't have time! The sun is already beginning to set; if we aren't far enough away before dusk, that thing will chase us!" Pym seethed, and true to his word, what semblance of light that graced the sky was beginning to fade away.

"You know, he's probably right; there's a lot of birds starting to crowd around here." Sloth said as the sound of ruffling feathers was heard behind him this time. A pair of crows landed upon the arms of a scarecrow.

Seven, who had been looking for dangers, suddenly whipped her head to the left of the cornfield. Their heads moved swiftly here and there as if something was moving swiftly through the field.

Thinking quickly, Mono rushed over to the barn, slamming the wooden door open, and scanned the inside of the barn. Hanging on the wall was an assortment of different tools though catching his eye was an axe, quickly moving over Mono lifted it off of the fringes, and held it up. The axe's blade was much heavier than the standard one, the weight of the blade catching him off guard as he hefted it over his shoulder and ran back to the truck. Looking over towards the groups still waiting on him, he ushered them off.

"You guys start making your way out of here. I'll catch up once I'm done here!" Mono yelled while running back over to the truck. Using his momentum, he jumped into the back, coming up to the first cage and taking the axe, raising it over his head with the blunt side and bringing it crashing down against the lock.

The area of the cage where the lock was bent slightly, even so, the lock still held firm. Cursing, the kid within backed themself into the other side of the cage to not get hurt as Mono struck the lock repeatedly as the seal slowly bent and deformed it eventually broke. The lock itself fell to his feet with a loud bang. Without wasting any time, Mono moved over to the next cage. With each metal lock crashing to the floor, a kid was released from their cell and would scamper out once Mono moved to the next one. The minutes dragged on, and his only telltale of the time he had left was the brief glimpse of sunlight that he could see when one of the kids left the back of the truck. In total, there were twelve children; once they had all been freed, he followed the last one out. To his surprise Seven had been waiting by the back of the truck for him though the kids that he had freed hadn't bothered waiting instead running down the road as fast as they could. The last one he had let out was already sprinting down the road without so much as a word, while the others were but specks in the distance by now.

"I'm guessing the others carried on, huh? Thanks for waiting for me, though we should really get going before something bad happens; the birds are starting to creep me out." Mono said as he and Seven wasted no time in running down the path they were initially set upon. A flock of crows watching their every move. The sun could be seen visibly setting, but thankfully the field was growing further and further away while they still had light.

The farther they went, the more the road they walked on showed signs of deteriorating. The asphalt showed signs of large cracks, and vegetation grew on the sides of the road. Further, down the road, a tunnel could be seen to pass through the mountain. On the left of the road, the ground dropped at a steep incline. Looking at the tall grass, they could see traces of others having gone down this way. Carefully they made their way down the incline, making sure not to lose their footing and slide down. There was a crevice when they finally reached the bottom of the slope, a small canyon having formed on the other side of the crevice. Using this rough terrain they crawled and shimmied through the crevice, and when they came out through the other side, it looked like they were at the bottom of a dried river. The walls of the walkway were smoothed over from rushing water that had run through here at one point. Footprints could be seen in the dirt, so without much difficulty, the two of them followed the trail. The sun could barely be seen now, slowly disappearing over the horizon. Not long afterward, they found a cave on the side of the crevice where one of the kids from the city was peeking out from.

"Oh good, you made it." the boy said. "Pym is a little further in waiting for you."

They walked deeper into the cave, seeing the other kids huddled in a group around a lantern. When Mono looked around, he noticed that less than half of the kids he had freed were here. Pym, upon seeing Mono and his gaze over the group, knew what he might have been thinking and responded.

"Not all of them chose to follow us, can't blame them, though; that's what most kids do; a lot of them like to look out for themselves. I won't bother trying to convince them. This is good, though; that thing in the fields will hunt them instead of us. We aren't as far from the fields as I'd like, but this cave is difficult to spot, so we should be fine for the night." Pyms grunted as he warmed his hands. As uncomfortable as the situation was, Mono sighed and sat down on a rock next to Pym before asking the other kid questions that plagued his mind.

"So what can you tell me about that thing in the field?" Mono asked while glancing at Pym whose gaze was focused on the lantern.

"There isn't really a lot I can tell you I'm afraid, what we know we've managed to collect on it from kids who were lucky enough to travel through this area in the day and smart enough not to respond to the thing at all. Before that, we didn't have anything on it because other kids just weren't making it through. It's impossible to know how many kids have actually died traveling past the field. We don't know what the things look like or how it kills people, only that it won't leave the field at night." Pym stated.

"So then we stay the night here, and we head out in the morning, right? How much farther is the place where this boat is stored?" Mono asked.

"Bring out your map. I'll show you." With that Mono took the map out of his pocket and unfurled the paper looking it over for a moment.

"So, where is it?" Mono inquired as Pym gave the map a look.

"The ship is kept in an old fishing town by the coast. The town itself is abandoned, so we probably won't have to worry about other adults. We can make it to the boathouse tomorrow, I'm sure. If we keep going in the same direction, then we should hit the shoreline by mid-day. After that, we can just walk along the shore until we come up to the town." Pym stated matter of factly, though Right when Pym finished speaking, the sound of a dozen beating wings and the cries of crows echoed in the cave. All the kids went silent and looked towards the entrance of the cave. After the noise came and passed, the kids settled down once again.

"Will we be alright resting here?" Mono whispered.

"It's hard to say really, but we've never had an issue before." Pym said, though after this Pym instructed the other kids to try and rest as they would be putting out the lights, some kids moved off a bit farther into the cave to get some sleep; others slept in groups. Mono went to a wall facing the entrance of the cave, sliding down against the wall. Seven picked a spot close to him; however, unlike all the other kids, Seven seemed not to have any lack of supplies. Pulling out a blanket and pillow before lying down and turning over.

There were murmurings in the cave for a long while. Kids conversed with each other in the dark until they fell asleep. Mono stayed awake for what felt like hours, just looking at the entrance of the cave that led to the outside. Something just didn't quite sit right with him; he felt a presence lingering just outside of the cave.

"Sloth, do you know what that thing was in the field?" Mono tested, not entirely sure what he would get as an answer or if he'd get an answer at all, though luckily Sloth answered.

"Well, considering the fact that we haven't exactly seen it…..no. Even if you did, I probably still wouldn't know. There are two types of monsters in this world Mono, the ones you can kill and the ones that you can't kill. Not for lack of trying; some monsters are just… undying." Sloth explained, his tone almost grim.

"So how do people usually get rid of monsters that don't die? Are we even safe here?" Mono asked, eyes attempting to stay focused, but he had to admit the adrenaline was dropping quickly.

"Ehhhhh, not sure, to be honest; I mean, you guys should be fine, probably. As for getting rid of it, not sure either. It really depends; some will run away if you rough them up enough, some have to stay in a confined area so you can run away, and others can be banished. There are many ways to get rid of them, but I don't know many of them, but I guess it really depends on the type of monster." Sloth said.

Seeing that Sloth had no real answer to the situation, Mono stayed up for as long as he could, keeping eyes on the entrance. The kids that he had rescued from the truck seemed to have fallen asleep faster than the kids from the city. Perhaps they were used to being in such environments more and getting sleep while they could. Some of the kids from the city slept with one eye open and in a group so as to watch out for each other. The night, as stressful as it was, passed uneventfully, as sleep eventually overtook Mono.

When he next opened his eyes, he was rudely awoken by a scream. He woke up alert, head spinning and swiveling to look at his surroundings. Other kids were awoken by the yell that came from the entrance of the cave, and most immediately prepared to scatter. But with the entrance being the only way out, most of the kids did not know what to do. Mono glanced over at Seven to see them staring at the entrance.

"See any monsters?" Mono almost slurred out as sleep and panic ebbed his very being, though to his surprise Seven simply grunted while shaking their head, though held a disturbed look on their face as they looked to the general direction of the entrance. Confused but seeing as there wasn't any immediate danger, Mono grabbed the axe he had brought along with him from the barn. He stepped into the tunnel leading to the cave entrance and walked along slowly while trying to listen for anything out of the ordinary. When he finally caught sight of the sunlight, Mono could see someone standing at the entrance of the cave. It was one of the kids from the city; they seemed to be standing there looking at something. The sound of footsteps came from behind him as more of the kids followed outside to see a grizzly scene.

The six children that had not followed them yesterday and had run out on their own were dead on display before them. Each was cut up in different ways, missing certain body parts; for one all of his skin was gone, only displaying the muscle and organs underneath; one was beheaded, another was missing all of his limbs, and another was seemingly stuffed with so much hay it was bursting out from every orifice of their body. These four were hung on stakes and positioned like scarecrows, while the last two bodies were crumpled and smashed to a bloody paste against the rock outcrop, their blood used to leave a message.

"GRAY MAN ALL YOUR FAULT ALL YOUR FAULT" the message plastered messily with trickles of blood.

"Well, goddamn, this does not bode well." Sloth hissed.

"Sloth, how the hell- How does- Sloth, it knows that I was the Thin Man!" Mono yelled at the Vice in his head.

"Now now, come on, it might have just been a really lucky guess. I mean whose to say this message was for you specifically." Sloth replied noncommittally, seeming like he wasn't even sure if his words were true or not.

"Oh really? So then this is just some random message!" Mono said.

"I mean, there are some monsters that can see your past or your greatest fears, but those are really hard to come across, but based on what we are seeing, it is more than likely one of those. It's fucking with you right now, trying to scare you, but as long as you kids reach the ship before nightfall, then you should all be fine. It needs to go back to the cornfield right?" Sloth finished with a huff.

"...I think we should start heading towards the coast now. If we don't make it to the town by sundown then that thing might actually come for us." Mono said to the other kids.

None of the kids had anything against the idea and hurriedly gathered their meager supplies before gathering in a group and setting down their path forward. Now that it was morning and Mono had the chance to properly observe his surroundings he glanced at both sides of their walkway. Being at the bottom of a dried-up river, the sides of which were not a gradual decline but rather a steep drop off, so as far as he could see ahead of them, the walls were currently unscalable. The walls were too smooth, and there were no edges to grab onto to climb their way out.

"Everyone keep calm; there should be a rope along the way. It has been there since this path was made." Pym said while they walk, staring above them, they couldn't see anything peering over the edges other than trees where the branches overhung. It didn't take long, maybe half an hour at most, but once they began to approach the end of the path, they began to see deep gouges in the stone wall. The cuts were long and deep into the stone as if whatever did this had simply been dragging their claws against it while walking. The trail of claw marks led all the way to the end of the path.

"Oh no no no no!" Pym said, running towards the end. "The rope has been cut!" Looking up over the ledge they needed to climb to, it was an insurmountable height for most kids to climb on their own.

"Ok, well, I guess that thing in the field was smarter than I gave it credit for…" Sloth interjected muttered.

"I think I can make it if I jump and teleport." Mono said; however, his voice sounded unsure. Out of all his powers, Mono understood this one the most. Blinking from one point to another was as easy as breathing at this point. Blinking forward, backward, and side to side. He can blink in any direction, and the distance he can travel could be extended based on his motion. Blinking forward while taking a step forward generally took him farther than just standing and blinking. Even blinking down to a platform below him was easy, easier than teleporting forward. Blinking up, however, was perceivably harder; jumping helped, but the distance he could blink up was noticeably shorter, and if he didn't make it, gravity would just drag him down.

Walking over to the cut rope, thankfully, at the time, whoever placed it here had used way too much, so it was possible to throw the line down once again, provided he could get up there. The other kids watched on, the six from the city already guessing what he might try while the one that had been rescued was clueless. And Seven, Seven was standing right beside him ready to see what the outcome would be. Spreading his feet a little bit farther apart Mono took a deep breath before jumping as high as he could and blinking. As soon as he blinked right back into existence a weightlessness overtook him and almost flailed. At the last second, he managed to grab a hold of the ledge. Unfortunately the ledge was just like the rest of the stone formations around them, exceptionally smooth, so his grip was useless as he fell back down, landing on his butt.

"Dammit!" Mono hissed rolling over. The landing hurt like hell, and now his tail bone ached. He could only hope he didn't break it.

"If you can't make it then we need to turn back now, we can still make it back to the city before dark. We can't spend another night in that cave." Pym said matter of factly.

"No, I can do it." Mono assured before trying again. The outcome was the same as before, even so he continued trying, at one point almost actually managing to get a grip but still crashing down. Just as he was about to try again he felt a tap on his shoulder and turned to see Seven holding a hand out, gesturing him to wait. Before he could ask why they had stopped him, Seven went over to two of the kids in the group, dragging them over in front of Mono before forcing them down into a crouch. Seven then looked at Mono and held their hand out saying to go.

"You want me to step on them?" Mono asked incredulously where Seven nodded and smiled sweetly in response. The two kids had tried to get up when Seven had pushed them down however Seven had kept their hands on their shoulders ensuring that they stayed down.

"I uh- I don't think I need to step on them. I got this." Mono began, before his headache with a rumble.

"You step on those children right now! I'm not about to watch everything go down the drain because you didn't get away from the cornfield monster!" Sloth mildly raged within the confines of his skull, and although he wanted to argue he knew they couldn't afford to waste too much time. As he stepped onto the kids slowly, his face showing obvious unwillingness, he jumped quickly so as to not cause too much harm to the other kids. Once he blinked back into existence his body was now halfway above the ledge. Still with the lower half of his body dangling over he managed to dig his fingers into a crack. In the current position he was in, he would not fall back down, but he also was unable to pull himself up. Looking forward, a couple feet from him stood the tree that once had the rope tied to it. The previous loop still tied around it as it laid cut along the ground. Thankfully his unseen hands managed to slither over to the tree, grabbing a hold of the loop around the base of the tree. With this he was able to pull himself fully over the edge.

After picking himself up Mono raced to the tree and began to retie the rope. As he was doing this he realized that there was something in his peripheral vision. Turning around he saw what looked like a metal arm sticking out from behind a tree. Without approaching the tree he walked to his right slowly to get a view at what was there. When he finally came around enough, what he saw was a scarecrow, one that looked extremely similar to the ones in the cornfields. He looked at the scarecrow, eyeing it for any movement before approaching it slowly. Closer and closer he grew before he was at arms length from the effigy. Taking the axe he had strapped to his back, he struck the figure and it fell apart immediately. The hay, the sack that made the body and the metal pieces that made up its arms and legs fell into pieces at his feet. After kicking the metal arm and watching it tumble he turned around and grabbed the rope he had just tied, throwing it down to the others.

Looking down, he could see the rest of the children crowding around the rope. Seven had managed to begin climbing first, already half way up while the others waited next to climb up. From there Pym climbed up and the other children followed until all had climbed up. All of the kids noticed the small pile of junk that once composed a scarecrow.

"That was here when you climbed up?" Pym asked suspicion in his watchful stare.

"Yeah, except it was standing up when I found it, and fell apart with a little tap." Mono said

"Hmmm, let's go, we have to make up for lost time." Pym said heading down a well worn trail, the group made their way to the coast, it took a better part of the day. The sun was already slowly setting, it was still fully visible but soon it would begin to sink below the horizon. However much to their relief the view of the ocean soon came into sight. The first thing Mono noticed was that the beach was littered with various worn and torn clothes along with discarded indemnities. While he wanted to ask, they wasted no time, they still had to walk along the coast to reach the deserted fishing village where the boat was docked. Looking down the coast Mono could see the village, at least he thought he could, a small almost negligible black speck in the distance. As they ran in the direction of the village he took notice of the growing number of clothes and items, they grew more frequent as they grew closer and soon there was a bone. After one bone, there was more, and more, soon appearing like an eerie trail leading to the village itself.

The closer they got the more Mono could tell that something was wrong. All the houses looked old and abandoned, but there was something else, a feeling in the air that made his skin crawl. The boat house could be seen all by itself near the shore. The houses that made up the village were all situated in a circle. When they rushed to the doors of the boat house, the twin doors opened easily, showing the vessel that they would be taking covered in a large tarp with thick ropes tying it in place and the doors that led out to the open water shut.

"Ok, come on! Some of you start taking the tarp off, the rest of you cut the rope. We need to hurry up and get out to open water before that thing starts to head here." Pym said as he began to untie the tarp from the boat.

Turning around, Mono looked towards the small town. These houses were in disrepair, the windows broken, some with doors left open. As his eyes wandered, he finally caught sight of what appeared to be a statue on top of one of the buildings, but after looking closer he noticed it was the light of the setting sun obscuring his view. When his vision finally cleared, there perched upon the edge of the roof was another scarecrow facing towards him, one similar to what he had seen earlier that day.

"Well, good thing that thing is still in the cornfield. It's going to take it a while to get here." Sloth said.

Turning around quickly Mono walked over to the boat and began to help in readying it for seafaring. Taking the axe strapped to his back he began walking around the boat, cutting the rope that had yet to be untied by the other kids. Seven stood close by Mono, seeming just as suspicious of the area as they followed him around and kept a close eye on the town while everyone else began to slide the heavy tarp off from the boat. The tarp was half way off of the vessel before everyone was startled by the loud banging of a wooden door outside of the boat house. They all looked towards the open front door of the boat house, dreading to see anything out there, but as the seconds ticked by their worry slowly vanished. It was then that Seven grabbed Mono by his shoulder and brought them face to face. They held up their hands, showing all their fingers up and then showing one hand with one finger held up before pointing at the other kids then out the door. It took him a moment to process what Seven was trying to tell him, counting everyone, there were only eleven of them here.

"Hey there were twelve of us, weren't there? Who are we missing?" Mono said.

All of the other kids looked around frantically trying to see where the missing kid had gone but there was no sign of them. Mono was prepared to let out a deep breath to calm himself when he felt his unseen hands rush out of his back seemingly halting something crashing on top of him from above. The weight of the object slammed into him, making him drop to the floor as whatever it was that landed on top of him let out a deep and raspy voice that he hadhoped to never hear again.

"It's….in the house!" He managed to grunt out. Though trying as he might, Mono couldn't turn around to look at the creature as it pressed him into the ground, but he could see two large metal scrap hands that had pierced slightly into the floorboards, along with the snapping of what sounded like metal so close to him. He could feel the thing getting closer to him as the snapping grew closer to his ear but luckily his unseen hands had managed to wrap around the entity, keeping it from landing a fatal blow. The sound of screaming and the running of the other children soon followed as they rushed out of the boat house. As the creature thrashed on top of him Mono found an opportunity to crawl out from under the creature as it wrestled with his extra hands. He dashed for the axe that had fallen to the ground and immediately pivoted around to see a near exact copy of the scarecrow he had seen earlier, a few pieces of its body composed of completely different components but fundamentally the same. Once he was out from under it the Hands unwrapped themselves from the scarecrow and floated behind him protectively. The monster's movements were twitchy and jagged as it made large motions yet paused in between motions. Once it stood up to its full height he could say for sure that it was quite a bit larger than him.

The two seemingly sized each other up waiting to see who would make the first move but thankfully for Mono it seemed Seven had hidden themselves behind an old crate in the boathouse and had chosen that moment to throw a molotov cocktail at the scarecrows exposed back. This did not have the desired effect however as even as the fire consumed its body it simply stood ignoring the flames as if it felt no pain. Instead the now flaming scarecrow fell back down on all fours before skittering towards him.

"Fuck!" Mono yelled and ran out of the boat house. Once he made his way outside he turned around and tried to blast the creature with static. It seemed to stun the scarecrow if only for a second before it. His static only arching off of its scrap body while the fire ate away at its body. It pushed through the static as Mono still kept blasting the creature before it gave a final lunge before falling into a scrap heap in front of his feet.

"That was thankfully a lot easier than I thought it'd be." Mono breathed.

"You idiot! It's not dead! Things like this don't die." Sloth shouted.

"Well if it isn't dead then why isn't it moving?" Mono questioned, however he received his answer in the sound of something slamming through the door of one of the old houses followed by the scream of a kid. Another scarecrow standing over the kids while its mouth was held open inhaling something that was leaving the child's body. Mono watched in horror as their already skinny body became even more emaciated and their face became gaunt and gray.

"Ah, there's the gimmick. It just switches between bodies. Cool cool." Sloth said rather disinterested.

Once the scarecrow was done consuming the child it let the body drop to the ground before turning to look at Mono. Its head craned to the side as if studying him before a rumbling was heard emanating from its throat and it slowly walked out of view in between houses still maintaining eye contact with him almost mocking him.

"It left me alone?" Mono breathed.

"No, I'm pretty sure it went to hunt down the rest of the kids hiding close by." Sloth said. Not a moment later a scream rang out nearby. "Well let's prepare the ship and get outta here before it comes back. It's expecting you to follow, but we can get in the boat and leave on our own if it's already untied." Sloth followed up.

"Seven, can you find the others? Get them to prep the boat while I hold this thing off." Mono yelled before heading off in the direction that the scarecrow lumbered off too.

"You bastard! I tolerated the stuff you did in the other city because it was related to Greed but this is an unnecessary risk here, we need to leave now! This thing won't even play around with you like the Overseer!" Sloth seethed.

Right as Sloth finished saying this Mono rounded the corner of a house, nearly running smack dab into another scarecrow effigy. The scarecrow lunged at him. The action startled Mono as he swung his axe on reflex. The scarecrow fell apart the moment it was struck with the axe, a dry laugh could be heard coming from it as it fell to the ground. Mono could feel his heart beating rapidly in his chest. He wasn't allowed a moment of rest though as the echoing sound of crashing objects reached his ear. Behind him, another house had cellar doors that were wide open. Mono's unseen hands hung over his shoulders, surveying his surroundings for him. As he approached the open cellar door, he looked down into the darkness that laid at the bottom of the steps.

Taking a breath, he held his axe tightly as he descended the steps. Once he reached the bottom, a short string dangled from the ceiling. Tugging the string a low thrum of static could be heard as a small light brightened the room. The room was empty in the center as messy shelves lined up against the wall of the room. Looking around, he didn't see anything that stuck out of the ordinary for him as he walked to the center of the room and turned in place surveying his surroundings.

The next second a gut wrenching scream was heard coming from stairs that led up to the surface level of the house. What followed was the sound of thuds as Mono stood there, straining his ears to listen to every little noise. The sound of something skittering started abruptly along with what sounded like something heavy being dragged along the floor. The clanking of a metal can falling to the ground from behind him made him jump as swirled around the axe ready. Something could be seen moving in the darkness, crammed into the corner of the room. As his eyes adjusted he could see a foot poking out from behind a sheet of metal leaning against the wall. Crouching down he could see a kid hiding with their back to him. Their head ducked as they crouched and closed in on themselves in an effort to seem smaller.

"Hey! Come on! We need to get out of this house and get on the ship before it comes back!" Mono whispered harshly while placing his hand on their back and giving them a shake. The startled child nearly caused the metal sheet to tip over and crash to the floor but Mono managed to grab the sheet before it could hit the ground.

"Mono!?" The voice that questioned him belonged to Pym, who was drenched in sweat from fear.

"Yes! Now listen, we don't have a lot of time. Seven should still be at the boathouse. Go meet up there and prepare the boat to leave as quickly as you can. I'm going to try and stall the monster." Mono instructed.

"Those things are not dumb enough to mess around with you long enough for us to escape! The best we can do is hide until the sun comes up and pray that some of us survive!" Pym cried as the sound of two pronounced footsteps were heard and Mono turned to see the scarecrow standing in the doorway that led into the house. Grabbing Pym by the shoulder he nudged him to go out through the cellar entrance that led to the outside. Faster than he could react the scarecrow grabbed him in its metal claws, wrapping around his torso before swinging him and throwing him into the wall. A raspy chuckle rumbled in its throat as it spared a glance at Mono before skittering after the boy that had just ran out of the cellar. Reaching out with his powers, Mono stretched out space between the scarecrow and the exit. Noticing this the scarecrow turned around and immediately charged him while dragging its metal claw against the floor before thrusting it at Mono who teleported behind the monster. Its hand embedded itself into the wall so deep that when it turned around to lunge at Mono again, it could not free itself immediately. Taking this opportunity Mono ran out of the cellar, grabbing a metal bar that laid against the cellar wall before slamming the iron doors shut, sliding the bar between the handles.

"Oh yes, very nice, it's not like there's another door just wide open inside the house!" Sloth exclaimed in annoyance.

The sound of shattering glass was heard on the side of the house as Mono rounded the corner to catch sight of the scarecrow monster to see if it would chase him or if it was going after another kid but by the time he rounded the corner it was gone. The only thing there to signal its presence was the broken glass littering the ground. The sun had fallen and yet some sunlight still peaked over the horizon. It was dark but not completely night yet as the moon rose in the opposite direction. His eyes caught sight of a figure moving in the shards of glass on the ground. Mono rolled to the side as an object was swung at him from up above. The scarecrow hung upside down off the side of the house. Its eyes now glowing a murderous red with a scythe in its outstretched arm that had torn into the soil where Mono once stood. When he ducked and rolled he shot out a blast of static at the scarecrow but it just skittered to the side before pouncing on Mono.

The fiends feet landed on both sides of him pinning him beneath it. Mono teleported out from under the creature right as it took another swing of its scythe at him. He held a hand out to its back, striking with a blast of static. The scarecrow fell to the ground visibly smoking with only some of its more flammable material showing signs of embers. Its metal frame left almost unharmed. Before the monster could pick itself up, Mono had already begun to bring down the back end of his axe, striking the joints of its frame. He had only managed to slightly bend the appendage before all of the creature's limbs and head did a complete turn. It latched onto Mono's shoulders before pulling him in closer. Its pointy metal claws dig into the flesh around his shoulders before opening its mouth wide preparing to bite down. Moving on instinct Mono wrapped his hands around the creature's neck before his palms sparked to life, igniting the fabric that made up its head. Its head combusted into flames as its body stopped moving. Yet again the monster gave no indication that it was in any pain. The flames consumed it until nothing but the frame was left and it toppled over revealing something like a cage making up its torso.

A black substance filled the cage with a blood red glow seeming to emanate from within. It looked like whatever it was could barely fit in the cage. Before he could do anything else, the black substance zipped away. The moment it left his field of view it was already gone, even when he turned around he caught no sight of it.

"My god, let's get out of here before it comes back. Fuck the other kids, theres enough effigys here for that thing to mess around all night." Sloth grumbled.

Seconds later more screams broke out. Mono ran around the house, where the shriek came from only to be met with silence as he approached the boathouse again finding the door shut and locked.

"We've been betrayed!" Sloth yelled before the door opened and an arm grabbed Mono by the back collar and pulled him in. Seven had covered his mouth with their hand to keep him quiet. Pym was there as well along with some of the other kids that had initially ran out. In total, out of the fourteen of them, only six of them managed to return to the boat house.

"Are you ready to go?" Mono asked in a whisper.

"It is, but we can't leave because the door for the boat is chained shut, and we don't have a key. I would say we could pick it, but there's one problem. The lock is outside; it was locked from the outside, so there's a chance that the monster could come back. We could try breaking the chain, but that might just make the monster come back faster; I think it's still hunting the ones that are still hiding out there." Pym whispered.

"Seven, if I go and distract the scarecrow, can you open the lock quickly?" Mono said while sighing. Seven gave him a concern if not annoyed look but nodded before reaching into their satchel and pulling out a pin and what looked like a paper clip held in their hands.

"Ok, listen, everyone, this is what's going to happen. I'll go distract the monster while Seven opens the door. As soon as it's open, you guys start to have the ship sail out, and I'll jump on at the last second. If anyone is still alive out there hiding, I'll try to save them and tell them to come this way. Hopefully, that thing won't follow us once we're out on the water." Mono said to all the present kids.

No one answered, as they were still anxious for what was to come. No one was sure of the outcome; they could lose their lives at any moment.

"I'm going outside again. Seven, you go as soon as you see the monster go after me." Mono said once more before opening the door and stepping out. There was something he noticed immediately once he had stepped out, something that caused an uneasiness to flow through him. A thick fog had suddenly rolled in from nowhere, only the dark shapes of the houses barely visible through the fog. To his right, he noticed a wooden pole sticking out with a bell hanging from the top. Tentatively he walked over, straining his ears to listen for any signs of the creature. Hearing nothing, he took his axe once more, flipping it to the blunt side before swinging at the bell. As the bell rang, his eyes scanned his surroundings, looking for anything moving in the fog.

"Grey Man!" A voice rumbled.

Mono swiveled towards the voice. He could vaguely see the scarecrow, its red eyes making it visible if only slightly. It was peaking around the corner of a house, just staring at him. It felt like it was mocking him. It was visible, and yet, jokingly tried to hide even still. It chuckled at him; it's very breath sounded like a dying person's gasp like a laboring wheeze. The light left its eyes as all bodily movements of the scarecrow seemed to stop as it went stock still. Then the sound of squeaking movement, like hinges on a door rapidly moving from his opposite side. Swiveling around another scarecrow stood there stock still with its arms up on its sides. The only telltale sign that it had been moving was the billowing of the cloth on its body. Next he could hear a cacophony of sounds coming from all around him. Scratching and clawing, the breaking of wood, sounding off not all at once, but one after another in different spots around the village. Things he could not see, but from how loud they were it was obvious the creature wasn't trying to hide. It wanted him to know it was there.

"It's moving from effigy to effigy trying to sike you out, just be on your toes and stall long enough so we can get out of here." Sloth said

"Yeah I know." Mono said

An unearthly shriek cried from within the fog, followed by the screams of other children that screamed and ran, those that had managed to hide and not be cut down. Their dark silhouettes flickering in the fog, nearly scaring Mono until they came closer into view. However when one such silhouette came into view it began to grow, the body moving erratically before suddenly spreading to full height and raising its arm into the air scythe in hand. Swinging in an arc it aimed for the legs of the children in front of it. Rushing toward them Mono tried to warn the kid but before he could utter a word the scythe had already sliced through their legs. Their suffering was thankfully not long as the scarecrow moved the scythe in another followup arc slicing their head clear off of their shoulders. It chuckled and turned to look towards Mono, tilting its head in a taunting manner, its body turning still and the lights in its eyes disappearing.

"Stay away from any of the other scarecrows! If you have the chance, destroy them but don't let them get close." He yelled to anyone who could hear him, his eyes looking forward to where he believed it moved to. Though to his surprise the sounds of creaking joints were heard behind him. Turning around he could see the scarecrow crawling on all fours towards the back of the boathouse where Seven should be. He blasted an arc of static at the monster, but it jumped back, barely dodging the attack before looking back at Mono who was already running towards it. Again he fired at the creature but it watched him, jumping and dodging out of the way at the last second every time. He swung his axe once he was in range of the monster but with its inorganic body twisted into abnormal shapes to avoid the swing. Changing tactics Mono Charged a point blank blast, he readied to hit the monster dead center before its metal hand grabbed his arm by the wrist and lifted him off his feet, swinging his body at the wall of the boathouse.

The boathouse itself was made of rather flimsy materials, its walls being no thicker than a simple plank of wood. So when his body collided with the wall, he crashed through it. The scarecrow stared at him from outside as Mono rolled over picking himself up, the boathouse filled with dust. Looking over the kids that had managed to survive up until this point were all standing on the deck of the boat armed with planks of wood and whatever they could find. The kids from the city are at least better equipped than those that were not from the city. Looking at the boathouse door the chain still looked to be on from the inside, but he assumed Seven must be still working on it. Turning his attention back to the scarecrow he noticed it began to saunter out of view heading towards the door where Seven would have been trying to pick the lock. Picking himself up quickly he stumbled through the hole just as the scarecrow was about to walk out of view. He fired another static blast but ended up striking the corner of the boathouse as it moved.

Quickly running to stop it, as he turned the corner he saw the scarecrow raising its scythe. Their head turned to look up as the scarecrow swung its scythe at them, bisecting them in moments. The scarecrow grinned, seemingly about to chuckle once more before a Seven's form turned into a cloud of dust. Surprised, the scarecrow looked around in confusion before its body was struck by a small golden object that slammed into its torso with great force, sending it careening and crashing a few feet away. afterwards Seven appeared from underneath a tarp that had been used to cover some crates on the dock.

"Oh thank god." Mono breathed as Seven glanced at him unperturbed before promptly going back to the lock with their tools.

Looking over at the scarecrow, Mono was surprised to see that it hadn't picked itself up yet or even tried switching bodies. Upon looking closer it was clear it was struggling to get up, its arms digging into the ground in a frenzy but no matter how hard it tried, its torso would not even lift off the ground. In fact, it even looked like its body was slowly making an indent in the ground. The metal cage that housed the dark substance creaked and groaned.

"It's…not leaving the body?" Mono said as he slowly approached the struggling monster. When he got closer he could spy the glimmer of a small golden coin sitting atop its body, the area that it sat upon leaving a dent in its ramshackle body.

"Looks like your pal has the power to suppress the thing. You can't put it down for good but if you hit it enough it should be gone for a couple days at most. You need a lot more to make things like this stay down for good, but as long as we can get away it can't follow, just blast it while it's down." Sloth instructed.

Not needing to be told twice Mono held his open palm towards the creature charging up a more focused blast. The scarecrow turned to look at him before a bright flash and the static struck the dark substance in its cage body. What followed was a strong explosive gust of smoke which smelled of rot that evaporated and disappeared around him. The body of the scarecrow fell apart, and so too did every other effigy in the town. He approached its body, the gold coin that had held it down still shining brightly on its body. He bent over reaching for it, intent on examining it. His fingers grasped it just like he would grasp any other coin, but try as he might, it would not lift off of the scarecrow's body. The sound of a lock and chain falling came from behind him and he turned around to be greeted by Seven approaching.

"Uhm….good job, I didn't know you could do that. Your coin looks like it's stuck though." Mono said and wordlessly Seven bent over the body, plucking the coin off of the scarecrow's body with ease Mono did not expect, before simply examining it and flicking it in their palm with a satisfying ring.

"Oh, well, I guess we can head out then." He said turning to see the other kids having the boat slowly exit the boat house. "Let's get on before they go too far out. I don't want to get wet again." He said as Seven stopped flicking their new coin and shook their head in agreement.

"Wait, wait, wait, grab its scythe! Grab the scythe." Sloth said.

"Sloth I don't have time, the boat is getting farther." Mono chided.

"Listen kid, I don't have an eye for monetary worth, and I know that scythe looks dingy, but the material it uses. It's not metal you can find just anywhere, you're gonna practice magic from that book right? Some magic requires material, and that scythe is made with something you might need later." Sloth protested.

"Sigh…ugh…fine!" Turning around quickly he sprinted back for the scythe, grabbing it quickly as Seven jumped upon the boat turning back to look at him. The boat is not far away yet but he probably would run the risk of getting wet as it sailed forward slowly. His feet thumped on the dock carrying the scythe before jumping onto the boat, his feet landing on the edge, nearly falling back into the water, but Seven grabbed him by his coat, pulling him forward onto it before he fell over.

"Thanks." Mono breathed.

"Now I'm reminded of why I hate leaving the city." Pym said plopping down onto a chair on the deck.

Now that they were finally out of danger Mono had a chance to take a look at the ship that they would be using. The wooden floor and exterior looked fairly clean seeing as it had been under that tarp for an unknown amount of time. A small little cabin with a door that led under the deck with the helm sitting on top of the cabin where he could stand and around the quarterdeck there were rails to keep a person from falling overboard. A tall pole that was the sail still had its masts tucked and tied with one shroud on each side, waiting to be released so that their journey home could begin.

"What type of boat is this exactly?" Mono asked Pym.

"It's a sailboat." He answered simply.

"Yeah but, what type of sailboat specifically?" Mono reiterated curiously.

"Does it have a sail? Yes? Then it's a sailboat, simple." Pym answered while Mono still wondered about the vessel. After a moment to catch his breath Pym stood up before continuing. "Let's get the sails down, we only need two up once we get everything set up, the rest can sleep underneath the deck. We'll switch out through the night, two different groups will be needed, a driver and a lookout, each night until we reach our destination. Seven I believe you and I are the only ones experienced enough to drive this hunk of junk, so I nominate you to the first driver position." Pym instructed, Seven huffed in annoyance but didn't argue with him, instead wandering over to the helm to get ready.

"...I'll stay up first watch." Mono volunteered.

"Alright, then me and Bel will take the second shift, the rest of you get the sails down." Pym said, and within a few minutes the sails were let down and properly set up, the wind catching the sail, their speed noticeably picking up. Afterwards Pym, Seven and Mono stood near the helm with the map.

"Ok so, it looks like we're going in the right direction. All you have to do is hold the rudder in the right spot, keep us on course and wake me up in four hours. Mono you hold the rudder, don't let it go." Pym stressed.

"I got it." Mono assured as Seven eyed the map with scrutiny before taking the wheel and setting course. With all said and done Pym went down under deck to go get some rest. When everyone else had gone below deck to sleep, Mono and Seven finally had some time to just relax. The sea looked to be calm thankfully, with the further and further they sailed from the shores, the more the clouds of fog began to part, fully disappearing once they could no longer see the shore behind them. In the night sky, an incalculable amount of shining stars shone overhead.

"I can't wait to get back home. I'm sure everyone will be happy with the results of this trip, even if I got more than I bargained for with everything that has happened, but at the end of the day, everything turned out alright. Well I mean, as alright as things can get I suppose." Mono chattered on, turning his gaze towards Seven who sat on a seat at the helm, eyes glimmering brightly as they keenly watched ahead. Though they did nod in acknowledgement, signaling that they were listening, they even possibly were looking at him just not directly with their eyes.

"I think you guys will love it. A chance to see what things could be like." Mono said

Their time together during the shift passed in silence from then on, only an occasional jabber from Mono would confusedly look at the map every so often to see if they were still going in the right direction. Of course he couldn't tell for sure but would stand next to Seven both looking it over. In the blink of an eye their shift had ended and Mono had to go to wake up Pym from underneath the deck. Stepping underneath the deck the space in the ship was a long hall with doors on either side with small sleeping quarters inside, plenty of space for everyone he assumed. He wondered briefly which room Pym might be in, luckily Pym had left his door open so it was the first room he had checked. The room was a small cabin only big enough for two kids to walk into, a small table against the wall and a bunk bed that was a part of the cabin. Pym slept on the bottom bunk and another kid slept on the top. Waking Pym up he awoke with a start but immediately calmed down once he saw that it was just Mono. Not saying anything he simply got out of bed knowing it was time to change.

Back up top, Pym relieved Seven from the duty of steering the ship and the two were sent under deck to get some rest. Entering the final cabin that had been left for them they set their things down and each settled down on their beds. Seven took the top bunk while Mono took the bottom one. quickly after he laid his head down,exhaustion began to overtake him as he released a long and tired breath.

"You know, you're very fortunate that I managed to save my host before that scarecrow cut them down." Greed said, voicing their displeasure.

"Hey, don't look at me, your host, your problems. Besides I voted to kill your host, you should be grateful my host is on the softer side of the spectrum." Sloth said laid back.

"Oh apologies I didn't know looking after two kids was too much for the mighty sloth, I'll be sure to be more attentive in your stead. Though, now that I think of it, my host wouldn't have even been involved in this madness if it wasn't for your host." Greed pressed teasingly.

"You say it like they were forced, which you and I both know is not true. Why are you getting so fussy over helping out your host a bit." Sloth said.

"You know why, helping them too much, giving them more power makes it harder to control them. Though besides that, We both know that nothing good comes with either of them dying at this point, after all, like you said your host has a bleeding heart, and we have already seen the after effects of that." Greed finished.

"...I am simply doing what is necessary, nothing more, and nothing less." Sloth said in finality.

End of Chapter