Up in the skies, fluttering along the clouds was the ember colored butterfly. She was almost the size of a monarch butterfly but two inches bigger in length. With every flap of her wings, a bit of ember colored dust fell from her wings, a signal to the runaway children of this twisted world that she was here and not to be afraid. If she was in the form of a twisted adult like the viewers for example, the children would have run for their lives, regardless of how normal it would appear.
It was how everything had worked in this world ever since the Signal Tower took over the Pale City. The roles were different, but it was always the same outcome. If you were a child in this world, you fled from the adults, going wherever you could that would be free of adults so you could try to survive for as long as you could. Even when the adults weren't like the ones in the Pale City or the Maw, kids learned over the years to trust no one in order to survive, their survival was the number one priority in a world like this.
It saddened the butterfly to see the youngs faces of innocence and happiness twist into fear and mistrust over these years in cycles. This was why she was picky with choosing her earthly form when she and the Wind thought of this plan. The children wouldn't listen to an adult, but maybe they would feel safe around a butterfly: so small, gentle, delicate and kind just like herself many years before. The plan worked much to her surprise, whatever child she found while flying around the Pale City or wherever else, she was able to lead them away to safety.
It wasn't much, but it was what she could do for now and it gave the butterfly a sense of happiness to see the youth look and feel as safe as they could in this world and she hoped that this effort wouldn't be wasted till the Cycle could be truly broken. The sight of the Maw slowly came into the butterfly's vision, she almost paused in her trek as she caught sight of the second place that caused the children nightmares.
It was a place the butterfly knew very well and she had mixed feelings about it. On one hand, there was a sense of nostalgia within her heart, but there was a pinch of anger on the other hand given just what happens to children there. Nonetheless, she still flew toward the Maw, thinking of any of the children that might need help and to see what was happening. It was quite a long flight given that a butterfly wasn't designed to be a fast flier, but she still managed to get there with time to spare.
Upon arriving at the Maw, the butterfly slipped in through the front without any of the workers noticing her since she was small. She did, however, take notice of the six children in the Ferryman's arms, all were fast asleep from most likely doing everything in their power to survive the Pale City, the more difficult place to survive in. So, she followed after him to the Nursery where each child was laid down in a bed so they could continue sleeping. The butterfly watched him carefully, making sure he wasn't going to do anything terrible to the kids.
Thankfully for her, the man didn't do anything more than a mental headcount then suddenly ran out of the room as fast as a bullet train and was that panic on his sagging face? Confused but a bit curious at the same time, the ember colored butterfly followed after the Ferryman at a fast yet steady pace, she would've gone slow and headed on her own route but with how time had passed, her memory of the Maw had dropped and she almost didn't fully remember where everything was. It had been a long time since she had seen the Maw on the inside, so it was better to keep up with the Ferryman so she didn't get lost even if it would run the risk of getting spotted.
The trip to whatever the destination the Ferryman had in mind took a few minutes, but it felt more like a few seconds which was why the butterfly nearly crashed into the wall upon arriving thanks to the speed of her travel. The butterfly fluttered her wings harshly to keep herself in the air, hovering above the Ferryman as she took a look around, realizing she was back in a familiar place, her private quarters when she first ran the Maw all these years. But that wasn't the only thing that was startling, from inside the quarters, a female voice rang out. A voice that the butterfly could never forget, regardless of how much time had passed, a voice that she could never hate even after the person had done something terrible to not just herself and other children.
"Emiko?"
"What?!" the Lady and the cloaked children shouted in unison upon hearing the Bellman's words. For his part, the Wax Bellman stood still in his place, his arms crossed behind his back and his posture formal. There was still a bit of shock and surprise in him even though he didn't show it. The Lady could notice the emotions her servant caretaker was working hard to suppress, for she was feeling the same things though much more intensely then she would like to admit to normally.
The two kids standing on the floor of her quarters however, couldn't exactly tell if he was suppressing emotions as they didn't really know the Bellman that well and had only seen him a few times while running around the Maw, delivering letters with the other cloaked kids during their times there. So, obviously they were very confused as to why the Bellman was so calm after receiving some urgent news that could signal the end of a constant looping Cycle.
They supposed it was because he was trying to keep a calm aura just to keep the Lady from freaking out or something of the sort. 'Yeah, fucking right,' the green cloaked girl thought sarcastically, rolling her eyes that were hidden behind her bangs and the hood she wore over her face and body. Regardless of whether or not the girl and her ragtag gang of other children were around the Lady, they always knew there would be a reaction from her even if it wouldn't happen as quickly as a 'normal' person in this world, one way or another.
No one in this whole damn world was going to react to the news of their daughter and heir to the Maw's throne being dead or alive as calmly or as pleasantly as the Wax Bellman had hoped or wanted. Turning her gaze back to the Lady, the cloaked girl's suspicions were confirmed as she could scent the emotions she had expected one to have after hearing such alarming or incredible news like she was an animal who could scent it's prey even from miles from the Pale City mainland or the other mainlands farther from the Maw.
There were the most obvious ones she had expected: surprise, doubt and another emotion that the green girl had never sensed from the older woman before: happiness even without seeing her face fully, she could feel it and she was certain her companion could feel it too. She might've been paying more attention to the Lady, but every now and then she shot glances at the green cloaked boy and he nearly had the same facial expression as herself. Yet the young child still tilted her head more back and looked long and hard at the Lady's face just to completely confirm well damn near everything.
The Lady's beautiful face that was usually hidden behind a white mask fashioned by only the best was full of surprise like the female mail carrier had expected: her red eyes were wide, her entire form was still and tense as a block of ice or a statute and her sharp teeth, which were usually hidden by thick layers of white porcelain along with the rest of her face in some sort of grimace, something that the Bellman wouldn't understand completely but the two children beneath them would, her upper fangs barely touching her lower lips making the Lady look less like the stoic woman everyone knew her as.
Speaking of the Lady, she was silent for a few seconds which was almost considered a normal thing for the Lady whether she was in her quarters or traveling around the Maw before she disappeared without a trace before anyone could get a glance at her fully. The Lady was quite the near invisible force in the falling apart Maw she had inherited long ago, one minute she could be standing inside a room you were supposed to deliver mail to then the next, she was gone. Which was one of the things that made her the most terrifying adult in this place.
Despite the silence of the Lady being considered 'normal' for the adults and children in the Maw, the silence still managed to create a rather uncomfortable atmosphere in the smaller room, it was a bit unnerving too not both children would say it right at this moment. When the Lady finally spoke, her words came out much quieter than usual, even the two children who were standing almost right next to her almost had to strain themselves to hear her. "Bellman, are you serious?" the Lady whispered, unable to tear her blood red eyes off the Wax Bellman, her voice shook with both hope and fear as she attempted to contain her composure but even the Wax Bellman and the two children carriers could tell she was losing an impossible battle. "You not fucking with me, right?"
"I would never lie to you, my Lady." In less then a few seconds at that sentence, the Lady's calm facade broke, something cold and wet landed on the floor of her private quarters as the Lady stumped to the ground, both her hands covering her face, probably to hide her face and the fresh tears streaming from her now shut eyes. "My Lady!" shouted the Bellman, the green cloaked boy and girl in unison, almost unable to run from their spots on the floor till the Bellman snapped out of his haze and ran up to the Lady's side, putting an arm around her shaking shoulders.
The Lady paused her in her sobbing to look at him before she buried her face into his red coat and sobbed even louder than she ever did in her life, even when she was a child after her mother died. The Bellman sighed but didn't pull away, instead he took to gently rubbing the Lady's back, allowing her to let out repressed emotions that had spent too long being locked up in a metal but slowly bending and twisting cage. The two children stood in place, shocked like they had seen a plot twist in life as they had never seen the Lady cry before. They had seen her angry or annoyed, but never sad or happy and certainly never cried before.
They turned their heads from the Lady to each other, stared at each other for a good few, quiet seconds then simply shrugged their shoulders. "Umm, my Lady?" the cloaked boy asked in an uneasy tone his companion had heard before, turning his gaze from the girl to the adults. "I'm sorry, I need to go," the Lady said quickly, pulling away from the Bellman and disappearing into her bedroom by her shadows. "My Lady!" the boy called, reaching a hand out to try to grab the woman's kimono but failing, almost falling to the floor. "Let her go, she needs to process all this," the Wax Bellman said calmly, slowly standing up on his long legs to gaze down at the two children. The cloaked girl gave him a frown.
"How the hell can you be so calm about all this?!" the cloaked girl demanded, crossing her arms over her chest as she angrily narrowed her eyes toward the wax monster who had tilted his head more in her direction till their eyes were perfectly meeting, his expression had now changed to a more stoic approach. Both children felt slightly intimidated as they always did in the presence of these monsters, but they didn't flinch like they once normally would. "Because despite this news being the best news we have received, we can't let our hopes up too high. There might be more work to be done, cycles like this are never easy to break," came his calm and stoic response, almost matching the tone of the Lady.
The two children weren't entirely satisfied with that answer, not at all. For one: it didn't entirely make sense, especially the part about 'cycles like this are never easy to break'. Probably because they weren't familiar with the Lady's background or childhood or her family history or just history in general. For two: was the Bellman kidding? This was one of the best things she'd or any of the other children had heard for the last three fucking years! Especially after hearing only news of death and despair for not just the children, but damn near everyone around the Maw and the Pale City. So, what the fuck was the Bellman's problem?
The cloaked girl shot a glance at the cloaked boy, the latter shrugged which wasn't an answer she wanted to see from him, his small shoulders moving so slightly while the former shot him an angry glare as if he had thought of the world's stupidest idea ever created in this world. The Bellman watched the two's silent exchange for a few seconds before sighing loudly and waving a hand in front of the two children as if telling them to fuck off or something. "You two are dismissed for the day, you have done your duties for today. Go back to your chambers, I'll take care of everything else if there is anything left."
With a grimace but no arguing, the two children turned around and walked out of the Lady's quarters, heading down the stairs then taking off into the darkness, heading off to a place in the Maw that they all knew very well. As awful as it sounded, especially considering that rumors travel fast around the Nursery and Prison after even one child opened their trap when they gained information that was supposed to be private. They needed to tell their friends about the recent changes in the Cycle, they deserved to know what was happening.
In The Lady's Bedroom
The Lady grabbed a box of tissues she had on her nightstand, pulled one free and wiped her red and puffy eyes free from her tears. Admittedly, despite being happy to hear that her daughter was alive and well along with the Pretender, there was a feeling of confusion settling within her mind. Who could've broken the first part of the Cycle? Was the Signal Tower trying to destroy her sanity once again by giving her false hope? Was it the work of that awful storm a couple days ago? Was it dumb luck that Raine and the Pretender survived? Or was it the work of one girl who wore on her daughter's raincoat, one who had always managed to outwit her and her employees and defeated her at the end of her journey and survived no matter what happens.
"Six," the Lady muttered under her breath, bringing a delicate hand to her chin in thought. "Was it you who did this?"
Around The Maw
"We have done it." The North Wind held the butterfly close to him, her wings blowing off shattered ember dust as they took to the skies once again. "Phase one has begun." The children of the light danced around in circles, copying the moves of the lady as a golden flame revealing Six, Raine, Liz/Pretender, Mono and Seven in different parts of the wilderness. "It is time…" The Thin Man sat in his chair, a relieved look on his face as he observed the scene of Six, Raine and the Pretender wandering the woods. His child, his daughter had survived, he didn't know how but he didn't care, she was alive and that was all that mattered.
From around the Maw, the news of Raine and Liz's survival was being passed around like wildfire. Their reactions was explosive, there was cheering, yelling, stomping feet from children and adults alike. The Wax Bellman smiled though inside he felt an odd feeling that something was wrong, a possibility of something or someone being missing most notably relating to a certain Nome boy. "For all of this to end…" The Nomes scanned the Nursery, looking for their king. Five children crept away from their duties, the dark skined girl held tight to the raven/snow child's hand as they tuned the tv. "Time…"
All the while, the Signal Tower observed the ruined city, waiting for its young boardcaster to come home at last but of course, they would not allow it as they were making plans. "To break the cycle."
Raine didn't want to admit it to herself either outloud or in her own head, but she was starting to regret bringing the Pretender or rather Liz along for the ride and she didn't have to be a genius to know Six was either. But truth be told, Raine wasn't the cruelest child in this entire world and was always willing to lend a hand to anyone who needed it, even to the Pretender despite her doing some really terrible things to other children and her.
Now, she was wondering if reaching her hand to Liz, something the raincoat girl had to put into her memory, was even a good idea in the first place. It wasn't the fact the white-haired girl was or had been killing other children by evaporating them into the great beyond since there weren't any other children in the Wilderness thankfully for Raine and Six, they didn't know if they could handle any more deaths on their hands. It was the fact that Liz was so ungodly, fucking annoying! More annoying then what Raine and her mother were used to and trust her, she had seen a lot of annoying children in the Maw.
But for some reason, Liz just seemed to be those kinds of children who were slowly making it onto 'the most annoying people I've ever met in my life' list. Raine was certain Six had a similar list even though the white-clad girl hadn't come out of her way to say it, but the raincoat girl knew Six was irritated as was Raine herself. And that irritation only grew whenever Liz got stuck in a spider web in the low tree branches or stepped in a mud puddle created from the rainstorm that happened yesterday.
Honestly, Raine was quietly considering just leaving the white-haired girl in the Wilderness so she and Six could go off and do their own thing. But honestly, the brown haired girl didn't have the heart to do such a thing, even in the heat of the moment though a bitter part of her wished she had. Well, a very small part of herself and Six who happened to be nudging her side with her left elbow, looking up at her with a deadpan expression coming close to matching the expression of her mother's white mask as she silently asked her why she brought Liz along.
Raine gave her a heavy sigh and shrug, bowing her head and shutting her eyes. The rope on her shoulder shifted in response to her movements. Six rolled her red eyes both from exasperation and to keep an eye out for any adults like the Hunter for example and for a familiar paper bag wearing boy in a brown trench coat. No sign of her best friend, Mono, which was something she had come to expect after the huge hellstorm struck the Nest and sent her, Raine and Liz flying to the Wilderness but she couldn't help feeling disappointed for not being able to find her friend and worried for Mono's safety.
This wasn't a new feeling for Six as in the previous cycles whether she was alone in the school and the hospital, Six deeply worried about her friend, if he was hurt, if he was okay, if he was…dead. This was an understandable reaction as Mono had become her new friend after Raine died and privately Six admitted to herself she had slowly grown to care for him especially after he had saved her puny ass from the Hunter and the Bullies AKA the worst little shits Six had ever met in her life.
Regardless of where they were in the Pale City, nowhere was safe for long. And despite Six's broken soul and heart whispering to her that there was nothing she could do to protect Mono and he would die by the hands of one of the monsters, she continued to worry and hope for Mono's safe return. Truthfully, the thought of Mono dying was upsetting to think about, but in a world like this, if you were a child, one minute you could have loyal friends who would stick by your side no matter what. The next minute, they were gone, dead by the monsters' hands leaving you alone to mourn your losses as if you didn't have enough losses already.
Six didn't want that to happen to Mono, she didn't want to lose another person she cared about, she had already lost three people she cared about in these damn cycles. But she couldn't do anything against these fucking monsters and that was the most frustrating part about her times in the cycles. Young little Six, scrappy little survivor, the one who escaped death and danger at every turn, the one who made it through the entire Nest with barely any scars on her body, managed to home her tiny and frail muscles to lift and drop a motherfucking boulder on the ruler of the Nest to protect Raine from her and plan an escape.
However, that was all she could do, as the Pretender or rather Liz, Six kept forgetting the Pretender had a name but the raven haired girl wasn't even sure if the white-haired girl deserved to be called by her real name, ruined that by pouncing at the raincoat girl and causing her to fall into the water below the Nest. Six couldn't help gritting her teeth at the train of thought her brain was taking but wasn't that just the story of her fucking life? She couldn't do anything, even before the world-ending cycle took over. She couldn't save her mother even though she tried to stand a chance against that…bastards who attacked her. Six didn't remember any names but she didn't care to remember because the result was still the same
And then when she got kidnapped by two monsters who brought her to their own special hell then met two people who had grown to care about her more than anything else and she grew to care about them. Then one died and the other was left behind to become a monster, all because she was useless and a fucking coward. Six gave a slight wince when her mind did a switch and as much as she didn't want to admit it, it was true, she was useless.
Despite Six managing to survive the horrors of the Pale City and the Nest, Six was absolutely fucking useless to both Raine and Mono when they needed her the most. She couldn't save Raine back in those other cycles even though she tried and she tried so hard, even if it had cost her a bit of her muscles. She couldn't help Mono when they were in the school and hospital mostly since she got kidnapped by the Bullies, those little shits. She couldn't fight back and these fuckers were made out of clay and the hands, they were simply small body parts that matched the size of rabbits and were overpowered so easily by Mono as he brought whatever heavy object he could get his hands on to crush them flat.
Yet Six couldn't do a thing least she wanted to be murdered by those fucking hands. She couldn't even go feral red and rip those motherfuckers to shreds because for whatever fucking reason or another, the powers the curse had granted her were blocked. Yes, the one time she actually wanted to go feral red, she couldn't and had been forced to settle for running and hiding from these creeps as per usual. It was a stupidly risky idea to go feral red as there was no way to tell if she could go back to normal or if she would tear poor Mono apart after she was done with the hands, but it was still better then being completely useless.
Of course, Six vented her frustration to Mono about being useless and wanting to be there for him like he was for her after she was rescued from the Hunter. Mono told her in the most reassuring voice he could muster that her helping him when he was stuck and being his friend was more than enough and she wasn't useless, she never will be. Despite Mono's words sounding really fucking stupid, Six couldn't help smiling at the reassurance. She wasn't sure why, but what he said sounded comforting even if all Six could still do was run and hide for her life.
And that's what she still did, she ran from the Thin Man, from the Tower when it finally revealed itself and Mono. Yes, the one time he had been relying on her to pull him up, she had let him go…into the Tower's grasp, where he became the same monster she had been trying to escape from, all because she wanted to survive. No, because she was a coward, a scared little child much like everyone else in this world who let her only friend fall to his demise all because she wanted to live to see the sun and live another day, but after all this time in these cycles, she wondered if surviving was even worth it anymore.
Six clenched her jaw tightly in self-hatred and sadness, feeling her red eyes well up with tears that she quickly wiped away with her hands. She only managed to spread them all over her face, she took a deep shuddering breath as she lifted her white t-shirt up to wipe her eyes clean from her tears. Raine heard this and shot Six a concerned look. "Six, are you okay?" The sound of her friend's voice broke through Six's self-loathing thoughts, she let out a sharp gasp, dropping her t-shirt back into place as she whipped her surprised facial expression back to Raine who was staring at her, a look of concern printed on her once serious and annoyed face from Liz's comments.
Six breathed heavily through her nose as she rubbed her eyes, trying hard not to look weak in front of her friend. That was becoming harder and harder for her to do and being stuck in countless cycles of pain and agony had really messed with her and broken her emotions and personality, almost making her unstable like the other children at the Maw and…the Lady. So, Six wasn't surprised that she was showing more vulnerability in front of Raine and Liz then she intended even if she didn't like it. But what surprised her was the fact she actually remembered the Pretender's real name.
But regardless, Six sucked in her tears and held them wriggling under her hands. She couldn't show more vulnerability in front of her comrades, at least until she, Raine and Liz found Mono and they had gotten somewhere safe. Then she and Mono could explain the whole story of what happened in the Pale City to Raine and Liz, so they could hear both sides of the story. Then the team of four could team up and work on a solution to end the Cycle and stop the Signal Tower. This plan was far from foolproof and had a lot of flaws such as finding Mono's location as she knew full well that the trench coat wearing boy wouldn't be in his usual place she would usually find him at the start of the second cycle, especially after that heck of a hellstorm.
Another flaw was going to be Raine's reaction to the whole story, especially the part where Six dropped Mono because she was being a coward. If Raine knew about that, Six doubted that the raincoat girl would be pleased with her or help her now…or maybe she still would. This was Raine after all and she would probably still love her no matter what. This plan wasn't perfect but this was the best Six could think of, she didn't have any other ideas and she was very certain neither Raine nor Liz had any either. Mono probably did have better ideas that he and Six could factor into their plan to make it better.
But during this time, the trio of girls would have to work together to find him first much to Six's displeasure, then find a safe place away from the Hunter to continue their planning. It was a bit odd to not see the Hunter at any point during their little trek, but not seeing him at all didn't mean he wasn't there, waiting for her to find Mono so he could capture her much like he did in the other cycles. So, Six wasn't about to drop her guard just yet. This was honestly a lot of work for her and Raine, but hey Six would rather be doing something then hanging on the sidelines, doing nothing like she usually did.
Six glanced back, sighed heavily and shrugged her shoulders, she wasn't honestly sure how she was feeling at the moment. "Sorry Raine, I'm just dealing with shit that is painful right now. I'm sorry for being an asshole," Six said softly, head bowing to look at the ground, expression almost looking ashamed. Raine gave a little frown at this answer but didn't speak at first, she instead gently wrapped her in a comforting arm around Six's shoulders, her fingers rubbing the girl's back and shoulder. Six looked up from the ground to gaze into her friend's brown eyes that were filled with concern and worry for her, she sighed heavily and quietly leaned more into Raine's embrace, wanting to soak up as much affection as she could.
However, they found their little tender moment was interrupted by Liz once again. Both girls pulled away from each other and slapped their heads in exasperation, gees this girl was starting to get on their fucking nerves at this point. Why the flying fuck did they decide to bring her along for the ride? Raine let out a heavy sigh, turning her head from Six over to the white-haired girl, fully expecting to see Liz whining about stepping into a mud puddle and sure enough, that's exactly what she was doing. Raine gritted her teeth together, feeling the sudden urge to deck the other girl in the face, something she never wanted to do but she was hitting her breaking point, so who could blame her?
Six couldn't and wouldn't blame her friend if she decided to punch Liz in the face right here and now. "Liz!" Raine shouted angrily at the white-haired girl, her loud voice and harsh tone making both her partners flinch in surprise. Six especially as she had never heard Raine yell like that once like that before in the other cycles, but she had heard her scream in fear as she fell to her death. Six felt her face become as pale as her shirt and shorts as the memories started to assault her brain, every muscle in her little body tensed up and she started to sweat as her mind started to take dark turns she was trying hard to forget for the moment.
The Nest, the cliffs, the Pretender, the chase, the boulder, her friend's terrified screams as she and the Pretender fell to their deaths only to be silenced by the sound of splashing water beneath her. "You need to shut the fuck up right now! Can you not see we're not in familiar territory? There are possibly monsters out here worse than anything else you've ever seen before and you'll be attracting their attention in seconds by being so fucking loud and annoying!"
"Oh I'm sorry if everything around me is so fucking dirty and unkempt!" Liz snapped back, her voice almost rising in pitch to become a yell unlike the harsh whisper Raine was using considering their situation. "Well, it's a motherfucking forest you dumbass, what the flying hell were you expecting?!" Raine replied just as bitchy but only slightly, her tone suggesting that she was almost in complete disbelief at Liz's stupidity or rather, the fact that she lived under a rock or actually on top of a rock, in a mansion with hundreds of fucking dolls that will haunt her nightmares for as long as she lived.
"Honestly, I don't know!" Liz admitted, dropping her head and shrugging her shoulders. "But it certainly wasn't this shithole that you and Six had dragged me into…oh wait, we agreed to this, didn't we?" Raine stopped talking and stared at Liz in complete disbelief, unable to believe anyone was this stupid or ignorant of the outside world. Liz simply stared back as if expecting the raincoat girl to say something or make a move or something. Six was off to the side, doing her own thing.
Finally, Raine turned away from Liz and toward the nearest tree, bumping her head against it for a few seconds. Her blows weren't hard enough to cause her skull to split open, only hard for enough sense to creep back into her head. "Ugh, mother of me and Mono," Raine sighed heavily, slipping down the tree and onto the ground when she was too tired to keep going. "Why oh why did I decide it was a good idea to bring you along for this wild and crazy ride?"
Sighing softly under her breath, a sound that would pass by anyone else but Six and Liz unnoticed, the brown haired girl grabbed hold of the tree and pulled herself upwards. When she was up, she put a hand up to her face which she dragged downwards till her narrowed brown eyes were focused on the bang covered green eyes of the ruler of the Nest, her flat teeth gritted together in pure frustration, revealing her canine teeth that weren't as sharp as Six's but still had a good point and edge to the four of them.
"Are you fucking serious?! Have you ever seen a forest before in your entire fucking life?!" Raine snapped angrily at Liz, struggling to keep her voice down to a whisper just in case the Hunter Six had mentioned to them a few minutes before was around hunting more earlier than she expected him to. Liz opened her mouth to answer, but it seemed Raine had figured out the answer on her own. "Don't answer that." Raine turned her head away in Six's direction, letting Liz get a view of her now messy brown hair that was once brushed nicely from her time at the Nest and braid that was still tied up tightly and hanging over one of her shoulders.
"Really?" You asked me a question, why the fuck did you interrupt me?" Liz's voice raised in pitch and anger with every word she spoke to the point she was almost shouting in Raine's face, something she was known to do whenever she was overemotional. It wasn't a pleasant sound to listen to, but it was one Six was the most familiar with and one she found to be the most funny for reasons she couldn't explain. The raven haired girl hated to be the one to tell Liz that she sounded more like a fucking weird bird then a small child like herself and Raine too.
"It was a fucking rhetorical question, one that I already know the answer to," Raine replied bluntly, briefly lifting her gaze to allow Liz to see her deadpan expression. "And once again, you need to shut up, because once again we're not in the Maw or the Nest anymore, we're in unfamiliar territory. So, we don't know what to expect and we have to prepare for the worst." Six took a deep breath, turning her attention to Raine, wrapping her arms around herself as unwanted memories filled her brain. The forest, Mono, a large hand grabbing around her middle and throwing her into a cage.
She lightly shivered from fear but forced herself to keep her composure. "Raine is right, I might know this place well and the creatures within, but there are still dangers to be held." Both Liz and Raine nearly jumped out of their skin as they didn't expect her to talk so soon, but Liz regained her composure and raised a brow at Six. "Like the Hunter?" Six nodded her head. "That's not the only danger, before we even meet the Hunter, there are death traps set up around his house: bear traps, cages and shit like that, stuff that you wouldn't want to end up in."
Six turned around and started walking off in the direction the three girls were walking in for the past few hours or longer, taking notice of the light dimming in the far distance. The white-clad girl nearly paused in her tracks as she stared up at the slowly darkening sky. Has it really been that long? Had she and the other two girls been walking around the Wilderness for that long? Six didn't think it had been that long unless she and the others had woken up on the beach much later then she first thought.
If she had been paying attention to where she was going, she wouldn't have stepped on a loose branch on the ground. It rose up faster than Six expected and it hit her in the face like a character in an old cartoon. It didn't hurt, but it did startle her. She took a few steps backwards then fell on her ass, red eyes wide with shock as she looked around before she saw what had hit her.
Raine gasped in worry and ran over to her to make sure she was okay, she was thankfully, while Liz burst into loud, crying laughter at what had happened. Six snapped back to reality in less then a few seconds and glared back to the white-haired girl who was now rolling on the ground, laughing her ass off, as if this girl wasn't already a pain in the ass. Her eyes gave a blood red glow as her fangs started to lengthen, something that Raine took notice of. As if Six noticed her friend's worried gaze, her eyes stopped glowing and stood back on her own two feet and tilted her head in the direction they were going.
"Come on, it's getting late, we should find a place to turn in for the night."
When Mono awoke the moment he was shot out of the tv, he recognized and at the same time didn't recognize where he was. With a groan as he returned to consciousness slowly but painfully like he was dragging himself through the streets of the Pale City using only his teeth and a weathered rope, Mono planted his hands on the ground and carefully pushed himself into a sitting position much to the relief of them as they felt like they were being crushed under Mono's weight. Once he was properly stationed, the boy brought a hand up to his head to rub it gently, feeling a pounding headache coming on from using his powers like that.
It had been a long time since Mono had used his powers so much that it caused a headache, well apart from the first time he used them since he was much younger and new to these powers. When he was first training with these powers, he learned, the hard way, that using big bursts of magic or using his powers for too long could or rather, would cause headaches as well as exhaustion, which was exactly what Mono was feeling right now. "How are you feeling right now?" came a voice from his back, something that once upon a time, would've caused him dread but was soon a comforting thing in these darkest times of pain.
"Tired, have a headache," Mono muttered as he buried his face into his hands, two fingers massaging his temples to try to soothe the headache pounding into his brain. "Expected that," replied the voice, the tone clearly not holding any surprise. The boy felt a shifting movement behind his trench coat and the feeling of them leaving the crusted wound on his back, but besides that, they did nothing else. Mono winced and hissed in pain at the sensations, his spine wounds flaring up. They must've noticed the tensing of Mono's muscles or heard Mono's wheezes and whines, cuz' they stopped moving then slowly and carefully covered the wound within the boy's spine back up.
When they settled back into place, Mono let out a sigh of relief as the painful and flaring sensations in his back seized after a few seconds. "You really shouldn't have used that much power," the voice in his back reminded him, Mono sighed heavily. "Didn't want to do that," Mono replied weakly, bringing his face out of his hands as the pounding in his head eased to only a faint tapping on his skull. "But I didn't have another choice, I didn't want to consider the alternative." The boy gave a shudder as the memories of the cycles involving the Pale City and the Thin Man raced through his mind followed memories long ago, when he was a young innocent child with no one else but his parents and sister for company till things went wrong.
A choked sob was caught in his throat and a stray tear slowly ran down his cheek for a few seconds before he quickly wiped it away with his right hand. At the boy's words, they quieted down as their eyeballs popped out from beneath the layers of flesh, their expressions slowly morphing into an expression of what could be sympathy as they glanced at each other. "It's because the Thin Man is your father, right?" Their question made Mono tense up as if he had unknowingly stepped into the presence of a monster and the tears he was working to suppress nearly burst free from his shut eyes.
Mono sniffled in despair, his lower lip began to tremble and tears started to roll down his cheeks despite his efforts to hold them back and he thought he was too numb to feel any emotion. Realizing this question might've done nothing but hurt the poor broken boy, the flesh in Mono's spine tensed before moving into action immediately. Being as careful as they could when moving out of the wound knowing the sensations still hurt Mono even after several cycles of having that wound and this new quirk of his, the flesh moved and spread out onto Mono's back then started softly rubbing his back with a tendril of flesh in an effort to comfort the boy.
However, this effort seemed to do the opposite as Mono's face scrunched up and he started to cry, letting out all repressed emotions that he thought he successfully locked away tightly in a metal cage that was slowly bending and breaking with each passing cycle without his knowledge till it burst and broke at this very moment in time. "Oh my lord!" another voice exclaimed, its voice sounding male despite it sounding high pitched and concerned. "Mono, I'm so sorry…"
Mono sucked in his tears as much as he could, however there were some that had managed to get free from his eyelids and were now trembling down his cheeks to hit the floor of the grassy wilderness. The boy took in a deep breath then brought up his hands to his face to wipe his cheeks free from the wetness that had invaded his face. Once he was finished with that task, Mono let out a heaving sigh as he started to stand on his feet, the exhaustion that was previously weighing down his body was now starting to fade.
"No, no it's okay. I know you didn't mean to hurt me, it's just…" Mono's voice trailed off as he finally took a look at where he was and he sure as hell didn't need to be a genius to know where he was for he had been here for many cycles: the wilderness. Mono swallowed harshly, his face slowly turning paler than what he thought was possible as his mind was forced to dig up memories that his thirteen year old brain had struggled to keep hidden in favor of ensuring both him and Six survive.
Mono felt his heart drop into the pit of his stomach as he remembered two important key details: Six arriving in the wilderness and the Hunter who spent most of his time in the woods, hunting for both animals for meat for the Maw and…Six for keeping in his basement. The former bag headed boy didn't shudder at that memory like he usually would've whenever he thought about the wilderness and Six when she was trapped in the Hunter's basement with her beloved music box that Mono still regretted destroying even to this day considering he really hurt his friend and brought up a traumatic event from her past, but he still felt a chill roll down his spine as he knew what this meant.
Six was in trouble and he needed to find her before the Hunter found her first. The usual courage and cold, hard determination that had found its way into his heart ever since he first freed Six from the Hunter's basement even after she betrayed him multiple times and his miserable facial expression shifted to the usual one that was once hidden under a paper bag. "We can talk about this later," Mono said quickly, his voice becoming serious, as serious as his father whenever he became serious. He took a few steps forward into the wilderness, feeling the grass tickle his bare feet causing him to curl his toes in response.
"Six is probably in trouble and I'll need to find her." The end of his next sentence was followed by a gulp and a soft shudder as the images of the Hunter and his rusty shotgun flashed through his mind like a horror slideshow playing over and over, but the boy shook his head and forced himself to focus on his current mission, which was finding Six before the Hunter found her first. That was going to be hard since he had no idea where the hell the tv had shot him into or where Six was at the moment, but Mono had been in tougher situations and this time was going to be no different.
He wasn't entirely sure if he could find Six in the wilderness before the Hunter could find her, but he'd be a damn quitter if he gave up. Beneath his coat, Mono felt the flesh slide back into place in his back wound then shift in some attempt at a nod. "Go for it, Mono," said one of the voices in a determined voice. "Just be careful," said the second voice in a worried tone, slowly shrinking deeper into the wound on the tv boy's back. Mono gave a slight wince at the movement but turned his head toward his covered back and nodded his head.
Turning his head back in the direction of the wilderness, took in a deep breath through his nose and walked deeper into the wilderness, hoping to find Six before anything drastic could or would happen to her.
Seven sure as hell didn't know where the hell he was as he never traveled outside the Pale City, but that didn't mean he was going to stand here and do absolutely nothing not when he had just dodged a giant bullet and escaped being shipped off to the Maw, nearly being drowned by the Granny and turned into a Nome by the Lady even if it came with undesirable results mainly involving a familiar foe and considering he had friends who were captured who needed him. Seven tensed up much harder then he usually would've on a basis, causing the blue backpack on his back to slowly drag along the ground. When he dragged the backpack more toward him, surprise took over Seven's face and turned his head around to see the thing.
Memories came rushing back to his head, memories that he wanted to forget but couldn't as they were too fresh in his mind. At first, when Seven first woke up on the ground of this large forest, he had no idea where he was or what the hell was going on. However, when he took a look at his still full backpack, the events of that day flashed through his preteen mind. The harbor, the storm, his friends getting kidnapped by the Ferryman when he went back for Nightlight when she suddenly and unexpectedly fell behind in the violent hurricane then him being swept away by the strong winds to wherever the hell this wooded area was.
Actually now that he thought about it, he did remember Quince and another kid talking about areas outside the Pale City after managing to snag a map from a rotting sign post on its last legs and from what he remembered, Quince had called the wooded area far from the Pale City the wilderness or something like that. However, the map only detailed the areas that neither Quince nor Seven knew about before they went on their travels, not the monsters that lived within the wilderness and even more unfortunate, the map didn't have another map of the wilderness individually so he could figure out where the hell he was and even if it did, Seven didn't have the fucking thing.
Quince had it since he was the more responsible out of his little group, had more experience with reading maps despite this world having a very shitty educational system and had the biggest backpack out of everyone so he could carry the most weight. One of the reasons why having a group that would help out and carry some of your weight was a good thing, but sadly that was a rare thing in this world. But Quince and the rest of his little group and the rest of their supplies were kidnapped by the Ferryman and no doubt, taken to the Maw. Thankfully, Seven had packed several survival supplies and food in his pack while he, Quince, Nightlight and the rest of their group traveled around the Pale City to the harbor with minor stops at leftover survival stores so they could pick up supplies.
So it wasn't like he was going into and traveling throughout new territory inexperienced. It wasn't much since Quince had most of their shit as per usual, but it would be enough to help him survive in the wilderness till he could get to the Maw and save his friends. He wasn't sure how he was going to do it, but he had been in tougher situations before while in the Maw and managed to survive as long as possible in the cycles without his mind flashing to suicide as a way out like many of the others had came to, like the Lady and the young raven haired girl in the yellow raincoat had considered and frankly, Seven couldn't blame them even if they had done some really awful shit before and caused him harm.
But at the same time, Seven hadn't seen or been in areas outside the Pale City, so he had no idea what to do or how to survive in a forest till he could make to the Pale City and to wherever the Ferryman docked his boat, but did that mean he was going to give up now? Hell no, he went through way worse things while in the Maw and even then, he didn't give up and died at any moment in the cycle, so why would Seven give up now?
Honestly the Nome king couldn't remember a point in time where he gave up even after the worst part of his cycles, the part where he got devoured by the raven haired, red eyed girl, Six if he remembered, before she fought back against her own hunger and just seeing her do that made Seven even more determined to escape his part of the cycle. Taking in a deep breath, Seven got on his feet, readjusted the straps of his backpack and headed into the wilderness, unaware of the dangers within.