Six woke up to the darkness once again, it was like the dream she had at the Nest, the shadows, the flower petals and the blurry image of the woman wearing the ember kimono and brown eyes except her image was less blurry but even then, Six still couldn't properly make out her full image yet. The little girl tried sitting up then leaning forward while squinting her red eyes to try to see her better. But the woman was fading away from her vision as if some unknown force was pulling her away.
Six's shocked gasp echoed throughout the dream world, her legs nearly causing her to topple over as she stood upright. Her eyes went wide as she shouted to the woman fading from her vision, though she reckoned that even with her lung power, the lady wouldn't have been able to hear. Her images suddenly changed. "Mono?" her voice came out a squeak at the sight of her beloved back in the same tree he started at, when the pair first met. He looked up at her, meeting her eyes directly. Tears filled her eyes, relief filled her heart. Mono, her Mono was okay, her beloved was alive and not a part of the tower flesh anymore.
"Mono! Thank goodness you're ok…" Six's voice trailed off, her eyes widened with horror when a familiar light shined on her back. "Dad?" her voice dropped to a near whisper, her head turning around to face the Hunter, tears streaming down her cheeks. A sniffle passed her lips, her heart hurting from the guilt that was still harming her heart. "The Tower?!" The girl's terrified voice rose in pitch as she observed the giant wall of flesh with eyeballs glaring down at her with hatred, some red, others different colors that she couldn't identify yet.
Six swallowed down her fear, her feet moving her backwards to put as much distance between herself and the flesh as possible. The irises followed her movements but they couldn't inch closer. "Six!" The raven haired girl perked up at her name, her red irises streaming with tears that made it hard to see through the darkness. She swore she saw another girl with raven hair like her and a man with a lab coat who she knew to be her uncle, Otto. "Otto?"
But that wasn't all, forming above the image of the Maw was a black smog and ember mist forming the image of a man and a lady, two figures she didn't identify. "What the fuck?! Who are you? Were you responsible for this?" Six's shouts went unheard as she cried out in fear, the ground beneath her finally caving in.
Seven didn't know where the hell he was when he woke up, it was too dark for him to tell really. However the world around him felt wet and damp, almost like water even though he wasn't in water, just in a dark room or something like that. With a gulp, the boy in blue stood to his feet and took a look around, the world beneath him splashing and rippling as his bare feet touched the ground. As expected, he couldn't see anything and that unnerved him more than when he was in the depths and residence and was being chased by the Granny and Lady. A cold sweat formed on his forehead that he hastily wiped away with his hand before wiping it on his shirt which felt damp to the touch. Had he been lying in a pool of water this whole time?
Seven really doubted that, but his body certainly felt like it. Suddenly an image of what looked like the Lady minus the ember colored kimono, her hairstyle and whatever else, the image was simply too blurry for him to see properly. She turned her body around to face him, nearly causing Seven to have a heart attack on the spot but he didn't. The 'Lady', whoever she was, moved her body in some sort of Japanese dance that the boy had never seen before, flower petals stirred upwards from the ground along with a stream of water following her movements.
At this, Seven paused dead in his tracks at the 'Lady's' dance, confusion filling his core and an eyebrow on his face raised in confusion, unsure of what to make of this as this wasn't something an adult/monster would usually do. Usually the adults of this world would scream or chase after any children who would dare enter their sights, not dance in the way this woman, if he could even call her that, was doing. As much as this scared him, this also interested him as it was a beautiful sight as well as interesting.
However, Seven's view of the woman was soon interrupted by either something grabbing his ankle and dragging him under the water like his first nightmare at the Maw or some unknown force dragging him below the surface, either way panic filled Seven's veins and he struggled with all his might to escape the grasp of whatever had grabbed him. But it was all for naught as despite his struggles, he was easily dragged below the water with a plop, flower petals being the last thing he saw.
Mono squirmed with terror as he shrunk further and further into his chair, all around him the eyes glared down at him. Tv cables dug into his back, wriggling around inside of him, teasing his spine and playing with his insides. The trench coat boy moaned with pain, body shaking and flaring white hot. Sweat trembled down his body, acid clung to the back of his throat, blood slid down his back and coated both him and the wood of his chair. Mono let out a cry, tears started streaming down his face as it turned green with nausea. The urge to vomit was becoming stronger then what Mono was used to, bile started climbing up his throat almost filling his mouth.
Liz sat on the bench near the cliff on the Nest, staring blankly out at the night sky, it was blank. Just a dark black sky, the wind started to pick up and blew Liz's snow white hair upwards. The Pretender looked up at the sky, her white bangs splitting apart to reveal her green eyes void of emotion. Liz sighed as she rested her hands on her knees, head bowing as she looked downwards at the ground. At least, it wasn't raining hard on her like last time.
Raine stood on the rooftop of the Maw one night, looking out at the water and the Pale City in the distance. Her brown eyes squinted as she watched the water ripple and crash against the walls of the Maw, slightly soaking her face and her beloved yellow raincoat. The wind around her started to pick up, causing her tightly braided hair to flutter in the breeze. A light fog started to surround the ocean, a sight that Raine was used to seeing but it no less unnerved her as she watched the fog roll in. It reminded her of one of the many ghost stories the Ferryman had told her and Mono when they were much younger while on the sea. It made her shiver slightly, but she remained as calm as she could be in this situation.
From above Mono, an ember light engulfed the room causing Mono to turn his head from the glaring eyes surrounding him and upwards where he could easily see the light. The boy grimaced as the light burned his unprepared eyes, bringing an arm up to shield them till his vision could adjust properly. When he lowered his arm, he caught sight of what looked like a woman who almost resembled his mother in some way minus the ember colored kimono she wore and the large beautiful butterfly wings on her back. Using her body, she performed some kind of Japanese dance, something that he had seen before with his own mother, but couldn't remember where. Flower petals surrounded him as the chair and floor disappeared from underneath him and he fell into the void.
Liz stood up from the bench as she felt the cliffs start to collapse, she had overstayed her welcome, time to bail as quickly as possible. Her green eyes searched around the Nest for an easy exit, only to find herself surrounded by flower petals before the cliffs collapsed and her fancy ass was dropped into darkness. Raine squeaked in surprise as she lifted off the Maw's roof by a gust of wind and flower petals, in the corner of her eye was a woman who looked like her mother but that was all the information she got before she was dropped into darkness.
Six woke up with a sharp gasp, she panted roughly as she sat up in her bed or rather an uneven but surprising gentle and soft piece of cloth she, Raine and Liz had managed to find while wandering the wilderness, probably left behind by the normal adults before the sun fully set, more fabric covering her small body falling off her as she moved. The raven haired girl took a few deep breaths into her lungs and rested both her hands against her face, feeling the fresh tears and sweat that had formed in both her eyes and on her face.
Six took a few seconds or a full minute to compose herself then wiped her face free from tears and sweat with his hands. When she removed them, she brought her legs up to her chest so she could rest her arms on her knees then her head on her arms before giving a heavy sigh but not too loud as she wasn't the only one hiding under the old log shelter. Beside her were her two comrades: Liz and Raine, dead asleep on the old piece of ruined clothing.
Raine was lying on her side, head facing Six with an arm resting under her head to cushion it for comfort. Her raincoat that Six would later wear during her adventures in the Pale City with Mono, was folded up neatly and placed under her head, acting as a pillow. Six gave a soft smile and a quiet relieved sigh at seeing her friend looking so cute while she was sleeping. However, her smile soured a little when she lied eyes on Liz/the Pretender, her most hated enemy besides the Signal Tower, the Bullies and probably every fucking monster in this world on her list that she'll never get to properly number.
She was sleeping on her side much like Raine was with an arm under her head to comfort it. The only differences being she had her back turned to both Raine and Six and a piece of old clothes draped over her, acting as her own blanket. Six stared at her for a few seconds before she looked away, trying hard not to blush at the surprisingly adorable sight of the Pretender, of all creatures, sleeping.
Instead, Six turned her attention toward the front of the shelter, looking out into the night sky. The sky above her was full of stars and the moon hung high, its light casting onto the ground, it looked starry and beautiful. Six felt jealous of the stars above her despite a part of her brain thinking they were beautiful regardless. They didn't have to deal with a fucking cycle that costed them the lives of their friends and broke down their sanity to the point where they became unstable. Or had to deal with monsters from said cycle on a daily basis.
No, they could sit there in the sky and glow as bright as they could without a fucking care in the world while Six was stuck withing a repeating cycle that not only took any friends she made away from her, drove her mad, always had her on the run from the monsters who ruled this world but also brought her back from the dead whenever she died from one of the monsters such as Roger the Janitor, the Twin Chefs, the Lady or whoever the fuck else.
She had no idea how the hell the Tower could bring people back from the dead even after spending some time within the confines of the Signal Tower while on the run from the Thin Man, Six still didn't know how the Tower or the Eye worked besides the way it corrupted the Pale City by using the Thin Man's powers, powers that Six still didn't fully know completely know about to this day.
That was the second frustrating part next to being completely useless to Mono during the other cycles when he needed her the most. Seriously, she thought she would learn something about the Signal Tower at one point during the cursed loops. She had learned some bits and pieces about the Lady, the Thin Man, the Maw, the Pale City, even her two friends: Raine, Mono and Seven/the Runaway Kid as other kids refer to him as while she was free and alone.
Yet during those times, she hadn't learned a damn thing about the Signal Tower at one point in these damn loops have taken their course. Sighing heavily, Six buried her face in her knees as she forced her brain to switch over to more important matters. First thing was surviving, that was the first thing on her or any other kid's list in this world. Take that out of the equation and the results could be very shitty.
Second thing was finding Mono as quickly as possible for obvious reasons, if not just keeping him safe from the Signal Tower after all the incident that gained both her and him an unlikely companion in some of the tower flesh that the pair later named Hidari for it's assistance with helping Mono then it was from the other dangers in the woods besides her father's traps considering what he was even before the Signal Tower takeover.
Third thing, avoid the Hunter's traps at all costs and that didn't need any explanation for why. Just three things, three simple things to focus on yet will cause her stress regardless of how simple they were. Even if she wouldn't trade them for anything else, it was still a lot on her mind. Six sighed once again and laid herself back down on her makeshift bed, that shit could all wait for tomorrow. For now, she should try to get some sleep, then she would have enough energy to survive and find Mono before something bad happens to him.
Maybe she was worrying too much, Mono was a smart boy and knew how to survive as well as get out of a bad situation whenever one came up. He was okay, he was just fine, Mono wasn't in any danger. She could only hope Mono was okay as she finally drifted off. Yet even as she did so, she couldn't help but wonder about that raven haired girl in the white hospital gown and her uncle. It had been a long time since she had thought of her remaining family on the mainland, but the thought of Otto brought almost all the memories the Signal Tower had suppressed even as she drifted off.
Raine wasn't entirely when her dream or rather, nightmare, that word was far more accurate at this moment especially in a world like this, woke her up but when she sat up on her makeshift bed, it was no longer night but morning. "Huh?" the brunette asked softly, brown eyes widening slightly before they softened as they looked around the wilderness and the makeshift shelter she, Six and Liz had taken shelter under for the night after they had traveled at least half a mile into the rather larger than life wilderness. Well it probably wasn't a mile, but Raine wasn't exactly keeping track.
Speaking of Six and Liz, the raincoat girl turned her attention to her comrades who were still fast asleep on each of her sides, still in the same position as before. Six was slumbering beside her within her blankets of rags with her arms under her head to cushion it, though signs of her stirring were starting to show. Liz, on the other hand, was clearly in deep sleep as the white haired girl was lying in a deep sleep position that she's seen before with the other children on the Maw except Liz kinda looked like a drunk old man or something.
Raine sighed softly at this sight, rolling her eyes nearly to the back of her head as she went to check on Six. She gently ran a hand through Six's black hair that was a bit messy from her sleep, smoothing it down before it poofed right back into its feral state. Raine chuckled/sighed under her breath as she felt her fingers get tangled within several strains of the girl's jet black mess, a soft warm smile spreading across her face despite a slight bit of annoyance entering her system as she struggled to get her fingers free from Six's feral hair. She might really need to consider getting a hairbrush or a comb.
Though her resistance was strong, Raine couldn't help but gently pull Six in closer and cuddle her close to her chest, running a hand through her raven colored hair. She tossed aside the still neatly tied braid over one shoulder, the thing flew through the air for a few seconds before it landed on her back. The girl barely felt the little impact on her back as her full attention was on the small sleeping raven haired girl all curled like a cute bundle against her chest, face buried into the bundle of rags Raine had set up under her friend's head.
Raine felt her smile widened as Six shifted herself beneath the bundles of rags, revealing more of her pretty face that was usually hidden beneath her mess of jet black hair. Even with dark shadows underneath both her shut eyes, Six was still rather pretty, the Bellhop rather fondly referred to her as a younger version of the Lady. At the time of hearing that statement, Raine sure as hell didn't believe him as both her mother and Six were two different people despite a few similarities between them both. But in the moment with the rising sun barely lighting the inside of the homemade shelter, Raine could privately admit that maybe she could see why the Bellman would say that about her friend.
Gently, Raine ran her fingers up toward Six's forehead, lifting up her bangs so she could lay a small kiss on her forehead. At this move, Six's body shifted once again under the near mountain of blankets Raine covered her with. She freed her arms from within, stretching them out before rubbing her still shut eyes with her closed fists. "Good morning Six," Raine said gently, pulling the other girl in closer for an embrace, blankets included. "Hmm, oh good morning Raine," Six said kindly, opening her red eyes as she stretched out her tired limbs for a second time. "How are you doing today?"
As Six said this, she tilted her head to one side, giving the brunette a small smirk. Despite herself, Raine found her cheeks becoming a little red with embarrassment as she felt the other girl's head rest against her chest and her arms wrap lightly around her neck in some form of hug. "I'm doing alright, how are you?" Raine replied, sitting up on their makeshift bed with Six still in her arms, a hand running itself through Six's hair, brushing aside the smaller girl's bangs to allow Raine to see the blood red shading of the raven haired girl's eyes.
Even with Six's attempts to shy away, the brunette adored the girl's beautiful eyes even if they were the creepy shade of deep blood red much like her mother's whenever the Lady chose to remove her mask which was very rarely for obvious reasons. Beneath her, Six's cheeks began to turn as red as her eyes as she felt Raine's hands stroking her cheeks and reveal one of her biggest secrets that she never really revealed to anyone, not even Mono until she had grown to trust him within the cycles as there was a reason she kept her eyes hidden as her hidden feral side was a force to be reckoned with when it was unleashed whether or not it was her own doing.
Right now however, Six didn't really feel too shy. "I slept well but I'm feeling more better when I'm with you," Six muttered under her breath, her own eyes slowly turning till they nearly were melting into Raine's brown eyes, her own eyes widening when she realized what she was possibly saying, cheeks now blood red like her wide eyes. "I-I mean, Raine, I think we should get up now." Raine felt a little bit disappointed at Six's next response, but once she fully took stock of where she was and what was still going on, she looked back at Six with a serious facial expression much like yesterday.
"Alright, let's get going. First we should wake Liz up." Six sighed heavily as she finally remembered about the white haired girl's existence, she pulled herself free from Raine's arms as she propped herself into a sitting position. Raine shot Six a reassuring smile despite the situation and gently stroked the latter's messy black hair. "I think I might need my mother to get you a detangle brush once this is all over," the brunette giggled as her hand moved toward Six's bangs so she could stroke them out of her eyes to see them better.
Six pouted as she rolled her eyes, crossing her arms over her chest in a similar manner to a little toddler, it was a really cute expression to see on the usually tough girl's face. "Hey I wear my hair however I want," Six responded back with something close to a smirk, standing from her place on the pile of clothes and going over to Liz. "Also I think the state of my hair is kinda the least of your concerns."
The raven haired girl carefully got on her knees behind the Pretender and raised one of her fists into the air, then with speed Raine hoped to match Six smacked Liz's side. Thankfully the punch didn't do much besides startle the other girl awake in seconds. "How dare you take my fucking dolls?!" the white haired exclaimed, flailing her arms around, nearly clipping the other girl right in the face as she moved like a maniac.
"Oh," Liz said once a good look at where she was and who she was surrounded by, she smiled rather sheepishly as Six came down from her shock and glared right back at the white haired girl. "Good fucking morning to you too," Six grumbled in a deadpan tone though there was a hint of sarcasm within her voice, she set her hands on her hips as she rolled her eyes. She stood on her feet in the shelter then did something that she never thought she would in her life, she reached one of her hands out and offered it to the Pretender.
Her reaction was exactly what Six was expecting, she stared at the hand reaching toward her with shock and confusion like she couldn't believe that Six, one of her worst enemies, was reaching out her hand to help her up. Six watched the Pretender go through a variety of emotions for a few seconds before she let out a heavy sigh, tapping one of her feet against the ground giving off an annoyed huff. At once, the white haired girl jolted back to attention and quickly grabbed hold of Six's hand without using her powers thankfully, allowing the latter to pull her up.
Once that was done, Six turned her head and attention away from Liz over to Raine, However the girl in question wasn't in the same place she had left her. Instead, the raincoat girl, who was now in her yellow raincoat, was circling around the back of the shelter. Her brown eyes wandered up and down the covered wood back of the shelter in deep concentration till they lit up upon spotting something that she figured or thought was important to their survival, she then darted back to the front of the shelter and whistled loudly to her comrades.
Six and Liz, who were already heading toward the front of the shelter, were startled when a yellow blur shot in front of them and whistled. "What is it, Raine?" Six asked her friend, quickly getting over the shock of nearly getting run over by her best friend upon spotting her excited facial expression. Six had rarely seen that look on Raine's face but when she got that look, it usually meant something good. "You girls should come see this." That was all she said before she walked back behind the shelter, a hand ushering to get them to follow her. Six watched the girl depart for a few seconds before she turned her gaze back to Liz, shrugged her shoulders then followed after her friend.
The walk to the back of the makeshift shelter was a short one which wasn't surprising considering its size, but what was surprising was the amount of weight the thing was able to hold. Backpacks, supplies and rags of all kinds littered the back of the shelter or the ground, some that Six instantly recognized such as rope like the one Raine wore around her shoulders, hunting knives like the ones she had once seen the Hunter use before on his meat before he shipped it off to the Maw, canteens and many other supplies one would need to survive in the wilderness like the Hunter and themselves.
Six gave a little shudder at the mention of the Hunter, not from her two comrades but the lingering flashes of her nightmare she had last night and it didn't just involve the Hunter. Six gave a soft frown as she shut her eyes then reopened them just as Liz walked over to the bundles of rags resting on the back of the shelter, pulling off each one and examining them probably to find some that weren't completely destroyed while Raine was occupying herself with searching through the left behind backpacks for something useful besides the rope and the remaining piece of wood Raine still carried.
Though neither of them had any use for the rope and piece of wood at the moment considering they had just started their journey into the wilderness, Six was still grateful that Raine carried both on hand as they knew, one way or another, they were going to need them. A piece of fabric flew through the air and landed on the girl's face, snapping the raven haired girl out of her thoughts. Six growled furiously as she grabbed hold of the piece of fabric and pulled it free from her face, holding the fabric out in front of her face and looking it over.
Her eyes rounded when she recognized her dark blue jumper that she wore during her and Mono's part of the cycle before she found Raine's yellow raincoat, even though the clothing brought back really terrible memories, most notably the ones where Six was in the Hunter's basement with only a music box for company, Six still shut her eyes and pulled on the still good piece of clothing, allowing nostalgia to take her back.
Mono remembered the first meeting like it was yesterday, it was right after the first attack on the house and he managed to escape. The bag headed boy wandered through the wilderness for hours on end, chest hurting from his heart being broken from betrayal and having his comrades taken away from him till night fell and he had to climb a tree to protect himself from the now transformed adults/ monsters roaming the world thanks to the fucking Signal Tower.
He looked out to the forest above and below as his body was ready to collapse on him, he was surprised to find a little girl who looked about nine years old and was wearing a dark blue jumper. Her skin was pale, more paler than his own. Her hair was black as raven feathers and her eyes as red as blood. If love at first sight ever existed, then Mono was very certain he had found his own even at ten years old. Even with his looming exhaustion, Mono couldn't take his eyes off the girl as she wandered around the floor of the wilderness, sniffing the air with a curious look in her red eyes before they locked onto his form up in the tree.
Mono couldn't entirely see her eyes from her position on the tree, but he knew they were looking at him. The trench coat boy couldn't read thoughts, but he would probably be correct if he believed she was wondering why the hell he was out here in the wilderness considering the possible danger that was lurking around. However even with that possibility, Mono considered climbing down the tree and heading over to the girl to introduce himself and probably invite her to join him in trying to survive in this world.
One foot moved to do just that, however at that moment a large hand reached out from the darkness and grabbed the girl tightly before she could so much as blink. Even with him being a good distance away, the girl's eyes shot from the situation to Mono's eyes which were wide with shock and terror at what had happened, mind almost unable to properly process anything. However when the raven haired girl called out for help, the adrenaline kicked in and Mono was off his ass and to the rescue.
Unknown to him at the time, that would be the most beautiful and tragic mistake he'd ever made.
Mono woke up with a gasp, nearly falling out of the tree as his body woke up from that sudden trip down memory lane. The boy sat up straight on the tree branch he had camped out on the night before and his head looked around the now sun filled wilderness, he took in a deep breath through his nose and let it out through his mouth as he carefully stood on his feet and began climbing down it. With his body having gotten strength from a surprisingly restful sleep, the trip down was much easier than the trip up last night.
In seconds, Mono's bare feet touched the grassy ground of the wilderness and the morning dew soon cleaned the dirt and dried blood that had covered the wounds he had gotten on his soles. Mono frowned as he lifted one of his bare feet to inspect them, he trailed a finger along the crusted wounds on his feet, feeling the difference in texture on his soft skin. Even if he had gotten use to walking around barefoot, that didn't mean he enjoyed doing that shit every fucking cycle.
Mono sighed heavily in exasperation as he lowered his foot to the ground, his foot being caressed by the morning dew once again. If this fucking cycle would ever end, then Mono would forever wear sandals or whatever on his feet from now on. "If it would ever fucking end," Mono cursed/sighed under his breath, bringing a hand up to his bare face to rub it gently, feeling a bit of fresh sweat forming on his forehead. The boy sighed harshly as he wiped it away, great already his day was becoming stressful and he had barely started it.
"Dammit," Mono said to himself, readjusting his coat to rest more on his shoulders as he started to walk forward into the wilderness. "You've just gotten up and already you're stressed, though it is completely understandable for you to feel this way considering the current circumstances. But still, you can't let that stop you from finding Six if she is here, but given the other cycles, there is no doubt in my mind that she is here." The boy let out another sigh as he forced his other thoughts to the back of his mind in favor of focusing on finding Six for he was going to need her help for finally ending this shitfest.
Despite the stress running through his body, a deep sense of concern started burrowing deep within his guts and it wasn't just for him but also for Six obviously. At this point, Mono had probably explored half of the wilderness by now but he hadn't seen any hide or hair of the wilderness hunter ever since he had arrived nor his traps for that matter. The traps that would be both a recipe for death and hindrance for the boy in the wilderness part of the cycle, it wasn't either one or the other, it was both for the young boy.
Despite him and the Hunter becoming a bit close, Mono was still unsure if the man still wanted vengeance on him for what he had done or if he had picked up the traps that surrounded the wilderness. The boy doubted he did for the Maw and the rest of his family needed food, the children needed food as the number of them had gone up since the last cycle and he doubted it would lower considering their situation. The death toll of adults and orphaned children who needed sanity in a dark situation were high and if the problem wasn't solved, the tower could win.
A terrified shudder ran through the boy's entire body at that thought, that was not something he wanted to think about especially when he was trying to find his best friend/beloved. As much as everything in this world hurt him to no end, Mono knew that dwelling in the past wasn't going to help him in any way even if they had talked about this before. What was going to help him was keeping his mind focused and alert so any step he would take wouldn't be fucked up and his journey would be delayed more then it was already. Even with his two companions still being asleep, the trench coat boy still knew what he had to do.
One, find Six as quickly as possible. Two, find a way to break this cursed cycle. Mono didn't know how he was going to do that even with some extra boosts from the Signal Tower and some extra knowledge from his two extra companions, Mono still doubted that there could be a way out of this situation but he did have some clue and that had to do with the children still left behind in the Pale City. Throughout his time in the cycles, Mono and his family along with many friends had plotted plans and ideas to evacuate the remaining children in the Pale City without the Signal Tower knowing or noticing.
It was true that the thousand year old flesh monster was becoming overconfident with its cycle and power flowing into them, but Mono knew from experience that the beast was far from stupid and if one wrong move was committed, it could be their end. That was why the boy explored the Pale City when he was the Thin Man as much as he could, trying to find ways to get the children out from the city without the Eye taking notice. This is where the subway came in, true Mono had fallen on an abandoned and fucked up train but that wasn't the whole thing Mono would come to find out.
The subway led from the underground train station to the harbor far from the Eyes' reach as the remaining TVs down there had been destroyed by Mono and Thin Man, keeping the children safe from the Eyes' gaze. They had led a few out when some had decided to leave but they hadn't gone through the entire subway, leaving most of the tunnels unexplored and destinations unknown. Another place they could leave from was the apartments as there were fire escapes littering the apartments when they were first built as a safety against fire should one come up.
These exits Mono had seen as his father had taken him and some other children through them, they led out the backyards through a set of alleyways heading to the Harbor. Though the young lord of the Maw didn't see much of the Pale City harbor village, he knew it was the first ticket to leaving the Pale City for walking back through the city to the wilderness while the Eye was still living in the city was not something the trench coat boy wanted to risk. Even then, this entire plan was risky with consequences at every turn if something went wrong.
But still a chance to escape this cursed existence was one he was going to take even if he would probably lose his life or his powers and Mono would be a quitter if he decided to give up now. Mono's determination knew no bounds when it came to everyone's safety and he was going to go to great lengths to ensure his beloved and the other children were okay and well, even if he would get himself killed for their sake. However in a situation like this, Mono could only hope that his determination and strong devotion to his beloved didn't get him killed.
In his comfy sleeping bag, Seven was hit in the face by the rays of the rising sun. The boy let out a groan as his mind struggled between wanting to continue sleeping and getting up to do his shit, a mindset that he always had struggled with whenever Quince would wake him at nearly the crack of dawn so he and his other companions could continue traveling. His eyes closed tightly and his face scrunched up, trying to protect his eyes from the hot sun.
However, it seems like an internal alarm clock went off in his head and he let out a long yawn, sitting up in his sleeping bag and stretching out his tired limbs before opening his eyes. At first, Seven's vision was rather blurry as he had just woken up but as he rubbed his eyes, the blurriness in his vision slowly started to clear allowing the runaway boy to see where he was. He was still in the wilderness and not some water filled hell with some strange woman that looked like the Lady of the Maw in some way, what a fucking relief.
Seven let out a sigh of relief at this realization, resting a hand against his temples to massage them. "Thank God it was just a nightmare. But still, what does it mean?" Despite how little Seven spent his time analyzing the events of the cycles and the small changes that happened within because really it always ended the same fucking way, Seven silently set a hand against his chin as he wondered if he had taken way too much crack and had a goddamn fever dream.
It sounded possible yet impossible at the same time as despite his dwelling sanity and even hard depression, Seven had never taken any drugs or drank himself to a coma like Quince did one time when the group discovered alcohol in an abandoned bar while traveling. But still that sounded ten times more logical then something much deeper than the cycle itself happening behind the scenes, working against the Signal Tower to free them all.
Seven perked up in his sleeping bag, facial expression lighting up with hope at this possibility of escape before it slowly faded back into a deadpan look followed by an exasperated sigh and face palm. Truthfully as much as the twelve year old boy wanted a way out of this horrible situation, there was no way to tell if his dream meant anything, if that lady had anything to do with the present Lady or if there really was a way out of this pain racked cycle or something.
Seven groaned with annoyance and shoved his face into his hands. "Not even a week into this fucked up journey and already things are getting fucking weird, then again, aren't they already weird? Apparently no, not weird enough." The boy sighed angrily as he pulled his face away from his hands, rolling his eyes so hard he could probably see the back of his own skull. "Is that how I'm going to start my day? A question followed by more questions?" With another sigh, Seven decided to push aside those questions he had as they would do him no good to dwell on them in favor of getting up and packing up to explore the rest of the unknown forest he landed in.
And that was exactly what Seven did, he pulled himself out of his sleeping bag, folded it back up followed by the folding mattress then finally both were stuffed in his backpack rather messily. Once that was done, Seven stood on his feet, placing his backpack on his shoulders and taking in a deep breath, he walked off into the unknown.