Mono + Six Afterstory || Little Nightmares II

Twenty-Four

     "Aunt Jezzie, I was in the Pale City for a long time. I was trying to scope things out. I met someone pretty great!" He was so effortlessly enthusiastic; he knew he could act like a kid, be himself around his aunt, because she was always the one trying to keep peace amidst the chaos of their family. "I missed you a lot." His voice was full of passion—so much bottled-up emotion was finally able to come out. Regardless of how happy he was, though, there was the issue of his mother... She was like a shell of her former self, and he couldn't just ignore it. "What happened to my mom? Was it the signal from the TVs?" His question was perhaps ill-timed, but he figured there was no use in delaying the inevitable. He needed to know.

     The woman turned to face her sister and put a hand on her, caressing her cheek with a pained expression. No reaction. "I'm not quite sure how it happened. I came home one day and it was as if her soul had been taken from her. She won't even speak to me." Following her explanation, she held Mono out so that she could see his face. "I'm sorry, love. I wish there was something I could do. I have been trying to stay strong for your mother, but it is difficult..."

     Her words weren't reassuring, even if she wanted them to be. Mono was overwhelmed by his negative thoughts, and it didn't help when, out of the corner of his eye, he saw his mother move. His heart raced with enthusiasm, but he was crushed soon thereafter. She didn't look happy—in fact, she looked terrified, traumatized even. He didn't know what caused it, but it seemed the longer she looked into Mono's eyes, the more stressed she became. "N-No... Stay away." She flinched somewhat when her sister let Mono face her, her hands shaking and her lip quivering. She didn't recognize her own son. "The tall man I saw! He tried to take me!"

"Heavens, Mira, what are you saying? It's your son, not a man!" Jezebelle tried to talk some sense into the other woman, but she was too out-of-it to realize what was right in front of her.

This was really all Mono needed to witness for his self-loathing to return. Is that really what his mother saw when she looked upon him? She saw him for what he really was. He'd hurt her, and he would never be able to make it up to her.
With an empty feeling making him lightheaded, he tried to create some distance between himself and everyone else, slipping away from Jezebelle and onto the table nearby. He held his hands over his ears to try and block out the sound of his mother's fear replaying over and over again in his head, but he only felt weaker by the second. He figured he would get a moment to himself to recover, but it was almost like a chain-reaction; two other adults in the room reacted in the same way as his mother, perhaps even worse. He was in such agony, his body glitching and distorting as he fell to his knees. The desperate cries of the adults reminded him of those faceless viewers...a sound he didn't want to recall.

He was honestly stuck on what to do—Julie was busy calming his mother down, and so was Jezebelle. Before he could manage to discern anything, he had completely blacked out in this hunched-over position, twitching slightly in his unconscious state.

Mono didn't know how much time had passed when he shot awake, but he was panicking as if he had never escaped that stressful situation...until he noticed a bag covering his head. It was a source of safety for him, and now it served a bigger purpose. With slightly obscured vision, he looked around aimlessly, noticing the bed he was in first, and then, to his right, he saw Six staring at him expectantly, gripping onto his arm for comfort. He didn't know what to say to her...he felt so ashamed, even though all he had done was exist. "Where am I?" He was still so disoriented, and his tone was proof enough, but Six was calm, which helped him to relax back into the pillow.

"We got back to the Pale City about an hour ago. The adults are unpacking everything and checking things out. We're stuck on the boat until they get back." Her voice was soft yet direct, and she let go of him now that he was peaceful again. "You were asleep for two days."

The lost boy weakly listened to Six, his head foggy and his eyes threatening to spill tears. After a moment of staring at the devilish girl, he could no longer hold his emotions in; he tugged his best friend into a tight embrace, trembling as he hugged her. He wasn't even thinking about her injury.

Six winced upon impact but she didn't complain, and just held Mono close. "I heard what happened... I'm sorry you had to go through that." Although it was unlike her to be so sweet and sincere, she could tell dry humor was not appropriate now, not when Mono was so upset.

"I'm never going to be able to show my face. My own mother doesn't even recognize me." He didn't want to make this all about himself since they were finally back to his home, free from the ocean for a while, but he couldn't help feeling this way.

Regardless of if Six had intended to hold back on her usual bad attitude, hearing Mono's pessimism was enough to crack her tough shell. "Ugh, she sounds like a bitch anyways! Why do you even care?" Her outburst was brief, but enough for the boy to pull away from her out of shock. Surprisingly, he wasn't the first to speak up—it was one of the other kids (Ray namely), who had actually been in the room with them the whole time, just quiet as to not disturb them.

"Six! Please watch the language!" The boy with the orange overcoat scolded her without hesitation, expecting her to apologize.

Mono turned around in a flash when Ray spoke, his heart beating out of his chest from how spooked he was. "H-Have you guys been there this whole time?" He stammered due to his fear, but he calmed down in no time because of Six's presence, as well as the comforting gazes of the other kids.

Ray changed his demeanor quickly to make sure he didn't stress Mono out even more, walking over with the other kids and hopping down from the counter onto the bed with them. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you. We just wanted to give you some space after what happened. Besides, Six and Ms. Julie have both done a pretty good job taking care of you." He explained the previous space between them, but his words only gave Mono more reason to fret.

"You know what happened...? Does everyone...?" He wore a giant frown underneath the paper bag, his eyes heavy and his body weak. For some reason, he was so tired still.

The other kids remained quiet for a moment, appearing guilty for having any knowledge. Eventually, Eliza broke the silence. "We only heard bits and pieces from Six. She and Ms. Julie's husband came to find you when she woke up, and they saw the commotion." Her brief answer was reassuring to Mono, likely because she didn't go into detail about any hysterics.

"I can't believe I slept so long... I don't feel like I really slept much." The unlucky boy replied with a sigh, full of disbelief that his slumber was that of a deep sleep.

To his surprise, Pericia spoke up next, carrying herself with more confidence than usual. "That would be because you were using your powers in your sleep. Whether or not it was intentional, it was pretty frequent." She paused for a moment after giving an explanation, full of pity looking at Mono's stature. "I wouldn't be shocked if it's some sort of defense mechanism. After all, what you experienced was rather traumatizing..."

     Mono leaned back after hearing Pericia's opinion, at least feeling safe knowing they were all here to watch over him in case it happened again. He turned to Six shortly after relaxing, full of sorrow looking down at her hands on him. "I know the right thing for me to do is to run far away from here, so that nobody else gets hurt..." This realization wasn't a new one; he'd been beating himself up already for being a threat. Everyone in the room wore wide eyes glossed over with despair, but he wasn't planning on giving them another thing to agonize over. "And yet...I can't bring myself to leave. I care too much about you all, and Six..." His heart skipped a beat, though his confidence did not waver. She was staring at him with such a pained expression—it hurt him to look at. "As long as people here recognize me as the thin man, I won't be able to show my face."

"I don't care how hard things get. You're not leaving us." Riley suddenly responded in an argumentative tone, wearing a disturbed, somewhat angered look on his face. He was so calm all the time that this shook Mono to his core. He didn't know how to react. The good news is: Julie walked in, so he didn't have to worry about emotion anymore.