(Artwork by SepiaPaws)
"Can you hear me..?"
The quiet sound of static buzzed in his ears as his hurting stomach caused him to toss and turn, groaning in pain.
"Mono, get up..."
A distorted, feminine voice called out to him. It sounded very distant, but in an instant sounded close and more demanding.
"Get up."
Mono's eyes shot open as he coughed and wheezed, gasping for air as he clung to his stomach. A dark figure was standing in front of him, and his surroundings were completely white. He clenched his teeth as the pain in his stomach hurt him once more before it went away completely all of a sudden.
"Where... where am I..? Who are you-"
"Silence. I need to inform you about something. Stand up, now."
He glanced up from off of the ground and couldn't believe his eyes as he discovered who was communicating to him.
"Shadow?! You survived!"
Mono quickly got onto his feet but was confused to see her backing away from him, shaking her head.
"I'm not here to have a friendly chat with you."
"What..?"
"You see... I used to have a connection with Six. I could sense her whereabouts at any point in time, that's how I teleported to her in the first place."
Shadow Six began to walk in a circle in the pure white room, her raincoat pulsating with electricity.
"Ever since the Signal Tower collapsed, that bond seemed to fracture. I can't keep a close eye over her anymore."
Shadow stopped in place, her back turned toward Mono. Glancing over her shoulder, her white eyes illuminated her dark face as they stared at him with unclear intent.
"I can still feel a connection to you, Mono."
"I don't understand... what connection?"
She smirked and demonstrated her "connection," Mono locking up in place as he realized what she meant. His stomach began to growl once again, the painful feeling building up inside of him as Shadow Six merely watched.
"Do you understand now?"
"What the... this is YOU!? YOU'RE DOING THIS TO ME?!"
Shadow scoffed and nodded in response, a smirk stained on her face.
"WHY!? ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME?!"
"That's exactly what I'm trying to do."
The only thing stopping Mono from attacking her was his hunger as she bent down, looking at him like he was a helpless animal.
"Emphasis on trying, I can't really do much to hurt you."
"YOU'RE... INSANE!!"
"I don't want you to die, Mono, at least not yet."
The hunger went away in an instant as Mono writhed around on the ground in pain.
"However, I don't want Six to die either. And for her to live, you can't be with her."
"What do you..?"
His voice broke as Shadow Six lowered her head.
"You are going to be the one who kills her, Mono."
He felt like his heart was crushed as she uttered those words, tears welling up in his white eyes as Shadow Six walked up to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. He began to see a vision, a future memory. The tall lady who had once appeared in his dreams stood before him, and on the other side of her was Six, her yellow raincoat standing out in the darkness.
"NOW, MONO!!"
Six's voice rung through his ears as the future Mono reeled his hands back, charging up an electric attack. The tall lady had been stunned, leaving her wide open for a fatal blow.
ZPPTT!!
Dust kicked up into the air as Mono sent the electricity out through his fingertips and at his enemy. A scream was heard as the boy covered his eyes, the dust floating toward him. As he lowered his arms back down and as the dust settled, there was no tall lady to be seen. Rather, a slumped-over girl in a yellow raincoat was leaning against a wall, showing no signs of life in her eyes.
GASP!!
Mono was brought back into Shadow Six's realm, tears flowing down his face as he dropped to his knees.
"You will need to be kept alive long enough to get her to that point, and you will know exactly when your time has come."
Shadow Six ignored the weeping Mono and continued to talk.
"See her safely, Mono."
"I..."
"Oh, and if you wanna tell her about our conversation here, you and Seven will experience the worst pain you have ever felt-"
"OKAY!! OKAY... JUST... LEAVE HIM OUT OF THIS..."
His voice was very uneven and shakey as he tried to reason with her.
"LISTEN... SHADOW, PLEASE... WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME?!"
"HER LIFE MEANS MORE TO ME THAN YOURS EVER WILL."
She raised her voice as the electricity pulsating around her grew more aggressive.
"DO YOU KNOW HOW SHE WILL FEEL!? I CAN'T DO THAT TO HER! IF I DIE IN FRONT OF HER, SHE WILL-"
"I don't want to hear ANOTHER WORD FROM YOU."
Mono's white, expressionless eyes turned completely dark as electricity began to form around him, anger flowing through him.
"SHUT UP, SHADOW! YOU'RE A LYING BASTARD!"
A scowl formed on her face as Mono got up onto his feet.
"I'LL KILL YOU!! I WILL-"
With a snap of her finger, Mono was sent back into complete darkness. He caught his breath, his mind racing with thoughts.
"WHY COULDN'T SHE HAVE JUST DIED IN THE TOWER... GOD DAMN IT..! NOW SHE WANTS TO KILL ME AND DO GOD KNOWS WHAT WITH SIX..."
"Mono..?"
He relaxed upon hearing a familiar voice in the dark shell he was trapped in.
"Are you awake?"
She sighed in disappointment at the lack of response from him.
"Guess not..."
Mono immediately forced his eyes open, shielding them as the bright light flooded his vision.
"Agh... yeah, I'm awake, ow..."
His voice felt hoarse, but he felt very relaxed, the blanket he was wrapped up in keeping him warm.
"Don't move, okay?"
Six let out a sigh of relief as she sat down next to him, lowering her head.
"I was... beginning to get worried..."
"Uhm... where's Seven..?"
He scratched the back of his head as he sat up, keeping the blanket on him.
"He went out to get some food for you, I've just been staying here and keeping an eye on you."
"Where are we?"
"Oh, we're in one of the nome spots, I think that's what Seven called it..."
Mono looked past Six and noticed a nome holding his hands up to the flame encapsulated by a lantern.
"So... what happened to you exactly?"
"Huh..?"
"I mean, why were you so hungry all of a sudden? I've never seen anything like that happen to you."
"I... I don't know..."
Mono held his tongue but was inches away from telling the truth to her, no matter what pain he felt. But he didn't want to be responsible for injuring Seven, for if Seven were to be injured over that, Mono would never forgive himself.
"Just... next time you ever feel like something is hurting you, please tell me. Don't try and hide it from me, okay?"
"Alright, I'll-"
He froze, his white eyes widening as Six pulled him in for a hug. She quickly planted a kiss on his cheek before turning around and exiting the room they were in by walking through a crack in the wall. He rubbed his face, which was very red right now, looking around in confusion.
"Where did that come from?"
"Oh, you're back already?"
Mono could hear Six talking outside with somebody, sitting up a little to listen in to their conversation. Seven walked in through the hole in the wall, carrying a stack of several food items.
"I didn't know what kind of food you liked, so... I just kinda grabbed anything I could find."
He dumped them out in front of Mono, dusting his hands off.
"So... yeah. There you go."
Mono picked up a slice of bread and took a bite out of it.
"Thanks, Seven..."
"No problem. Are you feeling alright?"
"Yeah, I'm okay."
Seven picked up a carrot stick and munched on it.
"We've got kind of a big problem... like a REALLY big problem."
"What do you mean, Seven?"
Six was confused as Seven swallowed the carrot piece he was chewing on, pointing to the crack in the wall.
"Out there... we got another giant to deal with."
"What?"
She peeked around the corner, not seeing what he was talking about.
"Where is it?"
"It's in the next room, I didn't get a good look at it, but... it is there."
"Can we just stay here for a bit..?"
Mono yawned, setting the piece of bread aside and wrapping himself up in the blanket even more.
"Yeah, we can stay here for as long as you want."
Six sat lifted up his blanket and scooted herself under it, tucking herself in with him and resting her head on his shoulder.
"Uh, well... I'm gonna go look for some water, and a bathroom."
Seven exited the room, tripping on a block of cheese while he was leaving.
"That kid can be so dumb sometimes..."
Mono shook his head, laughing to himself.
"Yeah... he can also be pretty smart, too."
"It's one of the only reasons we keep him, huh?"
"Haha... yeah..."
Six pressed the back of her head against the wall.
"You think we should tell him?"
"About what?"
"About us, I mean."
Mono was confused, glancing at her and raising an eyebrow.
"You're gonna make me say it, aren't you..."
"Say what? I don't know what you're talking about, honestly."
She sighed, glancing over at him.
"I was planning on telling him that I do like you."
"Oh... that. Why are we even hiding that?"
"Well, it's kind of awkward, don't you think?"
"Not really."
Six scoffed, standing up and putting the blanket around him.
"I'm gonna go look for that giant he was talking about, you can stay here and sleep if you-"
SMASH!!
A muffled elephant-sounding creature was heard as what sounded like glass shattering on the floor took place behind the walls.
"So that's what the giant he was talking about sounds like..."
Six peeked around the corner, unable to see anything in the room ahead as Mono felt his stomach drop.
"Seven!"
"Huh?"
"Seven's in trouble, we gotta go- ow!"
Mono clenched his teeth as he internally panicked, hoping his hunger was coming back.
"Shadow Six, please... not now..."
"You alright? Are you getting hungry again?"
"No, no, I'm good."
"Don't lie to me..."
"I'm serious, I'm alright."
Luckily for him, it was only his side that was sore. Mono picked up half of a piece of bread, storing it in his pocket just in case he were to get another hunger strike again.
"Alright, let's go."
Six was already out the door as Mono looked up. He followed her, maximizing his pace to a slight jog, not wanting to stress his body out more than it already had been. Loud, heavy breathing was heard in the very next room as Six glanced over her shoulder, motioning for Mono to follow her. She pressed a finger to her lips as the giant who wore a chef's hat raised his cleaver up into the air, bringing it down onto a piece of meat that was laid out on the cutting board.
"Why do we always get the disgusting ones..?"
As Mono entered the kitchen, he was overwhelmed with the smell of multiple types of food items. He was worried that it would trigger another hunger strike as he ducked under the table with Six, who was holding his hand. They watched from underneath the safety of the table as the chef paced over to a cooking pot, throwing the piece of meat he was chopping up into it.
"Where could Seven have gone..?"
She mumbled to herself, looking ahead into the next room which was a continuation of the kitchen, except it was a lot larger than its previous room.
"Did he even go here?"
"He had to... if he went back he would've had to deal with the leeches..."
"Leeches..?"
Mono looked at her with a worried expression.
"I don't remember leeches..?"
"Oh, yeah... I had to carry you all the way here, and we got attacked by a bunch of leeches on the way."
He raised his eyebrows as she looked back ahead, going back to peek out of their hiding spot.
"Huh... she carried me... wow..."
Mono scratched the back of his head, his eyes scanning the room they were in for any signs of a boy in blue clothing, but all he could see was various cooking tools and meats that were stacked up along shelves.
"There..."
"What, do you see Seven?"
"Nope, but I see a vent in the wall over there in the next room, right above that tall drawer."
Six glanced over her shoulder at Mono.
"Maybe he went in there?"
"Could be..."
The chef suddenly let out a loud cough, wheezing as if it were choking to death. Then, the giant moved into the other room, his heavy breathing making him look very pitiful.
"God, I hope I don't die to that thing..."
Six shook her head at the disgusting creature that they were about to sneak by. Mono nodded his head in agreement.
"Yeah... I don't wanna find out what he's gonna do to me if he gets me."
"Don't worry, Mono. I got your back."
She gave him a wink before stepping out of their hiding spot and onto the dirty, stained tiles that covered the kitchen floor. Mono shook his head, trying to get rid of the blush that was stained on his face as he stepped out of their hiding spot along with her.
"Where are we going?"
"Into that vent."
Mono was about to protest but held his tongue as the giant loudly snorted all of a sudden. Looking ahead, he watched the chef eye a group of nomes that were running across the kitchen, disappearing under a table nearby. Instead of pursuing them, the chef grumbled to himself and continued mixing the pot of stew in front of him, knowing it wasn't worth the effort.
"Is he friendly..?"
"That wouldn't explain his loud scream at the beginning."
Six ducked behind the doorway, Mono going behind her and looking over her and around the corner at the chef.
"I think he saw Seven and tried to turn him into a meal."
"Oh god... I hope he didn't catch him..."
A dark thought occurred to Mono, clearing his mind before he envisioned a mutilated Seven on a cutting board.
"Seven's too smart... he wouldn't let himself get caught by this thing."
"Yeah... I hope you're right."
"He's smart... but he's not immortal..."
Six quickly crouch-walked through the doorway, walking down the steps and entering the larger portion of the kitchen, where the chef was currently residing. The giant had currently moved to a different spot, bending down and checking the temperature of an oven before moving over to the fireplace.
"Get down, quick..!"
Six motioned for Mono to follow her under another table. As he did, he almost panicked as he came face to face with a nome who was hiding under there as well. He put a hand over his own mouth as the nome scurried out in a hurry, running under a nearby chair.
"Six, I... I don't really know about this..."
"What do you mean..?"
"Well, what if he's not up there? What do we do if we get over there, and-"
The sound of metal slamming against metal was heard as the chef let out a loud gasp. Mono and Six peeked around the corner, watching the chef examine the vent on the wall near the ceiling. All of a sudden, Seven peeked his head out of the vent, causing the chef to go berserk, letting out another loud howl.
"You want some more? Huh?!"
"What in the world is he doing..?"
Mono looked on in confusion as Seven picked up a jar that was on top of the drawer and waiting for the chef to get closer to him. The giant merely reached his hands up in hopelessness, making strange whining noises as he desperately grabbed at the boy.
"Here comes the choo choo train!"
Seven threw the jar at the giant, smashing it over his head. The chef reeled back in pain, staggering over to a table and collapsing onto it.
"What are we waiting for?! Let's go!"
Six stepped out from under the table, making a mad dash for Seven along with Mono, who was holding back laughter at the last thing Seven had said.
Word Count: 2762
I wonder what Shadow Six could have planned for Mono... hm...
It's probably nothing good.
Anyway, thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
I'll see you in the next one, but until then, have a good rest of your day!