Two days passed; the kids were slowly getting acclimated to having normal lives, talking amongst themselves around a dimly lit candle. They were fed well by the adult crew, and taken care of. Pericia even began getting comfortable with the group again, and the comfort was mutual, considering the smile that appeared on her face for a split second—perhaps a fluke—when Six invited her to join their circle on the second day. They actually became pretty close...not by choice, but Six gravitated towards her and her somewhat similar personality; of course, Mono didn't approve of this development, but he was trying to accept it.
Six had been getting a dose of morphine each day at the same time to ensure the pain didn't return, and today was no different. Julie would always come to get her; there was still time before she came today, according to the young girl's internal clock (which wasn't actually that great), so she took the opportunity to have some alone time with Pericia, who seemed rather spaced-out.
She stood up from the group and tapped on her shoulder to get her attention, causing her to snap out of her trance. "Hey, can we talk for a minute?" She suggested this invitingly, and the tension snapped in half because of it.
Perry gazed up at Six curiously, nodding and standing up to follow her a ways away from the group so they could have some privacy. "What's on your mind?" She indulged her without thinking, having honestly developed such a deep understanding with the other girl.
"Okay, so..." She took a deep breath, as deep as she could manage, then continuing, "I've just had a lot of time to think these past two days because of, y'know...but um, I just think it's nice to get along with you 'n stuff. After talking to you so much, I just..." Six tried to keep calm as she spoke, but everyone knew, even herself, that she wasn't great with people. She was slightly intimidated by the fact that Pericia was staring at her so intently, not once looking away, and her expression was so touched as well. "I forgive you, okay? You've apologized so many times, but that's not even what made me get here. I think you and I are pretty similar. And I don't blame you for getting so upset after I..." She trailed off once again, but she was comforted by Perry suddenly smiling at her and grabbing her hand. "I've been beating myself up so much." She finished out her speech, and though she was glad the other girl was accepting of her, she still had the biggest frown on her face.
Before Six could react, Pericia had wrapped her arms around her neck, tearing up and trying to fight the urge to cry as her lip quivered. "I never expected you to be so kind..." She gave a slightly backhanded compliment, so she pulled away after realizing, expecting Six to be upset. "Oh, I'm terribly sorry. I didn't mean it that way."
"Ouch." The cunning young girl replied jokingly, snickering afterwards to show her amusement rather than disdain. "Don't worry, I know. Besides, I've heard worse." Her relaxed response was plenty to get Pericia to lighten up; she even giggled quietly to herself.
"Well, if you don't mind me asking, what exactly happened...when you...?" Although the mood was positive, Pericia seemed to be unable to stop herself from asking the inevitable...something that had been on her mind since Veronica passed.
Six tensed up when she heard these words she hadn't wanted to hear, but fully expected. She felt wrong talking about it, and yet she wasn't cruel enough to deny Perry her answer. "Her mom was saying something about her fate, that she was meant to be cursed like all the other kids in The Maw. She brought it up because Veronica was questioning her about everything going on there. I overheard all of this, and when I walked in, Veronica was struggling to get away from her, so I fought her mom and ended up killing her." After explaining the cause of their 'fight' in the first place, her expression melted into one full of somber. "She started screaming at me, and I was trying to explain why I did what I did to protect her, and she said something hurtful, and I don't know what happened—I just...suddenly lost control, so I told her to run away, but it was too late."
The silence was loud between them after her spiel, but eventually Pericia covered her mouth in what appeared to be a mixture of disgust and fear. She turned away slightly, unable to make eye contact with Six. "I never should've reacted like the way I did. I should've heard you out at the very least. I feel just horrible." She displayed deep regret for her behavior, and Six noticed she didn't look so hot, so she put a hand on her shoulder reassuringly.
"You feeling okay? I'm not mad, seriously. Anyone would have freaked out." Six was hoping to comfort her, but she realized quickly that she might have used some harsh language when doing so. "Uh, not that you were acting crazy or anything—"
"I'm very sorry, I think I'm going to be sick." Pericia interrupted and scurried away from the group, her face pale and damp with sweat.
Before Six could even react, she heard her name from the group and rejoined them, though she still kept an eye on Perry as she left the room. She took a seat in between Mono and Riley, still having her attention elsewhere regardless of how hard she tried to pull her eyes away.
Thankfully, both boys were puzzled enough to check on her; Mono grabbed her shoulder gently, and Riley spoke up. "Everything okay? What happened?" His voice was enough to snap Six out of her trance, but she dismissed the concern and forced a smile, causing them to give her some space.
"She feels really guilty after what she did—for not giving me a chance to explain. So much that I think she might have made herself sick." She explained this with dread lacing her voice, and to her displeasure, Mono folded his arms over his chest and rolled his eyes.
"She should feel guilty. I don't care how nice she's been. I don't want her putting anyone else in danger." He was stern with his opinion, which was surprising to the others since he was normally rather complacent.
Six sighed out of annoyance, staring at Riley with scheming eyes before looking back at Mono with a somewhat threatening, yet playful expression. "You're such a bummer. Liven up a little!" With these words, she pounced on him and started tickling him mercilessly. This would be the first time she, along with the other kids, had seen him so genuinely happy, even laughing out of control and squirming to escape her grasp.
She didn't stop until he was worn out, and only then did she pull away with an accomplished grin on her face, watching him try to catch his breath in a futile attempt. He sat up not too long after with a suspicious glint in his eyes, a smile, and tears on his cheeks from his previous laughter. If it weren't for Six's quick reflexes, she wouldn't have stopped him in time before he got his revenge on her, but thankfully, right as he was about to tickle her, she snapped her head towards him and grabbed his wrist using a scary amount of strength. She was no longer smiling. "Are you an idiot? Do you know what'll happen if you tickle me while I have broken ribs?" She scolded him with wide eyes, enough to scare him away from another attempt. "If you try it again, you're dead meat."
Mono averted his gaze sheepishly and waited for Six to let go of him, rubbing around his wrist since she did use a lot of force. "Noted..." He admitted defeat in an instant, which only urged Riley to chortle as he tried to hold back his own laughter.
Unfortunately for him, Six took it as a sign of him making fun of her rather than Mono, so she glared his way instead. "You guys are making me lose my damn mind—dang mind. Ugh, sorry Mono." Following her slip-up, she stared at Mono with apologetic eyes. She was beating herself up quite a bit for her mistake, but her close companion didn't seem so bothered anymore.
"It's okay. It's kind of cute watching you correct yourself." He once again wore a bright smile, but it deteriorated slightly as Six punched him on the shoulder. Hard. She was pretty embarrassed by the looks of things, and he was in pain. "You never did say where you learned these words. I'm curious." He held the point of impact, grimacing slightly as he spoke.
"Right..." She acknowledged his comment, her expression melting into one of sorrow in a matter of seconds. "Veronica. She was cursing up a storm when trying to escape that island we were on. She got frustrated a lot." After admitting such a lighthearted fact, she smiled for a moment, but both Mono and Riley were staring at her out of befuddlement. "I wasn't stalking her or anything. There were cameras." She felt the need to clarify because of their judgemental gazes, but her face heated up when they both laughed at her words. "You guys suck." All she could manage to do was pout.
"Looks like Six is getting a taste of her own medicine." Ray suddenly chimed in, which caused the other kids to snicker as well. He was right. She teased and insulted Mono so much that it was only right for him to get his payback.
Although they were having fun messing around, there was a rather important matter they had forgotten about—thankfully, Eliza brought it up, "Speaking of medicine, Six, where's Miss Julie? She's usually here by now."
The cunning girl blinked slowly from shock, the realization hitting her following Eliza's reminder. "You're right... I guess I should go to her." She stood up with care, going slow as to not injure herself further. Before she left, she glanced back at Mono and held her hand out to him, and like always, without fail, he hopped up eagerly and accepted her invitation, walking away from the group with her. Maybe Pericia was right...he was like a dog.
A couple of silent minutes passed by as they made their way to Julie's room; it was so quiet that Mono had time to ponder on something that had been bothering him for a while. He wasn't even going to bring it up, but Six caught him staring, which put him on the spot. "Hey, so um...remember when we were arguing back in The Maw?" His question was brief, and apparently too broad, or at least Six thought so.
"Which time?" She indulged him with a curious, relaxed tone, though she didn't realize just how dysfunctional their relationship sounded when she did so. Before Mono even got to answer her question, a light flickered in her brain. "You're talking about my nightmare, aren't you?" Her guess seemed to be right on the money, because Mono didn't know how to respond besides just looking into her eyes.
She averted her gaze and watched the floor as they continued walking, having to muster up the courage to talk about what had freaked her out so badly only two days ago. "I saw her in my nightmare. The Lady. She had Riley. I had that same dream even before we had met him, Mono."
"It's because you're special. I told you so, didn't I? Maybe it was your destiny to overthrow her." Instead of being perturbed by her explanation, he replied boldly, his tone full of admiration and respect.
She was touched at his unwavering faith in her, but she felt burdened by this weight on her shoulders—the weight being her new powers. She stared at the palm of her hand with a guilty conscience, still unable to accept what she had done to Veronica. "I don't want to hurt anyone else..." Her voice was soft, filled with a pain only Mono could understand, as someone who had also hurt others because of his power. He made eye contact with her to try and comfort her, but as soon as they took their eyes off the ground, they both tripped.
Mono took no time to hit the floor, but Six, luckily, was stopped from making impact by none other than Pericia. She held her with such purpose, too. "Are you alright? That was far too close." She helped the clumsy girl up, sending a kind smile her way until she noticed Mono out of the corner of her eye. Knowing Six had her balance, Perry knelt down next to him and grabbed his arm. She half-expected him to shove her away, and Six did too, but he let her help him off the floor without struggling. "You two are truly perfect for one another...what a sight to see." She cooed at their behavior, backing away from Mono when he was stood up straight.
He didn't know what came over him all of a sudden, but he found himself staring at the marks on Pericia's neck where he had tried to strangle her. She was so clueless, so puzzled by his eyes on her, especially since she couldn't read his expression. "Is something the matter?" She questioned him promptly, though she was quick to jump back in surprise when he clenched his eyes and fists shut. She was admittedly pretty wary of his strength.
Maybe it was because of Six's watchful eyes on him, or maybe it was because Perry was so different than she used to be, but Mono couldn't bring himself to hate her anymore, not when she was being so thoughtful towards Six and even him. After debating in his mind momentarily, his eyelids flew back open, and he sighed through his nose. "I forgive you. But only because Six does." Before he could say anything else, the girl clung to him excitably, to which he reacted with a blank face. Six, on the other hand, didn't hesitate to pull her off of him.
"Oh, my apologies. I moved without thinking." She created some distance between herself and him, and then spoke again. "Thank you, Mono. I promise that you will not regret it." She grinned at him and held her hands together in a praying motion, expressing her immense gratitude. It didn't go unnoticed—actually, her reaction stuck with Mono even as she ran off to go back the group. Why was his approval so important to her?