Chapter Text
Seven crept out from under the cabinet and warily scanned the area. The Lady was gone, it was..slightly safer now. He glanced over to where adult had thrown Six, she was lying motionless on the floor.
"Six?", he called out quietly and hurriedly crept closer. "Six wake up!", he shook her shoulder but she remained motionless. She couldn't be dead, could she? No, he refused to believe it! "C'mon!", he shook her more vigorously. She can't be dead! He wasn't going to let someone else die! "Wake up!", he yelled and shoved her harshly, no reaction. He sat back, feeling despondent. Someone else had died by his hands-
Crack
He flinched and glanced at Six again, his breath catching in his throat when she suddenly began shaking. "Six?", he called meekly. Her hand shot out and slammed against the floor and she slowly pushed herself up. Her face was obscured by her ratty hair, but he noticed blood dripping onto the floor. She coughed and spat more blood onto the floor, then wiped it away. "Are you okay?", he asked in a concerned tone and reached out to her. She jerked uncannily when he touched her and snapped at his hand, an ugly snarl escaping her throat. He jumped back with a yelp, then took a few more steps back to create some distance between them. Six bared her teeth, both her eyes were completely black. 'Crap', he thought. Thinking quickly he picked up a book and chucked it at her head before she could lunge at him. It smacked her square in the face and knocked her off her feet. She lay there motionless for another minute, causing him to panic thinking he had killed her again accidentally when she sat up blinking and holding her head.
"What the fuck..", she groaned and winced. She looked at the book he had thrown at her head then at him, a trickle of blood running down her forehead. The darkness that had consumed her remaining eye slowly drained away. "Why..?", she asked, Seven frowned and crossed his arms.
"You were going to attack me.", he stated, a slight hint of annoyance to his tone.
"That kind of hurt", she complained and stood up.
"Well it brought you back didn't it", he said and turned around and headed into the library.
"Ugh yeah I guess", she said with a sigh and followed after him, unconsciously she sped up to match his pace and took his hand. He looked at her briefly but said nothing. For Six it reminded her of holding hands with Mono..a twisting feeling surfaced in her chest. Her eyes wandered around the library as they walked through it and she noticed a strange device at the top of a grand staircase, it had a glowing orb in the middle and metal rings around it carrying small mirrors that were reflecting light into three different metallic eyes. Had someone else been through here before them? They walked into a room with three statues of the Lady on raised pedestals.
"Huh, weird", Seven commented, he noticed a piece of torn bandage trapped beneath one of the statues. "Another kid has been here before-", the lights flickered and a series of sinister giggles echoed through the library.
"Something's here", Six hissed and flipped around, scanning the library for any threats. Seven pulled out his flashlight and they cautiously left the statue room, when laughter rang out behind them.
ₗₒₒₖ! ₙₑw fᵣᵢₑₙdₛ!
He spun around and swung his flashlight around the area, it landed on what looked like a kid..but also not. Their skin shifted like shadows and they had a white porcelain mask on their face. Flickers of shadows broke off from their spectral body and a crack appeared on their mask when the beam hit them. The Shadow Kid shielded their face and tried to shy away from the beam of light but wasn't fast enough, it screeched as the light burned their body away, the mask falling to the floor with a dull clatter.
Cₒₘₑ ₚₗₐy wᵢₜₕ ᵤₛ!
A shadowy hand grasped Six's shoulder and she hissed in pain, it burned! It burned! She twisted around, flicked on her lighter and shoved it into the Shadow Kid's ugly masked. It shrieked in pain and stumbled back as it burst into flames, and was quickly destroyed.
"We need to get out of here!", Six growled and sprinted for the staircase. Seven destroyed another Shadow Kid that had tried sneaking up to him before dashing after Six, he followed her onto a small lift and it lifted them up to a second level of the library where the strange light contraption was and ran through a doorway into a short hallway.
Wₕₑᵣₑ ₐᵣₑ yₒᵤ gₒᵢₙg?
Cₒₘₑ bₐcₖ!
Wₑ ⱼᵤₛₜ wₐₙₜ ₜₒ ₚₗₐy!
Sinister laughter echoed all around them as they ran into another room with more pedestals standing about, they ran through past a small bookshelf but skid to a halt when another Shadow Kid jumped out at them.
Yₒᵤ wᵢₗₗ ₚₗₐy wᵢₜₕ ᵤₛ₋!
Six socked it in the face, cracking its mask and scattering small porcelain splinters across the floor. Seven shined his flashlight at it, causing it to shriek in pain as it dissipated. It mask shattered against the wooden floor, Six huffed, her hands trembled and her fingers twitching. Seven touched her shoulder and she snapped at him again, making him flinch.
"It's just me", he whispered, trying to calm her down before they had to leave again. "Keep your head on straight", he advised before glancing over his shoulder when he heard laughter echoing through the room again.
ₜₕₐₜ wₐₛₙ'ₜ ᵥₑᵣy ₙᵢcₑ!
Another Shadow Kid leapt from the shadows and grasped Seven's arm, eliciting a pained cry from him. Six immediately reacted and with an angry growl she punched the creature in the mask, allowing Seven to escape and disintegrate it with his flashlight. Another appeared behind Six and yanked her hood, she snarled and thrust her lighter into its chest. Its skin burned her hand but she managed to set the cursed thing alight. One tried to attack Seven again and swiftly got a book thrown at its face, then disintegrated soon after.
"I'm sick of these things!", Six snapped and grabbed his hand before pulling him through another door. They ran deeper into the library, bookshelves towered over them and more snickers rang out through the darkness.
ₜₕₑy ₐᵣₑ gₑₜₜᵢₙg ₐwₐy!
Two Shadow Kids jumped out at them from behind a bookcase with a shriek, Seven swung his flashlight towards them and they scattered out of the way to not be killed. They then tried to sneak up on the two but were thwarted when Six shoved her lighter into one and when Seven tracked the other with his flashlight. The two pushed on and continued killing Shadow Kids until they got to a ladder and climbed it quickly, then landed on the other side. Finally there were no more sinister giggles and eerie cackling in the air, they were free for now. Seven took a moment to catch his breath then let out a sigh of relief while Six was clenching and unclenching her hands and breathing rapidly. She glanced around anxiously, rubbed her eye then pressed her abdomen and grimacing.
"Hey", Seven called to get her attention, Six flinched then looked at him, an anxious expression on her face. "You good?", he asked, she shook her head and pulled her lips into a thin line then pressed her abdomen harder.
"I don't- I don't think- I can do this..", she wheezed, dark veins reappearing in her good eye. Her legs buckled and she collapsed onto her knees. She hunched over and wrapped both her arms tightly around her stomach and let out a small pained whimper.
"Hey hey hey", He crouched down beside her and grabbed her shoulders to make her look at him, she was struggling to focus on him as the dark veins became more prevalent. "Focus, keep calm", he said, she took in a shaky breath and tried to calm herself but her mind was slowly slipping. "We are both getting out of here, you will make it, come on", he continued, trying to calm her down.
"Okay..", she breathed and slowly stood up, though winced when her stomach growled. "I'll..try", she said and took in another shaky breath, Seven took her hand and led her across a plank of to a platform that had a wheel contraption on it. The two pushed on the wheel, causing the room to shake as a painting that was on the wall shifted downwards. They climbed over it into a nice looking room that had a big piano and a miniature version of the Maw on a table in it, on the floor in front of the miniature Maw lay a statue of the Lady.
'Huh did the kid that was here before forget this? Maybe that statue room needs a fourth one..there wasn't an open door after all', Seven thought and walked over to pick it up.
"Me and my friend played on something like this..before everything went wrong", Seven looked back, Six was standing by the piano and staring up at it.
"You had a friend?", he questioned, she sighed.
"Yeah..its the person that needs me, that's why I need to get out of here. I need to find him", she replied and clenched her hands.
"Well, when we get out of here I'll help you find him", he told her, her gaze snapped to him in surprise.
"You..want to help me?", she asked hesitantly.
"You saved me more than once so yes, I want to help you, We will find something to make you better again", he stated confidently and shifted the statue around in his arms for a bitter grip. "You won't lose yourself", he added, her lips twitched into a small smile and she followed after him as they went through a room with a closed metallic eye and a wooden statue on a pressure plate. They reentered the library and ran down to the statue room and placed the Lady statue onto the fourth plate. The room shuddered and a wall began lifting upwards, allowing them to leave the library. They padded through into the next room and past a shattered mirror when Six suddenly doubled over and began coughing violently. "Six?", Seven came to a halt and turned back.
"It- It hurts-", she hissed and clutched her stomach. "S- So much- agh-", she spat black sludge onto the floor and breathed heavily.
"Six?", Seven called, she didn't respond. She stayed silent for another minute, then her stomach growled. She sank down lower to the ground and grabbed fistfuls of her hair with one hand, then groaned. She began coughing again and retching, then emptied blood and black sludge all over the floor. Slowly she lifted her gaze up to him, the darkness taking over more of her eye.
"So- so..hungry..", she growled and bared her teeth, her eyes glazing over.
"No no, none of that", Seven hurried over and held her shoulder. "Come on, stay focused, keep your head screwed on straight", he shook her lightly but she snapped and snarled at him. He flinched back and created a small bit of distance between them. Her expression shifted to fearful.
"D- don't- go- t- gh-", she failed to sling her words together, it was getting harder and harder to speak. Her mind was fading away, she was quickly losing control of herself. "R- Run", she breathed, the darkness fully taking over her eye and the black veins popping out on her skin. She snarled and lunged at him, barely giving him any time to react. He yelled and just narrowly jumped out of the way, then turned and sprinted down a hall. He ran past some boxes and crates and saw faint light coming from an open curtain, an escape! Six was hot on his heels and swiped at his ankle, managing to nick his skin just as he got close to the curtain. He cried out in pain and tripped from the pain, landing hard on the wooden floor. He quickly flipped around to defend himself when Six caught up and tried to bite his shoulder. He blocked her attack with his arm and she instead sank her yellowed teeth into his arm, then she tore out a chunk of flesh eliciting a pained scream from him.
"Six please! Come back!", he yelled in desperation when she clamped down on his arm again, yet she didn't hear him. All she could focus on was the hunger that clawed at her stomach. She bit deeper into his arm, he cried again. Blood splattered across her face and she dug her claws into his sides. "Six-!", he cried again when he was interrupted by the walls and floors rumbling as liquid shadow spilled forth and wrapped around the two.
"CEASE THIS!", a voice roared. Shadows yanked Six off of Seven and pulled both of them to face the Lady, who kept Six out of biting distance. "You two..rats", she growled and squeezed them slightly. Seven wheezed and tried to wriggle free while Six was shaking and savagely trying to attack the shadows. "You dared to cross-", she started but stopped and stared intently at Seven. "You..", she looked him up and down, her eyes lighting up with interest beneath her mask. "How have I not noticed this before?", she pulled him into her hand and carelessly tossed Six into a cage then locking it with a spell. She placed a finger on his chest and he felt like he was plunged into icy water as she drew something out of him and all the air was forced out of his lungs. It..looked like a glowing orb though its surface rippled and shifted constantly. Inside it was a tiny speck of darkness that quickly got disintegrated, another one surfaced but faced the same fate. The Lady drew back and observed it curiously. "Interesting", the Lady breathed, Seven felt like he nearing to passing out as dark spots danced across his vision. "I could do something with this possibly, there is hope. I could reverse the effects with this, use it to change the Signal", she muttered to herself then glanced back at Seven. "Unfortunately it won't survive without its body", she said with a slight hint of annoyance, then sighed and returned the orb to his body. Seven gasped loudly as everything returned to him at once. What did she do! He had heard the Lady had strange powers but he didn't understand this! He wriggled in her grasp once life returned to him and weakly slammed his tiny fists onto her hand, she didn't seem phased by his attempt to get free at all. "Do not fret little one, no harm will come to you..yet", she mentioned calmly, yet her words were anything but calm to Seven. She glanced over at Six, who was snarling and attempting to squeeze through the bars, and hummed disapprovingly. "That one's a lost cause though", she said and waved her fingers to bring the cage closer. "No matter, eradication will have to do", Seven's eyes widened when those words left the Lady's mouth. She was going to kill Six! In an act of desperation he leaned his head back and bared his teeth, then bit down onto her hand as hard as he could. "OW!", the Lady was caught of guard and dropped both the cage and Seven to the floor. He landed on his feet and swiftly sprinted away from the adult. "Get back here!", the Lady screamed and threw out her hand letting shadows burst forth and chase after him.
He yelped as the shadows snaked past him and tried to ensnare him, but he managed to duck out of the way and picked up his pace. He dashed past eerie mannequins and ducked beneath a plank of wood that was blocking a doorway. As soon as he passed into the blocked room the shadows halted and disappeared and the Lady went quiet. He padded to a half and glanced over his shoulder while breathing rapidly. She..stopped? Cautiously he moved further into the room, he needed to find something to help Six with before the Lady killed her. His eyes drifted a mirror that was placed neatly onto a deep reed pillow, his pace slowing down as he got closer until he stopped in front of the desk it was perched on. Staring at it, he felt..strange..its surface was as dark as midnight and its rim was a dull golden colour and bent into ornate shapes. Why is this hidden away?
ᵀᵃᵏᵉ ᵘˢ..
ᴰᵉᶠᵉᵃᵗ ᵗʰᵉ ᴸᵃᵈʸ..
Something whispered in his ear. The mirror was important, maybe this thing could help Six. He jumped and grabbed the edge of the desk and pulled himself up then grabbed it then jumped back down and pattered out of the secluded room, with determination in his steps. The room temperature lowered to a chill the moment he exited and any light that had been on before had been snuffed out, somewhere in the darkness he could still make out Six's hungry growling. Good, she's still alive. A cone of light switched on, making Seven jump. Cautiously he walked towards it and stood in the middle, the strange mirror clutched tightly in his hands.
"Where did you get that?", the Lady's voice hissed from the darkness. he spun around and scanned the area but could not see her, his heart rate increased a little. "You shall not use that against me!", she shrieked and appeared from the darkness, her hand outstretched. Seven thrusted the mirror out in front of him and a bright light begun shining from its glassy surface and caused the Lady to twitch and slow down. Seven was thrown onto his back when the mirror blasted her back. She let a pained shriek as it happened and slinked back to the darkness, after a minute of silence she reappeared and begun circling him. He pushed himself up onto his feet before she could get an advantage and followed her, ready to show the mirror to her if she attacked. "You dare use my own creation against me?", she spat and narrowed her eyes beneath the mask, Seven had no idea what she was spouting. He just wanted to save Six. She disappeared briefly in a puff of smoke then reappeared beside him and lunged forwards, he swiftly reacted and held up the mirror, repelling her for a second time. She shrieked and was nearly knocked off her feet and recovered slowly, glowering at him as she begun circling him once more. "Do you even know what you are doing? Foolish boy-!", she disappeared and lunged from behind, he nearly didn't react fast enough but managed to get her at the last second. She screeched loudly and was sent flying back then rolled across the floor closer to where Six was caged. Seven briefly looked over at Six, who was staring hungrily at them, before an evil thought entered his mind. Maybe she will come back if I let her feed on the Lady? He could kill two birds with one stone. He stalked closer to Six as the Lady propped herself up on her arm and hand, her mask lay a few meters away and had been broken in half. "What are you doing?", the Lady hissed as he passed by her and inched towards Six's cage. She seemed to realise what his thoughts were when he got closer to her cage and inspected the cage. "Child..do not be rash", she warned and tried to push herself up but just collapsed again. The cage had no lock so Seven tried to pry the door open but it lit up with symbols once he touched it that burned his hand, he jumped away finally when Six snapped and swiped at him. "Foolish boy, do not attempt what you are thinking about, you will doom us all!", the Lady growled to deaf ears, she tried once more to get up but failed. The mirror had severely weakened her. She tried to summon her shadows as Seven looked at the mirror then to the strange enchantment of the door, but they ultimately fizzled out and disappeared. Seven got an idea and pointed the black mirror at the door. The enchantments lit up again as did the mirror and it began to shake before flinging him back as it surface shattered.
Creaaaak
The door to the cage slowly swung open, the Lady shifted onto her hands and coughed.
Growl
Her eyes snapped to the cage. A flash of yellow barreled towards her, she only got to gasp before razor sharp fangs tore into her jugular. Only wet gurgles escaped her as teeth dug in deeper followed by claws digging into her flesh. Blood splattered across the floor and the wretched raincoat of her assailant. She gasped for air but blood filled her lungs, slowly the Lady's mind was slipping. She was dying. How ironic..A choked chuckle escaped her. 'So this is my end? Being devoured by a little devil? After all I've done..all I've sacrificed..at least I won't succumb to the infection', the Lady thought as black spots danced across her vision. Was this world doomed? '..No, this world will not fall. I can still do something, there still can be hope', she thought and in one final act of desperation she forced her shadows to surge forth and rip her own soul free.
-
Seven sat up with a groan and rubbed his head, then winced. What had happened? Had he passed out? It felt like it.. The last thing he remembered happening was holding a mirror at the cage Six was trapped in and it shattering. Six. He jumped up and looked around, then froze when he spotted the Lady's still corpse with Six sitting hunched over it.
"..Six?", he called quietly and stepped around the body and closer to her, she didn't respond. She was on her knees staring at her hands that were drenched in the Lady's blood. Her eyes had returned to normal and her pupils were narrowed into tiny pinpricks. She took in and let out shaky breaths quietly, subtly her hands trembled every few seconds. She is..herself..again? "Are you..okay?", he hesitantly asked and stepped closer, she sucked in a breath of air sharply, her shadow flickered, Seven blinked.
"I..killed something..again..", Six whispered after another minute of silence. She clenched her hands into fists and took in another shaky breath. "I..I almost killed you..", her voice grew shaky as her gaze drifted to him.
"But you didn't", he answered and crouched down beside her. Her eyes flicked away and she placed her hands on her knees, her shoulders sinking. Seven swore he saw shadows flickering again. "You uh, doing alright?", he questioned, she let out a long deep sigh.
"No..but, I feel..different", she muttered in a hushed tone, Seven raised a brow.
"Different?", he asked, curious.
"Not as hungry, more..alive?", she answered, though there was a hint of confusion in her voice. She sighed and shook her head then hugged herself. "What have I done..?", she whispered. Seven frowned and placed a hand on her shoulder, getting her attention.
"It's an adult, it is fine.", he tried to soothe her, it didn't seem to be working very well.
"Nothing is fine", she muttered with a shake of her head ad stared at him with a worried gaze. "I ate a..person? I attacked and ate nomes and also attacked a kid and mauled their hand", she said, hugging herself tighter.
"You couldn't control yourself, don't blame yourself", he tried to convince her, her gaze flicked away again and her shoulders sank even lower.
"Hm..", she hummed in a low tone, not completely convinced.
"And uh, if you feel more alive? And less hungry? Maybe- maybe it won't happen again? Maybe you'll get better?", he tried to reassure her, though he was not wholly confident in his own words. Six scoffed.
"Do you really believe that?", she drawled, he did not answer. She let out a deep sigh. "Why are you still with me? I'm a lost cause..", she muttered. Seven frowned.
"Well..We've come this far together. Why should we stop now?", he said with a shrug.
"You are aware I will lose my mind eventually and won't be able to come back..right?", she murmured, Seven flinched.
"When it comes to that, we will figure it out", he tried again to reassure her, she still didn't seem entirely confident in his answer but accepted it with a small sigh. "Besides, I'm not leaving a friend behind", he said with a smile, Six flinched and glanced at him. A feeling of guilt and surprise washing over her. She'd left Mono behind, yes she was finding something to help him but she still left him behind, and Seven thinks of her as a friend? She tried to kill him twice. She didn't know what to say. "We will get through this, we will help you and your friend", he said with a soft smile. The corners of Six's lips twitched into a small smile.
"If you think so-"
BANG
"My Lady the Flesh-", the Bellman barged into the room but froze upon seeing the Lady's corpse and the two children sat next to it. "My god, what have you done?", it gasped and brought a gloved hand up to its face. The room then suddenly began shaking violently and a disgusting squelching noise echoed through the air as rotting flesh formed on the walls and floor. The two children jumped up and stepped back as glazed over eyes emerged from the flesh and stared at them, then filled the room with piercing shrieks. Six and Seven bolted away as the Flesh surged forth, teeth forming between the molds of flesh and hungrily snapping after them. Unexpectedly the Bellman snatched them up and sprinted out of the room and through the rapidly transforming halls. They both squirmed and tried to free themselves and run away but the Bellman held them tightly. "Stop squirming young ones! I am trying to help!", it chastised, though they couldn't understand its words. In retaliation, Six bit down onto his hand. "Agh! Child! Do not!", the adult cried and nearly dropped the girl. The Flesh roared behind them as more pooled into the halls and chased after them like an ocean wave. The Bellman waved his other hand and the metal groaned around them before curling in and blocking the Flesh's path. The Flesh slams against the metal and slowly begins to transform it as the Bellman swiftly turns the corner and pulls open a hatch before dropping down it. The room around them seemed to have lots of barrels and crates filled with goods along with strange controls the two kids couldn't make sense of. The walls had round doors built into them with a small porthole in the middle, the other end of the door was exposed to the dark ocean. "There should still be a small submarine docked here somewhere", the Bellman mentions, slightly out of breath and unaware the kids had no idea what he meant. He ran down the halls of strange doors until it skidded to a halt in front of one that didn't have the ocean on the other side but a strange metallic interior with a lot of buttons. "Aha!", he cheered and pressed a big red button on the side, the doors creaked loudly as they slid open. The adult tossed them into the weird room, sending them rolling across the floor. Before they could get up and scramble away the adult slammed the button again and the doors slid shut with a loud clang, trapping them inside. It then pressed a different button so that it could speak to them. "I know you must be fright-", it started before pausing and staring at Six, its eye sockets widening slightly. "You have her soul..", it murmured, then shook its head. "You might not understand me but you must get to the Pale City and find the Broadcaster, he is our only hope", it said and stepped back towards a console that was a few meters away from the door, it looked back at them one last time. The two were glancing around anxiously, their eyes wide with terror. A loud bang came from the floor above and flesh began pouring through the small hatch. "Good luck", the Bellman said and pressed the button. Gears churned and air hissed through old pipes before the submarine was ejected from the docking area into the dark sea. 'May luck be on their side', the adult thought as it watched the submarine quickly disappear into the darkness. Roars echoed through the room and the squelching of flesh grew in intensity as it swarmed towards the adult. It sighed and looked back, it's job was done.
"If I lose myself, make sure some part of me lives, so that there may be a chance of fixing this mess."