Chapter Text
A Wonderful discovery
Six had gone through many shelves in her residence. Most held books or tea or clothes or ‘fine china’ as the bell man called it. Yet this shelf held boxes. Some boxes had cards with number symbols and weird symbols, one big box held a black and white board in little squares, in that box were little black and white pieces. Six organized the black pieces on the black tiles of the board and the white pieces on the white tiles of the board. There was a bag of tiles with designs on them that were about the size of Six’s head. Six used them to make a little tower. Next Six found a bag full of small pretty balls. Their colors ranged from pinks to greens to yellows. Six tried organizing them by color but they kept rolling around thanks to the maw’s constant swaying. So Six put them back in their bag.
Now Six would just have to find a way to bring them all back to her little nest. “If I put the little box in the big box and the bags in the big box then…” Six smiled. She had found a wonderful addition to her nest, a wonderful discovery.
Becoming Great and Terrible.
In the Maw there were always little vents Six could crawl through. Very useful vents that adults couldn’t go through. Yet for some reason- “They’re not as small.” Six pointed out one day in the kitchen. (she was getting herself a cup of tea) One of the twin chefs just shrugged and slightly shrieked. Six could still crawl through them; it was just that she had to crouch down even more. “Do you think I’m getting taller?” She asked the chef. The chef gave an approving shriek. “I’m gonna be tall and terrible one day.” Six Hissed.
“Liiittle lady will be a big lady?!” The chef screeched. “Mhmh. An’ I’m going to be better than the previous lady!” Six proclaimed. “I’m not gonna fall down cause a looking glass!” She declared. There was a loud whistle from the corner. The water had finished boiling. “whaaAAaat type of Tea!” The chef asked. “Type? Tea has types?” Six asked. The chef gave an affirming grunt before grabbing a box out of the cupboard. Several boxes were in the box. Ginger, Mint, Lemon, Green, Earl Grey. Six chose the lemon. She also asked for some lemon cookies. She was given a plate with the tea and cookies to take up to her residence. Now that six thought about it the plates didn’t seem as big anymore. Perhaps she was already becoming great and terrible.
Comb
Some days Six didn’t wanna get out of bed. But the bellman would force her out of her nest eventually. What a pain. Six groaned and twisted in her nest. Warm and soft. She had stayed up past her bedtime last sleep to read a book about being ladylike that the wax bellman wanted her to read. It was full of stupid rules and lies that Six couldn’t understand. The only thing actually helpful was how to make your hair very very soft. That's the only good thing about it.
Something about combs and washing her hair every three nights. She’d have to figure out what a comb is and how to wash hair. Did the previous lady do that? Six pulled herself out of the bed. She’d have to correct whoever wrote that book and she’d have to find the bellman. Or maybe he’d come to her with a hot plate of bacon, rice and tea. Then she’d ask him where to find a comb. Yes. That's what she’d do. Food then Comb
Baths
It hurt very very much to the point tears were pricking at six’s eyes. Did combing hair really have to hurt this much? “Bellmaannnn! My head hurts!” Six whined. “Well your hair is extremely knotted, I suppose it would pull on your scalp.” The bellman said. He was working on the back section of Six’s hair. “Stop combing it! I hate it!” Six cried. The wax bellman looked over at the book. “Ah, it recommends washing it before combing.” The Bellman observed. “I’ll run you a bath then.” He sighed and picked six up.
They entered a room. Six didn’t go in often. It was much colder than the rest of the residence and seemed to have no use. The bellman walked to the pedestal and Six noticed it had two strange gray knobs above it. The bellman turned the knobs and water spilled out of a pipe. The bellman left six on the edge of the pedestal. He had poured some liquid in the bowl of the pedestal that made the water foamy. The water was warm. Six sat in it. “So this is a bath? It’s nice…” Six decided that day that she liked Baths.
Chess pieces
Six sometimes thought about the children in the prison. They became the guests food. Six had to be better than them. Thats why she survived. Six sometimes thought about Mono. The boy she had killed. Was it for better or for worse? Six didn’t know. Six was moving the strange black and white pieces on the black and white tiled board. Pretending that the tallest black piece was the black tower in the rainy place and that six was a tiny white piece that could easily defeat the tower. “You’re playing incorrectly.” the bellman’s voice declared. “No I’m not!” Six argued. She could defeat the tower, of course she could. “I defeat the tower and win! Thats how it works!” She explained. “The intention of the board is a game called chess.” The bellman corrected. “Chess?” Six murmured. “Yes, I can teach you how to play.”
“So a pawn moves one ahead, the rook moves forward and to the side… Queens can move anywhere… bishops can move diagonally….” An hour later Six was playing a fine game of chess with the bellman. He was winning but six would win eventually. She’d win at Chess. Or just eat the Chess pieces.
Away From Bad Memories
“Teevee?” Six didn’t realize there was a TV in her residence. Mono always tried to go into the TV’s - Like an idiot. Six walked towards it and pressed a button. The screen lit up with it’s normal static, and a garbled voice came out of it- “š̷̨̡̧̼͈̜̙̫̒͂͐͝h̷̡͓͔̿͗ù̵̯̺͎̩̀̔̀͌͊̕ţ̶̦̬̗͓̼̣͕͌̎͒̈̋̆̿̏͝͝ ̶͍̜̥̈́̐̈́̀̒̽ī̵̢̹̻̩̄̿͗̍̓̈͊̀t̵̙͊͂̈́̋͠,̴̼̑̂̽ ̵̦͉̤͊͝ͅe̵̬̘͇̭̤̰̪̫̦͌̋̀̋ͅy̵͖̣̳͉̭͖͍͔̓̐̂́͗̔͊́͐͘e̴̢̞̗͎͋̍̂͊̎̐̀̆̉͐s̵̜̖̫̿͗͌͘̚” Six turned the tv back off. She couldn’t make out what it was saying but the voice felt familiar. It didn’t matter too much anyway. TV’s are dangerous. She should just stay away from it. Away from bad Memories.