Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

There was a dull thump to Mono’s left. He didn’t look up, and only curled closer against the small wooden chair in the room. As he understood it, this chair was his only tie to the real world left. He didn’t move, even when the floor shifted in annoyance underneath him.

“New clothes, Our Prince.” The walls murmured into his head. It felt like sandpaper being rubbed raw against his brain, and Mono flinched. But he did look up.

And there was, in fact, a new set of clothes laying on the floor. A small, loose fitting suit. No overcoat, not yet, it seemed. Mono knew what was going to come, eventually. As such, he just stared at the clothes that the dimension had gifted him.

He swallowed down a lump of anxiety. “My clothes fit fine. I don’t need those.”

It was a lie. He wasn’t sure how long he’d been in this place, but it felt like only his coat still fit over his frame in the way it was supposed to. His shirt and pants squeezed his joints uncomfortably whenever he dared move. Clearly the dimension had picked up on that. It picked up on everything. The floor shifted again. Not enough to be noticeable to anyone other than Mono.

“You lie.” It said, “Do not be difficult. We care for you.”

“No you don’t.”

“We do. This is your home.”

Mono’s lip curled up angrily, and he stood. “It is NOT!!”

A sharp static filled the room at his shout, and the walls recoiled back away from him. He breathed heavily in an attempt to calm down, but small glitches still formed around his frame. He knew what he could do. He supposed he always had. But only now that he was being held captive by something that was trying to control him did he find himself using his strange powers. Mono was stronger than this place. Both him and the dimension knew it.

The ground lurched from under his feet, and the walls warped. He yelped and tried to cling to the chair again. But the dimension had already decided that he needed punishment for daring to snap at it. The chair was gone, and he landed face down on a fleshy, pulsing mass. He gagged, and tried to move away from it all, only to find himself backing into more meat. A singular, massive eyeball opened in front of him, and glared.

“You are being difficult, child.” The static that was it’s speech clawed against Mono’s brain. It hurt. “Your clothes do not fit anymore. We have gifted you something comfortable, Pale Prince. Your father was much more accepting of our gifts.”

Mono just whimpered and curled into himself, trying to see as little of the dimension’s true form as possible.

“You will wear what we have gifted you. We have even allowed you to keep your jacket. Be pleased.”

The ground lurched again, and when Mono dared to open his eyes, he was back in his small room. Immediately he clambered on top of the wooden chair and clung to it. His fingernails dug into the soft parts of the wood. It hurt, but it was so different from the clawing, scraping hurt that the dimension caused, that he accepted it with open arms. The clothes reappeared on the floor beside the chair, but the dimension made no comment about them. It knew that he’d put them on in due time.

“So.” Six walked, arms held out to her sides, “You think Mono is some sort of Inter-Dimensional Prince or whatever?”

The thing that had Six’s body snorted. It had been unable to get rid of her glitchy remains. Nor had it been able to get her to stop talking. Something that she did often. The thing had answered her questions in the hopes that that would get her to be quiet, but all it did was lead to more questions. It hoped that she hadn’t rubbed off on Mono too much. This sort of child was sure to have been a bad influence on him.

“We don’t ‘think’, child.” It finally said, “The Pale Prince and his lineage have been our hosts for years and years. He will grow into his role as the Pale King soon enough.”

Six hummed. “You mean the Thin Man? The fucking freak from the TV sets?”

“Language, child. And, while your terminology leaves much to be desired, that is who We speak of.”

Another hum. Six stopped walking, and sat down on the ground. She kept moving though. She was tied to the thing’s shadow, and couldn’t leave it’s boundaries. It was a convenient way of moving for when she couldn’t care enough to walk alongside the thing.

It had been a good few months since she had lost her body. And lost Mono along with it. Plenty of time to get used to being a glitchy remnant of who she used to be. As boring and agonizing as following this thing was, she could only guess how terrible things had to be for Mono. Especially if the entire flesh pit of a dimension talked the same way that this thing did. All long words and stupid terminology for things that could be explained with one sentence. But she had figured a few things out.

Like, that all those times that she had stopped Mono from falling into TVs had only been putting off the inevitable. And that the fleshy dimension that had taken her needed hosts in order to control the world in the way that it did. And that it found hosts by kidnapping and manipulating people with the natural ability to warp reality around them. Which she supposed included Mono, else he’d be free right now.

She also knew that the dimension HATED the Maw. Hated the Lady. Hated the fact that a single ship was able to take people from it.

She wondered often if it knew who her mother was.

“Pale King, Thin Man, who cares. How are they even related to Mono? You keep giving me nonanswers.”

“Would giving you an actual answer stop you from asking?”
Six didn’t answer. The thing huffed and rolled it’s eyes, stopping to turn to face her.

“The Pale King is the Pale Prince’s father. Though they are, essentially, the same person. Think of it as a beautiful metamorphosis; A child is born from the king and a woman, is banished to the furthest reaches of the world by us, and is slowly drawn back to the tower, their place of birth. They then kill their “father” and take his place. The cycle repeats.” The thing made a circular gesture with Six’s hands. “Like a snake eating its own tail. Do you understand.”

Six scowled. Unfortunately, she did. She had felt the pull of the Maw when she had killed the Lady. The ship calling for her to be the new ruler, that it would give her eternal youth, keep her happy. The entire world seemed to really like cycles, it seemed. She looked at the ground at her feet, and didn’t answer. The thing snorted in annoyance, but didn’t say anything further.

See, this entire event had Six thinking. The Maw would give her whatever she wanted. Anything to restore order to it. She had heard it wail in agony when she left, leaving it without a ruler to keep it together. She often wondered what the inside of it looked like now with nobody to keep it held together… Maybe all the kids that had been trapped had taken it as their own. That was all beside the point.

She had a feeling that the Maw would give her a body if she returned to it. Maybe it would even rip Mono free from the dimension that held him.

Six could only hope for a chance encounter with the Ferryman.

Chapter Text

Mono was allowed free roam for once. The rest of the tower awaited him in all of it’s garbled, glitchy nonsensical ways. He knew that he could shift it around to make it easier to navigate, but something about not knowing what lay around each corner gave him something to do. Something to hope he’d find, maybe.

He knew not to let his hopes get too high though. The Flesh had strictly forbidden TVs in the tower, and every time he tried to make one, it came out wrong. Plus, he was usually punished for attempting to make one in the first place. His hands gripped the edges of his jacket as he recalled his punishments. Long hours pressed against The Flesh itself, whimpering to himself as it gnawed at the edges of his brain. He worried that it was taking his memories. What little pleasant ones he had seemed to be harder to recall.

A couple of times he had passed the broken, glitchy remains of another child. But each time he tried to talk to them, they just shied away from him. Scared, almost. It hurt, but he supposed he understood. His eyes were… Less than pleasing to look at. All static and flat panes where normal eyes should be. He swallowed down a lump in his throat as he made the next turn, wandering aimlessly around the tower.

Mono came across a hole in the floor in the next hallway. A couple of curious brown eyes peered out of it, but they quickly shut and faded away as he entered. He glared at where they had been, and closed his eyes to will the hole closed. The Flesh watched him nonstop. He knew that. But he could do without the constant reminders. He didn’t need them showing themselves while he was on his own. It ruined his mood, and the air pulsed with static around him as a result.

The Flesh constantly berated him about letting his emotions get the better of his powers. But he’d rather have the anger right now than the aching loneliness.

The loneliness he wished would fade away.

His expression turned sour as he turned the next corner. It wasn’t often that he scowled, but this was certainly a scowling moment. Sometimes the world didn’t deserve to see him happy. Sometimes-

Mono yelled, and fell to the floor, frantically scrambling backwards from something. He curled up in a ball with his arms covering his face, and pressed his back against the nearest wall. The Thin Man- Mono had sworn he was dead but- his breathing came out in short, shallow bursts as he waited to be grabbed and reduced to nothingness. And waited. And…

Mono dared to lift an arm from his eyes and found nothing in front of him. The room he had ended up in was pleasantly empty, save for a toilet scaled to suit him. And a small bathtub. And a stool in front of… in front of a mirror. Mono stared up at it for a long time, contemplating it. He had been certain that the Thin Man was there. Maybe the mirror had been a TV screen for a brief moment. Maybe- Maybe The Flesh had propped up a replica.

None of these explanations made sense. It was a mirror. And Mono’s stomach sank further and further as he lifted himself up to it. Dark, shaggy hair draped down and around his face, partially covering his eyes. With a hand, he pushed his bangs out of the way and- ah. He understood why he thought the Thin Man was there.

There were subtle differences. Mono’s face was rounder. His nose shorter. There were no creases of wrinkles around his eyes or mouth. But the resemblance was uncanny. They looked so alike that Mono had mistaken himself for him, so alike that anybody could mistake them for one another. Even Mono’s eyes had become the same, empty black that his had been. A low, broken whimper, slipped out from the back of his throat, and he sunk to the floor.

He lay there for a while, choking on his sobs and muttering to himself. His breathing was uneven and shaky. The Flesh pushed itself into his mind after a couple of hours of this.

“Prince.”

No response.

“Calm yourself. This is unbecoming.”

Silence.

The Flesh shifted in a way that was similar to an eyeroll. “Of all the breaks you’ve had, Pale-”

“I’m not him.”

Mono’s voice came out small and broken, but it was a response. He’d reacted. That, at least, was good. The Flesh could work with this. It nudged itself further into him.

“In essence, you are the same.” It hummed, “Destined to become him. Another king.”

“I’m different.” Mono whispered, “I’m better. I do good things.”

“Do you? You let Six get captured.”

“I-”

“You let her get captured twice, Prince. And when she was twisted and changed by our might, you hurt her. Did you not?”

“I didn’t-”

“You claim to be better than the last. But you are the same. You are worse, perhaps, in the way you hurt others without intending to. That is the worst kind of evil of all. To hurt without trying.” The Flesh shoved itself into Mono’s insecurities, letting it’s eyes peer around at the inside of his brain. He could feel it, and he whimpered. He pushed back with his own static, but he knew it wouldn’t do much.

Yet The Flesh retreated of its own volition at his push. It also warped the surroundings back into his single, small room. The chair sat in the middle of it, waiting for him.

He didn’t dare move.

Chapter Text

Six remembered the first time she had seen Mono’s face. It had been shortly after they escaped the school, and they were sheltered under a broken down porch in the heart of the city.

The rain dripped through some of the cracks in the wood, but not many. It was enough to keep them both dry. And that was good enough.

Six swallowed a bite of what they were eating. A waterlogged rat. It was cold enough that she could feel it slink down her throat and into her stomach. But it was food. Food that she appreciated. Food that Mono refused to eat. She looked at him out of the corner of her eye.

He was curled up near the gap in the porch that had allowed them under it. Water droplets occasionally fell onto the bag covering his face, but he didn’t seem to mind. In fact, he seemed focused on something else entirely. Quietly muttering something to himself under his breath. Sometimes, Six could swear that the noises he made sounded like static. She stood, and wandered over to him. He didn’t react.

He didn’t react until Six put a hand on his bag, and even then he only reacted enough to hold it in place. It took him a moment to catch up mentally. A lagging that Six had grown used to.

He looked up at her. “Six? Do you need something?”

She huffed, and took a seat in front of him. “Why do you wear that stupid thing.”

Mono was quiet, and Six had the feeling that he was frowning at her from under it. He scooted away from her a bit.

“Doesn’t matter.” He told her, “I just do.”

“Can I see your face then? If it doesn’t matter.”

He was silent For a long while after that. Six didn’t push him- his silence already told her that he was hesitant- but she wondered. Wondered why he was touchy about his face in the first place. He had seen hers plenty of times, after all. And when he responded, his voice was far more hushed than usual. She had to strain her ears to listen.

“What… What do you think makes someone a monster.?”

Six blinked, then rolled her eyes and snorted. “If it tries to kill me, its a monster.”

“You don’t think it’s-” Mono fumbled with his words for a second, “You don’t think it’s the inhumane stuff? Like the teacher- she could stretch her neck really far- you don’t think that’s what made her a monster? Just that she was trying to kill us?”

“Basically.” Six shrugged, “I mean, the neck stuff was added bullshit. But I could care less about that if she had offered us help or something.”

Mono nodded, and tugged at the edges of his sleeves. When he spoke again, he sounded more sure of himself. Less worried about whatever he had been thinking about.

“Ok… Ok. I’ll show you my face.” He paused slightly, “Just. Don’t freak out please.”

Six made a small, noncommital noise as he started to move the paper bag off of his face. She wondered what she would even freak out about. She had dealt with the twin chefs and that stupid janitor, after all. She could handle- ah.

Mono held his bag in his hands, gently folding it up and holding it against his chest to keep it from getting wet. Or, wetter than it was. Where his eyes should be sat two rounded screens, each of them crackling with static. He could blink with them- Six watched him do so- but she couldn’t tell where he was looking. Or if he was looking at anything at all.

She watched him chew at his lip as he waited for a response, and she could almost swear that the static was flickering in anxiety. Funny. Seemed they could emote on their own. Six coughed to break the silence, and rolled her eyes in order to forcefully tear her gaze away.

“Well that was uneventful.” She huffed, resting her head on her knees.

Mono’s eyes went black for a moment, before returning to static full force. Like he was surprised. Six had to fight back a laugh.

“I- really?” He asked, “You’re not bothered about the… the thing going on with my eyes?”

“I can literally just rip the souls out of people.” Six deadpanned, “I wouldn’t be surprised if you had a fish for a head. Nothing bothers me at this point.”

He smiled at that- genuinely smiled- and Six couldn’t help but smile back. He ended up putting the bag back on his face after that, claiming that it was just what he felt safest doing, and Six didn’t have the energy to argue with him about it. She was just quietly pleased to have seen that smile.

She glanced at the thing in her body as they walked along a narrow, beaten down, wooden bridge. She didn't care what it took at this point. Six would do anything to see that smile again. Even if it meant spending countless hours stabbing out those stupid eyes. She'd find a way.

Chapter Text

The Flesh gnawed gently at the edges of Mono’s mind. Enough to wake him up from a dreamless sleep, but not enough to hurt. He was wearing the clothes it had made him so he didn’t think it’d hurt him any time soon. He’d made it happy, if just a little.

He sat up and rubbed at his eyes, “Yes?”

“Prince,” The Flesh started, “We have something you may enjoy. A memory.”

Mono squinted at a nearby wall as it shifted and warped in order to let a small TV pass through into the room. His heart lept into his chest until he noticed the distinct lack of any antenna. It wasn’t connected to anything. It wasn’t a way out. He forced down his disappointment and looked up at the ceiling.

“A memory..? Of what?”

“You shall see.” The Flesh responded, letting the TV crackle to life, “It is from your predecessor. Something of interest.”

Mono scowled at the thought of the Thin Man, but didn’t protest. He’d take anything at this point. Anything other than the constant, brain-numbing presence of The Flesh. He let his head rest on his knees as the TV started to play.

The Lady paced back and forth in front of a single television.

She’d made it a point to get rid of as many of the damn things as she could a few years ago following a certain… disagreement with the Thin Man. A few of them managed to survive though, as evidenced enough by the one in front of her. She was quietly thankful of that. See, as much as she couldn’t stand The Flesh and the Thin Man, she was at a point where she needed to speak to them both.

She walked over to it and tapped a single painted nail against the screen, which crackled to life at her touch. The static swirled together after a moment, making a singular eye. The Lady scowled at it from behind her mask.

“The Thin Man.” She told it, “I want to speak to him.”

The eye narrowed at her.

“He will relay the information to you,” She waved a hand at it, “And if he didn’t, you’d pry it from him yourselves. Now hurry up, I have a ship to attend. I don’t have all day to spend arguing with a sapient mass of meat.”

The TV crackled in a small noise of annoyance, but the eye dissolved back into static. The Lady released a small amount of tension from her shoulders as it did so. The Maw hated The Flesh as much as it hated them. She was glad that it was willing to comply this time.

A pair of hands pressed against the TV from the other side of the screen. And then the Thin Man started pushing his way into the room. He grumbled about her not having bothered to set the TV up on a stand or on a couch, and about how the floor may be clean but that didn’t mean he wanted to be on it, and a whole lot of other nonsense. The Lady rolled her eyes under her mask. Time passed, but clearly he hadn’t changed in the slightest.

“Come,” She snapped at him when he was out, “We have things to discuss.”

He took his hat off and patted it against his chest in an attempt to rid it of dust. His eyes sparked to life with static as he moved away from the TV.

“A greeting would be nice, Cass.”

“Yes.” She replied, “It would.”

The Thin man huffed, but didn’t comment further. She was glad that he didn’t. She wasn’t in the mood to get into an argument this early into the visit. Though she was rather annoyed at his usage of her name. It wasn’t his to speak.

Her personal dining quarters weren’t far from where she had set the television- just a short walk away- but even then the walk felt far too long. She silently regretted not just setting the damn thing in the dining room itself. Save them both the excruciating awkwardness. She didn’t offer him his seat when they arrived, and instead went straight to her own.

The food steamed, having been freshly cooked.

Neither of them even glanced at it.

The Lady placed her hands in her lap, and regarded the Thin Man with a slight tilt of her head. “It will please both you and your Masters that I’m going to die soon.”

The Thin man sucked a breath in through his teeth. “Ah.”

“Yes, I believe that this next child will be the one to kill me and take my place.” She continued, “She’s already mutilated the Janitor. Far more than any of her siblings have done. She’ll be a good leader, if a stubborn one.”

She was met with silence for a solid minute as the Thin Man collected his thoughts. It was almost funny to watch him fumble over his words like he always did. Even now. It was- no. She shoved any and all affectionate thoughts down with a mental mallet. That was what got her into this mess. What made… Ah. Well. He’d find out.

“Well then… I suppose it was a. Pleasure. Knowing you, Cassandra.” He finally managed to squeeze out, “This child is what, the fifth?”
“Sixth.” She corrected.

“Sixth, right.” The Thin man paused, “I appreciate the warning, though I can’t say I understand why you’re giving it to me. We didn’t end on the best of terms last we met. The Maw doesn’t usually tell us of its affairs either. Excuse me for being confused.”

The Lady hummed, and picked up her fork. She spun it between her fingers for a moment, wondering how best to tell him. Straightforward was best right..? She looked up at him.

“Yes, well. The child is yours.” She set her fork down, “That is why I saw it fit to inform you.”

The Thin Man stared, his eyes flashing into blue error screens. He shook his head to clear whatever mental shock he was going through, and frantically readjusted his hat.

“I- pardon?”

“I said,” The Lady repeated, “That my sixth child is yours. Of your blood. A result of us together. How else do you want me to phrase it, Henry, before I make myself clear.”

He sputtered at that, eyes flashing quite a few different glitched images before he was able to compose himself. The Lady looked away from him as he stood, almost hitting his head on the light fixture.

“You must be mistaken- the tower’s chosen has already been born! He’s out there now! There can’t be-” he flailed his hands as if to catch words out of the air, “There can’t be two! The Flesh would-”
“The Flesh has nothing to worry about.” She hissed at him, “She will kill me and take her place as the head of The Maw, and you will be slaughtered by your own, and that will be that!”

He stared at her, and she ran a hand through her hair. Slowly, the Thin Man sat back down.

“I apologize for losing my composure.” The Lady sighed, “But you must understand. Me informing you of your relation to her is out of nothing other than courtesy. I wanted you to know before I no longer have the chance to tell you myself, understand?”

He nodded, turning his gaze to look at the ground. A pair of nomes ran along the edge of the wall. There was an unspoken thought between the two. A thought that maybe, had things been different, they might have had an actual family.

The screen clicked off, and Mono watched as the entire television set sunk into the wooden floor. The entire experience made him feel… weirdly empty.

Six was his sister. Half, maybe. They were related.

He might’ve been excited by the information in the past. Tugged on her sleeve and found a way to bring it up at any moment possible. Rest his head on top of hers in an attempt to figure out what siblings do.

But now? The information just made him feel cold, and sick. He wanted to throw up, or curl up into a ball. To shove the information out of his head.

Six let him fall. His sister let him fall. And that was worse.

The Flesh squeezed into his mind, curious about his lack of reaction.

“Are you not happy?” It asked, “We found it for you.”

Mono made a small noise in response, not moving.

The Flesh hummed, but pulled away from him to give him his space. He’d handle it in his own time.

Chapter Text

“You are a strange child.”

Six looked up and glared at the thing as it spoke to her. She had gone a solid three days completely ignoring the stupid thing, and she wasn’t planning to break her silence now. Instead, she pointedly looked away to show it how little she cared about it’s comment. Unfortunately, it didn’t seem to notice nor care, and kept talking.

“You’re immune to the tower’s signal, hunger to a point that it gnaws ever so slightly at our own conscious, and you seem to treat all of this as normal facts of life.” It crossed its arms and scowled, “Strange indeed.”

Six rolled her eyes.

“I don’t suppose you’d answer any questions I might have. You’ve been giving me the silent treatment for quite a while now. Childish, if you weren’t already.”

She didn’t respond. Though, she quietly wondered what sort of questions this stupid thing would have. Last she checked, it could see through any eye. Whether it be from a toy, a painting, or any viewer. What would it have questions about? What did it not see? She frowned to herself, and patted the ground in thought.

“It’s hard to keep track of individuals such as yourself. We don’t pay mind to children more than we have to.” A slight pause, “Well, other than our Prince, we suppose. Though he is a special case. You understand.”

Six turned to glare at it. Glaring didn’t count as an answer. It was an action. The thing snorted at her glare, and continued.
“Yes yes, we are rambling now. We don’t expect you to understand being cut off from a hivemind. It is saddening, really, to be apart from the rest of The Flesh! We have to speak to fill the space that many thoughts used to fill, since you insist on keeping your own silence.” It hummed, and started walking in a random direction.

“There are a few places on this planet that escape our range of sight. The outside of the walls that make up the Pale City, the deep forests that we only have a few eyes in, the lands far out to the west that are made purely of wheat and old barns… And the Maw.”

Six tried to hide the fact that she jumped from where she sat. But if the thing noticed, it didn’t comment.

“I don’t expect you to know of the Maw outside of fliers and old stories, child.” It laughed quietly to itself, “If you had seen it, you’d be dead. It was a place of order, held under the fist of a fine Lady. Was, is the key word. The Maw is now leaderless. The Lady announced her death to us a few days before her passing, told us that her place would be taken… But nothing happened. We believe that her and her child died at the same time, perfectly matched for power.”

Six stared at nothing, her eyes out of focus, as she tried her hardest not to react to what the thing was saying. Telling her about her own adventure. Her own victory. As if she had no idea what had happened on that damn ship. Her fingers twitched as if to form a fist, but she willed them to stay relaxed.

“Since that, we can only assume that the Maw has finally fallen to chaos. A victory for us, if we were able to see it. Our televisions are either smashed or unplugged within its belly, and the eyes that lined the walls have since been clawed out.” It frowned. “Upsetting, but we assume it is of the Maw’s own volition. Angered at the turn of events that had led the next in line for the Maw’s throne to be the offspring of our pawn.”

“WHAT.”

Six shot up, a mindless panic shoving aside any composure she might have had. She gripped the thing’s shoulders.

“What did you say! What- about-”

“Calm yourself child!” It shoved her off of it, scowling, “Why only now do you break… your...”

They kept eye contact for a long time. Realization dawning in the eyes of the thing while Six’s hands shook at her side. It grinned.

“You… You! You are the child!” It nearly laughed with joy, “No wonder the signal didn’t taint your mind, you’re already tainted! The result of a union that has destroyed our worst enemy! We didn’t recognize you- we apologize- that raincoat is such commonplace that it is hardly a distinctive factor in- Ah! We are rambling again.”

“Yes!” Six snapped, “Yes you are fucking rambling you stupid pile of meat scraps! What the hell do you mean by any of what you said! The Maw is gone, I did that. I don’t get all goo-goo eyed at your stupid static, I KNOW! What do you mean about the other stuff, damnit! Be useful for once and answer me!”

It waved her off, pacing back and forth excitedly, “That doesn’t matter! All that matters is that you’re able to become a new host should the Prince fail! You’ll be wonderful! You’ll be-!”

A light shone on the both of them, and Six froze. Seems the thing had forgotten one of the key rules to surviving; keeping yourself quiet. Fear spiked in her stomach as her eyes adjusted to the light. She was all too ready to find herself face to face with another twisted adult ready to kill her. But her fear slowly started to slip away. A glimmer of hope shoved itself into her mind. She knew this adult.

The Ferryman had found her.

Chapter Text

Mono had been allowed to wander around again.

The Flesh had been quiet lately, and as much as he hated to admit it, the silence made him nervous. Normally he’d take the silence, but now it just seemed like an anvil hanging over his head. It’d break its silence soon… He just knew he wasn’t going to like whatever it had to say when it did.

It wasn’t like there was much to explore anyway. Most of what he came across was either empty rooms, or empty staircases. Nothing exactly riveting. He huffed, and scrunched his eyes together.

A sharp static filled the air around him, and floorboards snapped and bent as he willed them into a new shape. He was out of breath by the end of it, but he smiled wide as he opened his eyes. A bedroom, perfectly shrunk to his size, and light blue walls. It wasn’t much, especially considering that it was small, and took a lot of effort. But the blue made him happy. That was enough for him anyway.

Mono walked in and crawled on top of the bed, quietly wondering if The Flesh would let him keep the room.

Probably not. But it would be nice.

He pulled the thin blanket he had made up over himself, and pressed his face into the mattress. He sat like that for a while. Not sleeping, just resting. Waiting to see if The Flesh would get angry with him for rearranging the tower a bit. But nothing came. Mono wondered if he’d wake up in the bed if he fell asleep in it, but couldn’t find himself caring as he drifted off to sleep.

Mono didn’t dream. Maybe that was a good thing. And yet he couldn’t help but feel some form of disappointment at it all.

He looked around, and found himself still in his own little bedroom. The walls had greyed a little, which was upsetting. Luckily it perked right back into vibrancy after he glared at it. It made him smile. The fact that he could make things brighter, even if they were in the tower. He shrugged the blanket off of his shoulders and turned to hop off of the bed.

Only to find himself nearly face to face with a glitchy remnant who had been watching him. He yelped, voice cracking from lack of use, and threw the blanket up over his head. He sat like that for a long moment, before slowly pulling the blanket back down.

The remnant was still there, staring.

It was taller than him, if only by a little bit, and the glitched shape of its head looked like a messy head of hair. Maybe chin length, if he squinted. And it was odd. Normally, any glitchy remnants in the tower would run at the sight of him, afraid of being absorbed into his own static. But this one just stood. It hadn’t even moved when he almost ran into it.

“What-” he started, being cut off by a continuous high pitched beeping. Likely from the remnant. He covered his ears while he frantically tried to tune himself to whatever plane of existence it was on.

He got it. Eventually. But only just as the remnant had stopped talking. He slowly lowered his hands and looked up at it.

“S-sorry.” Mono said, “I just missed what you said. If… if you said anything, I mean.”

It laughed. A small, garbled and distorted laugh, but a laugh nontheless. Tuned into its frequency, Mono could now see that the remnant had piercing green eyes, and thin, bony wrists.

“I was just saying,” It started, “That I expected you to be taller.”

Mono stared. The first remnant to talk to him since he had arrived, and it was calling him short. He frowned, and crossed his arms.

“I’m tall!”

“Yeah? Taller than who?”

“I’m taller than-” Mono cut himself off and shut his mouth so hard that he nearly bit his tongue. He didn’t want to say her name. Or think about her, for that matter. He looked at the ground.

“Touchy subject?” the remnant asked, drifting ever so slightly closer, “Interesting.”

At that, he scowled. He tore his gaze away from the floor. “Why do you care? You don’t know me! A-and besides, I’ll absorb you if you get too close, whether I want to or not. So... so why care?”

The remnant tilted its head, and stood in silence for a long while. Long enough for Mono to wonder whether or not it had even registered what he had said at all. But it spoke, eventually.

“You’re a kid.” It settled on, crossing whatever glitched approximation of arms it had, “We’re all kids. All everybody else does is drift. They think they’re dead… Maybe they are. Maybe I am. But I still think we’re all better off talking to one another. And because you’re a kid, you’re included. Sooo… I’m talking to you. Make sense?”

“...Oh.” Mono felt a little guilty for snapping now, “Y-yeah it. It makes sense, yeah.”

“Cool.” It yawned, and the bright green lights that were its eyes dimmed ever so slightly. “Hope you don’t mind, but this has taken a lot out of me… I’m going to rest.”

And before Mono had the chance to protest, or say anything else, it was gone. His hand hovered close to where it had been- half lifted as if to grab it- and he slowly lowered it. It wasn’t like grabbing it would’ve made it stay. It only would’ve made it a part of him. And he didn’t want that. He wanted a friend in this place, any friend at all.

The next time he blinked, he was in the room with the chair. Back in the silence.

Chapter Text

"You made it hard to find you, my Lady." The Ferryman told her. His voice was deep, and reminded her of the rocking of the Maw.

In one hand he held the thing that had stolen her body, and in the other he held a lantern. Holding it up and casting long shadows across the ground where Six herself was able to follow him. She cringed at the title.

"Yeah, well." She said, "I didn't exactly want to be found. So sorry for that."

He hummed. Not exactly a noise of disapproval, but certainly not a happy noise either. 

Six wasn't sure what to think of him. The first time he'd found her had been a good couple of years ago. He hadn't said much then, except tell her that he'd take her somewhere safe. Somewhere that the people didn't accuse her of being a monster for her strange ways. Her sharp teeth and constant need to eat.

She'd followed the Ferryman then, with nothing but a small suitcase. Hadn't questioned where he'd come from or why. It had just felt right to let him lead her to the Maw. Six hadn't questioned him then. But now it seemed that she had too many to ask. She drifted up the shadows to rest on his shoulder.

"How were you able to tell that it wasn't me?" She asked.

The Ferryman hummed again, and she could tell that he was looking at her from the corner of his eyes. "I'm tied to the Maw. I was born from it, as was the first Lady. I can see the souls of the dead that drift pass, and I can feel whenever a child needs me. I could not only hear your soul calling to me, but I could also tell who exactly you were far before I left my boat."

Six frowned. "That's confusing."

"Certainly." He laughed softly, "You'll understand in time. The Maw has been anxious for your return… I have a feeling that it will do anything to please you."

She didn't respond.

Six had always felt her connection to the Maw. The first time she saw it had awoken something in her. A deep, singing white noise in her mind. When she had killed the Lady… when she had killed her mother, she understood. 

The Maw offered her everything. The ability to be eternally youthful, the ability to save children and cull them before they had the chance to become monsters. A place where her hunger would be sated by the incoming flow of guests. Guests whose bodies would wither and leave nothing but the soul behind to consume.

She was supposed to accept. Supposed to take her mother's place as Lady of the Law and complete the cycle. And yet Six had been so angry. Angry that a place that had tried to kill her so many times was now begging for forgiveness. So she left the Law. Left it leaderless and empty. Empty except… 

Six looked at the Ferryman again, eyes wide.

"What happened to the other kids?"

He looked at her fully, and stopped in his tracks for half a second. Thinking about his answer.

"Fine." He said, resuming the walk, "They started a rebellion. The Maw won't accept one as a true leader, but it's pleased that there is some semblance of order again."

"And the… the other adults?"

The ferryman laughed again, quiet. "You maimed the janitor, though he was never much a threat to children who fell in line. The chefs have gone… somewhere. I couldn't quite say. The Maw will tell you, I'm sure."

Six relaxed. She didn't like returning to the Maw. Much less returning to… to rule it. The thought made her stomach twist. But she'd do better than the last Lady. And she'd do it to save Mono.

Mono, her brother. It was a weird thought, especially considering that it had only been a short few hours since she found out about her relation to him.

And on the other hand, she'd known about her relation to the Lady for longer than she'd like to admit. A single portrait in the Lady's quarters had given it away. She tugged on the edge of her raincoat as the Ferryman walked.

No time to dwell on it all now. The Maw awaited.

Chapter Text

The tower was achingly quiet. No shuffling from within the walls, no quiet musings from the Flesh. The only sounds were the soft static that now constantly played from Mono, and his feet on the wooden floorboards. The silence was unnerving. And more stressful the longer it lasted.

Mono came across a large gap in the floor, with purple light seeping up out of it and illuminating the area. He had yet to find out where the light came from, or if it meant anything. But he could at least appreciate it for what little it lit up. For now.

He sighed and sat at the edge of the gap, his feet dangling over it. The air felt thick there. Almost like dipping his feet in water.

"You sure know how to navigate this place, don't you?"

Mono jolted and almost toppled over the edge of the gap. The remnant was back, and was hovering above the gap a ways away from him. It blinked, and made a noise like laughter.

"Sorry." It said, "I didn't mean to laugh."

Mono frowned and scooted back away from the edge. "You don't seem sorry."

It tilted its head, and floated closer. It was weird, seeing it move. None of the other remnants he had seen had moved much past repeating simple motions. And he was quietly thankful for that. He doubted he would've been able to handle seeing them all move. Especially when… well. Watching it move was like watching a visual migraine. Mono scrubbed at his eyes for a moment to try and clear the sight from his mind.

"Guess I don't. You're right." It paused, "Say, what'd you do to piss this place off? It's quiet."

Mono shrugged, and tapped his fingers together.

"Didn't know you could tell." He mumbled.

"Well, yeah." It tilted its head, "I've been here a long time."

"Oh." 

Mono thought about what it had told him. About them being kids. And now, about being here a long time. He wondered how long exactly. If they had known the Thin Man. If it had talked to him. He fiddled with the edge of his coat for a moment.

"Say." He finally said, "Do you have a name?"

It laughed again. "Sort of."

"Sort of? Either you do or you don't!" Mono pouted, "Mine's Mono. There, now your turn."

"The crows called me Bite. But I think that was a pet name. Not that I really mind… a name is important."

"Yeah…" Mono nodded. And then paused. "Crows?"

The remnant- Bite- yawned through a nod, and started to fade out. The edges of its form flickering and greying.

"I can tell you stories about them… if you want…"

"Could you?"

"Yeah." It blinked at him, "But… later. This takes a lot… Sorry."

Mono opened his mouth to say something, but when he blinked, it was gone. He stared at the space where it had been, and curled his hands up into the fabric of his pants.

It was quiet in the tower. But he'd wait here. For Bite. For his new friend.