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Chapter Text

Darkness.

An endless black void encompassed the young girl, though she could feel solid ground beneath her bare feet.
Most children her age would be afraid of the dark.
But why should she be, when she had methods of banishing it in an instant?

“Sentry.”
At her words, oddly echoing in the void, a small butterfly made of white light burst into being, illuminating her way forwards.
From past experience, she knew it would attack any dark creature that dared approach.

The butterfly dutifully fluttered near the girl as she traversed what looked like a forest at first glance, or perhaps a large room with many tall, thick columns. She couldn’t see the details very well with her surroundings so obscured in shadow, but the floor felt hard, like tiles.
So a room it was. A ballroom, perhaps?

As she continued on, she realized that this place felt… familiar somehow. She couldn’t quite put her finger on when she’d been here before.
It didn’t look like the ballroom in her parents’ castle.

There were no windows to let in light. Even with the curtains drawn, some light would still seep in.

Why was she here again?
…

Oh yes! To see a friend. An old friend, one she hadn’t seen in a very long time.
She wished they could have had their rendezvous someplace more pleasant.

Eventually, the girl heard something familiar. She’d heard it before, but again she couldn’t quite remember where.

A crackling, tinny noise, like the chirping of multiple strange insects came from above her.
She looked up, spying an odd sort of box, suspended from the dark ceiling by two or three thick wires.

There was a glass screen that took up the majority of one side of the box, and instead of a plain reflective surface, like a mirror, it instead shone with a bright white light, like a spotlight.

It illuminated a door that stood just beyond where the strange box hung.

As the girl made to walk under the box and towards the door, she heard something snap.

Immediately, the girl flew backwards on her fairy wings to avoid the box as it fell on top of where she’d been standing.
She heard glass shattering, and immediately the light and noise from the box ceased.

Now the only light in the room came from her Sentry, and the ball of offensive magic forming in the girl’s right hand.

It was suddenly eerily quiet, the only sounds the girl’s breathing and two pairs of fluttering wings as she calmed down from the sudden scare.

Seeing all was clear in the surrounding darkness, the Sentry flew over to the door.

The girl nodded, cancelling her attack as she made to follow.

She reached out to grab the door handle, much larger in size than those she was familiar with.
Just as she touched the tarnished brass…

She startled awake, sitting up in her bed.

“Well…”

She muttered as she rubbed the crusty bits from her eyes.
“That was farther than I’d gone before.”
The dream usually ended when the box fell from the ceiling.

She’d seen a few such boxes scattered around this strange land. She did not know the proper term for them, and no one seemed to speak its name if they spoke at all, so she started calling them Light Boxes.
Her dodging the fall, though. That felt new. Different.
Experienced.

“An omen, perhaps…?”
She considered as she stretched her arms over her head, her wings stretching themselves out similarly as they extended from her back.

It was a similar sort of ‘omen’ that sent her on this perilous journey into the unknown wilds.

The girl sighed as she recalled those events, tying her long dark hair into a loose braid.

For several months, she had been suffering from a series of nightmares, each one building upon the last like a sequence, until it all blended together.
She refrained from talking about them, for fear of being called crazy.

The nightmares always felt so real, so vivid. She could use all five senses in them, even fly as she normally could.

It became a problem when she started showing signs of insomnia, and her family noticed.
Sleep deprivation caused her thoughts to become jumbled, so she inevitably confessed to her nightmares being the reason she slept so little.

Her mother, bless her heart, was patient as a saint with her daughter when she described her latest nightmare, one in which she visited a witch’s house and was attacked by a monster woman in a swamp.

Her parents and older brother were understandably horrified, but they tried to reassure her.

The events in her visions were just that. Visions. Dreams.

They weren’t real.

But the girl didn’t fully believe that, especially since she continued to have those dreams.

Her mother encouraged her to talk about her dreams more often, hoping it would help her daughter understand them.

Her brother didn’t like her visions much, but he proudly proclaimed he would defend his sister from the monsters she saw if he could.

She appreciated his attempt at cheering her up.

Her Mother and Father seemed to understand.

Two months after the nightmares began to plague her mind, her mother sat her down and told her of her own experience with prophetic dreams and other worlds.

Her mother, Aurora, still sometimes dreamt of her birth country, what was happening there in real time.

Their home country, Lemuria, was a fantasy compared to where her mother came from. The girl knew this, but insisted her horrible dreams weren’t the same thing.

There were no gryphons or Aerostati or Pisceans, nor any form of magic that she recognized.
The places she went in her dreams felt real, and at the same time not.

It was Somewhere and Nowhere at the same time.

Her mother, the Queen of Lemuria, appeared thoughtful at the mention of a Nowhere.

The night after that conversation, before she retired to bed, the Queen of Lemuria came into her daughter’s room with a gift.
It was a moonstone pendant, infused with the Light of the Moon, kept in the Sky Temple.
It was supposed to keep malicious forces away from the wearer’s mind.

Though skeptical, the girl put it on and fell asleep to her mother’s soothing lullaby.
Miraculously, the pendant worked! She didn’t have another nightmare!

Her relief didn’t last, however, as just when she’d gotten her sleep schedule back in order she started having similar dreams to her nightmares.

Except… they felt different.

It was like she was seeing them through someone else’s eyes, but it still felt like herself experiencing the events of the dreams.
They felt more like memories.

The girl was brought out of her post-awakening reverie by the smell of the sea wafting towards her.

That reminded her.
“Today’s the day.”
The day she and Lumen were getting out of this horrid place.

Quickly and quietly as she could, the girl got out of her makeshift bed and pulled on her dress, which had been neatly folded beside her.
It was the same royal dress she’d left home in, knee length with short sleeves and a high collar. It was primarily dark blue with white accents and a crescent moon turned 90 degrees on the chest, almost like a frown.
It had seen better days, as there were now sewn tears and other imperfections in the fabric due to how long she’d been wearing it in this Nowhere world.

It was a comforting reminder of home.

“Good morning, your highness!”
Her companion greeted as she pulled on a pair of elbow length white gloves. They were also in a state of disrepair, with the ends of the fingers all but torn off.

Instead of any proper shoes or socks, she had on a pair of leather sandals.
They helped with flight more than any heavier footwear, according to her parents.

She refused to walk around barefoot in this country.

“Good morning, Lumen. How many times have I told you that you don’t have to use titles? No one knows who I am this far from Lemuria.”
She smiled tiredly, still sleepy due to the early hour.

What she wouldn’t give for some caffeine.

“I know. It’s just a habit at this point.”
Lumen smiled back, holding out a bundle of cloth, somewhat stained purple.
“But I got us breakfast!”

“Oh, blueberries! How did you get past the butler with them?”

“Well, it wasn’t easy, but I managed.”
Lumen said, referring to the only servant on the premises.
The man, as every adult in this country seemed to be, was a giant. He was elderly and balding, with his hands cuffed in golden shackles behind his back, forced into an uncomfortable-looking humpback position with his head hanging low.
Unfathomably, the Butler was also gifted with telekinetic powers, as he was able to float off the ground and move objects without his hands.

The girl had only heard of such powers in stories, and before her first encounter with the Butler, she had never seen them in action.
He also seemed to despise intruders of any sort, including the little princess and her furry friend, intent on killing them with whatever means he had available on sight.
The girl had to watch as the horrible old man threw an unsuspecting Nome against a wall.

She shook her head to rid herself of that memory. She wondered just how far from home she was right now.

Lumen laid the stolen blueberries on the ground.
“Help yourself, I already ate my fill.”

The girl rolled her eyes, smiling fondly.
“Of course you did.”

Lumen’s long tail swished behind him in anticipation, his large ears twitching at every sound while the girl ate.

These features plus his shining white fur, indicative of his species, made it difficult for him to hide in shadow. But like other Light Spirits, he was intelligent enough to keep out of sight in other ways.

And if that didn’t work, he could use his Light Magic to confuse his pursuers.

The girl herself was capable of Light Magic as well due to her unique heritage, the Sentry spell being only one example.

In fact, she’d had to use the spell Starlight against the Pretender just the other day.
As much as she would’ve liked to know the noble girl better, she didn’t want to be turned to dust in the process.

She shivered at the thought of the banshee screeching brat, hoping that they didn’t have to encounter her in their escape attempt today.

“Come on, Lumen. Let’s get started.”

“Yes, pri- I mean, Selene!”

Selene smiled at her friend’s effort, already fluttering down to check on their preparations.

She could only hope and pray all would go according to plan.

Chapter Text

Wind whipped past the girl’s face as she fell, lifting up the hood of her yellow raincoat and letting her brunette braid out.

Just as she’d closed her eyes in preparation for imminent impact with the crashing waves below, she felt someone grab her from under her arms, abruptly breaking her fall and lifting her up into the air.

The girl’s long brunette braid now hung loosely down her front as she tried to get a good look at her rescuer. The arms that held her up were small, but evidently strong, the skin tone darker than the girl in the raincoat was used to seeing.

But what startled her most was the faint buzzing she could hear over the ocean below. She glanced behind her to see a pair of rapidly moving translucent wings as long as she was tall.
She gasped in fright.

“Hey, don’t be scared. I just saved you.”
A voice said, small, high pitched and just a bit haughty. A little girl’s voice.

It was then that the girl in the raincoat also noticed the locks of dark brown hair being blown around in the gusts generated by the wings.

The girl in the raincoat nodded to the younger girl in thanks. They stayed there, suspended above the ocean as its waves audibly crashed against the rocky shore.

“I hope she drowns.”
The girl in the raincoat turned her attention back to the water’s surface. She’d almost forgotten about the other very special little girl she’d just evaded the grasp of.
She waited for any sign The Pretender survived that fall.
After a moment, she grunted, nodding in agreement with the younger girl’s assessment.

Her savior carried her up to a platform close to the sea, depositing her on the hard stone.

The girl in the raincoat landed nimbly on her feet, watching as the winged one touched down beside her.
She recognized her in an instant.

“You’re surprisingly light, for someone who’s supposed to be older than me. Though I suppose I shouldn’t be too surprised…”

“It’s… you?”
The girl’s voice was a little hoarse from underuse, but her tone was one of surprise.

She had seen this younger girl running around the Nest, using passageways the girl in the yellow raincoat had no way of getting to herself.

The fact she could apparently fly explained some things.
It wasn’t the strangest power she’d ever seen, but it was definitely unusual for children like them in her experience.

At least she wasn’t like the Pretender… right?

The younger girl nodded, an apologetic smile on her tanned face.
“Yes. Apologies for not introducing myself earlier. My name is Selene. I didn’t want to attract anyone’s attention.”
She gave a little curtsy as she gave her name.

‘Weird, but charming.’

The girl thought.

‘Definitely not like the Pretender’

“… and you are?”

She startled. It had been so long since she’d actually spoken, let alone introduced herself, to another child.

“I… I’m Cici.”

“Cici? That’s a cute name. Is it short for something?”

“Uh… I think so.”

It had been a long time since anyone had called her by her full name.

“Is it… Cecilia? Thats the only name I can think of.”

Selene guessed.

Cici’s breath hitched. That name… it was achingly familiar. No one had called her by it in… forever. She couldn’t remember the last time…

The winged girl started walking away, towards the edge of the platform where a pair of rafts were waiting for them.

She turned back to the older girl with an expectant look.

“Well, are you going to take one?”

Cici was brought out of her thoughts at the question, looking towards the rafts and then Selene.

“Why…?”

Selene shrugged.

“I didn’t want to leave you alone with those monsters. And after you helped me survive in there, it’s the least I can do.”

Cici nodded, a small grateful smile gracing her face.

Silently, she walked to the right hand raft, but then she stopped.

She was staring right at Lumen who sat on the left raft. Their eyes met, the light spirit titling his head at her in askance.

“What? Do I have something on my face?”

Cici shook her head.

“Sorry… “

She’d seen this one before too, though she didn’t think he was real at the time.

He was so bright in the darkness of the space behind the walls in the middle of the night. Cici was afraid he’d attract unwanted attention, but the creature was nimble and careful to stay out of sight.

In fact, he manipulated his light to keep hidden. It gave Cici ideas.

“That’s Lumen. He’s with me.”

Selene answered the question on the older girl’s mind. The younger girl fluttered onto her raft, next to a couple of wooden containers that were strapped down. Cici noticed there were some on her raft too.

She pointed to them, which Selene saw.

“Rations. We stole some from the kitchen for the journey. You’re welcome to your share.”

‘So thoughtful…’

Cici was honestly amazed by this girl. Not many other children were so selfless, more often than not trying to survive and putting themselves first to do so.

“Thank you.”

“You’re very welcome, Miss Cici. Have a safe journey, wherever you’re going. Oh!”

She remembered something.

“If you ever come to a country called Lemuria, could you tell my brother I’m alright? His name is Helios.”

Cici nodded. That much she could do, should the opportunity arise.

She tried to commit their names to memory.

“I will. Is it in the Counties?”

Selene’s brows furrowed in confusion.

“Counties? Where’s that?”

Cici’s eyes widened, realizing this girl must be from another country.

“Uh… nevermind. You stay safe too.”

‘Brother… I think I had one of those… what was his name?’

A despaired cry from above caught both their attentions as Lumen made to untie the boats.

They looked up to see both the Butler and Dollmaker looking over the edge of the Nest’s property.

Luckily, it seemed the Butler’s powers had a range limit.

“Let’s go.”

The two girls set off, waving goodbye to each other as they rowed in opposite directions.

“I do hope she finds Lemuria. I know they’re all worried about you.”

Lumen said once the Nest was out of sight.

“I’m sure your friends in Niwen are worried for you too.”

Selene assured.

Lumen frowned as he rowed.

“Eh. I think I’ve spent too much time in Lemuria for any of them to really know me. Besides, we’re friends aren’t we? I’d be sick with worry if I lost track of you.”

Selene smiled wryly.

“Is that because it’s your duty, or because you care about me, as a friend?”

Lumen went silent, pondering over her words.

She looked down and away, her mind drifting back home.

“I care about you, as a friend.”

The light spirit looked at the Princess with surprise, which softened to fondness.

“And I you. I don’t think we’d have gotten this far if we didn’t.”

“You’re right.”

Selene smiled, the two descending into a companionable silence. The sights and sounds of the ocean their backdrop as the current led them to lands unknown.

Selene could feel that they were steadily getting closer.

‘The Nowhere called me here for a reason. I need to know why.’

She was determined to find out, if only so she could go back home without any more nightmares or memories of a past life she knew nothing about to plague her.

‘I have to.’

Chapter Text

The forest was dark this time of night, the moon his only source of light by which to see. But that was fine as far as the boy was concerned.

He was sure to stay within the trees’ shadows, out of sight of any predators.

As long as he kept hidden he could finally get some well-deserved rest.

The boy leaned back against the rough bark of the tree’s trunk, resting his legs on a sturdy branch with his arms folded on his stomach, he slowly let his eyes close.

He didn’t fully drift off, only able to get a light sleep before he heard something that made him jolt into hyper awareness.

“Wha-!?”

He blinked groggily, rubbing his eyes under the paper bag he wore over his head.

A buzzing.

It wasn’t a TV, he knew that sort of white noise buzzing by heart.

An insect, maybe?

His heart leapt into his throat at the thought of having to face down a giant flying insect.

‘That would almost be worse than getting captured by the adults.’

But just almost.

He peered through the eyeholes cut into the bag and around the trunk of the tree where he hid.

Across the clearing, illuminated by the silvery moonlight, was a figure. It was about as big as he was, with glistening insect-like wings.

But it wasn’t a giant bug like he was expecting.

‘A girl?’

It was a girl, at least he thought it was, with dark skin and long hair and a pretty dark blue dress.

He silently approved of the color, knowing it should hide her well enough in the dark blues and greens of the forest.

That is, if she weren’t out in the open, hovering in midair.

As he stared at her, it seemed like she could feel him watching. She whirled around until their eyes met.

They stared at each other for a few seconds. The boy waved shyly. She waved back, though he couldn’t quite make out her expression from his distance.

But he wasn’t the only one who spotted her.

Just as she began to flutter over to him, a loud lumbering series of thuds announced the arrival of one the dreaded ‘adults’.

This one was dubbed The Hunter by the boy.

Like him, the Hunter wore a bag over his head, except the Hunter’s was a burlap sack topped almost comically with a small hunter’s cap, like in a cartoon the boy could vaguely remember.

The Hunter’s breaths were labored, and while it seemed the girl heard him coming, she wasn’t fast enough to get away.

As the Hunter reached out to grab her, she did something with her hands, and a flash of light suddenly lit up the clearing.

The boy hid, fearing he’d be spotted.

He heard a pained cry from the Hunter, the light having blinded him temporarily.

Then he heard another cry, that of surprise and pain. It was higher pitched, likely from the girl.

“Ugh! Let me go, you big ugly brute!”

She spoke. It wasn’t often he heard other children speak, even to each other.

The Hunter only grunted in response to her protests, his meaty hand tightening around her small body until she passed out in his vice grip.

The boy could only watch helplessly as the Hunter took the winged girl away.

The rational part of his mind told him to just go back to sleep and ignore what just happened, but the sympathetic part told him to go after her.

As he wrestled with the conflicting thoughts, trying to come to a compromise, something else caught his attention.

He saw a bright, white figure jumping across the branches, and it was coming right towards him.

The boy backed up a few paces as the bright figure alighted on his branch, pausing just as it passed him.

“You! Did you see a girl with wings just now?”

It demanded.

Slightly taken aback by the creature’s hurried tone, the boy nodded his head affirmative.

“Which way did she go?”

He pointed in the direction the Hunter went.

“Thank you.”

The creature said curtly before bounding off.

Bewildered, the boy took a moment to collect his thoughts before curiosity won out.

He had to know what was going on here.

‘What was that creature? Why is that girl important?’

Against his better judgement, he started jumping from branch to branch himself, following the bright creature and the girl it was looking for.

He’d had to descend from the trees as the branches became further apart, but following on foot didn’t make tracking the glowing white creature any easier.

It was so fast, he soon lost sight of it. But he could guess the general direction.

He had to stop for breath by a television box, left abandoned in the middle of the forest.

Its screen was turned on.

‘Maybe… maybe I’ll just rest here for a bit…’

He slumped down beside the TV, sure to do so on the side that was cast in shadows.

He fell asleep relatively easily.

Hours later

‘‘This is demeaning…”

Lumen grumbled, sat with his legs crossed and his tail flicking back and forth like an angry cat.

Where that sorry excuse for a huntsman had found a jar large enough to hold him was beyond the Niwenian, but he was having more trouble that he’d anticipated getting out of said jar.

“Perhaps if I…?”

He contemplated using his body to knock the jar over and make it roll over the edge.

He shook his head.

“No no no. Then there’d be glass everywhere… and he might hear me.”

Though he had no way of knowing where the huntsman went, it was safe to assume he was still somewhere in the cabin.

“At least I have air.” He admitted.

The glass vessel he was in was actually an empty salt jar, its metal topper a dome with four holes.

He could feel the last grains of the white rock sharp against his fur, the smell tempting his stomach.

Lumen knew he needed to get out and find the Princess before the huntsman did anything to her. His jar was placed on a table in the middle of what looked like a household kitchen, a pot of… something growing cold next to him.

There was also a plate of what might’ve been the Huntsman’s dinner, had he not walked past it as he roughly slammed Lumen down on his way into the house.

It didn’t really look appetizing at all… and not just because the light spirit didn’t eat meat often. There was blood from the sausage that had yet to be cleaned up on the tabletop, as well as several unwashed dishes piled in the sink. It all gave off a rather unpleasant odor that would likely attract mosquitoes and other insects if not taken care of soon.

Lumen could imagine the Royal Chef back in Lemuria throwing a fit at how untidy, and more importantly, unsanitary this place was.

It would have been better if Lumen could take some of the uneaten vegetables he could see and find a way to heat them. He was getting rather hungry.

But at the moment, he was at an impasse.

Until he heard someone outside.

From his vantage point, Lumen could see the open window and the night sky beyond. It had only been a day since he’d been trapped in this jar. He peered out through the glass to see the boy he’d briefly encountered in the forest climb in through the window.

“You there!”

He called, his voice a bit muffled from his prison.

The boy looked up, their eyes meeting though the light spirit couldn’t quite see them behind the paper bag.

“Yes, hello. Could you be so kind as to help me out of here?”

The boy looked around the kitchen, pausing for a moment, then nodded.

He also put one finger to where his mouth would be.

Lumen nodded, mimicking the motion.

The boy leapt down from the countertop, bare feet touching wooden floors. He then jumped up and grabbed onto the edge of the table. With some effort, he hauled himself up.

Once he was standing on the table, the boy made for the glass jar. He was just tall enough to reach the lid and unscrew it.

The moment he removed it, Lumen jumped up and climbed out the hole in the top, almost toppling the salt shaker over.

“Thank you.”

He whispered, before jumping off the table towards the door where he saw the Huntsman take Selene before.

He looked back at the boy, who seemed to be inspecting the cold sausage.

”What are you just standing around for, boy? Come along!”
Lumen insisted, leaping down from the table and grabbing onto the door handle in two bounds, using his Double Jump ability to reach the other side.

The door swung open with an audible creak that made Lumen wince.

He let go, somersaulting as he hit the floor. The boy followed behind him.

“We have a Princess to rescue!”

Mono frowned in annoyance at the white creature’s bossy attitude, but then blinked in amazement as one word registered.
‘Princess…?’ 

Was that girl with the pretty wings and dark hair really a princess? She certainly looked like one, in his mind, though he’d never seen a real princess before.
‘Just ones in movies.’

Mono tried to follow the white-furred creature as best he could, unable to move as swiftly.

The two snuck their way downstairs, where Mono could hear a noise coming from below. It was a pleasant noise, which he soon discovered was actually someone singing.

‘The Princess?’

Lumen seemed to notice too.
“Ah. The Song of the Sea. That’ll be our Princess. Best to be polite, boy.”

The light spirit advised, whispering as they descended the stairs into the basement.

On their right was a table with a sewing machine and several large burlap bags.

Mono could hear the song a little more clearly now, but he couldn’t understand the lyrics.

Viento a viento va, 

El sueño del mar 

Gira sin parar. 

Viento a viento va,  durmiendo al sol. 

Un guiño de luz se perdio. 

Tu cuerpo se hace vientre,  estatua transparente, 

En la arena oscura esperaras. 

Viento a viento va  bailando el mar…

“What is she saying?”

Lumen had to look at the boy as he spoke, registering what his voice sounded like.

“It’s another language. Spanish, I believe. Her father taught that song to her.”

‘Her father?’

“What’s… what’s a father?”

Lumen paused, then turned to look at him with a raised eyebrow. Like he should know what a father was.

“What…?”

The boy questioned, feeling a little self-conscious now.

“Ah, nothing. I’m just surprised you don’t know. I thought all children knew… even my people know, and we aren’t born the same way as you humans.”

He left the boy to ponder his words as he approached the door.

“Princess? Selene! I’m here!”
He whisper-called.

“Lumen? Oh, thank the Spirits! The Huntsman is gone from the house for now, but I don’t know when he’ll be back. He locked the door.”

Lumen frowned.
“Drat. He likely has the keys too.”
Just as he opened his mouth to say something to the boy in the paper bag, he turned and saw him go into a side room from the right of the stairs.

He heard something large and metallic clatter to the ground, and then a scraping sound as the boy returned dragging a large axe with both hands. 

“Lumen? What was that?”

“Stand back, highness. My partner here has a solution.”

She did as told, though curious as to who this ‘partner’ was. Lumen heard her take a few steps back.

Lumen stood back himself as the boy dragged the axe towards the door. With a grunt, he hefted it over his shoulder and brought it down hard into the old wood. It took a few more swings to make an opening large enough for him and Lumen to get through.

“Lumen!” 

The happy cry made the boy look up to see the girl from before, running at the light spirit and hugging him close.

“I’m so glad you’re alright! I saw what awful Huntsman did to you.”

“Of course I’m alright. I’m just happy to see you’re alright too.”

Selene shook her head.

“I am… mostly. That monster locked the window! And…”
She turned so her back was visible, moving her hair out of the way.

There were indentations on her wings indicative of where the Hunter had grabbed her.
She winced, hissing a little as she tried to move her injured wings.

“T-they’ll heal, of course. It just hurts to move them right now.”

The boy couldn’t help but stare at them, how they glistened in the low light of the cabin, sparkling like stars in a clear night sky.

“Of course, highness. We shall protect you until they’re healed.”
Lumen said dutifully, casting an expectant glance at the bag-headed boy who had the decency to look away sheepishly.

“We? Oh!”
It was then that Selene noticed the other person in the room.

“Is this that partner you mentioned?

“He is. He freed me from that salt shaker before we came to get you.”

Selene gently approached the boy, who stood closer to the door, rubbing his arm.

“Hello.”
Selene greeted.

The boy looked up, noting her pretty blue dress again.
“My name is Selene. What’s yours?”

“I… I-I’m… Mono.”

Selene smiled politely, causing the boy to blush under his bag.

“It’s nice to meet you, Mono. Thank you for saving Lumen, and busting through the door like you did.”

Mono nodded.

“I-it was nothing…”

“Now!”

She clapped her hands together, turning to look at both the males in the room.
“How do we get out of this house?”

“Well… I was planning on going back out the front. But with your wings the way they are…”

Lumen contemplated.

Mono was honestly thinking the same thing. Being able to fly definitely had its advantages. Without it… Selene was a sitting duck.

“We can’t wait here forever.”

He pointed out.

“Right. How did you get in, if I may ask?”

Selene asked.

“The window. In the kitchen.”

Mono perked up as he thought of something.

“It shouldn’t be… too hard to climb. We could g-go around the house.”

He was having some trouble speaking. It was a little embarrassing, but he hadn’t had the opportunity to talk to people like this much.

“That’s a good plan. We could avoid altering the Huntsman altogether.”

Lumen approved.

With that plan in mind, the trio made their way back up the stairs and into the kitchen. Mono had to help Selene get up onto the counter, letting her step on his hands. She in turn helped to pull him up.

Lumen led the way, keeping a lookout for any undesirables as they quietly made their escape out the kitchen window.

They decided to go around the right side of the house, where there was less dry underbrush that could break under their feet.

On the other side of the main house was a small backyard. It contained a shed with an outhouse next to it. A clothesline was strung between the outhouse and the cabin, where some of the Hunter’s clothes were hung up to dry. A shovel and some boxes were propped up against the outhouse.

The two children and light spirit stuck to their plan and tried to sneak around the shed.

Its door was wide open, and though Mono especially was tempted to take a look inside, Selene took his hand and shook her head at him.

“Bad idea.”

She mouthed.

As they skirted the edge of the shed, they could hear the sounds of ripping and tearing through the wooden walls, as well as the Hunter’s grunting.

“What do think he’s doing?”

Selene whispered.

Lumen paused and lifted an ear, trying to listen more closely.

“It sounds like he’s tearing something thick… and wet…”

He looked disgusted as he described what he was hearing.

“His catches’ hides probably.”

“Oh… like leatherwork?”

“Possibly. But I’d rather not stick around to find out.”

Lumen made a ‘hurry up’ motion with his hand, and soon the three were stepping into a pile of overflowing trash. A small swarm of flies gathered around it.

“Ew…”

Selene complained.

“It’s not that bad.”

Mono reassured.

“Easy for you to say… look at my shoes!”

Her sandals had a layer of muck on the bottom now.

“How can you stand going around barefoot like that?”

Mono had to pause and think about how to answer that question.

“I… don’t know. It’s just.. easier?”

Selene gave him a flat look as she emerged from the trash pile and joined him by the back steps to the shed.

Lumen hurried them along away from the Hunter’s shed, whom had gone suspiciously silent.

The children looked at each other and then the door as they reached a small wooden box left out on the grass. Cautiously, Mono hid himself behind it. The other two followed his lead.

“Did he go back into the house…?”

Selene asked, before the back door was suddenly flung open.

The massive form of the Hunter filled the doorframe, a bright lantern in one hand and a rifle in the other.

“Run.”

Mono whispered as the Hunter seemed to spot them, taking aim.

Selene had never run so fast in her life.

They weaved back and forth, like deer would do when evading predators.

Lumen used his Dash ability to get ahead of them and evade the Hunter’s bullets. The man had good aim even if his footsteps were clumsy.

It gave Selene an idea.

She grabbed Mono’s hand as the Hunter reloaded.

“Hold on!”

In a flash, she used her own Dash ability. She could perform it in the air as well, but it was more effective on the ground in this instance.

The sudden burst of speed left Mono disoriented, but Selene still dragged him on top of another wooden box.

As the Hunter fired, the girl focused and the bullet paused in midair. The action left both Mono and the Hunter confused, the adult lowering his gun to stare bewilderedly.

An arrow shape made of light manifested around the bullet, which Selene rotated until the arrow was pointed towards herself.

As the spell ended, the bullet was sent flying back from whence it came while the two children were flung further away. The Hunter didn’t have time to dodge, instead attempting to use his lantern as a shield.

The rebounded bullet struck the implement, instantly breaking it and plunging the area into darkness.

The Hunter let out a scream of frustration as he thundered back into the shed, likely to look for a replacement.

Mono stared at Selene with awe and gratitude as she continued to use Dash to get some more distance, following Lumen until they came to a hole in the ground near a large tree.

The trio jumped down into it, moving into the shadows before they let themselves collapse onto the earthen ground, breathing heavily. 

“That… he was crazy.”

Mono nodded in agreement, idly rubbing his shoulder. All the speed bursts made it feel like his arm was going to come out of its socket, but it did the trick in getting them away.

“We’re not out of the woods yet.”

Lumen said, pointing towards a crawlspace with roots dangling from above.

“Come on.”

Selene frowned in displeasure but followed her faithful companion’s lead. She looked at Mono who was already back up.

“Sorry if I almost tore your arm off.”

She apologized

“My brother told me not to use Dash with other people, but…”

Mono shook his head.

“It’s okay. You had to. Thanks.”

She smiled appreciatively before crouching down and moving aside the roots. She could hear the crinkling of Mono’s paper bag behind her, and the faint light of Lumen’s fur in front.

She tried to move her wings, and winced.

They were a little more functional now, but they still hurt.

‘I hope they heal up soon.’

She prayed. She didn’t like being earth bound like this, especially when she was trying to avoid dangers.

Chapter Text

There was no sign of the Hunter when they exited the root system, but all three of them were still on alert. Lumen went out first, only signaling for the children to come out when he deemed the coast was clear.

Just ahead, they could see a rope bridge, but it appeared to be broken.

“I don’t see any jagged edges…”

Selene pointed out.

“The rest of it goes down, as if it’s supposed to come up…”

Lumen looked behind him and spied a weight. Mono was standing by it and noticed it as well.

He nodded, getting the idea as he took the weight in both hands and starting pulling it backwards, pulling up the fallen portion of the bridge.

It didn’t fully connect, but it was enough for Lumen to jump the gap, stopping to wait on the other side.

Selene stared at the incomplete bridge, unsure.

“Just run and jump, Princess.”

Lumen encouraged.

“I’ll catch you.”

“Are you sure?”

“Of course. Have I lost your faith after all we’ve done?”

Selene smiled, making a brave face.

“No.”

Stepping back a few paces, Selene made a running start before leaping across the gap. She tried to use her wings to help her, but they still hurt. True to his word, Lumen was prepared to catch her in case she fell, but she made it in one go.

“I did it!”

She cheered.

“Your turn, Mono!”

“Yes! Come on!”

Their enthusiasm was infectious as Mono felt an amused smile form on his lips.

He let go of the weight, causing it to snap back into place rather audibly.

He then broke into a run and made a leap of faith off the edge, trusting Selene and Lumen to catch him.

They just barely caught him, one of his hands in each of theirs, with Lumen using his tail as a counterweight by wrapping it around a nearby post.

The winged girl and light spirit tugged the boy up onto the other side with some effort.

Once he was up, they moved on further into the wilderness, past a blockade of cages hung from a nearby tree.

Unfortunately, the Hunter was waiting for them not far ahead. They could hear his labored breaths and see the beam of light from a replacement lantern shining through the darkened foliage.

They hid behind a tree.

“What do we do?”

Selene asked in a hushed tone.

“I’ll distract him while you two make a run for it.”

Lumen said determinedly. 

“No, Lumen. I don’t want you to get captured again.”

“Nor I you, Princess. Or worse, killed. I’ll regroup with you later.”

Selene didn’t like this plan, but there were few other options.

“Alright. I wish you luck, my friend.”

Lumen smiled and nodded before leaping out into the open, landing atop a wooden box where the Hunter’s lantern caught him immediately.

Lumen avoided the oncoming bullet and led the Hunter away towards a shack, quickly climbing up rotted boards like a ladder until he got inside. The Hunter shot at him frantically, crashing through the wall as he gave chase.

Seeing their opportunity, Selene and Mono moved behind the Hunter as quickly and quietly as they could.

They knew Lumen would be too swift for the Hunter’s clumsy marksmanship.

They made it around the side of the shack, where they saw a pool of the murkiest, muddiest water Selene had ever seen.

She grimaced as the smell hit her nose, plugging it with disgust.

“Please tell me we don’t have to go in there…”

She pleaded, looking at Mono who was crouching by her, listening to the commotion inside the shack.

Just then, the door of the shack burst open, but no gunshots were heard.

They didn’t dare breathe as they heard the Hunter move along a wooden path over the pool to the other side, where he paused at a small cross roads to survey the area.

Selene happened to glance at the water and saw a white light within it. Lumen’s head poked out as the Hunter’s back was turned and started to swim through the muck, keeping the boardwalk firmly between him and the Hunter’s sights. Even as he left the swampy pool, he still used the old stumps of trees to hide himself until the Hunter moved on across another bridge.

Lumen climbed up onto a small island, where he turned back to the two children hiding in the shadow of the shack, gesturing for them to come along.

Carefully, they followed the Hunter’s footsteps across the wooden boards, their footsteps making nary a sound. They paused at a similar island across from the one Lumen was on, just behind where the Hunter had stopped to survey again.

Lumen hid himself behind the dilapidated remains of a tree, waiting for the right moment to topple it over into the murky water.

Just as it fell, he fell in with it to use it as cover. The Hunter seemed to shoot at any movement he saw.

There was another wooden ladder nearby, but Lumen waited until the Hunter again moved on to climb up it.

Meanwhile, Selene and Mono tried to follow Lumen’s lead as closely as they could, while staying far out of sight from the Hunter.

It didn’t take too long for the light spirit to again catch the Hunter’s attention, this time by accident as he frightened away a couple of crows.

The children used the distraction to sneak behind the large man, dodging between trees and keeping Lumen’s white luminescence in sight.

They watched as Lumen made it inside a small log shed a ways away, shutting the door behind him with some effort and barricading it. The Hunter was in hot pursuit, attempting to break down the door.

Worrying for her friend, Selene ran into the open before Mono could stop her.

Before his eyes, she manifested something from pure light, a sort of long stick that bended along the middle.

She pointed the bent part towards the Hunter, its ends towards her as she mimed pulling something from the middle.

That something turned into an arrow made of light, which she then aimed at the Hunter’s head.

At the same time, Lumen was scrambling to find something to defend himself with. He spotted another rifle hung on the back wall, but he knew he was too small to be able to wield it effectively.

‘Unless…’

Thinking quickly as the vibrations caused the rifle to fall to the floor, Lumen ran over and pulled a fallen chest nearer to the door.

He then picked up the business end of the gun and positioned it above the chest. Holding it steady, he used his Grapple ability to manifest a lasso made of light, and snagged the trigger.

He looked up to see the Hunter had almost broken through, only his burlap covered head visible. Lumen thought he could see the corrupted man’s eye through the hole in the burlap sack, mad with paranoia.

Steeling himself, he pulled the trigger.

The Hunter was blasted back as the gunshot hurt Lumen’s sensitive ears, making them ring for a good few minutes. He held his head in pain for a moment before the tinnitus subsided.

He peered outside the hole in the door to see Selene with an arrow at the ready, the Hunter knocked prone on the ground with a fresh bullet wound in his gut.

“This is for everything you’ve done to innocent children, you monster.”

Without mercy, the Princess fired her arrow straight into the Hunter’s eye.

The monster of a man screamed in agony, but the trio didn’t have time to stay and watch. They quickly regrouped inside the small shed and climbed out a nearby window onto a beach.

“Is he dead?”

Mono asked, somewhat cautiously.

“He will be, if those wounds aren’t treated soon.”

Lumen said, voice hard.

“Good riddance to him. I’ll be glad to return to Lemuria when this is over with. The adults there are much more… sane.”

“Agreed. I’m sorry I dragged you into this. Both of you.”

Selene apologized as they walked towards the crashing waves.

Lumen’s features softened as he noticed Selene’s attempt at indifference was cracking.

Mono took Selene’s hand, trying to be reassuring. She looked up at him.

“You were amazing.”

He meant that. He couldn’t get the image of her with her bow and arrow out of his mind.

Selene sniffled, but let a small smile grace her face at the compliment.

“… thank you. Even though he was a monster… I still feel terrible for… ending his life. The Pretender too, for as horrible as she was.”

Mono tilted his head in confusion.

“The Pretender?”

“She was a child that lived on a secluded island, across the sea from here.”

Lumen explained as he pulled a large piece of debris onto the shore.

“Unlike you or Selene, she was just as crazy as any of the so-called adults in this country. In fact, she had the power to turn things to dust.”

Mono tilted his head, silently asking him to continue.

“She tried to stop another child, one like you, from escaping. We dropped a rock on her and she fell into the ocean, and drowned for her trouble.”

“… oh.”

Mono was glad he never had to encounter this Pretender, she sounded terrifying. Though it seemed Selene still felt guilty about causing her timely end, if indirectly.

He could empathize. He never wanted to hurt other people, even the monstrous adults. But he also knew he needed to survive, lest he die here.

He gave Selene’s hand a comforting squeeze just as her eyes began to glisten.

He felt like his breathing stopped as he looked at them, eyes blue as the sea and the sky staring into his earthy brown.

“Come on you two, let’s leave this awful wilderness.”

Lumen called, their makeshift boat ready to go. It consisted of a single, white wooden door, no handle to be seen.

Selene wiped her unshed tears away as Mono led her by the hand to the boat. They worked together to push it off the shore and onto the water, at which point they all climbed aboard.

The water was freezing, but it didn’t bother them too much.

Chapter Text

Unseen winds directed the current that held the makeshift boat aloft, a thick morning mist settling around it.

The fog made it hard to tell which direction the wind was coming from or where it was taking them.

Even so, the three travelers collectively decided that now was as good a time as any to relax, given the harrowing chase they’d just narrowly escaped.

Mono occupied himself with staring out over the water, watching for any changes in the mists as they floated by small pieces of debris. He leaned over and stroked the water with his hand, guiding the boat away from the longer shore.

For a second, he thought he spotted a buoy in the near distance.

Selene softly hummed a tune as they went along. He didn’t recognize it, but as he listened, whatever she was humming somehow helped to calm his jittery nerves and let him focus.

Mono stared at the Princess’ long dark hair as she finished the song. She turned to look at him, having felt his gaze.

She smiled shyly.

”Did you like it? It’s called the Hymn of Light. My mother taught it to me. It’s supposed to help people feel better.”

‘The Hymn of Light. It’s pretty.’

Mono thought as he turned his gaze back out onto the water. Lumen was doing the same, keeping his eyes in the direction of the current.

Selene started an encore of humming her mother’s song as Mono spotted discarded TV sets bobbing in the water. He paid them no mind.

He saw that buoy again, and it was only moments later that the sunlight filtering through the mist suddenly darkened. The trio looked up to see a gigantic wall looming over them.

The door-barge moored itself on a small beach while they were distracted, prompting them to get off. Mono was the first to run up the dark sands.

Selene and Lumen were close behind.

“Mono, wait!”

Selene called.

She tested her previously injured wings, gasping with delight as she found that they no longer hurt.

Mischievously, she hovered in the air before darting past Mono and stopping just in front of him, causing the boy to stumble and almost fall over in his attempt to stop himself.

Selene couldn’t help but laugh at the expression his body language gave away when he saw her flying.

“Your wings…”

He muttered.

“They’re all healed!”

She twirled in midair, grinning as she led the rest of the way up the shore.

Mono smiled under his bag. He was happy for her.

Then he spotted something out the corner of his eye.

Selene and Lumen waited for him under a lamplight while he took care of what he saw, before all three entered the building together.

The door closed behind them with a metallic clank, leaving them to take in their new surroundings.

Directly above them was what appeared to be someone’s clothes, a dark business suit and shirt, just hanging limply from… a broken television.

Its screen and backside were smashed, as if someone punched a hole straight through it. There were other televisions strung up by their wires from the ceiling.

“It’s almost like my dream.”

Selene remarked.

Mono tilted his head at her, silently asking her to explain.

“I’ve been having these dreams lately, since I landed in the Nest. I see more of it each time, but it always has one of those boxes.”

She pointed to it.

“Hanging there. Except the one in my dream had light coming out of it.”

Mono crossed his arms as he considered that description.

“Do you know what they’re called?”

Mono asked.

Selene shrugged.

“I’ve just been calling them Light Boxes.”

“It’s a television. TV for short.”

Mono said, raising an eyebrow under his bag.

‘She doesn’t know what a TV is?’

He thought incredulously.

“I assume it only emits light when it’s… not destroyed?”

Lumen asked.

Mono nodded.

“It’s… electric.”

He tried to clarify using simple words.

“People use them for… entertainment. Like… little theaters. Images and sounds… from far away.”

Selene furrowed her brows.

“I… think I understand?”

She flew up closer to the wires that held the broken TVs up.

“So do these… carry those images and sounds?” 

Mono shook his head.

“No. Only electricity. Images and sounds are… carried in the air. Radio waves.”

She tilted her head.

“Radio? Like for ships?”

“Perhaps.”

Lumen surmised.

“Though this is clearly more sophisticated than that.”

Mono stared at his companions with confusion.

‘What…? How… where are they from that don’t even have proper radios?’

For some reason, even though they’d mentioned it a few times, the name of their home country escaped him.

He shook his head, choosing not to dwell on it as he made for the other side of the room.

Their movements frightened a couple of crows, whose cries caused them all to jump.

“Damn birds…”

Lumen cursed as they crossed the room.

The children agreed.

Climbing out a rectangular hole in the wall, the trio emerged into a gloomy early morning street. A fog hung in the air, bringing with it a chill that made the girl shiver as she fluttered. She descended to the ground, figuring she could get warmer if she walked.

They moved down the eerily quiet street until they came to the first opening into another building, an open window.

The large room looked like an abandoned restaurant with a bar, a pile of unwashed dishes on the drain board.

Barstools held more abandoned clothes, one with someone’s pants and underwear fallen to the ground.

Selene grimaced at the sight of them.

“Mono…”

The boy paused.

“Why are all these clothes just… here? Shouldn’t they be in, I dunno, a laundromat or something?”

“She’s right. This is… rather odd.”

Lumen added.

“Even for this country.”

They made a good point, and he was honestly curious about it too.

“I don’t know.”

He admitted.

“Ah, well… perhaps we’re better off not knowing.”

Lumen said, glancing around.

“This looks like a proper kitchen. Should we stop for food? Whatever the Huntsman was making, while… revolting, made me rather hungry.”

Lumen shuddered at the thought of the slop he was stuck next to in that salt shaker.

At the mention of food, both children’s stomachs growled.

“Food does sound nice, actually.”

“Yeah…”

Mono joined Lumen as he trotted behind the bar. Selene kept a wary eye out in case of any undesirables.

They rummaged around for a moment before coming back around, Lumen carrying a can of vienna sausages in his furry arms.

“These should still be good. We found some fruit juices back there too, but I’m not sure if they’re fresh. Plenty of alcohol, of course.”

“Do you think we could get some water? I can get the cups.”

“Splendid idea, Princess! Mono, why don’t you show her where they are while I work on heating these?”

The boy made a ‘come here’ gesture before the winged girl followed him behind the bar. She spotted a couple of shot glasses that were the perfect size to serve as water glasses.

Taking one of them in her arms, she brought it up and into the sink before turning on the right hand faucet.

The water looked clean, thank goodness.

Getting the filled cup back down was harder, but she managed with Mono helping to carry it.

Meanwhile, Lumen was trying to use his Spirit Flames to heat the can.

White fire had engulfed both his paws as he held them over the opened can, and the boy and girl could smell the meat cooking as they brought the water cups around.

“Mmm… that smells heavenly.”

Selene commented as she took a sip from her glass.

Mono nodded as he lifted up his paper bag just enough so his mouth was exposed, drinking greedily.

He couldn’t remember the last time he’d drank… anything. This was nice, refreshing even.

Mono had found some toothpicks to use as skewers as their meal was served.

Lumen managed to cook the sausages so that they were warm, but not too hot.

It gave them a nice, warm feeling in their bodies that helped to stave off the cold as rain began to pour outside.

“You know…”

Lumen began as he ate his second sausage, noting the label on the can.

“Your mother told me of when she visited Vienna.”

“Me too. I want to visit someday, see those grand music halls and monuments.”

She agreed wistfully.

Moon frowned as they spoke.

He liked having others to share moments like this. Friendships, and keeping them, were difficult in this world where creatures preyed on those smaller than them.

The way they spoke so casually about… mothers and fathers. It reminded the boy of something. But for the life of him, he couldn’t recall what it was.

‘I feel like I should know. But… why do I feel so… sad?’

Selene brought him out of his thoughts when she noticed he wasn’t eating.

“Mono, are you alright?”

He looked up, giving her a reassuring smile.

He pulled his bag back down over his face, patting his stomach.

“I see, you’re full already. That’s good. Father always tells me to listen to my stomach.”

She had a faraway look in her sapphire eyes as she mentioned him.

“By the way, we were talking about Vienna. It’s the capital of Austria, where Queen Aurora was born. Her father, Selene’s grandfather, was the Duke of Carniola.”

Lumen explained, though the boy wasn’t sure he understood.

“Do you think it’s still flooded?”

Selene asked.

Lumen shrugged.

“Honestly, I wouldn’t know, though I suspect so. It’s only been thirty years.”

Selene nodded.

“That’s true.”

Mono raised an eyebrow at the topic.

“Flood?”

He asked.

“Yes. It was the Great Flood of Easter 1895. My mother and her friends saved as many people as they could and brought them over to Lemuria.”

Mono almost choked on his own saliva.

“Eight-1895!?”

“Uh, yes?”

Selene was confused and a bit startled by his reaction.

“Is something wrong?”

“Um…”

He wasn’t sure how to explain.

Where he came from it was… it was…

…

‘What year is it?’

He had to ask himself.

He couldn’t remember, but he was certain that it had been a long time past since 1895.

‘That explains some things.’

He concluded.

‘TVs weren’t around back then. But… does that mean they’ve been here that long?’

“Well, it’s 1925 now. We celebrated the 30th anniversary before we left.”

Lumen said, rising from his seat on the tile floor and leaving his skewer in the can.

“Well, that was rather good if I do say so myself. Shall we move on?”

“Yes. I’d rather not stay in one place for too long.”

“My feelings exactly. This silence is unnerving.”

Mono agreed to the sentiment, bringing him out of his thoughts.

It was quiet in this city. Too quiet.

A possibility occurred to him as they moved on.

‘Are they time travelers?’

It was plausible. But their abilities seemed too fantastical to be from the past in his opinion.

‘It’s a mystery. I’ll have to visit Lemuria myself to solve it.’

He smiled with eager anticipation at the thought. He loved a good puzzle, even if it was as simple as unlocking a door.

‘Once we’re done here… I’ll ask her if I can come home with them. I hope she says yes.’

Like her, he felt drawn to this place, to the city. He couldn’t put his finger on why exactly, just that there was something he had to do.

The next room was a hallway, and the door right across had a hole punched through it that was just big enough for them to climb through.

The pair of rooms beyond it were larger than the kitchen put together, with the second room holding a pile of discarded televisions, all with their wires strung from the ceiling.

The wall had a single small window that looked just big enough for them.

Lumen leapt up onto the sill, crouching down to pull Mono up as Selene took to the air.

Through the window was another room, with more broken televisions and a gaping hole in the middle of the wooden floor.

Hanging above it was a rope tied like a noose, with the other end seemingly tied around a single TV.

Mono stared at it for a moment, looking up through a matching hole in the ceiling before he padded over and climbed on top of another set.

He jumped off and grabbed onto the noose, using his body to swing back and forth until he could kick the attached TV off its stand into the hole below.

The pulley system pulled him upwards into the ceiling where he let go of the rope, momentum allowing him to touch down on the landing relatively safely.

Selene flew upwards to follow him, holding the noose down while Lumen climbed the rope.

He leapt across onto the top part of a broken staircase as Mono started up the bottom half.

“Would you like me to carry you?”

Selene asked as he approached a gap in the stairs.

He nodded in affirmative.

She flew up behind him, wrapping her arms under his own and with some effort picked him up.

“Oof… you’re heavier than I thought…”

She grunted as she carried him over.

“Must be our meal weighing him down.”

Lumen said.

“Might be. I’m glad for it though.”

Mono blushed a little in embarrassment as they all started up the rest of the stairs to the third floor.

Selene and Lumen going across a beam while Mono went off into a side room.

“Where is that boy going?”

Lumen muttered as they got to the other side.

The light spirit gave the boy a withering look as he caught up with them. He had the decency to rub the back of his head sheepishly as they went into the next room.

This one held an entire shirt, tie and slacks hung from the ceiling by a noose, with their shoes still on the ground.

Selene didn’t want to look at it.

Just ahead was a wooden panel that Mono was able to inch his way through, falling to the floor on the other side.

“Oof!”

Suddenly, as if alerted by his presence, the lone television there turned on. Its bright screen showed nothing but static and wavy lines along the edges.

It was a familiar sight to the boy, but it felt… different this time.

Mono held his head in pain as the light and warbling signal made it hurt, yet he was drawn to it like a moth to a flame.

The faerie girl and light spirit joined the boy in the room just as he was approaching it, hand outstretched.

“Mono…? Mono, what are you doing?”

He didn’t seem to hear her as his palm met the glass, the waves seeming to react to his touch.

It changed to more vertical lines, almost forming a single dark square. Or an image of a hallway.

As he did this, Lumen’s chest began to glow. Or rather, something around his neck.

He gasped in surprise, pulling it out of his shirt.

It was just the right size to fit in the light spirit’s palm, five different colors swirling together like an oil painting.

Maple leaf red, icy blue, sunshine yellow, tulip pink and bright white.

He looked confusedly between the pendant and the television, trying to comprehend why it was reacting like this.

Selene cried out in horror as Mono suddenly leaned half his body into the screen. She flew over and grabbed his midsection, desperately trying to pull him out.

Something was incredibly wrong.

She could feel herself being pulled in too.

“Lumen! Help!”

The light spirit sprang into action, wrapping his arms around her waist, using their combined strength to pull the boy out of the screen.

The inertia as they pulled him out caused them all to fall flat on their backs, the television shutting itself off soon thereafter.

“What…”

Lumen started, teeth bared and brows furrowed.

“In the world was that!?”

Mono shrunk at the angry tone as his brain came back to reality.

“What were you thinking, boy!? We could have lost you!”

“Lumen, calm down! It’s alright.”

Selene tried to placate her friend, though she was similarly concerned.

The light spirit huffed, giving Mono a warning glare as the girl turned her worried gaze to him. 

“Mono… don’t scare us like that. What was that?”

He looked away, ashamed.

“I’m sorry… I don’t know why…”

He muttered, equally weirded out by what just happened. He didn’t mean to worry them… he’d felt compelled. He didn’t know what had been happening around him.

… and that frightened him.

“I can travel through the screens… when they glow like that. It’s… my power.”

He explained simply.

“Like your bow.”

“Oh… I see.”

Selene was intrigued. She’d seen a few examples of other children with powers in this country, though she never got to talk to them.

“Were you born with it?”

Mono shook his head.

“No. But… it was different this time. I… think it means we’re getting closer.”

That was his theory, anyway.

“I… I’m sorry. I’ll know better next time.”

He rubbred his arm, the promise earnest yet it felt half-hearted.

Lumen gave the boy a warning look before making for the nearest exit; a window.

Selene gave him a reassuring smile as they followed. Mono sighed, glancing back at the dormant TV with a suspicious glare.

‘It won’t happen again.’

Strange incident set aside for the moment, the trio continued on their way.

The window lead them outside, landing on top of a pile of garbage on a street corner.

There was a chain link fence directly across the street from them, behind which was a large building with a clock set in the front. Its white face shone bright against the dark silhouette of the complex.

The rain seemed to have stopped, but dark clouds still hung over the city, casting everything in a grey gloom.

Chapter Text

The dark building loomed over the trio as they approached, having had to climb over the chain link fence.

They couldn’t find a latch for any sort of gate.

The sparse playground had only a single swing, a tire swing, a see-saw and two goal posts, with a single red rubber ball sitting between them.

Mono walked over to a lone tricycle left forgotten by a dumpster, before moving to the other side of the area.

He kicked the ball into the nearest goal, smiling to himself as it rolled underneath.

He gestured to Selene to try it, retrieving the ball for her.

She looked puzzled, but landed on the ground as he set it down.

“… you want to play kickball? Now?”

He nodded sheepishly.

She glanced around warily before nodding, smiling with some mirth as she gave the ball the hardest kick she could muster.

It rolled a couple of inches.

“Pathetic, I know. I’m not really one for sports. My brother, though. He’d absolutely cream you.”

She smirked as she walked off towards where Lumen was watching them, standing in front of the stairs to the big double doors that served as the entrance.

The light spirit trotted up the stairs and knocked on the door.

There was no answer, but his large ears could detect something on the other side.

He tried again, and this time made out giggling.

He frowned. 

“Well, we aren’t getting in this way.”

Mono looked to his right and spotted something in the darkening gloom.

“Hey!”

He moved towards it, the other two following him. It was a rope made of white sheets, dangling from a window above them.

“That’s… awfully convenient.”

Lumen commented skeptically.

“But it’s a way in.”

Selen said, opting to use her wings.

“I’ll make sure the coast is clear before you go up.”

She flew up the two stories, alighting on the windowsill as she peered inside. It was a single hallway with a wooden floor and white painted walls.

A rack on the wall hung what looked like someone’s bag, a hat, a jacket and a single coat hanger. She noted a dark stain on the left hand wall, likely from the smoke rising from a garbage can between two benches.

The smoke made her eyes sting a bit, the acrid smell making her want to sneeze.

Across the way she spied a handle attached to thick electrical cords.

The faerie girl turned to look down and gestured for the boys to come up, before leaving the sill. She flew over and pulled the switch, which doused the halls in darkness.

“Why did I do that?”

She questioned her own curiosity.

Pulling it again turned the lights back on, just in time for the boys to join her on the second story.

The three of them continued on down the adjacent corridor, where there were only two doors before the hallway became blocked by a pile of haphazardly thrown together furniture.

“This place looks like a war zone.”

Lumen commented as they entered the only open room, leading to a bedroom.

“I think it might be abandoned.”

Selene said.

There were three sets of bunk beds on the right side, with four beds in each of them. Toys were scattered around on the floor, one of which Lumen almost bumped into.

“Such a mess… whoever lived here didn’t bother to clean up after themselves.”

“They must have left in a hurry.”

Selene supposed.

“I don’t think it is.”

Mono said, looking around the room.

“You think there’s people here?”

Selene asked, somewhat scared by the prospect.

“Maybe… other children? Like us?”

“… maybe.”

“I did hear someone behind the door.”

Lumen recalled.

“But they must all be elsewhere.”

“So… what do we do now? You two can’t possibly get past that blockade.”

“Who says we can’t?”

A mischievous smirk played on Lumen’s lips.

“Come on. We must be able to climb over it.”

And climb over it they did, with Selene hovering above to make sure they didn’t hurt themselves in the process.

On the other side of the blockade was a staircase going down, and unlike the upper floor, this one was shrouded in darkness.

Selene summoned a Sentry to light their way, dismissing it as they stepped off the bottom landing.

Just in front of them was an open door, the lights on within, but there was something else there too.

A shadow.

A sound like a stick being run over a grate could be heard as the creature the shadow belonged to retracted what looked like its neck back into its body.

The door closed behind them, but the three didn’t move before its footsteps were out of earshot.

“Did you see that?”

Selene whispered.

“I did. And I didn’t like it.”

Lumen said, his tone equally hushed as they moved down the corridor as quickly and quietly as they could.

They all hoped not to encounter whatever-that-was as they moved into the adjacent hall towards a set of lockers, where they saw a bucket was hung from the ceiling.

Just as they went through the next threshold, Lumen’s ear twitched as he heard something coming.

“Mono! Move!”

The warning came just in time as a solid metal bucket whizzed past the boy’s head, just missing it.

He backed away as it swung back, Selene seizing the rope it hung from to stop its momentum.

“Who did that!?”

She demanded, glaring into the darkness of the hallway in front of them.

No response.

She huffed, fluttering forwards.

“Well… that was definitely a trap.”

“Agreed. We need to tread carefully.”

Lumen advised. Mono nodded, hand to his heart from the near-collision.

They moved onwards, going around a low-hanging ceiling light and a set of lockers placed in the middle of the hallway.

Lumen’s ears swiveled, and the two children could also hear movement ahead.

It sounded like footsteps, small like theirs, but harder. They heard accompanying clinking sounds that reminded Selene oddly of teacups.

They moved more slowly as they went into the next locker room, keeping an eye and ear out for any more traps.

They were well out of target range when two more rope swing traps loosed themselves. One was a bucket similar to the first, with books stuffed inside.

The other was a frying pan and a pot strung together.

Approaching the end of the corridor, Mono saw a figure dart around a corner.

“Hey!”

He called out, following it.

Selene and Lumen were close behind, both of them spotting another figure hide behind a locker.

They stopped just before a locker that had fallen on its side.

“It’s alright.”

Selene called out, still hovering on her wings.

“We’re not going to hurt you.”

Her only response was incoherent childlike whispers and giggling.

She frowned in suspicion, fluttering forwards.

She heard a metallic jangling as a locker fell from the ceiling in front of her. She darted back, startled. 

“… well that was just rude.”

The boys came up from behind her, Lumen looking rather irritated. His fail flicked back and forth.

“I don’t like this, Princess. Let’s just keep going and find somewhere to wait for morning.”

“Right. I would suggest going back upstairs… but I think that bedroom belongs to someone else. Let’s go.”

She landed on top of the fallen locker to her right, which had blocked a door.

Mono and Lumen followed her into another dark hallway, barely illuminated by electricity.

This one had a table blocking the end of it, with a rolling duck toy sat conspicuously in front.

“… thats a sitting duck if I ever saw one.”

“Lumen, please.”

“Sorry. Couldn’t help myself. But I’m not touching it.”

Mono saw and understood their hesitation. So he took one for the team and marched up to the toy. He quickly darted out of the way as a ceiling light swung from above, narrowly missing him.

It impacted the table hard, leaving a gouge in the old wood.

It provided a good platform off which to jump on top of the overturned table, from which vantage point Mono spotted another of the childlike figures run into the next hallway.

He ran after them, his two companions hot on his heels.

“Wait!”

Mono called, heedless of the danger that came his way when an open locker suddenly fell on top of him.

“Mono!”

Selene cried, as what looked like a little boy leapt on top of the fallen locker.

“That’s… a doll?”

Lumen questioned, taking in the appearance of the child-like doll as it leered at them. It looked to be made of porcelain with ball joints, painted black hair in a bowl cut and wearing a uniform consisting of a white shirt and black overall shorts.

Suddenly, more of them appeared from the shadows behind the two travelers, one from inside another locker. Some looked to be girls, with their hair slightly longer and wearing skirts.

Three of the dolls had their porcelain heads caved in. How they continued to function was beyond Selene, but she was too surprised and horrified to really question it.

The first doll leapt up and grabbed the princess around her middle, forcibly dragging her to the ground.

“Agh! Let go of me!”

She tried to pry its arms off her, but the other dolls started to dogpile on top of her, rendering her immobile.

“Get off of her!”

Lumen cried, making to pull the mischievous dolls off of his charge, only for another doll to grab at the light spirit, pulling his tail and his ears painfully.

“Ow! You little-“

The insult died on his tongue as he was overpowered by the porcelain children, forced to watch as Selene was dragged away, kicking and screaming and crying.

The dolls attempted to do the same to him, but a single flash of white fire was enough to make them let go.

The creatures scurried away, leaving him injured on the floor.

“Agh…”

He groaned as he tried to move his tail.

“Those little… brats.”

He shakily got to his hooves, hearing frustrated banging from inside the fallen locker.

Lumen put his paws underneath one side and helped to lift the metal storage container off of the boy.

Mono looked around frantically.

“Is she…?”

“They took her. But we’re not going to let them get away with that. Are we?”

“No.”

Mono shook his head, grim determination in his steps as he picked up a hammer that was left on the floor, his mind already getting an idea of what he needed to do as he snuck up behind an unsuspecting doll boy.

Possibly the same one he was chasing after before.

With a single swing and a grunt, he smashed its head to pieces. Its body laid motionless on the ground.

Lumen followed his lead, creating his own hammer out of light magic as they moved into the next room, a large pile of desks and chairs filling the middle.

The light spirit did the honors of taking out the doll in that room, who had been tinkering with something. He couldn’t care less what it was.

He narrowly avoided another bucket trap.

“I am really starting to hate those…”

He growled.

Mono agreed, glaring at the darkness of the ceiling where the trap was released.

The boy and light spirit shared a look, nodding to each other.

In that moment, they made a silent pact to work together in order to rescue Selene. Again.

“Don’t do anything stupid.”

Lumen said, somewhat bitter.

Mono nodded. He still felt a bit bad for worrying the older being, after the incident with the television earlier.

He wanted to make it up to him somehow.

Unfortunately, Mono had to leave the hammer behind as it was too heavy to take with him out of the room.

Lumen dispelled his Spirit Smash as they entered the next corridor, his ears perked as he heard rhythmic thumping ahead.

He thought he recognized the sound.

They both peeked into the room it was coming from, finding what looked like a classroom. Dolls were seated at desks in chairs that seemed far too tall for them, acting like they weren’t just causing havoc in the halls.

At the head of the room was a female figure that Lumen determined must be the teacher.

‘I ought to report them to her. Maybe she can help get Selene back.’

That hope was dashed as soon as he saw her bend 90 degrees. Whatever she was writing on the chalkboard looked like nonsense, and her face was particularly unappealing.

‘… or not. Another monster then. Figures.’

He and Mono moved back to a neighboring room with benches full of books.

The boy made a motion of going into the room with the teacher, but Lumen shook his head.

“No, I’ll be caught more easily than you. If you want to go in there, be my guest, but I’m waiting here.”

Mono seemed to pout, but conceded.

Not two minutes after he left, Lumen heard a loud thump. He worried for a moment, but having known the boy for the past day or so, he figured he’d be fine.

The sounds of screeching and something smacking wood didn’t help his nerves. He felt the urge to tap his hoof, but thought better of it.

He was proven right, as a few minutes later Mono came dashing past the room with a large key in hand. Lumen ran after him, looking back just in time to see the Teacher retracting her grotesquely long neck.

He gulped.

The boy quickly found the lock the key went to, allowing them both access to an elevator which they both hastily entered.

Lucky for them, the Teacher seemed to be slow moving on her feet.

“What was that!?”

Lumen questioned once they were inside.

Mono shrugged.

“Don’t know. Don’t care.”

He said dismissively.

‘It was a mistake coming here.’

He just knew he didn’t like that lady with the long neck. He didn’t like being in this schoolhouse, if that was even what this place was.

He felt something familiar about this place, stepping out of the elevator onto the second floor. He felt like he used to go somewhere like it in the life he forgot. He didn’t know if he wanted to remember that.

“Right… let’s not get caught by her then.”

Mono heartily agreed, moving onwards into a nearby room. All the furniture was pushed into a pile by the door, leaving its main feature a large chalkboard, which was covered in chalk drawings. The floor had been drawn on as well, the perpetrator laying on its stomach as it drew, muttering to itself.

It was another doll boy, this one wearing an off-white conical cap that seemed a bit too big for it.

Luckily for them, it seemed to be shackled to the wall, as when it noticed them it immediately tried to attack them, only to be pulled back by a chain around its neck.

Lumen almost felt sorry for it, its hat flying off its head.

The savage thing wasn’t deterred for long, as when Mono spotted a large piece of piping on the floor and went to pick it up, it again went on the attack.

Lumen was faster, tapping his hooves on the floor to get the thing’s attention. The distraction worked, the light spirit staying just out of range as Mono snuck up behind it.

Its head shattered, pieces flying over the floor.

Now that the enemy was dealt with, Lumen took a moment to examine the drawings on the board and the floor.

“… eyes. It’s all a bunch of eyes.”

He observed, his gaze moving to a drawing that seemed to top the others.

It looked like a tall rectangular building, with rings around it.

Mono looked at the drawings too.

The images of eyes and the rings made him feel uneasy for some reason, but it was also awfully familiar.

‘Where have I seen that before?’

He wondered, then he remembered the vague image of an eye on the door. The door in the corridor through the TV.

His head hurt as he thought about it, so he tried to think of something else.

‘Selene…’

He needed to rescue her, and he was glad he wasn’t doing it alone.

‘With her powers, she’ll probably be okay until we can find her. We just have to find her.’

Lumen seemed to be thinking the same thing.

“So... any idea where to start looking? I have a feeling she’s still in the building. Somewhere.”

“Yeah…”

They smashed their way through the door into the next room, which seemed to be where the conical cap came from.

Again, Mono had to leave his weapon behind since they had to climb up into a small vent. They could hear loud, metallic scraping noises coming from the other side, which turned into a smacking that echoed through the vents.

“We’ll find her.”

Mono reassured his friend as they crawled through the dark space.

He had a good feeling that they would.

Mono emerged first, and when he did, he accidentally fell on top of a couple of bottles, causing them to fall to the ground far below with a crash.

It caught the attention of the Teacher, whose shadow he could see on the wall to his left.

Lumen wisely stayed hidden in the vent as Mono spied another hiding place, making his way over to it quick as he could.

He got inside the empty box just as the Teacher’s head stretched up to his location. It looked around where she thought she heard the bottles fall from, but saw nothing.

As soon as she lowered her head, Mono emerged.

Lumen poked his head out of the vent with a wary glance below, watching the Teacher smack one of the dolls in the back.

He winced.

“Definitely don’t want to be caught by her…”

The light spirit muttered, leaping towards a cloth rope and climbing up, Mono following him.

Chapter Text

“I think… that’s the last of them for now.”

Lumen panted, having swung his Spirit Smash at his fifth doll since they entered the locker room.

It had been an ambush, one that the dolls likely planned.

Mono was nearby, wielding a sledgehammer.

He nodded in agreement, lifting his bag slightly to breathe.

“Are you alright?”

“Y-yeah…”

Mono panted slightly, but otherwise seemed fine.

“Let’s go.”

Lumen narrowed his fae-like eyes, not quite believing the boy.

They quickly moved into the next room, a boys’ bathroom from the look of it, where two doll boys were tinkering with some contraption in front of a broken stall.

Lumen happened to look up, following the rope that was attached.

“Selene!”

She hung upside down from a pulley with a rope tying her ankles and hands, smiling with relief upon seeing the boys.

“Lumen! Mono!”

Their cries caught the attention of the dolls, who were quick to attack the trespassers.

After cracking their porcelain heads open with their respective weapons, Lumen headed over to the plank of wood attached to the rope.

“Don’t worry, Princess! We’ll get you down!”

“Could you do it gently?”

She asked tentatively. Her face was flushed from the blood rushing to her head.

“Of course.”

Lumen gestured to Mono as he lifted his light hammer.

The boy positioned himself below the faerie girl as the plank was smashed. With a yelp, she felt gravity take her, only to land in his arms with her limbs still tied.

They stared at each one another for a second before he gently set her down and got to work untying her.

She couldn’t help the blush that graced her cheeks even though she still felt a little disoriented.

“Thank you both. I knew you’d come for me.”

She smiled gratefully at her rescuers, getting to her feet with Mono’s help.

“I tried to fight them off, I even used a Sentry. But they just tied my hands so I couldn’t use my magic.”

“I’m sorry you had to go through that, Princess. But you would not believe what we had to go through to find you.”

Lumen said, looking her over.

She was a little wobbly, but Mono helped to hold her steady.

Lumen gasped.

“Oh, Selene… your hair!”

She felt her hair, tears pricking at her eyes. It was much shorter than last they saw it, cut to near shoulder length, and messily at that.

“… I know. I suppose those horrible things liked it so much they wanted some for themselves. They wouldn’t stop tugging at it… it hurt…”

“I’m sure it did. But other than that, are you alright?”

“… as alright as I can be. Do my wings look okay?”

She turned so he could see.

“… they do look a little torn. But I think I can help speed it along this time.”

Lumen held his paws over Selene’s back.

“Heal.”

A pinkish light emanated from him, seeping into the wings as they stitched themselves back together.

Selene winced as the process actually hurt a little.

Mono watched in fascination.

“Why didn’t you do that before?”

He asked, genuinely curious and a little miffed.

“I was trying to conserve my energy. With smashing all those heads, I figured a little healing on top wouldn’t hurt.”

He hummed as he looked over his charge’s new haircut.

“As soon as we can find some scissors, I can fix this for you. I don’t mean to sound insensitive, but I always thought short hair would be better for you. Your mother as well.”

Selene sniffed, still upset about it.

“… really?”

“Long hair only drags you down, especially in flight.”

“I suppose that makes sense…”

She said, wiping her tears away.

She turned to Mono with a new, determined fire in her eyes.

“Let’s get out of here. And if I can, I want a crack at those horrible things too.”

She accentuated the threat with a fist into her palm.

Mono couldn’t help but chuckle at the unintended pun, nodding as he led her out the room towards an open window.

Later…

They could hear a piano being played through the walls as they approached, getting louder the closer they got.

Selene found the sound rather lovely, reminding her of when Mr. Robert would play sometimes when he visited the castle.

Robert was the Royal Treasurer, a good friend of her mother’s and a member of the Bolmus Populi. A race of mouse-like people that lived atop the back of an Earth Giant named Magna.

Lumen found himself humming the tune as they crawled through the vents into the room, where they looked down to see the Teacher playing the piano.

She paused only to turn the page or write something in the music sheets.

Looking up, Mono spied a grate attached to a pulley system, which he could see the crank for below.

They could see their escape route on the other side of the room, connected via a sliver of wood jutting out from the wall.

They all had a similar idea, to use the loud music as a cover.

As soon as the Teacher started playing again, Selene fluttered to the other side where she waited for Mono and Lumen while playing lookout.

Mono leapt down onto a shelf, and from there to the floor. He only moved while the Teacher played, making his way over to the crank.

Before he ever touched it, he instead dragged a stool over to the shelf as a means of getting himself back up.

He then turned the crank as far as it would go, letting Lumen cross to join Selene on the other side.

The spirit used his Grapple ability to keep the grate down.

As soon as the Teacher started playing again, Mono ran for the shelf and climbed up a series of books.

He again ran across the grate, where Lumen and Selene were ready and waiting for him. Together, they lifted the opening to a ventilation shaft.

Before they exited, however, the Teacher stopped playing, only to be startled by the sound of clapping.

She looked up to see the three travelers.

“Bravo! That was wonderful!”

Selene complimented.

The Teacher seemed to smile, her confusion lasting just long enough for the children to get a head start on their escape.

They could hear the Teacher’s screech of indignation behind them as they moved as quickly as they could through the vents.

The Teacher’s head barely fit, but that didn’t stop her from snapping at their heels.

Lumen was in the lead when the shaft suddenly turned into a slide, leading them straight down onto a slippery awning and rain-soaked streets.

They all landed inside a dumpster full of garbage, which helped obscure them from the Teacher’s sight and cushion their fall.

They all decided to keep going as soon as her long neck retracted back into the vents, ignoring the stench for the time being.

Mono helped Selene down from the dumpster, the rain preventing her from using her wings too much.

Instead, they all ran through the downpour, searching for an adequate shelter to wait out the storm.

They skid to a stop as they came to the end of the street, where a giant fissure had opened up, splitting the city into two halves.

“Was there an earthquake?”

Selene questioned.

“Possibly. Anything could happen in this place.”

Lumen said.

“You could probably make it across. But…. Oh!”

He looked to the side and saw Mono already crossing a thin wooden bridge to the other side.

The two quickly followed behind, careful not to slip. Selene shivered as she tried to fly, her wings feeling heavier from the water falling on them. She landed once they were on the other side, holding her arms for warmth.

The trio moved along, climbing up a dumpster onto a higher level as Lumen kept an eye on the girl.

After what felt like an eternity freezing in the rain, they finally found an alley with shelter, where the trio stopped to get their bearings.

“A… a… achoo!”

Selene sneezed.

“Bless you.”

Mono responded.

“Thanks…”

“Selene, where is your cloak?”

Lumen asked concernedly.

“You’ll catch your death of cold!”

“I thought you had it?”

“… do I?”

He peered into the satchel he wore around his person, exclaiming triumphantly as he pulled out a butter yellow garment.

Lumen handed it to the faerie girl who was quick to wrap it around her shoulders, fastening it with a clasp in the center.

It was a hooded shawl, the crest of Lemuria decorating the bottom hem in white.

She felt a little warmer with her arms covered and twirled in place.

Pulling the hood up protected her head from the cold, well as hid her messily cut hair.

“How does it look?”

Mono stared at her, a flash of recognition in his eyes though he wasn’t sure he knew where it came from.

“Very nice, Princess.”

Lumen complimented.

“Now let’s actually get out of this rain.”

He and Mono worked together to open a nearby door, which led to what looked like a tailor’s shop.

“Ah! Perfect!”

Lumen looked around, using a nearby chair to rummage through the drawers of the cashier’s desk until he found what he was looking for.

“Selene, come up here! Let’s get that hair of yours fixed.”

She flew up to sit upon the desk while Lumen stood behind her, scissors at the ready.

“I’ll go ahead!”

Mono called.

“You do that! We’ll be right behind you.”

Lumen said as he started cutting.

Nodding in acknowledgement, the boy jumped out the nearby window, landing safely on pavement, though it also led him back out into the rain.

‘I hope they can actually follow me through this…’

He thought as he went on ahead, going up onto a roof and into a gated off section. He made sure to leave the gate open for his friends, as well as another ventilation entrance.

As he exited the vents, he thought about waiting under the awning for them, but then decided it’d be better if he waited somewhere he could dry his feet.

Climbing inside the nearest building through an open window, he spotted a rack of towels, gauzes and jars as well as receipts hung on a corkboard, and a couple of beds blocking the door.

The beds looked bloodstained.

‘This… looks like a hospital.’

He squirmed as he stood there. He didn’t like hospitals.

Just like the school, there were vague memories associated with places of medicine that tried to come forth through the fog of his mind, and they didn’t sit well with him.

‘I’ll just… wait here for them.’

He determined, keeping an eye out the window.

When he finally saw the familiar white figure of Lumen through the rain, he waved to them from the sill.

Selene excitedly showed the boy her new haircut once they were inside.

“What do you think? Lumen did great, didn’t he?”

Mono gave her a thumbs up.

He actually did like her new look, a shame though it was for her lose so much of her beautiful hair.

The trio moved on, past what looked ominously like a jail cell door towards a more normal looking one. Mono almost fell into the abyss once they were past it, the ‘room’ being one large cavernous space with beds hung from some shadowy ceiling.

Selene grabbed him and pulled him up, Lumen stopping just behind them and staring astonished at what lay before.

“Well… this is just… who did this!?”

“Honestly, I’m starting not to question everything. It’s not worth it.”

Selene said exasperatedly.

Lumen groaned in frustration as he took the lead, leaping onto the bed and up the next and onto a rope.

Selene followed the boys up to the next room, which looked infinitely more normal than the parkour course they’d just gone through.

Later…

“This place is creepy…”

Selene whispered as they padded their way through the dark hospital, ominous bloodstains on the floor and eerily quiet.

Mono had found a flashlight to help light their way, but Selene had her own method of illumination.

She summoned a Sentry that followed them through each room.

Finally, they found a room with a light on.

There was a strange machine to the left.

Mono pointed to it with his head tilted.

“… what?”

“Thirsty?”

He asked.

She raised an eyebrow, looking up at the cans inside the machine.

Mono leapt up onto a lever and pulled it down, causing a can to fall into a bin at the bottom. He reached in and retrieved it, popping the lid open. He lifted his mask just a bit to let himself sip from it.

He nodded, finding the taste to be alright, before offering it to the girl.

Tentatively, she took the can and sniffed the liquid inside.

It smelled sweet.

She sipped it, only to gag, handing the can back to Mono.

“Agh, it burns my throat! What is that?”

“… soda?”

“You can have it. I’ll get myself some water later.”

He was confused, but made a mental note that she didn’t like soda.

‘More for me then.’

He did feel a little winded.

Lumen opened the next door for them, though the noise that went off when he hit the button startled him.

Mono was the first one through, only to catch sight of a familiar electric light from the next room. He could hear the radio static as he entered, holding his head in pain as the electromagnetic waves threatened to overtake him.

He actively tried to resist its call, not wanting to worry his friends again.

But he felt something, some force pulling him towards the television.

When his hand touched the glass, he again tuned the signal to where the image resembled a long hallway.

The process was somehow more difficult this time.

Selene and Lumen were right behind him, though the vibrating signal made them hold their own heads in pain for a moment.

Time seemed to slow as Mono’s body dipped partially through the screen.

For the boy, his consciousness was transported someplace else. It was a hallway, but it felt foggy, not all there.

Still, he felt drawn to the end of it, part of his mind determined to discover what lay beyond the door.

Any voices from outside this realm were muffled echoes, not worth listening to.

Just as he was about to reach the door, he was once again pulled out with some effort by Selene and Lumen.

And like before, the screen turned black as they landed on the floor.

“Mono… what were you doing?”

Selene asked, concern evident in her face.

Mono froze, realizing it had happened again. He had been powerless to stop it.

“It… made me. I tried to stop… there was a door…”

He sounded like he was on the verge of crying.

“A door?”

He nodded.

“I wanted to open it. I don’t know why.”

Selene glanced at the now-dormant device.

“Whatever it is, it can’t be good. I think someone or… something wants you to open it.”

“She may be right.”

Lumen concurred.

“We got you out before you could. Let’s leave it for now.”

Mono made a noise of agreement, the girl taking his hand as they got a better look around the dim room.

Selene startled as she saw humanoid figures seemingly surrounding them, all turned towards the TV.

They all wore hospital gowns and none of them had heads.

Chapter Text

Across the hall from the room with the TV was what looked like an office room of sorts, a single desk with several papers piled onto it facing the wall. 

In the adjacent wall were hung black pictures depicting skeleton parts and images of a human head. 

Lumen grimaced at the sight of them. 

He looked a large electrical device up and down. Before he or Selene could say anything, Mono went up to another device with a lever and pulled on it. 

The glass on the device turned black, startling the light spirit. 

The boy then stepped behind it. 

“Oh!” 

Selene said surprised. 

“Is that… your skeleton?” 

Mono nodded, turning in place to show his whole body. 

The effect only lasted for about a minute, the lever resetting itself as the glass turned back to normal. 

“What was that?” 

Lumen asked. 

“An X-Ray.” 

Mono said. 

“It’s used to see if bones are broken.” 

“Oh, I see.” 

Selene said, fascinated. 

“How useful! Can I try?”

Mono nodded again, jumping up to activate the X-Ray again. 

Selene flew behind the glass as it turned dark. 

“Well? Can you see me?” 

“I can, Princess. Your wings are there too!” 

The wings indeed appeared on the X-ray, the outer edge and inner veins displayed in white. 

When the effect ended, Selene giggled as she flew out from behind it. 

“Your turn, Lumen!”

“Uh… I don’t know. It appears to use light… I’m not sure I’ll show up.” 

“You can still try. We’ll keep going afterward.” 

“Hm…” 

The light spirit grumbled. 

“Alright. Fire it up.” 

Mono obliged as he turned the X-Ray machine on again, this time with Lumen behind it. 

He did appear on the black screen, tail flicking in slight agitation. 

Despite being a spirit, it seemed he did have a skeleton under all that fur. 

“Are we done?” 

“Yes, I was just curious.” 

The next room looked to be a children’s play room, with a table, chair and bench in the middle with a stuffed bear sitting on the table. 

Mono looked to the left hand wall and saw several images he recognized from the chalk drawings in the School. 

There was also a headless doll sitting in the corner. 

A few other toys were scattered about. 

The wall with the pictures looked like its paper had been torn away and sewn back together at some point. 

Lumen stared at the bear for a second. 

“Wait…” 

“What is it?”

“Wasn’t there an image of that in there?” 

He pointed to the bear. 

“Was there?” 

“There was.” 

Mono confirmed. 

“What about it?” 

“It looked like it had something inside it.” 

“Yeah… think we should check?” 

“Might be best to.” 

Lumen said as he leapt up to the table and pushed the bear off, then he dropped down and started dragging it into the other room. 

Mono picked up the other end of the bear. 

Selene did the honors of pulling the lever while the boys carried the bear behind the glass. 

“Hm… nothing. Maybe it was another toy?” 

“I think I saw something that was similar. Hold on!” 

Lumen said as he jogged back into the playroom. Just behind the table, leaning against the cabinets was a plushie of similar make as the bear, except it had a single long ear reminiscent of a rabbit. 

He carried it back into the X-Ray room and put it behind the glass. 

“There!” 

He exclaimed as the machine was turned on again. 

“Looks like a key.” 

Selene commented, picking up the rabbit and taking it back into the playroom. 

“To what?” 

Mono asked. 

“Dunno. Some door maybe?” 

She set it down on the floor, hesitantly tearing its seams open. 

She reached in and retrieved the key, throwing it down to Mono who hooked it to his belt. 

“Wish I could mend it. It’s a rather ugly toy though.” 

“I’m sure some child loved it.” 

Lumen said, trying to be reassuring. 

“Now where do we go?” 

Selene asked. 

“Upstairs?” 

“I suppose so. I saw an elevator in the hall. Perhaps we should see where it goes?” 

Selene looked unsure. 

“What if we get stuck?” 

“There’s a hatch in the roof.” 

Mono said. 

“We’ll be fine.” 

Following his lead, the two travelers ventured back into the hall and into the elevator. It closed automatically, taking them down a level. 

It was eerily dark in the room where the elevator let out. 

To their right was a steel table with something human shaped wrapped in cloth on top, with various drawers on the wall. 

On the opposite wall was another lever, with a crawl space next to it. 

Selene peeked inside the space, noting the amount of dust. 

No, not dust. 

“This is ash.” 

She observed. 

She flew over and pulled the lever, causing the crawl space to burst into flame. 

The heat admittedly felt nice in this cold place. 

“It’s a fireplace.” 

“Incinerator.” 

Mono corrected. 

“Right. Incinerator.” 

Selene said. 

“I don’t suppose we can use the key on any of those?” 

She pointed to the drawers. 

Lumen hopped over to them. 

“No, I don’t think so. In fact… I don’t think we’re meant to.” 

He opened one of them, and almost screamed at the sight. 

“Princess… this is a morgue.” 

“A morgue?“ 

“Where hospitals keep dead bodies.” 

Mono supplied, already walking back to the elevator. 

“… oh.” 

Selene and Lumen wordlessly followed him. 

They made a beeline for the staircase after the elevator let them out. At the top was a set of double doors. 

They were locked, and there wasn’t any obvious padlock. 

There was one on a side door, which Mono quickly headed for and unlocked. 

The padlock fell with a clatter to the ground, the key still in it. 

The room beyond was dark, so Selene summoned a Sentry to light their way alongside Mono’s flashlight. 

She decided not to take flight, as she almost bumped her head against one of the limbs hanging from the ceiling. 

“This is… unsettling.” 

Lumen commented as they traversed the room, passing a hospital chair with someone strapped down in it. 

The person didn’t appear to be alive. 

In fact, upon closer inspection, none of the limbs appeared to be from live specimens. 

They all had ball joints, like dolls. 

“Are these… doll parts?”

Selene asked, two parts curious and unsettled. 

“I don’t think I want to know.” 

Lumen said. 

The hallway on the other side of the room had shelves full of large doll parts, but the door ahead of them was left ajar. The bottom half of its glass covering was shattered. 

Mono turned to the left, finding nothing that Selene could see. 

To their right down the hall was another door with its top half missing. 

Selene peered into it, seeing only more doll parts strung from the ceiling and stored in wire baskets. 

In the middle of the room, under a fluorescent light, was a headless doll body strapped down to a table. 

She went further into the room to inspect it… only for the arm of the doll body to suddenly convulse, as if in reaction to sensing motion. 

She gasped. 

“What do you see?” 

Lumen asked from below. 

“A-a hand! A hand is moving on its own!” 

“What? Let me see!” 

In one bound, Lumen leapt up onto the door frame. He hauled Mono up, the boy sitting on the sill. 

There was indeed a mannequin hand following the faerie girl, its movements spider-like. 

“That… is worse. It is so much worse…” 

Lumen groaned. 

“What do we do? Do we just leave it?” 

Selene asked, keeping herself out of the spider-hand-thing’s reach. 

“No. I got it.” 

Lumen leapt down from the door and summoned his Spirit Smash. 

With Selene distracting it, Lumen snuck up on the thing and swung his hammer down. There was a loud crack, and the hand’s plastic casing shattered a little. 

It wasn’t deterred though, as it scuttled around the light spirit.

It reared back on its thumb and pinky finger, pointer and middle fingers extended like a spider’s legs. Then it jumped, but Lumen dodged, landing another blow. 

The creature was finished after a third hit. 

“There… that’s done.” 

Lumen said, turning back to the door with Selene behind him.

He leapt up and back over the door, walking back to the other door. 

With his hammer, he smashed through the glass. He had to push a box of doll parts out of the way as he entered the room, quickly spotting a lightbulb on a nearby counter. 

“That looks promising.” 

He commented, jumping up to the counter to retrieve it. 

Selene and Mono waited for him in the hallway, where Lumen gave Mono the bulb before all three headed back out to the main room where the staircase was. 

“I officially hate mannequins.” 

Lumen said with certainty. 

“Agreed.”

Selene said. 

“Thank you for taking care of that.” 

“Yeah… thanks.” 

Mono said, with sincerity. 

“It was no trouble. I just didn’t want that thing to cause us more trouble.” 

Mono quickly found where the bulb was supposed to go, remembering a similar device from earlier. He inserted it into a device next to the double doors. 

But nothing happened. 

“I think we need two of them.” 

Selene observed. 

She flitted around, spying another door on the opposite side of the floor. 

“That one over there only needs one. We could try looking there.” 

Mono nodded, taking out the single bulb and carrying it over to where Selene indicated. 

This device was next to a barred door that looked like it belonged to a prison cell. 

This time, when he inserted the bulb, the light above it turned green and a loud noise sounded, announcing the barred door opening. 

The three entered, going past an entry room into a hallway with another device that required a single bulb. There was also a larger barred door, illuminated ominously by a single light. 

Through the bars, they could see doll parts scattered along the floor, a single lever on the wall and what looked like a person standing in the opposite doorway. 

Down the hall to their left was another barred door, this one with an open receptacle in the middle of it. Unfortunately, the receptacle looked too small for Selene to squeeze into. 

She could see another bulb in a device high on the far wall. 

She flew back over to the first cage-like door. 

“I’ve got it.” 

Selene said as she flew through a square shaped opening, making straight for the lever. 

Upon lowering it, the overhead light in the room flickered out… and the person moved.

Its movements were jerky, and it didn’t have a head. 

Selene quickly flew out of its reach, the lever resetting itself without her weight upon it. 

The living mannequin in a hospital gown paused as the light came back on, frozen in place. 

But the door behind it was clear now.

“Lumen… could you perhaps wait out there for us?” 

Selene asked, hovering by the door. 

“Whatever for?” 

“It’s just… I think we’ll need people who can cast light for this. Mono has his flashlight and I have my Sentries.” 

Lumen looked reluctant, but after giving it some thought, he conceded. 

“Alright. You two be careful. I’ll be right here if anything happens.” 

“Of course.” 

Selene said as Lumen helped Mono up to the square in the door. 

“It’s just us this time. I’m kind of excited.” 

Selene admitted as they passed the still mannequin. 

Mono grinned a little under his bag, turning on his flashlight as they entered the next room together. 

Then the lightbulb in the overhead light broke, casting the room into darkness. 

The mannequin was blocked by the bars, too big to squeeze through the gap the two had just walked through. 

Selene summoned a Sentry and Mono kept shining his flashlight as they went straight down the corridor and into a hallway with a jail cell at the end. 

They entered another room through a broken door, going past several headless mannequins that seemed to ignore them. 

It wasn’t until they entered a much larger room that seemed to be crowded with the creatures that some took notice and started to chase after them. 

Mono and Selene kept their individual light sources trained on the creepy things as best they could while traversing the room. 

Selene noticed that while most of them were headless, some had things like partial masks on sticks or clothes hangers in place of heads. 

They eventually made it into another hallway, Selene keeping her light on the mannequins while Mono climbed out the window. 

They both hurried away across the hall, Mono climbing a medicine trolley to access a vent whose grate was already opened. 

Selene followed closely. 

Coming out the vent, Mono landed on an old and dirty looking bed. Selene looked disgusted at the most dirty toilet she’d ever seen. 

They excited into another hallway with a jail cell at the end of it, though the two ignored it in favor of going down the opposite way. 

On either side of the hall were large, steel doors that looked more appropriate for a high security prison than a hospital. 

As they passed the first few doors, mannequin arms suddenly shot out from behind the others, prompting the boy and girl to make a desperate run for the end of the hall. 

Well, the boy ran, the girl ducked and weaved through and above the arms that tried to catch them both. 

Turning the corner, one of the mannequins, one without legs, escaped its prison and started to chase after them. 

Selene tried to keep her Sentry on it as they went, only for others to escape their confines as they went past more security doors, some only barred with planks of wood. 

They entered a room at the end of the hall, where Mono dove under a bed and began desperately climbing a filing cabinet, towards a small window at the top where Selene was already waiting for him. 

She kept her Sentry on the mannequins below to keep them at bay. 

The next room was blessedly mannequin-free, the echoing of water droplets breaking the cacophony of plastic limbs. 

They both stopped to breathe. 

“That was awful.” 

Selene complained. 

Mono nodded in agreement. 

He stepped forward to take stock of the new room, only to accidentally step on a little yellow brick on the floor. 

The brick slid on the tile, causing the boy to fall backwards. 

He landed on his behind with a thump, groaning as he rubbed the sore area. 

“Ow…” 

Selene giggled a little. 

Just in front of where Mono landed was a box full of the yellow bricks. 

Selene went to pick one up. 

“Wait… is this… soap?” 

She rubbed it against her arm, feeling a familiar smooth and waxy texture. 

Mono looked at the bar he’d slipped on, kicking it to the side as he got up. 

“I think it is.” 

He confirmed. 

“We must be in the showers. I’d love to take one right about now.” 

Mono nodded in agreement. 

Lord knew how filthy they both were, especially after how much running and wading through garbage they’d done. 

But they didn’t have the luxury to take the time for a shower. 

Mono turned his flashlight back on and quickly got to work in finding a way out. 

There was a lever just under where they fell from, likely for the lights. 

Turning to his left, he spotted a crawlspace just behind another box of soaps. 

Selene followed shortly. 

The sound of flies greeted their ears as they emerged from the other end.

The faerie girl flew upwards, covering her mouth in disgust as she saw a body in a bathtub, surrounded by a frothy yellow substance that could have been soap bubbles but now resembled beeswax more than anything else. 

“Ugh… “ 

She had to cover her nose from the rotten smell. Looking around, she saw a couple glass jars with what looked like human ears and hands inside, as well as several bottles of chemicals. 

They also appeared to be inside a padded cell. 

“I’ll wait in the other room.” 

She was quick to fly back through the crawl space. 

Back in the shower room, they identified a large barred cage door making up the far wall. 

Flying up close, Selene found the button to open the door. Mono went in, catching the attention of a lone mannequin in a wheelchair. 

It quickly got up to give chase, only for Selene to stop it in its tracks by pulling the lever just as it passed the threshold. 

The two children moved past the creature, the faerie girl pressing the button again to trap the mannequin on the other side. She made it through before it closed. 

In the room it came from was another bathtub with a corpse inside, this one wrapped in bandages like a mummy. 

They chose not to notice it as Mono pushed the wheelchair to the wall, climbing up it to access a small window. 

Selene followed his lead into the next room, which was shrouded in darkness. From the light of their flashlight and glowing butterfly, they could make out several boxes of doll parts, as well as more mannequins. 

Most of these seemed to be unfinished, covered in stained bandages. 

There were also a lot more of them than in previous rooms, which the children realized as they carefully moved through the plastic crowd. 

They made a beeline for a doorframe that seemed to have been boarded up long ago, the bottom just tall enough for them to slide underneath. 

The mannequins’ arms futilely tried to reach for them through the beams. 

In the room they now found themselves in, Mono nearly tripped over a red rubber ball that was left on the floor. 

He looked between the hands and the ball, an idea coming to mind. 

He picked up the ball and tossed it at the mannequins’ grasping hands, one of which caught it. 

“What are you doing?” 

Selene asked incredulously as Mono seemed to be playing catch with them. 

He shrugged helplessly as the mannequin threw the ball back to him. 

He pointed to the power device high on the wall, which had the bulb they needed still inside. 

Selene looked where he was pointing, recognizing it from earlier. She flew over to the device and carefully removed the bulb while Mono kept the plastic things distracted. 

“Selene! Mono!” 

Lumen whisper-yelled through another wall of bars. 

They turned to look at the light spirit, finding him where they’d left him. 

It seemed they’d gone full circle. 

“Are you two alright? What…” 

He pointed at the arms still reaching out. 

“Is that?”

“Mannequins.” 

Selene said, placing the bulb in the receptacle on her side of the bars. 

“I’ll explain later. Here. I think you need to pull this down.” 

“Right.” 

Lumen said as he leapt up and did as told, barely able to catch the bulb as momentum sent it flying out the receptacle. 

“Got it!” 

He quickly brought it over to a power device just across from the room, allowing the door to open once it was inserted. 

The two children hurried to join Lumen on the other side of the bars, who removed the bulb and closed the door once they were accounted for. 

“Are you alright?” 

Lumen asked again, with much concern. 

He’d been anxious while waiting for them. 

“We’re fine, but it was horrible!” 

Selene said. 

“There were living mannequins, Lumen! They didn’t like the light, and that’s how we kept them away. Better than those awful student dolls, I’ll admit. But not by much…” 

Mono nodded, holding his flashlight to his chest. 

“Mannequins? It explains all those parts… and the hand-thing. I’m glad neither of you are hurt. Now let’s take this and go.” 

Lumen hefted the bulb, leading the way back into the main room. 

Mono broke off to grab the second bulb, closing the side door. 

Together, Lumen and Mono inserted the bulbs into the device next to the elevator, activating it. 

Selene pulled the lever to open the doors, all three of them piling inside. 

Chapter Text

Lumen brought his hammer down on the offending mannequin hand, which had crawled out of a nearby cabinet.

Mono and Selene struggled to keep the cabinet closed, its door already partially broken with whatever was on the other side trying to get out.

The hand scurried away behind a table littered with parts and an unfinished mannequin covered in wrappings.

The light spirit kept his ears perked, his left one twitching as he heard the hand emerge again.

“No you don’t…”

Lumen muttered as he raised his Spirit Smash.

Just as he brought it down, resulting in a sickening crack, the two children were pushed away from the cabinet door, letting a second mannequin hand free.

It immediately went after Mono, being the closest to it.

It lunged, but the boy dodged.

Selene summoned her bow and knocked an arrow, waiting until the hand reared up to fire, hitting it through the palm.

It squealed in pain, just as Lumen landed the final blow on the first hand.

Before she could fire another arrow, the hand was suddenly flattened under a metal pipe. Mono seemed to smile up at her, wielding the weapon.

“Got it.”

He said cheekily

“Thanks. Both of you.”

The princess said as she dismissed her own weapon.

With the threat neutralized for now, the trio moved on to the next room. They just needed to remove a wooden beam from the bottom of the door to make room.

Once inside, their eyes were immediately drawn to the wall on their left, upon which hung several large sagging masks. They looked like they were made to cover one’s entire head.

Lumen grimaced at the sight of them.

Any musings they had were interrupted by loud, metallic clanging, coming from the next room.

Keeping low and moving quietly, the three soon saw the source of the clanging. A metal storage shelf containing piles of towels was being pushed from the other side. They could hear heavy breathing from something large.

They looked at each other, until Mono moved in front, going under the shelves and stopping just at the edge.

He looked up, and saw a mass of a man seemingly attached to the ceiling.

He ducked further under the shelf as the man lowered his head, bracing his bulging arms against the shelves. His eyes shone with pinpricks of light, and his face was wrinkled and saggy, but overall his appearance was actually somewhat… normal? If Mono could call it that.

The large man with a balding scalp then crawled away on the ceiling, leaving the trio a little bewildered.

“Who…?”

Selene whispered.

“No idea.”

Mono answered, moving forwards and jumping up onto another shelf.

Lumen moved to follow, but thought better of it. The luminescence the light spirit naturally gave off wasn’t that bright, but it would make him stand out in such a dark space.

He kept behind the racks as the children moved ahead.

Selene dared not fly, since the man was just there. He seemed to be tending to a piece of… something, possibly a mannequin on an operating table.

Just as he removed the top of a lone limb with a pop, the man that crawled on the ceiling moved away to a corner of the room, seemingly gathering something from a box.

Mono, Selene and Lumen moved from one hiding place to another while the man, or perhaps, doctor’s back was turned.

Selene and Mono made it through a crawl space into a room full of hospital beds, some of which were occupied by unfinished mannequins.

Lumen joined them after a few moments, keeping themselves hidden under the beds as the Doctor suddenly burst through the door.

They kept silent as he crawled around to each of the beds that contained bandaged mannequins, and began checking them.

‘Its like they’re his patients…’

Selene observed.

Then she came to a horrible realization. The mannequins in hospital gowns, the bandages… bloody bandages…

‘Wait… is he responsible for those?’

He must be, she concluded.

The trio moved from under one bed to another and behind a fallen medicine trolley, listening for the Doctor’s movements as they made their way to another barred door with a button beside it.

They shared concerned glances, remembering the noise that sounded with similar doors when they opened.

No doubt it would alert the Doctor, who was rummaging through medicine cabinets, accidentally knocking aside a hanging ceiling light.

Debris fell from the ceiling with the man’s movements.

Carefully, Selene moved onto a nearby towel on the floor, muffling her footsteps as she hid behind a cart piled with towels.

In a single movement, she air-dashed into the button, opening the door.

The boys dashed inside as the Doctor gasped, immediately giving chase as Selene flew after them.

Mono ducked underneath a bed that was just beside the door while Lumen stood his ground.

As the Doctor approached, the light spirit double jumped into the air and sent a small torrent of Spirit Flames at the ceiling crawler.

The Doctor cried out as the flames hit his face, almost falling off the ceiling.

This allowed Selene to swoop in and join Mono under the bed. Lumen used the distraction to run and leap up a series of filing drawers.

By the time the Doctor reoriented himself, Lumen was at the top and slipped through a grate.

The Doctor grunted in frustration and crawled into the room, going around a corner in an attempt to give chase.

Once the Doctor was gone, the two children peered out from under the bed and made to follow Lumen’s lead.

“I hope he’ll be alright.”

Selene worried as she spotted for Mono, preferring to fly while he climbed.

“He’ll be fine.”

Mono reassured her.

“He’s distracting that man for us. Just like the Hunter.”

Selene nodded.

“Right. Think I’ll get a hit in this time too?”

Mono smirked at that.

“Maybe.”

Lumen wasn’t waiting for them when they entered the ventilation shaft, so they assumed he must have gone ahead.

Just in front of them was a section of ceiling tiles, with some of them missing.

The children heard and saw the Doctor crawling just below them, using the empty tile slots as anchors.

They found Lumen on the other side of where the vent let out, on top of more ceiling tiles. It seemed half the room’s ceiling had broken off some time ago.

The light spirit was standing by an open tile with a piece of reddish pink cloth tied to one corner. He gestured for them to follow him below, landing on a metal plate before jumping to the ground.

Just to their left was a wooden door with a padlock, and to their right were a series of drawers like the ones they saw in the morgue.

One of them was wide open, which Mono took as an invitation to look inside.

He tried to open the drawer on the other side, but it wouldn’t budge. Peeking up through the crack, he saw a key hanging on a rack across the other room.

He could see a section that was open next to him, so he went back out the way he came. With some effort, he pulled a gurney out of the neighboring shelf, jumping into the box.

“Hey.”

He gestured to the handles.

Selene raised an eyebrow.

“You want me to push you in?”

He nodded.

“Would you like help?”

Lumen asked.

Mono shook his head.

Their help had been very appreciated thus far, but he wanted to do this part by himself.

“Alright. Tell us when you want back in.”

“Or if you need backup.”

Selene said, grasping the handles.

Mono nodded again as Selene pushed him back through into the morgue room.

In the eerie, still quiet of the hospital room, the dead bodies in the wall their only audience, Selene leaned back against the wall while they waited.

She sighed.

“… “

Lumen saw the contemplative look on his charge’s face. It was the same look she had while they were in the Nest, planning an escape.

“Something the matter, Selene?”

“I was just thinking… how long has it been since we left Lemuria?”

“Oh. Um…”

The light spirit wasn’t sure. It was somewhat difficult to keep track of the days when they had monsters hunting them everywhere they went.

He tried to remember, from the day they flew away from the Kingdom in a balloon, only to crash into the bizarrely built tower that was the Nest.

“I believe we spent at least a couple of weeks in the Nest… and then quite a few days at sea. So… at least a month? Give or take?”

“A month… I’ve been away from home for that long?”

The girl clutched the hem of her skirt, her other hand over her heart. She could feel the familiar warmth of her magic pulsing in time with her heartbeat. It brought a sense of comfort, reminding her of her mother’s light and her father’s embrace.

Homesickness pricked the edges of her eyes.

“Mother and father must be worried.”

“Knowing their majesties, yes. But they also know you can hold your own. Do you remember how cross they were when you stowed away on your father’s trading ship?”

Selene smiled slightly at the memory.

“I do. They forbade me to leave the castle for a month.”

“Then your brother offered to teach you how to defend yourself.”

“Yeah. I’ll always be thankful to him for that.”

She looked at her hand, where a small will o wisp of white light appeared.

“I’d like to let them all know I’m alright.”

“I’m sure you would. So would I. But we have no way of sending letters right now.”

The light spirit touched Selene’s shoulder, causing the girl to look up at him.

Her hazelnut brown eyes were clouded with uncertainty.

“What do you think of him?”

Selene asked after a short pause.

“Who?” 

“Mono.”

“Oh… well, he’s a good lad. Brave, determined. He stopped at nothing trying to rescue you. For that, I am grateful.”

“As am I. He’s a good friend.”

“Yes. I just wish we’d have stopped to think before we came down here. Why couldn’t we have just gone back out the way we came in once the rain stopped and avoided this blasted hospital?”

The idea gave Selene pause.

He had a good point.

“And the school! Why did we have to go in there? We could have gone around and avoided the whole lot!”

Lumen ranted.

“I agree that it would have been better if we didn’t go those places. But… I think we needed to.”

Lumen looked at her with incredulous confusion, crossing his arms as he leaned back against the shelves.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean… there’s something about this country. I could feel it at the Nest. Like it… wants us to explore. To discover something. We both know why I’m here.”

Lumen nodded sagely.

“Your dreams. That’s right. Did you anything from here in them?”

“No. But… I have been getting a strange sense of deja vu.”

Selene said thoughtfully.

“When the students grabbed me, and just now when we were hiding from the doctor.”

“So you were here before, in your dreams? You just don’t remember?” 

“Perhaps.”

Honestly, Selene was unsure about that. She remembered every one of her strange nightmares from before her departure with perfect clarity. For her not to remember one… it felt impossible.

‘Maybe I have been here before… in another life.’

The thought came unbidden, but it made sense, in a strange way that she couldn’t rightly explain.

Before she could think more on it, she heard a light tapping from the shelf next to her.

She pushed herself off the wall and pulled the gurney out.

Mono hopped out holding up a key triumphantly.

He immediately padded over to the padlock on the door and unlocked it.

Selene and Lumen were quick to join him and pushed the heavy door open, revealing a room with a rack of dead bodies covered in sheets blocking their way.

After having seen so many, Selene was slowly getting used to seeing them.

That didn’t mean she wanted to look under those sheets.

The boy and spirit climbed another filing cabinet before leaping on top of the first rack and across the room into another crawlspace, leading to another ventilation system.

Selene followed closely on her faerie wings.

They then climbed further upwards, exiting the pipes through a small hole under a washroom sink.

The new room had a power device requiring a fuse, likely to open the nearby barred door.

They could also hear the Doctor nearby, spotting him in the room opposite the barred door where he seemed to be tending to various corpses from the morgue.

“There’s the Doctor again.”

Selene whispered. 

“Should I distract him?”

Lumen considered, though he didn’t see a fuse anywhere.

Mono shook his head.

“You stay here. I’ll find the fuse.”

“You mean, we will find the fuse.”

Selene corrected.

Mono looked at her, surprised by her willingness though he really ought not to be at that point.

He nodded in confirmation.

While Selene peeked through the open doorframe, Mono crouched through a crawl space that led underneath another sink.

The Doctor’s back was turned to them both.

Before either of them could move, they watched as the Doctor crawled towards a metal sink in the middle of the room and washed his hands.

As he turned to the wall on their right, the children nodded to each other just before moving underneath the long table.

They could hear the clacking of a mannequin being manhandled as the ceiling crawler set it down somewhere.

They watched as he did, and noticed a fuse just sitting there inside the cabinet above where the Doctor put the mannequin.

Now they had to find some way of distracting the Doctor long enough for them to retrieve it.

They made it underneath another table, perpendicular to the one with the sink, just as the Doctor turned back around.

Just in front of them were more of what looked like corpses on shelves, but next to them was a window on the wall.

As they heard the Doctor turn back to his patient, the two moved quick as they could to the window.

Selene flew up as the Doctor started to saw at the mannequin, the girl catching Mono as he jumped and pulled him up.

On the other side of the window was a small room.

Its sole occupant was a man on a bed with a white curtain obscuring his body.

A light from somewhere next to him created a silhouette on the curtain, revealing that he didn’t have much of a body left, with seemingly only a head and torso.

There was a small screen just above and to the right of the bed, with white lines and an occasional triangle shape.

Mono noticed Selene looking at it.

“That’s a heart monitor. It’s showing his heartbeat.”

Selene nodded her understanding.

Cautiously, she took to the air again and glided over to a lever high on the wall.

“What do you think will happen if I pull this?”

“It’ll turn off the electricity.”

Mono said simply.

“The Doctor will probably come here to turn it back on.”

“Right.”

They wouldn’t have much time to go back and get the fuse then.

Mono moved by the door, positioning himself behind where it would open.

It took some effort, but she managed to lower the lever and fly to join Mono before the door all but slammed open.

With the Doctor’s back turned, they snuck around the door and back into the morgue room. Selene made a beeline for the open cabinet, grabbing the fuse and dropping it down to Mono, who caught it in his arms.

With not much time to waste, the two hurried back into the other room where Lumen was waiting for them and inserted the fuse, all before the Doctor came back from trying to save the limbless man.

However, the alarm noise the barred door made as it opened alerted the Doctor to their presence.

The trio ran for it, darting into the next room just as the door slid open.

“Go go go!”

Urged Lumen as the Doctor gave chase, knocking over shelving units of corpses as the two children and light spirit wove and jumped up and over workbenches and hospital beds.

Lumen even used his Grapple to swing himself further ahead once or twice.

At one point, Selene turned and fired an arrow at the Doctor’s face, aiming for his eye as she had done with the Hunter.

In her haste, she missed his eye, but she did end up hitting his hand.

The Doctor cried out in pain just as they descended a small flight of steps, ducking underneath a row of beds holding several mattresses and bandaged mannequins, all thrown together haphazardly on top.

Before descending herself, Selene fired another arrow at the Doctor’s other hand, causing him to fall from the ceiling in a heap.

She was quick to join her companions, following behind Mono as quickly as she could, the beds keeping them out of the ceiling crawler’s sight should he climb back up.

They could hear his frantic cries as he tried to find them.

Suddenly, they heard a slam from behind them, and saw that the first bed of the row had been flattened.

The damage Selene had done to the Doctor’s hands seemed to render him unable to climb back up, and was instead using his immense girth to flatten his quarry.

The trio moved faster, until they were finally able to emerge from the death trap and into another room.

This one had a large opening that resembled an oven at the far end, which the trio were quick to climb into to escape their pursuer.

The space inside was dark and the trio almost didn’t see the drop at the very back of it until Lumen’s luminescence highlighted it.

Mono was the first to drop down, finding the bottom was filled with gray sand.

No, not sand.

Ash.

He began formulating a plan as the Doctor, injured, blindly crawled into the incinerator after them, his whole body filling up the top half as he tried to reach down to grab at them.

He almost got Lumen’s tail, but the light spirit was too quick for him as he dragged Selene along back out of the oven-like space.

Mono was the first out, holding the door to the incinerator open for his companions.

Once they were out, Mono ran over to the lever near the incinerator.

“Close the door!”

He barked

Selene pushed the door shut before backing away.

“That won’t hold him for long!”

“I know! Didn’t you see the ash in there?”

“Ash…? Mono, you’re not going to…?”

Mono jumped up and pulled the lever down before either of them could protest to this plan.

They could hear the agonized screams and desperate attempts to kick the locked door open as the Doctor was burned alive inside, unable to escape.

Selene’s hands flew to her mouth, descending back to the ground in her horror.

“What… what did you do?”

Mono looked at her solemnly.

“He got what he deserved.”

He said with finality, though his slumped shoulders and hand on his arm told the eldest of the three he was remorseful about it.

Lumen put a paw on boy’s shoulder.

“It’s alright. You did what you had to. This world will be better off without that monster turning people into mannequins.”

Mono smiled up at the Niwenian, grateful for his support.

The look of horror on Selene’s face melted into one of sorrow as she was reminded of the moving mannequins.

“… you’re right. I just…”

“I know, Princess.”

The three of them sat a moment together in front of the fire, there in the depths of a nightmarish, abandoned hospital. The warmth of the incinerator helped to stave off the cold that had been creeping on them.

It was… nice, if a bit morbid.

Selene still looked upset.

“I wish we didn’t have kill him. Even if he was a monster.”

She lamented.

“Me too.”

Mono said, scooting closer to her and slowly, nervously, putting an arm around her shoulder and pulling her close.

She was surprised for a second, before leaning into the one-armed embrace.

Lumen looked like he wanted to protest, but relaxed after a second.

He decided to let them have this.

“What was that song you sang before?”

Mono asked.

“Which song?”

“The one that’s supposed to help make you feel better?”

Selene let a small smile grace her face at the mention of her mother’s lullaby.

“That one? It was the Hymn of Light.”

“Yeah, that. How did it go again?”

Obliging him, Selene hummed the tune she knew by heart.

After the first verse, Mono joined in, as did Lumen, at which point Selene began singing it aloud.

The gentle melody seemed to make the cold, fire lit room feel a little bit warmer.

Or maybe that was the fire replenishing their body heat.

The fires in the incinerator died as the trio started the third verse.

Lumen was the first to stand up, stretching his arms over his head.

“Well, that was fun. But I think we should leave before the mannequins realize their doctor is dead and come after us.”

The children’s eyes widened at the prospect.

“Agreed.”

Selene said, wiping her eyes as she helped Mono up.

Lumen trotted over to another nearby lever, this one next to an elevator door.

He jumped up and pulled the lever, calling the elevator.

The three were silent the entire ride up, even as they exited onto an unfamiliar floor.

They turned down the first open corridor on their left, which lead to a reception room with several benches where three motionless mannequins sat.

There were large windows letting in weak sunlight, keeping them dormant.

“Looks like the rain hasn’t stopped.”

Selene commented.

“I wish we had an umbrella.”

Lumen frowned.

“We’ll just have to deal with it then.”

He pulled his satchel further up, prepared to use it as a makeshift rain blocker again.

They went into a side room with a desk and a single large window. Lumen hopped up and attempted to lift the window up.

It wasn’t until Mono joined him that they were able to get it open, hopping out of the hospital building and back into the pouring rain.

Selene immediately started to shiver, pulling the hood of her caplet up over her head and tugging the shawl part tighter around her shoulders.

She wished she was still by the fire, eyeing the window she’d just come out of with longing.

“Come along, Selene!”

Lumen called as he and Mono darted down the alleyway.

“Coming!”

She called back, running as fast as she could to catch up to the boys.

The sooner they found an adequate, and more importantly, safe, shelter the better.

Chapter Text

After wandering the rain soaked streets of the unsettling city for only a few minutes, the trio of Mono, Selene and Lumen finally found shelter in one of the many tall buildings that lined the large central street.

The ceiling was leaky, but it was better than nothing.

“Finally…”

Selene sighed, happy at the chance to dry her wings off. She let down her hood and shook her hair.

“Do you think we can make a fire?”

“I could, but I’m not sure where we’d find wood that’s dry enough.”

Lumen said as he stepped further into the foyer.

“Wait…”

His ears perked as he heard something from above.

It sounded like… music?

“Does someone live here?”

He looked around.

The place looked like it hadn’t been maintained in quite some time, judging from the massive leak in the ceiling and the deplorable state of the wallpaper.

“One way to find out.”

Mono said as he started to ascend a flight of stairs, following the music.

“Hopefully they’re friendly?”

If he was being honest, he doubted it was.

Two flights up, the music led Mono into an open room.

He took two steps in and had to stop in his tracks as a body suddenly crashed through the ceiling, making a sizable crater in the middle of the wooden floor.

It appeared to be a man in formal wear, though he had his back turned to the boy.

“Sir, are you…?”

The man didn’t seem to hear Mono, nor was he at all deterred from the impact. He got up not two seconds later, but instead of coming at Mono like any other adult sized monster, it instead ignored him and ran like a madman into the next room.

Mono watched dumbstruck as he dove headfirst into a television set.

“What the…?”

He’d seen a lot of strange things in his young life, and while this was wasn’t the strangest yet, it still caught him off guard.

‘Was he trying to… no.’

Thoughts of white screens and red tunnels flashed in his mind.

“Mono, are you alright? We heard a crash!”

Selene said worriedly as she and Lumen followed Mono into the room, seeing the destruction.

“A guy just ran into the TV.”

Mono said dumbly he led the other two around the crater and into the next room.

Coming upon the scene, they saw the same man with his head stuck inside a small television set, the glass of the screen completely shattered. Puffs of smoke came out of it as rain pelted it from an open window.

“Oh my… why would he do that?”

Selene wondered aloud.

“Who knows? Maybe he thought the TV sounded like his next meal?”

Lumen suggested.

“Maybe.”

Mono considered the explanation as plausible.

But something in his gut told him it was something else.

The mention of food made his stomach rumble uncomfortably. It had been at least a day since they’d had those Vienna sausages.

It had been a day, right?

Just as he turned to search the apartment for its kitchen, he heard noises from outside.

It didn’t sound like it was coming from the street, rather right across the way.

“What is that?”

“Probably another TV.”

Mono commented.

Selene squinted, trying to make out any words. She remembered what the boy said about people using them for entertainment.

“Yeah… it sounds like gibberish to me.”

“At least it’s working.”

Mono said.

‘Which means electricity, and hopefully a working fridge.’

He thought as he climbed up the window sill.

“Mono, wait!”

Selene protested as the boy went back out into the rain.

“Ugh, that boy!”

She groused before she took flight after him, following his dirty brown coat into the next house over, where the gibberish noise was indeed clearer, and louder.

It still didn’t sound like any language she recognized.

Lumen was close behind, quick to shake the water out of his fur upon entering.

The room they landed in was dark, so Mono brought out his flashlight.

As they went deeper in, following the noise from the supposed TV, they found a man like the one they saw before in front of them, facing a wooden door and seemingly trying to get a peek inside through the cracks.

Mono turned off his flashlight, not wanting to garner the man’s attention even though he seemed thoroughly distracted by the TV on the other side of the door.

“You think he’ll be bothered if we just… go past him?”

Selene whispered, just loud enough for her companions to hear.

Cautiously, Mono crept closer to the man. The boy glanced back at the two travelers, prepared to bolt in case his nut-brained idea got them all in trouble.

He took a fistful of the man’s pants and tugged, like a child trying to get their parent’s attention.

The man didn’t react.

Mono tried again, only to be shoved away by the man’s foot like he was an annoying pest.

He even heard the man grumble something but he couldn’t make it out.

The boy tried looking up, to get a look at the man’s face, but he couldn’t make that out either.

He walked back to his friends, not bothering to stay quiet.

The noise from the TV was loud enough to muffle them.

Mono shrugged.

“You’re right. He’s too busy trying to watch TV to pay any attention to us.”

“Then let’s go while we can.”

Lumen advised.

Without much effort, the trio snuck past the man and down another corridor with another TV at the end of it.

This one showed only static, though there was a woman standing in front of it.

She too paid the trespassers no mind, allowing them to slip past her into the next room where there were several buckets put in place to catch the rain leaking from the roof.

Seeing the state those ‘people’ were in, it made the travelers wonder.

‘It’s like they’re hypnotized. That works in our favor right now. But…’

She thought back to when Mono would be overcome by strange, loud noises from very similar television sets.

And then try to go through the screen.

Like… the man just then.

Her mind then went to the clothes left haphazardly everywhere when they first arrived in the city.

‘Wait… did they go through the screen?’

She decided to keep her theory to herself for the moment as Lumen did the honors of opening the door in front of them, which apparently led to someone’s bathroom.

Selene winced as she spotted someone in the bathtub, again thoroughly distracted by a television set they had in there with them.

She blushed in slight embarrassment, though the shower curtain was drawn and thus protecting the adult’s privacy.

The three hurried through a small grate near the toilet into the next room in the apartment complex.

It was empty, with a large hole in the wall in front of them and a door to their left that was blocked by rubble.

So out the hole in the wall it was.

They could see an elevator shaft beyond it. The elevator itself was just below, which Lumen leapt down on top of.

He spotted a landing with a door on the other side of the shaft just below the elevator, gesturing to the children to follow him.

When he tried the door, he found it locked.

They could see the open sides of the elevator from the landing, though, and leapt in.

It appeared to be a service elevator, with a single lever on the wall.

Mono pulled it down, which in turn sent the elevator up a floor.

This part of the building seemed to be more intact than the rest of the complex, though the gate it ascended into was locked with a padlock.

“Well, that was a bust. Let’s try going back down.”

Lumen suggested.

Mono complied by pulling the lever again.

As they descended, the boy noticed something on the wall to the right of the elevator.

“Selene, look!”

He pointed out the hole in the wooden planks that made up the wall of the shaft.

“That might go back up to the floor.”

She looked between him and the hole a few times before realizing what he wanted her to do.

“What? I’m not going in there!”

“If you won’t, I will.”

“… fine.”

Following his direction, the faerie girl flew into the opening in the shaft, following the narrow passage upwards until it indeed let out onto the floor above.

She saw Mono had made the elevator ascend again, as he and Lumen were there to greet her inside the elevator cage.

“You were right. I suppose I need to find the key to this?”

She tapped the padlock with a finger.

“That would be nice.”

Mono said, a bit cheekily.

“Alright. I’ll be back as soon as I can. Don’t do anything stupid.”

“I’ll make sure he doesn’t.”

Lumen assured.

Mono pouted at the thinly veiled insult.

“When have I done anything stupid?”

“You really want me to answer that?”

Lumen countered.

Mono thought about it for a second.

“… no. Not really.”

“That’s what I thought.”

Smiling with mirth in her eyes, Selene started looking for the key to the padlock, flying down the corridor to her left to start with.

While she was gone, Mono and Lumen were left alone in the elevator.

Mono turned to look at the light spirit, a guilty look on his face even though the older being couldn’t see it.

“Lumen… I’m sorry.”

“Hm? What for?”

“For… dragging you into this mess. You could have left with Selene after we escaped the Hunter but… you stayed with me. I let her get taken by those dolls… we almost got trampled by the patients… and the Doctor…”

Mono acted like he expected Lumen to be angry with him.

And some part of the light spirit was, if he was being honest.

But another part could see that this had been bothering him for a while. He understood that Mono was just a boy and had a lot of learning to do, just like how Selene was still just a girl despite her station and powers.

He sighed patiently.

“As much as I… would have liked for us to have avoided those dangers entirely, we cannot turn back the clock. What’s done is done. You shouldn’t beat yourself up about the past.”

“I know… I dunno. I guess I… “

He paused, thinking of what to say.

“Seeing you guys do… magic and stuff. It’s really cool! I wish I could do half of that…”

“Don’t sell yourself short, Mono. I’d say you’ve shown bravery exceeding that of most other boys your age.”

Lumen began to laugh a little at the comparison.

“By the Spirit Tree, some boys in Lemuria would just be starting out as Pages, learning under Squires. They wouldn’t even know how to wield a sword, let alone run around slaying real monsters.”

Mono couldn’t help but blush at the praise, rubbing his arm.

“Thanks. But you’re pretty brave too.”

He said, looking at the light spirit with admiration.

“How old are you? If you don’t mind me asking.”

“Not at all. In human years, I’m 26.”

“So… you’re an adult?”

“Indeed. The Princess is only nine years old herself, which is why I chose to accompany her. I’m a good friend of her family and a friend of hers, and I was concerned for her safety.”

‘She’s nine!?’

Mono thought with incredulity.

‘So she’s only a year younger than me? With how she acts, I thought she’d be older.’

“Huh… “

As Mono turned away to think about what he’d just been told, Lumen idly rubbed something tucked away beneath his shirt.

Not long after, Selene returned with a heavy key in hand.

“I found it!”

The brunette girl announced as she tried to insert the key. It took a couple attempts to get it angled right.

As the padlock fell, the gate to the elevator opened, letting the boys out.

“Great job, princess! Now where to?”

“No idea. Mono?”

“Um…”

The boy looked back at the elevator.

“I think we need to go further up.”

“How?”

“You mean… on top of the elevator?”

Selene asked.

“Exactly. Oh! I got it!”

Mono said, snapping his fingers as he thought of an idea.

“Selene, can you take the elevator down and fly back up through that hole again?”

“Uh… sure. I can do that. Why?”

“Just do it. You’ll see.”

“Alright…”

Though a little skeptical, Selene did as told and pulled the lever inside the elevator, sending her back down into the shaft.

She flew out the open side before it stopped, going back into the hole in the wall and reemerging on the upper floor.

Upon her return, Mono pulled the lever to call the elevator.

“Now jump!”

Without much time to act, the three leapt into the shaft as the elevator came back, lifting them up into the attic of the complex.

They could see the giant pulley above them, a door to their left and a hole to the outside on their right.

The door was blocked by rubble, so they went to the right and back out into the rain.

Again.

This time, they were on top of the apartment building, leaving them with little shelter as they traversed the rooftops.

Selene was reluctant to fly in the rain, so she had no choice but to climb a slippery-looking trellis, ladders and pipes and use a clothesline as a zip line.

She was right behind the boys, as she was also reluctant to let them see up her skirt.

Eventually, the three travelers made it inside another building.

Before they could even think about drying themselves, ominous creaking and groaning was their only warning before said building started to collapse in on top of them.

“Scheiße!”

Lumen exclaimed as they dashed across the room and through a door that required two of them to push open, the door falling from its frame and turning into a slide.

The had to make a break for the other end of the building, as it continued to cave in behind them.

Lumen used his Dash ability, dragging Mono along as Selene was close behind with her Air Dash.

Even with their increased speed, they were still too slow.

Before they could make it back out into the rain, the floor opened up from underneath them and the roof fell, causing all three to be knocked unconscious as they tumbled down.

…………………………………………

When Mono came to sometime later, he found himself sprawled on the ground in what looked like some dusty basement.

At least it was still intact.

“Ooh… my head…”

He groaned, holding his head as he slowly stood up on an old rug, making sure his paper bag was still secure.

The headache dissipated relatively quickly, allowing him to focus as he surveyed the room.

He soon spotted a familiar white head of fur stuck in some rubble nearby.

“Lumen!”

He cried, running up to the pile of rubble and shaking the light spirit from his unconscious state.

“Huh…? Wh… Mono? What happened?”

The white furred being tried to get up, but found he couldn’t move his legs, or his tail.

“Argh! I’m stuck!”

Mono took the light spirit’s paws in his hands and tugged.

With some effort, he popped out of the rubble like a jack in the box, landing in a heap on the floor.

The rubble shifted, though it didn’t fall.

‘Thank goodness.’

Mono thought.

“Are you alright?”

The boy said as the older male got off of him.

“I think so. Ow…”

Lumen winced as he tried to move his tail.

“I think my tail is broken…”

“Well, as long as the rest of you isn’t. Where’s Selene?”

“Here.”

Came a voice from above.

Looking up, Mono and Lumen saw Selene dangling from the ceiling, or more specifically a piece of the collapsed floor above them on a small chain by her foot.

Attached to that chain was a white pendant that shone pale blue in the near darkness.

She tried to position her body so she could pry her foot free, but her wings wouldn’t let her. She tugged on the chain, only for it not to budge.

“Ugh… Lumen, your pendant’s got my foot.”

“Apologies, your highness. I didn’t realize it had fallen off.”

“That’s yours?”

Mono asked as he looked up, trying to see if he could do anything to help.

“Yes, it is. I brought it with me from the Forest of Niwen.”

Lumen said as he hopped onto the space between the ceiling and the fallen rubble.

“Hold on, Selene. Take my hand!”

He held out his paw for Selene to take, but she was just out of reach.

“You’ll have to jump.”

“Alright. Get ready!”

Like a flying trapeze, Lumen jumped up and grabbed his young charge by the wrist, trying to use his added weight to tug her and the pendant down.

From his position, Mono was able to grab onto Lumen and help pull.

With their combined efforts, they heard something snap from above.

Lumen took that as his cue to let go, and Mono backed away as the Niwenian landed beside him.

The pendant tumbled to the ground while Lumen caught Selene before she could do the same.

Mono walked over and picked up the pendant, its chain broken.

While Lumen checked over the girl, the boy was mesmerized by the dazzling array of colors in the gem. Inside the pale blue were four other colors, dancing together like clouds at sunset.

Pink, orange, yellow and a more greenish blue.

So entranced was he, that he almost didn’t hear Lumen come up next to him and pry the pendant from his fingers.

“It’s made of Spirit Stone.”

Lumen said as he retied the chain and hung it around his neck.

“I’ve been using it as my power source since we left our home continent.”

He glanced upwards to make sure nothing else would fall.

When nothing did, he motioned for Mono to come along, letting the pendant hang outside his shirt for the moment.

“Shall we?”

“Yes, please. I fear the rain damage must be really bad for the whole building to fall like that.”

Selene commented.

“It was. I’m surprised we survived.”

Lumen said.

“I’m just glad we did. Let’s get out of here.”

Mono said gratefully, glancing upwards as he made for the door.

Selene opened it for him as the knob was too high for him to reach.

He idly wondered where her power came from, if Lumen was using a gem.

They entered what looked like a normal apartment, not crushed by the weight of the building on top of it.

Across from them was another door, left ajar.

Peeking inside, Mono saw a room that could’ve been someone’s bedroom once upon a time, now left abandoned.

He noted a good amount of oversized toys left behind, as well as a few hand drawn pictures hung up on the wall.

Circular chalk drawings littered the floor under the bed, reminiscent of those from both the Schoolhouse and the toy room in the Hospital.

The sight of them gave him pause.

‘Something is going to happen here.’

He thought with trepidation.

He left the door open as he stepped back into the hall, leading the way to the next room.

No one spoke, the hardwood floor doing little to muffle their footsteps.

The rain and sounds of static got louder as they approached the far end of the hall, the room to the right of the window leading them into a living room, complete with two armchairs and a small television set just sitting there in a corner.

As they walked into the middle of the room, the TV screen flared to a bright white, almost blinding the trio.

The static was so loud in Mono’s ears, he tried to block it out by covering them, only to double over in physical pain as the signal from the screen called out to him again.

It seemed to make the world shake around him.

“No..!”

He groaned, standing his ground in an attempt to resist.

“Mono!”

Selene cried out, moving towards him even as the distorted wailing from the television threatened to deafen her.

Lumen had his ears pinned to his head, his sensitive hearing suffering the worst out of the three of them.

Selene staggered closer and took Mono’s hand as he faltered, unintentionally leading her to the screen.

She tried to pull him back, but it was as if the caterwauling static was drowning out all other impulses. The girl felt the warmth of her magic try to counteract its influence.

She winced and blinked tears away in an attempt to see what her friend was doing.

His right hand touched the glass, and this time Selene was able to see how he manipulated the signal, reshaping the image on the screen until it resembled a rectangular box… or a long hallway.

It took a couple of tries, the signal overpowering him in his first two attempts, but after he managed to tune the signal correctly, aligning the lines of static into something recognizable… Selene felt him lurch forward, and submerge half his body into the glass like it was water.

This time, Selene was partially dragged in with him, and saw what he saw.

It was indeed a long corridor, tinged blue and distorted as if she was looking at it through a spyglass.

Mono didn’t seem to notice she was there with him as he moved along without her, his movements slowed down.

She tried to call out to him, but her voice choked on nothing.

He approached the door at the end of the hall, one with a carving of an eye in the middle, and she tried to warn him not to open it.

She had a very, very uneasy feeling about what lay on the other side.

But he couldn’t hear her.

As he jumped up to open the door, Selene pushed herself out of the screen and started to frantically drag Mono out with her. Lumen saw her struggling and rushed over to help despite the ringing in his ears.

The boy popped out with their combined strength, the momentum causing all three to be flung backwards.

But they couldn’t take the time to berate Mono for his apparent inability to resist the static again.

“Run.”

Selene whispered, hurriedly taking to the air as she noticed the TV was still activated. She could hear something like footsteps, booming and tinny behind it.

Lumen heard it too, backpedaling on frightened hooves.

Mono looked up at his friends confusedly, until he saw their faces.

Suddenly, shadows of hands appeared on the screen, pressing against it.

“RUN!”

The faerie girl cried, already starting to fly away towards the corridor with urgency. Lumen dragged Mono up before bolting himself, the two only looking back to make sure he was moving…

Only to see the creature the boy had released emerge from the screen.

It looked to be a humanoid male, impossibly tall with gangly limbs like it had been stretched unnaturally. It seemed to be wearing a formal black or dark grey suit with a fedora on his head that touched the ceiling, the shadows obscuring his gaunt features.

Mono ran a few paces behind them as they fled into the corridor, the Man in the Suit walking after them.

The world around them seemed to slow in the Man’s presence, a loud electronic buzzing invading their ears.

Selene even had trouble flying, but with her Air Dash she managed to endure.

Lumen darted into the bedroom, making a beeline for the bed which he dove underneath, doing everything he could to hide his luminescence.

His fur stood on end, shaking slightly as he curled into himself.

Selene was close behind, following the spirit’s lead.

They could see Mono from their position, running as fast as he could away from this strange new monster.

He didn’t know where the other two had hidden themselves even though he saw them enter this room.

He hesitated for only a moment, before making for the bed.

But a moment was all the Man in the Hat needed.

His strides were long and slow, unbothered, like he knew he would catch up to his prey eventually.

Mono realized too late his folly, gasping as he felt the immense presence behind him.

He dared turn around to face the monster, looking up.

The Thin Man reached out with his right hand, palm open towards the boy.

Selene watched in horror as the Thin Man snatched Mono right out off the ground, Lumen attempting to hold her back from darting out then and there.

Where Mono had been standing, a pool of shadow was left, which then glitched and writhed until it formed a semblance of the boy.

She saw Mono’s paper bag fall to the floor just as the Man turned around to leave.

When she looked back at the moving shadow, it was gone.

Lumen finally released her once the Man had fully left the room, at which moment she flew after the Thin Man with a vengeance.

She saw him retreat back into the living room.

“Hey, Arschloch!”

She cried, using one of the few swear words she ever heard her mother say.

The Thin Man paused a second, tilting his head in her direction.

He definitely heard her, but chose to pay her no mind as he kept going.

Selene followed him into the room, her bow summoned and an arrow knocked.

“Let him go!”

She yelled as the arrow loosed.

The arrow missed, instead hitting the wall and leaving a scorch mark.

The Man disappeared into thin air.

Rather, into the static, taking Mono with him.

“What…? Where..?”

She stammered, desperate tears forming in her eyes.

“No!”

She cried, firing a volley of arrows at that damnable television.

It shattered on impact, rendering it useless to the entity, and to her.

“No…”

Selene slumped to the ground, bow still in hand until it dissipated into sparkles in her grasp.

“No… come back!”

She cried, sobs at the edge of her voice.

“M-Mono!”

She covered her face with her hands and let the tears fall. This was the most she’d cried in succession in… she didn’t remember how long.

She usually wasn’t such a crybaby, but the string of recent horrific events left her emotionally raw.

After what seemed like hours, though it could have only been a few minutes, Lumen came clopping up to her. He knelt by her side and pulled her into a furry embrace.

“Sshh… sshh… it’s alright.”

“No! It’s not alright. Mono… he’s…”

“I know. I saw it too.”

Lumen said, trying to be reassuring and keeping his voice soft.

They stayed like that for a few more minutes, Selene’s ugly crying turning into sniffles.

“Who… who was that man?”

“I’m not sure.”

Lumen said honestly.

“But whoever he was, he felt… powerful. Much too powerful for either of us.”

“Even so…”

She turned to Lumen, a timid determination in her gaze.

“We have to save him.”

Lumen gave her a sympathetic but incredulous look.

“What? Selene, think about this! We don’t know where that… thing might have taken him! I care for the boy as you do, but-“

“But what!? I’m not going to just sit here and let my friend be taken to God Knows Where for God Knows What! Not this time! He’s come to my rescue so many times, it’s high time I return the favor.”

“What? He’s only rescued you twice! And I was with him.”

“Not before! Not- wait…”

As she spoke the words that came unbidden from her mouth, she found herself confused by them.

Selene held a hand to her head.

“Why did I say that…? This hasn’t happened before…”

‘Has it?’

As she sat there, thinking about what just happened, images flashed through her mind.

She saw the Thin Man, but she had been too slow… She recognized some images from her dreams, others… from her time in this nightmarish country.

But it was different.

‘Was I right about the past life thing?’

She shook her head to rid herself of the sensation. Nausea threatened to build up in her stomach, though her logical brain pointed out that might have been due to her lack of food and all the recent excitement.

“No matter. My point still stands.”

She stood up, making her way back out into the hallway with the window.

Her brown-blue eyes hardened with her resolve.

“We are rescuing Mono from wherever that Man took him.”

“I’m with you, your highness. But how exactly will we find him? He traveled through the screen! We can’t do that!”

Lumen said.

“That may be true. But we have something he assuredly doesn’t.”

She smiled, two parts mischievous and proud.

“We have light magic on our side. We’ll find him… and I think I know where to start looking.”

As she fluttered up to the window, she looked out into the rain and onto the dilapidated city.

Lights from TV screens all over the city illuminated various windows, but there was one structure that stood out amongst all the others.

The entire city seemed to bow towards it, as if in reverence.

The Signal Tower.

Chapter Text

The pouring rain had lessened to a drizzle, making it easier for the girl and her companion to see where they were going in the twilit city.

Selene’s sandals were thoroughly soaked, walking more than flying due to the rain and consequently having stepped in more puddles than she should’ve liked.

More than once, the two had spotted several lone TVs along the back alleys of the city, some high up, some within apartments where people were giving it their undivided attention, and others were down at their level.

Not all of them were activated, but those that were shone with that same almost hypnotizing white light.

Music and what sounded like voices emanated from the active contraptions.

Selene kept an eye on them, part of her worrying that the tall man would return for her.

Or worse, Lumen.

Lumen, for his part, tried to keep both their spirits up.

“Perhaps, if Mono escaped him, he could come back the same way he went.”

“I hope he does.”

Selene said, pulling her caplet tighter around her shoulders.

It was summer when she’d left, so she thought she’d only need a few articles in case it got cold at night.

‘Stupid’

She mentally berated herself.

Every few minutes or so, the Princess would ascend to a point where she could see the Signal Tower, and adjust their course accordingly.

It felt like they’d been walking for hours when they came upon a congregation of people, all vying for a prime viewing spot at the end of an alley.

A TV was positioned within a shop window, its bright light silhouetting the people who all moaned and groaned gutturally.

Lumen poked the girl on the shoulder, bringing her attention to an open window next to them.

Selene smiled and nodded, following the light spirit inside the building.

There appeared to be various packages kept on the shelves, tied with cords and faded white cards attached to them.

“A post office?”

Selene assumed.

They had one in Lemuria, delivering letters and packages throughout the country.

“I think so.”

Lumen agreed.

The rain started to intensify, leaking through the roof. Selene looked down a ramp to the lower floor, noting that something was smoking in a puddle nearby.

Going around a corner, Lumen saw some sort of metal cart laden with packages.

“Lumen?”

The elder of the two came back around at her call.

“Yes?”

“I think that water is electrified.”

She pointed to the live wire in the puddle, and then she noticed another one on the other side of a shelf, connected to an active TV.

“Oh dear… I know you’ll be fine, Princess. But me…”

He looked out over the layout of the area, measuring the distances with his eyes.

“Actually… I think I might be able to jump that.”

Selene looked unsure, but she trusted her friend’s judgement.

“If you’re sure.”

She took to the damp air as Lumen readied himself on top of the shelf next to the ramp.

With a double jump he was able to reach the wooden table by the wall.

From there, he leapt up onto a cabinet where he noticed the wires were connected.

He pulled a lever and the electricity turned off.

“There! Now it should be safe to touch the water.”

He said confidently as he jumped to the ground with a splash.

From the ground floor, the duo eventually found a set of stairs that led them up to the second floor.

They followed the sounds of the TV to a small room with a barred window.

Exiting through the window, they had to carefully slide down to the edge of a wooden awning.

Down below was the most people either of them had seen in this city, all gathered in various spots to watch the nothing on other TVs.

Just below them they saw a man and a woman, but to their left they saw a whole crowd behind a wooden fence.

“That’s a lot of monster people…”

Selene said, nervous but ready to fight if she had to.

“It is. But they’re not a threat. They'll hardly notice us.”

Selene knew he had a point. All these human-looking monsters seemed to want to do was watch TV.

That worked in their favor thus far… but the winged girl worried what would happen if that distraction was suddenly taken away.

“Right. Let’s keep going.”

Selene flew while Lumen leapt to the ground behind the couple under the awning.

Neither of them noticed a thing.

Just in front of them was another storefront window, except the glass was still intact so they couldn’t get in as easily.

Selene considered smashing the glass… but she wasn’t one to do that unless absolutely necessary.

Next to them was a store with a single dormant TV behind the display window.

The girl decided to fly up to get their bearings again. Spotting the Signal Tower, closer now than before, she determined that it was in the direction of the crowd.

Which meant they had to bypass them.

“Shouldn’t be too hard.”

Lumen reassured, leaping up on top of a phone booth and onto another wood awning.

Selene nodded to him, keeping to the air herself though the raindrops on her wings made them feel cold and uncomfortable.

Using his Grapple ability, Lumen swung from gutter pipes to hanging wires to other objects he could use to swing past the multitude of people below.

As they passed, some of them looked up, and that was when they saw their faces.

Or rather, lack thereof.

They looked like their faces had been twisted and pushed inwards, creating black craters of skin that seemed to swallow all light.

They didn’t stop and stare, the sight truly was ghastly.

Selene learned the hard way how these faceless monsters operated. She flew too low to one who was looking up, and suddenly she felt like a wind was pulling her downwards.

Glancing at the source, she saw a single Viewer trying to draw her into its black hole of a face.

She turned her hand towards the monster and cast a spell.

“Starlight!”

The flash of piercing white light distracted the monster long enough for Selene to flee, but the action seemed to aggravate all the other monsters below.

“Oh no… keeping going, Lumen!”

She cried, flying faster to keep up with him.

Eventually, they managed to slip into the window of another abandoned apartment, the Viewers below seemingly lost them.

“Let’s not do that again.”

Lumen said, having seen what almost happened to his charge.

“I won’t let it happen again.”

They moved into the next room, which appeared to be another living room with a chair.

In front of them was a door with a couple of large slash marks in it.

Just as they were examining the door, a muffled sort of thumping could be heard from the TV in the room.

Looking at it, Selene gasped as she spied a familiar silhouette.

“Mono!?”

She rushed over, seeing he was trying to push himself out of the screen.

Lumen was close behind, the two of them taking the boy’s hands and trying to help pull him out.

That was when she got her first look at his face.

She had to admit, he was actually rather handsome. She blushed a little at the thought, but quickly rid herself of it in favor of focusing on her current task.

“H-Hurry…”

The boy stammered, fearfully glancing back at the screen.

“Don’t worry, we’ll get you out.”

Lumen assured.

Pulling him out of the screen was like pulling him out of quicksand.

When they’d just gotten him out, a large almost skeletal hand came through and snatched the boy back up.

Mono screamed, and had just enough time to say one thing before he was pulled back.

“Help me-!”

“Mono! No!”

Selene cried, but as soon as the boy had gone something else took his place.

A familiar set of hands placed themselves upon the inside of the screen.

Lumen was already at the door, smashing it to bits with his Spirit Smash.

“Come on!”

He urged, sprinting through the gap.

Selene followed close behind, just as the Thin Man re-emerged.

Lumen hurriedly climbed a set of wooden planks while Selene flew into the ventilation system, both too fast for the Thin Man as he effortlessly opened the door behind them.

But they felt they couldn’t slow down, as they ascended into an area under the floorboards.

They had to crouch to be able to get through, Lumen’s luminescence a touch too bright in the dark space.

They heard the slow, methodical footsteps of the Thin Man above them.

Selene paused just before a gap in the floor, Lumen stopping behind her.

They let the man pass by them before continuing on, only to stop before another gap.

The girl could see the Thin Man crouching down to look into the hole, actively trying to find them.

They waited until he moved on to keep going.

‘He gave up there rather quick.’

Selene thought, though she wouldn’t question it further.

They soon came to a crawl space that led out into a room that was completely destroyed.

The only way out was through a giant hole in the wall, which led into a long hallway.

Both the Lemurian and Niwenian had a bad feeling.

They saw a window just across from them, which they made a beeline for just as the Thin Man emerged from a door at the end of the hall.

The two worked together to pull a single plank of wood from the window before booking it, the Thin Man seemingly teleporting closer to them as they did.

They were back out in the rain, which seemed to be falling heavier than before.

Lumen’s hooves lost traction on the slippery awning below, leading him to fall onto an abandoned train and slide onto another.

Selene was close behind.

“Lumen! Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, Princess! Just keep going!”

The light spirit said in a panic, darting inside the train.

“Who is that man, and why is he after us!?”

Selene exclaimed, two parts scared and frustrated.

“Why is any of them after us!?” 

They ran to the other end of the train, the light spirit leaping into the window of the next.

Only to have the Thin Man open the door to the compartment on their left.

They both startled, but before the Man could give chase, Selene flew up to his eye level.

“Who are you!?”

Selene cried, raising her voice to be heard over the din of rain and the static noise that seemed to surround the Thin Man.

“Where is Mono!?”

The Man seemed to pause mid-stride, regarding her coolly.

There was an almost imperceptible twitch to his lips, as if he was trying to smile.

He stared ahead at the defiant little princess, glaring at him with a white fire blazing in her eyes.

“Fly away… little fairy. Leave… us.”

He spoke, his voice deep and booming, traveling along the radio waves. But it was also small, and hoarse, as if he hadn’t spoken aloud in quite some time.

“No! I won’t abandon him! Not again!”

Selene yelled, that white fire in her eyes manifesting around her hands. The fire morphed into her trusty Spirit Arc, which she aimed at the Thin Man’s face.

“Tell me where he is, right now. That’s an order!”

His eyes narrowed at her audacity.

“You… order… me?”

He growled, stepping towards her with hand outstretched.

Only for said hand be impaled by a volley of arrows, the faerie girl moving backwards down the cabin and out of his range.

Lumen took that opportunity to get some distance as well.

The Thin Man groaned in pain, glaring hatefully at the girl.

“Selene!”

Lumen cried from below, worriedly.

“Get away!”

Seeing the look the Man was giving her, and the way the air distorted around him, she nodded to her companion and wisely flew further away down the cabin of the train.

Now he was angry.

The Man chased them into the next car, and then car after car after car, until they reached a car with its back door closed and a lever on the floor.

Lumen was quick to try pulling the lever to the opposite direction, which disengaged the connection between cars.

The car the girl and spirit were on started to move away from the other car, going downhill.

The Thin Man emerged from the still car, watching them go with an unreadable expression. He held his injured hand close to his chest.

“Wretched… girl.”

He seemed to mutter before he lost sight of the two foreigners.

The two felt the train gain momentum as it passed into a tunnel, until it collided with the end of said tunnel, causing them both to be flung off the platform onto the tracks below.

“Ow…”

Lumen said, slowly getting up.

His tail was still sore from earlier, but he could move it a little.

“Are you alright, Selene?”

“I’m fine. What about you?”

The girl said as she sat up, her tanned arms bearing a few scrapes.

“Not great. But I can keeping going.”

“Same here.”

As they both caught their breaths, seemingly out of danger for the moment, Selene gingerly tested her wings.

They still felt wet and cold.

Her wings weren’t as fragile as those of actual insects, but she did have to be careful not to abuse them too much.

She hoped this unending rain wouldn’t turn to snow anytime soon. Last thing she wanted was for her wings to turn to ice.

That had happened before, and thawing them out wasn’t pleasant.

She stayed on the ground, legs tucked underneath her as her mind tried to catch up with what just happened.

Then she happened to look up.

“What…?”

Just in front of them was a small figure, seemingly made of shadow.

She recognized it from somewhere.

The moment Lumen saw it, he went on the defensive, moving to stand between it and the shadow.

“Don’t you come any closer!”

But the shadow didn’t move.

It just stood there, waiting.

Selene stood, gently moving past Lumen.

“… Mono?”

She reached out her hand to touch the shadow’s bag-covered face, but it moved away before she could make contact.

It seemed to glitch as it moved, as if it wasn’t all there.

“I think I recognize it. It’s Mono… or his shadow, I suppose. I remember it got left behind when…”

Selene trailed off, looking to Lumen.

“Yeah… I saw that too. But… why here? Why now?”

“I dunno. Maybe… he’s leading us somewhere safe? It’s his way of helping us… even from wherever he is right now.”

Lumen frowned, wanting to believe what his princess said but he doubted it.

“Just be careful, alright? For all we know, this could be a trap.”

Selene nodded, her hopeful eyes hardening a little.

“I’m aware.”

With that, the two followed after the black afterimage of their friend down the track and into a side alley.

They could hear echoes of his voice leading them on underneath a light and up a ladder.

The rain still hadn’t stopped as they exited through a manhole to street level.

They both had to stop and stare at the sight that greeted them.

Just before them, at the end of the street and standing tall above the city was the structure they’d been seeking.

Lamplights flickered above them as the Signal Tower loomed, a pulse of energy causing the buildings around them to lean towards it dangerously.

“Did you feel that?”

“I did. I think this is the place.”

Lumen said, feeling his fur stand on end from the ambient static in the air.

Selene knew it was.

She didn’t know how, but she had a feeling she’d been inside that Tower before.

She wouldn’t wish that fate even on her worst enemy.

Just as they moved to make a mad dash towards the Tower, the silhouette of the Thin Man appeared further down the rain soaked street.

The Thin Man’s approaching footsteps boomed in their ears as they stood before him.

“Looks like we’ll have to get past its guardian first.”

Lumen readied his Spirit Flames as Selene knocked an arrow.

“Bring it on.”

Chapter Text

The man from the TV stood impossibly tall before them, his lanky frame almost matching that of the Black Tower behind him.

Selene was undeterred, standing defiant before the man as he approached with her bow ready to fire.

He saw this, and stopped just out of range.

He didn’t move, and neither did they.

After a moment of nothing happening, Selene and Lumen glanced at each other questioningly.

“You’re… not going to attack us?”

The girl asked, lowering her bow just a smidge.

He didn’t respond, just staring at her unblinking. Hesitant.

She noticed he was favoring his right hand, the one she hit earlier.

‘He knows I can hurt him.’

She concluded.

“Then we’re at an impasse.”

Lumen said, though he didn’t lower his hammer.

The Thin Man nodded slightly.

“Who are you?”

Selene asked again, with the Thin Man paused before her and Lumen in the middle of the street, rain pouring down on them both.

Though the droplets seemed to pass through the man, as if he wasn’t really there.

Selene lifted off the ground until she was eye level with him.

He stared at her as she did this, examining her. She hovered out of arm’s reach, but close enough that he should have heard her over the rain.

“Answer me.”

She demanded.

He seemed to frown at her tone, then turned his gaze to the glowing light spirit standing by.

“Don’t you touch him!”

Selene moved to intercept, holding her arms out.

“I won’t let you take another of my friends away!”

He stared at her, something like pity in his eyes.

She mulled over her next words for a moment, neither of them making a move.

“For a while now… I’ve been feeling something calling me here. Was it you?”

The Thin Man shook his head, a look of slight confusion on his gaunt face.

“No…? Well there goes that theory.”

She crossed her arms in midair, considering.

“You… talk… too much.”

The Thin Man spoke, his voice raspy and gravelly, much too underused. He had a tinny accent, tinged with white noise that seemed to echo in the ears.

He held out his non-dominant hand, and a wave of static seemed to pass over the two.

Selene held out her own hand, white magic coalescing in her palm.

“Starlight!”

She cried, a beam of light striking the Thin Man square in the chest.

He stumbled back, stunned.

The impasse was over.

The clouds parted above where Selene hovered, allowing a ray of silver moonlight to shine down upon her.  

“No matter… I’m saving my friend, and you’re not going to stop me!”

Selene announced, the moonlight reflecting off her wings making them sparkle like stars. She could feel the boost in magic power the light provided her, but there was something else too.

She glanced down at Lumen, who stood in the middle of the road with a hand to his chest, the other around his hammer.

Rather, to the pendant that hung around his neck.

Their eyes met, and they shared the same thought as the Thin Man prepared another attack of his own.

“Flash!”

She cried, her body becoming enveloped in a corona of light. She flew closer to the tall apparition, causing him to cover his eyes as the light seemed to damage him.

Bits like pixels floated off his body.

He swiped at her, trying to catch her the same way he’d caught other victims, but she just dodged his hand.

He found that he couldn’t touch her like this, as the light hurt his skin.

They circled each other in a dance that was almost comical, but while the Thin Man was distracted, Lumen tried to sneak around them towards the Tower.

The Man saw him move past, and he sent out another wave.

It didn’t seem to do anything, but then they heard the moans and groans of the Viewers.

Selene glanced into the alleyways branching off the thoroughfare, spotting their nonexistent faces as they approached. Their movements were slow and jerky, as if being pulled along by puppet strings.

Suddenly, they advanced. Racing towards Lumen like starving wolves.

“No!”

Selene flew to cover her friend, firing an arrow into the first Viewer that got too close.

The shaft embedded itself into the Viewer’s face hole, making it scream in pain.

Her Flash spell was still active, so she used it to keep the Viewers at bay.

But there were so many…

She summoned several Sentries, all of them fluttering around her and Lumen, sniping at the creatures while she looked around, spotting the Thin Man watching them struggle.

She grit her teeth in frustration.

Lumen seemed to be of like mind, as he suddenly darted out from under Selene’s protection. He weaved and dodged the Viewers’ gazes towards his target.

Selene followed him, firing as many arrows as she could.

These creatures weren’t human anymore, if they ever were.

The Thin Man didn’t expect the white flames coming for his face.

He stumbled backwards, towards Selene, when she promptly struck him with another Starlight spell.

He groaned in displeasure and pain.

The Viewers stopped dead in their tracks, their puppet strings slacking.

But then… he roared.

With a mighty bellow, the lamps overhead and the entire street shook, a radio transmission coming off him in waves.

It was enough to knock the Princess and spirit down, as well as the Viewers who fell down in a heap onto the tarmac.

Selene felt her reserves of magic were drained from her Flash spell, and with the rain still pelting down her wings were starting to feel numb.

Thoroughly aggravated, the Thin Man seethed in rage as he approached her.

He sparked with distorted shadows.

“Catch, Princess!”

Lumen tossed the pendant to her, which she caught and put around her own neck. The light inside the pendant resonated with its kin, making her feel incredibly warm inside, but not so much so that it was uncomfortable.

The warmth spread to her wings and digits, staving off the cold.

The Thin Man held out his hand again, attempting to corrupt both Selene and Lumen with a deadly transmission, but the light emanating from her form pulsed outwards like a supernova, pushing him back.

Her body glowed in the moonlight, the combined powers changing her temporarily.

Before his eyes, the little faerie girl transformed into an adult. She stood at his shoulder height, the yellow caplet turning into a cloak that fluttered in the wind.

Her wings elongated to match her new form, almost resembling that of a dragonfly. She wore a crown seemingly made of moonlight that rested lightly on her brow.

Even her hair grew back, now billowing around her in waves of chocolate brown.

Her eyes shone like candles in the dark as she held her hand out, magic coalescing in her palm.

With a deeper, commanding voice befitting of a Queen, she intoned.

“Light Ray!”

The Thin Man was blasted back by a powerful beam of light, skidding on the tarmac a ways and tripping over the fallen bodies of the Viewers. The front of his grey suit appeared badly burnt, and he struggled to get back up. His body glitched and distorted violently.

The adult Selene approached him as he struggled to stay standing, stopping just before him.

She stared down at him, eyes hard yet hopeful.

“Kneel.”

She commanded.

He could feel her power radiating off her, overpowering his own weakened radio waves. He obeyed, bowing his head as he held his hat to his burnt chest on one knee.

“Now…”

She lowered herself so they were at eye level, gently lifting his head with one hand.

She could barely feel him there.

“Once again, who are you?”

He stared at her blankly, eyes black with square pupils that seemed to show only grey static. He had to squint from the brightness.

“You… know me.”

“Do I?”

She stared at his face, trying to recognize him.

“I… suppose not… but you… are not her… either.”

“What are you talking about?”

He sighed, long and tired and suffering.

He pointed to her forehead, almost touching it.

“I can… see her in you… Six… “

Selene raised an eyebrow.

“Six…? Six of what?”

He shook his head, a small wry smile gracing his features.

“No… Six was… her name.”

“Oh.”

She paused, considering.

“I still don’t understand.”

The name did ring a bell for her.

She held a hand to her head, trying to remember where she might’ve heard it before.

Lumen trotted up from behind her.

“I think I know that name.”

Lumen said contemplatively, catching both their attentions.

“Is she a little girl, in a yellow raincoat? With short, dark hair?”

The Thin Man nodded, face hardening.

“Where… is she?”

“I’m sorry, but I’m afraid she’s gone.”

Lumen answered, with some remorse.

“I didn’t know her personally. But their majesties did. And you as well, Mr… uh…”

The Niwenian paused, looking to the Thin Man in askance.

He shrugged.

“Call me… whatever you like.”

“Right, uh… Mr. Grey then.”

The Thin Man raised an eyebrow at the name.

“Anyway, I know Queen Aurora and King Enu met a girl named Six on the island of Rime. Her majesty mentioned it a few times.”

Lumen paused to gauge the Thin Man’s reaction. He was listening, as was Selene who was never told this story.

“She never told me what happened to her, other than that she died.”

Selene nodded.

“Yes! That’s where I know her from! Mother and Father said there was something dark in her, so they brought her before a Spirit Tree to help. But….”

“I… see.”

The newly designated Mr. Grey said, turning his gaze towards Selene.

“So… she was reborn… as you.”

Selene looked at him and Lumen, processing what she was told.

“What…?”

He reached out and cupped her face with his bony hand.

“I watched you… through the screens. You are not her. You… are better… than her. Yet… you share… a soul.”

Lumen nodded in agreement.

“That makes some sense, now that I think about it.”

Selene had to admit, it made sense to her too.

“She was here before?”

The Thin Man nodded.

“Everything… you did… in this city… she did. We did.”

Selene turned back to the Thin Man, who retracted his hand, his face blank as a dormant TV.

“The Wilderness… the School… the Hospital… I remember it all…”

Selene leaned forward, trying to look at the Man’s face.

“Please, let me fix her mistakes. Whatever she did in your past, I deeply apologize. I won’t pretend to know what happened, but I promise I can make it right.”

She removed the pendant, transforming back into her child self. She tossed the pendant back to Lumen, who caught it in both paws.

“Please, Mr. Grey… let me save him.”

She held her hands together, clearly begging.

“I don’t want to have to hurt anyone else.”

The Thin Man rose to his full height, regarding the girl with an unreadable expression.

“… Fine.”

He relented.

His body started to disintegrate into black flakey particles, unable to sustain himself with the beating he’d taken.

“Don’t… let him fall.”

“I won’t.”

She gave her word.

With that, the Thin Man faded away peacefully, his power spent and unwilling to fight.

The two travelers were free to proceed.

“Lumen…”

“Yes, Selene?”

“Thank you for reminding me of that. I know what I need to do now.”

“You’re very welcome. I’m surprised I remembered that at all, it was so long ago. Just after you were born, if I recall correctly.”

“Perhaps you could tell me more later. Lets go. I don’t want Mono to stay in there much longer.”

“Agreed. Let’s go!”

Selene flew as fast as her wings could take her while Lumen Dashed his way to the front doors of the Black Tower.

The thoroughfare was long and empty, no other soul in sight, like the Tower was rolling out the red carpet for them.

Glancing to either side, she saw a multitude of Viewers standing just inside the alleys, as if watching a parade go by.

None of them moved, but they seemed to stare at the two hungrily.

It made her suspicious, but she would take this stroke of luck over the alternative.

‘Don’t worry, Mono. We’re coming!’

Chapter Text

The interior of the Black Tower was nothing like either of them had expected.

Just stepping through the threshold was like stepping into another world, with that same strange energy that emitted from the Thin Man permeating the space like static after a thunderstorm.

The entrance chamber was large, with the only visible openings to other areas in the Tower high up on the walls. Random pieces of furniture and other household objects floated in midair, suspended above their heads.

Selene was mesmerized for a moment, before she turned to her companion.

“This place is big. Should we split up?”

“As much as I don’t like the idea, I think we should.”

Lumen said, crossing his arms.

“We’ll cover more ground that way.”

“Agreed.”

Selene noticed that even their voices were strange within the Tower. They echoed a little, reminding her eerily of the Thin Man’s voice.

“Shall I go right while you go left? Or the other way round?”

“I’ll go left.”

Lumen said, looking up at the left hand opening in the wall. He couldn’t see anything beyond it except for darkness from his vantage point.

“If I find Mono, we’ll come find you.”

“And if I find him, I’ll send a Sentry for you.”

“Then we can end this nightmare. Once and for all.”

“Together.”

They nodded to each other, smiling determinedly. Selene’s wings lifted her up off the ground and towards the opening on her right.

Lumen meanwhile jumped to the lowest hanging object, using it as leverage to jump to the next. The gravity in this space was strange, allowing him to jump higher and longer than normal. He’d admit was it an exhilarating feeling.

They glanced at each other once they’d reached the openings, giving one another looks of encouragement, before entering.

Selene had honestly expected more office drudgery and several winding hallways and windows as she explored her side of the Tower.

Well, she got the hallways, seemingly made of pink-violet clouds that somehow supported her weight when she stood upon them.

There were various doors in the long halls, some going nowhere while others led into rooms that she could only describe as nonsensical.

Some had nothing but floating objects inside, others looked like office rooms but wrong.

Some just led her back to the beginning of the hall, much to her frustration.

None of the doors actually had doors to speak of, really just rectangular openings in the wall with nothing but light emanating from them until Selene ventured inside.

She had no way of knowing which way to go, so she just focused her mind on finding her friend. Hoping her intuition, and the power inside her, would guide her.

Eventually, she found a door that revealed a staircase going up.

Though unsure if she should ascend, Selene chose to hope that this path would lead her to Mono. She kept that thought in mind as she started flying, the steps too large for her small legs. She prayed that he was alright.

“Please… let me find him… let him be okay.”

The stairs seemed to go on for longer than Selene was comfortable with, but she eventually saw a light at the end, and as she alighted on the upper floor she found herself in another large chamber made of undulating violet clouds.

They seemed to form a single path over a dark chasm, the clouds lightening as they stretched into infinity on either side.

From her position, she thought she could hear metallic jangling noises from a room on the other side of the path.

She could see a light, but nothing beyond that.

Tentatively, she fluttered over the chasm towards the light, and when she reached it, she felt like she was outside the Tower again.

The air here was similar to it, but it still felt tinged with that odd static.

Once glance out the window revealed roiling purple clouds.

Taking a look around, Selene found herself in what looked like one of the apartments in the Pale City. It was remarkably intact compared to them, though, with no water damage or dust covering everything.

It actually felt… lived in. Even loved.

‘Perhaps this is how they were before they fell to ruin’. She supposed, softly landing on the hardwood floor of the foyer.

There were clothes hanging on hooks by the door, as well as small bench with shoes tucked underneath. A coatrack adorned with various hats stood by the hooks, including a yellow boater’s hat, a fedora, and even one made from a raccoon’s pelt.

As she walked further into the apartment, towards the dining room and kitchen area, she realized that everything in this apartment wasn’t… large. It was normal, like what she might find back home.

There didn’t seem to be anyone home.

Still, she had to be careful.

“Hello?”

She called out.

Immediately, she heard a thump from the living room across the hall.

“Is someone here?”

She heard the jangling noise again, louder.

As she peered into the living room, she saw a familiar object. A television, and it was activated.

Instead of static, it showed a bright array of colors that almost made Selene’s eyes hurt to look at for too long. She saw colorful characters on the screen, though she hadn’t the faintest idea who they were supposed to be.

Exuberant voices and music came from the electric box.

Turning her gaze away from the television, she saw a chain attached to the back of the machine. Curious, she walked around to the back of it and gave the chain a tug.

It was firmly attached, but she could have sworn she heard a loud noise come from somewhere when she tugged it.

She decided to follow the chain to whatever it was attached to, leading her out another door into what looked like an office space.

From there, the chain led her into another hall. She saw another chain attached to another television, this one in what looked like a child’s room.

It was similar to the one where she initially hid from the Thin Man, without the creepy drawings on the walls and floors.

The further she went down the hall, the more chains joined the one she followed until they formed a thick column leading to a door at the end of the hall.

The door was open, with another staircase that led upwards. The chains swayed in some unseen wind as Selene hesitated at the base of the stairs.

It was likely that whatever was attached to these chains was up those stairs.

A horrible thought occurred to her.

“I hope Mono isn’t attached to those awful chains.”

She would free him if he was, or even if he wasn’t.

With that thought driving her forwards, she flew up the stairs, keeping low to avoid the chains that scraped against the walls and ceiling, eventually enveloping the entire stairwell.

Meanwhile…

Lumen’s path had taken him to a similar hallway, one with multiple doors that almost infuriated the light spirit with how useless they were to him.

Like Selene, he eventually found a staircase, this one leading downwards.

From the top, he could see the clouds change from purple to red, as if there was a fire at the bottom.

He didn’t smell smoke.

“That’s not a good sign.”

He commented, before taking a breath and leaping down the large steps.

At the base of the stairs, Lumen emerged into a space that felt warmer than the upper level. Almost humid.

It made a shiver run down his spine and his fur stand on end as he dared venture further in.

The floor seemed to be in a circular shape, as Lumen could feel himself going around in a circle, until he found an opening in the red fog that let him see into the center.

His paws flew to his mouth in shock and disgust as he beheld what was there.

In the middle of the room was a pile of bodies. Unmistakably human bodies, all naked.

He recognized what faces he could see as those of the dreaded Viewers.

Positioned along the cylindrical walls were televisions, all activated and showing nothing but static.

Suddenly, something started to emerge from one of them.

Lumen was prepared to run in case it was something dangerous.

What came out of the screen was another body, slithering out of the screen like a slug and dropping lifelessly onto the pile.

“Are… are they dead?”

Lumen asked no one in particular.

The Viewers didn’t move at all. They didn’t even seem to be breathing.

He glanced down and noted that the floor of the room was a deep red, reminding him eerily of blood. Just as he thought that, the floor seemed to burst into bubble-shaped protrusions before opening up from under the pile.

Lumen could swear he saw teeth at the edges of the gaping hole.

His breath hitched, and he was hidden behind the red clouds before whatever creature had emerged noticed him.

He didn't hear anything come after him, though there was a constant sort of buzzing in his ears and a disgusting slurping sound as the monster likely ate the dead Viewers.

Rather than make him fearful, it was starting to aggravate him.

As he stopped to breathe, his ears perked and his fur stood up as he felt a presence. He looked up, quickly spotting something dark against the red-violet clouds.

It was a figure, humanoid but glitchy, like it was made of black wisps. It felt… there but also not there at the same time.

Lumen wasn’t sure what to make of it.

The figure didn’t move, seemingly just staring at Lumen as he regarded it.

The more he looked at it, the more Lumen thought he recognized it.

He could make out a coat, and a… square head.

“… Mono?”

Lumen muttered, bewildered.

The figure didn’t speak, but it seemed to nod in confirmation.

“What’s happened to you, boy? You’re… practically a ghost.”

The figure -Mono?- flickered and disappeared. Before Lumen could react properly, the apparition reappeared further away, seemingly leading him somewhere.

But he shook his head, tail flicking agitatedly.

“Oh no, I’m not falling for that again. How do I know you’re not leading me into a trap like before?”

The static ghost just stayed where it was, watching him. There was an expectant air about it. But Lumen stubbornly stayed where he was.

“If you’re really Mono, or part of him, then you should know that Selene is here too.”

The light spirit said.

No reaction.

“She’s looking for you too. Hell, she defeated the man who took you just to find you.”

Still nothing.

Lumen stomped toward the apparition, angry that he was practically talking to a wall.

“Are you listening to me!?”

The ghost disappeared again as Lumen neared, reappearing further away.

“Where are we even going? I hope it’s towards the door!”

Elsewhere in the Tower…

Selene stopped in midair as she emerged at the top of the stairs, having had to pry the chains apart to escape the metal tunnel that had formed around her.

She’d entered a dark room, seemingly cavernous with the only light illuminating the space being an entire wall comprised of activated television sets.

They all shone with different colors, creating a kaleidoscopic effect on the floor that didn’t reach the shadows on the other end of the room.

The chains reached into the shadows, and Selene was certain that whatever they bound was hiding there.

She flew closer to the screens, noting that each one depicted a landscape or other scene from the outside world.

She recognized the forest by the Hunter’s house, the river, various places in the city. Even the Nest, to her astonishment.

One of the screens showed the Butler and the Dollmaker still hard at work despite the Pretender’s demise.

She didn’t recognize any of the other places shown, but some of them made her feel like she’d seen them before.

Especially one that showed a metallic, semi aquatic structure that resembled a turtle.

But she couldn’t put a name to it.

As she was examining the various images, she almost didn’t hear the chains shift and something large approach her from behind.

She whirled around as a large, gangly creature came into the light.

She screamed at the sight of it, flying up and away towards the top of the wall.

The large thing’s gaze followed her, though its face was obscured by long dark locks.

Once she had a better view of it, and it didn’t make any hostile actions towards her, Selene looked closer.

She gasped as she realized, recognizing the coat and other signature features. She remembered he’d lost the paper bag when he was taken.

“Mono? Is that you?”

She whispered.

The creature seemed to moan, looking down as if in shame.

“By the stars, look at you! What’s this awful place done to you!?”

Fretting over her friend, Selene fluttered down so she was at the monster’s eye level, doing her best to cup his face with her smaller hands.

He lifted his own hand, weighed down by innumerable chains as he cupped it under her. She landed on his grotesquely elongated hand. It looked almost skeletal the way it was stretched.

She could see a thick metal cuff around his wrist, a bundle of chains attached to it.

“I promise you, I will fix this and get you out of here.”

The monster Mono had become seemed to purr at her words. It was endearing, though the situation was dire. Selene smiled at the reaction, gently petting his hair like one would a cat.

“Don’t worry, Mono. I’ll figure out how to free you.”

With that, Selene began to look around the room for anything that could hint at what she was supposed to do. Mono just sat there in the light of the screens, watching her patiently as she flitted about.

“If only I had something that could break those chains…”

Selene lamented, noticing that each of the chains were pooled at the bottom of the wall, likely connected to each television individually just like before with the single television.

“I wonder… oh!”

She summoned a sentry, the little white butterfly bright against the blackness.

“Go find Lumen and bring him here.”

She commanded it, and it fluttered away as quick as it could.

“Now that’s done…”

The princess regarded the televisions, looking each of them over.

“What if… does it have to be all of them? There’s so many… might as well test it.”

She glanced worriedly at Mono as she summoned her Spirit Arc, taking aim at the closest screen to her.

She fired, and the arrow broke the glass. That single TV turned off, but nothing else happened.

“Dang it. Must be specific ones then. But which ones…?”

She flew up and down the wall, trying to find something different, perhaps an image that didn’t belong.

She stopped at one near the top, where the image was one she recognized but definitely didn’t belong in this nightmare world.

It was her father’s kingdom, the island of Rime where a great civilization once stood.

She recognized the large, golden keyhole shape in the front of the Temple.

She took aim with her bow, and fired.

When the screen broke and died, she heard something metallic come undone. She looked down, and saw Mono looking at the thick manacle attached to his wrist.

One of the chains attached to it was gone.

She grinned with triumph.

She flew down to inspect her handiwork, counting the chains attached to the cuff.

“One, two, three… five. So that means six on each cuff.”

She thought of something, flying around to Mono’s backside to confirm her theory.

As she thought, his ankles were bound as well.

“Alright… that makes twenty four in total I have to break. As many as the hours in a day.”

Whether there was any meaning to that statement, she didn’t know as she immediately began scanning the screens for images depicting her home or were otherwise out of place.

She soon found screens depicting the Castle where she’d grown up, the Piscean Port, the Isle of Nereida, the Water Mill in Niwen, the Aerostati Village and the town of the Bolmus Populi.

As soon as she’d done that, the cuff on Mono’s right wrist fell away. He seemed to keen in relief, using his other hand to rub his sore wrist.

“Yes, it’s working!”

Emboldened, Selene soon saw that the images on the screens flickered and changed every minute or so.

As soon as she saw one that looked like the world she’d come from, she took aim and fired quick as she could before the image changed.

When the second cuff fell away, Mono tried to crawl away on his hands, only to find himself still bound by his ankles.

He grumbled in displeasure.

The screens started to flicker faster now, taking 30 seconds to change rather than a minute. Selene flitted across the wall of screens as fast as her wings would support her.

With every screen she broke now, she started to notice a pattern take shape in the wall.

“It’s making a circle… like a clock.”

She realized.

“That makes this easier!”

Now that she knew that, she just had to wait by the next screen in the pattern and fire when it changed.

One of the ankle cuffs fell away and five out of the six chains on the other broke when the circle was complete.

Mono seemed to cheer for the princess.

She turned and curtsied to him, backing away to examine the wall.

“One left… but I completed the circle.”

Below her, she heard Mono suddenly growl and whimper in distress.

“Mono? What’s the matter?”

He was starting to act more frantic, like he sensed danger.

He backed away from the screens like a frightened animal.

She glanced at the wall with a raised eyebrow.

‘The Thin Man is gone… just what did he see?’

She wondered.

“Mono, it’s alright! Nothings going to hurt you! You’ll be free in a moment.”

Her words did little to comfort the gangly, misshapen creature.

Frantically, he raised his pointer finger and drew something in the air in front of the faerie girl.

It looked like an oval shape with a dot in the middle.

“What…? An eye?”

She asked, assuming that’s what he drew.

‘Is that what he’s afraid of? Eyes?’

She thought back to the images of eyes she’d seen throughout her journey. It was a surprisingly common symbol, she realized.

‘It would make anyone paranoid. He always hid under a bag. He never liked being seen. But he was always so kind despite that.’

She smiled, her face heating up.

Without much else to go on, Selene again looked at the wall, staring at a screen in the center of the circle.

It turned into an image of the Spirit Tree of Nibel, glorious and shining with its spirit light.

She knocked an arrow and fired, the bolt striking true.

As the last screen shattered, and the last chain fell away, all of the screens suddenly disappeared as the chamber was cast into darkness.

“What-!? Mono!”

She couldn’t see him anymore.

When the light came back, she felt disoriented, like she’d just flown through a tumultuous storm. It made her feel almost sick.

Mono was still where she’d left him, except now he was bound by new chains.

She recoiled in disgust as these seemed to be made of not metal, but… flesh.

Red and slimy and thick.

She chanced a glance at where the wall of screens were, only to fly backwards in shock at the giant eyeball that greeted her.

“Aaahh!!”

She screamed, darting towards her friend who let her land on his open palms. He seemed to glare at the giant eyeball, hissing at it like a cat as he tried to shelter the princess with his hands.

“What… what is that?”

Selene asked, frightened.

Mono didn’t answer, instead attempting to stand up with her cradled in his hands.

Suddenly, more eyes appeared around the large one, all staring unblinking at the stretched out boy.

Selene could hear the static of the liminal space intensify as the eyes bore holes into their prisoner. He suddenly dropped the girl, clutching his head as he fell to his knees in pain.

She glared at the eyes, knowing they were causing her friend this pain.

“Stop! Stop it! You’re hurting him!”

They didn’t seem to hear her. Probably because they had no ears, only eyes.

But eyes could be hurt.

Thinking quickly, Selene again summoned her bow, aiming at the largest target in the area.

It wouldn’t miss.

As soon as her arrow of light struck the giant eyeball, it seemed to wince in pain before it closed.

The chamber was thrown into darkness again, and Selene suddenly felt herself tumbling to the ground, as if a giant hand had swatted her out of the air.

She landed with a painful thud on what felt like a hard stone surface.

“Ow…”

She immediately checked her wings, faintly glowing in the darkness. They looked unharmed.

As soon as she was on her feet again, she whirled around, looking for Mono.

“Mono! Mono, where are you?”

She called, running towards where she thought she saw him last.

It was like he disappeared.

She growled in frustration.

“Dammit!”

She cried, tears pricking at her eyes.

Before she could get more upset, something appeared in the darkness before her.

A white butterfly, the same one she’d sent out not long ago.

“The Sentry… Lumen!”

Selene looked to where she saw the Sentry come from, and after a moment she heard the familiar clopping of hooves on the solid ground.

She also heard him huffing and puffing.

The light spirit stopped as soon as he was near the Princess, leaning on his ungulate knees as he caught his breath.

“There you are… Princess. Did… hoo… did you find Mono?”

Selene nodded, her expression melancholy.

“I did, but… he was… changed. It’s still him in there, but he looks like a monster.”

“A monster? Oh dear… but there’s nothing here.”

“I know. I fired at this giant eyeball and the room went dark. I think we’re the only ones here now.”

“Not the only ones.”

Lumen smiled reassuringly, jabbing his thumb at the glitching entity that had followed him all that way.

Selene recognized it.

“It’s you. Mono’s shadow.”

The shadow made no indication of confirmation, instead just disappearing and reappearing a little ways away.

Lumen huffed with annoyance.

“It keeps doing that. But it doesn’t seem to be nefarious this time. I think he was actually leading me to you, and then the Sentry came along.”

“Really? No… that can’t be right. He wouldn’t know where I was. But…”

She turned to the glitching remain, hand on her heart.

“Can you take us to your other half?”

Again, the shadow was silent, difficult to make out in the near darkness, but Selene had a hopeful feeling.

It flickered and vanished, reappearing further away.

“Let’s follow him.”

“As you wish.”

The princess and light spirit followed the shadow through the dark room into another, this one faintly illuminated.

It was still made of clouds like the rest of the Tower, but these were dark blue, with thick black columns standing out through the mist at even intervals.

“This looks like… my dream.”

Selene observed.

As they kept going, they saw a bright white light hanging over them, like a spotlight illuminating a large door.

Selene stopped just before going beneath it.

“Wait.”

She held her arm out to stop Lumen.

Carefully, Selene flew around the light, and Lumen made to follow her.

The glitching remain appeared under the light, pointing towards the door.

Just as it did, the cord holding the television up snapped, and the machine came crashing down on top of the shadow.

Selene felt her heart leap into her throat, moving to try and help it, until she saw it standing atop the wreck. Unharmed.

She breathed a sigh of relief.

She then turned towards the door, flying over to the handle and turning it.

“Uh, Princess, wait. We don’t know what’s-“

Lumen’s words died on his tongue as he beheld what was on the other side.

It was the monster Mono, but it wasn’t alone.

He sat in a large dome-like chamber made of red flesh with eyes all over, staring down at him, unblinking.

He was again bound by chains of flesh, this time with one around his neck as well.

“Oh my…”

As the light spirit spoke, all the eyes turned to the intruders.

As if acting on a silent command, the monster Mono roared at them. His chains of flesh dissipated into mist, before he charged at them like a raging bull.

Selene tried to close the door but the monster just broke through it, snatching her up in his skeletal hand. He held her tight, so tight that as she struggled against his hold she could feel her delicate wings start to snap.

Lumen, for his part, had darted out of the way, almost tumbling into the darkness around the long hall. When he saw Selene in its grasp, he ran and leapt toward the monster as soon as it came to a stop.

It growled and roared like an angry beast, shaking his head as Lumen tried to climb up Mono’s elongated body.

“Let her go!”

He cried, clinging to the monster’s upper arm.

The monster turned its head to the light spirit as he climbed onto his shoulder.

“Fight it, Mono! Can’t you see you’re hurting her!?”

Mono growled again, but his grip lessened a bit, allowing Selene to take in a gulp of air. She winced and hissed in pain as she tried to move her wings.

“L-Lumen… my wings…”

“We’ll fix them later! We need to calm- whoa!”

The monster Mono shook its body like a wet dog, trying to dislodge Lumen, but he held fast onto the disfigured boy’s hair.

“Sing! You need to sing!” 

“What!?”

She looked at her friend incredulously.

“I think it’s- ah! the only way to calm him down. And- return him to normal!”

Mono ran around the misty atrium like a wild horse trying to buck its rider off, throwing himself into pillars of flesh with multiple eyes decorating them.

“O-okay! I’ll try! Ah!”

Selene screamed as she almost collided with a pillar, her eyes meeting one larger eye.

‘Here goes nothing…’

Her voice was a bit shaky from all the movement, but it did reach the monster’s ears.

Viento a viento va,
El sueño del mar
Gira sin parar.

She sang the first song that came to mind. It wasn’t her mother’s song, but the one that initially drew Mono to her.

Viento a viento va,
durmiendo al sol.
Un guiño de luz se perdio.
Tu cuerpo se hace vientre,
estatua transparente,
En la arena oscura esperaras.

It hardly felt like it had been only days ago when they first met.

Viento a viento va
bailando el mar.
Esta sola voz,
se quebro.

Pajaros de sal
Ciegos de llorar
Vuelven a volar.

As the monster stilled, Lumen still clung to his head, Mono turned his gaze back to the girl in his grip.

Viento a viento va,
este pequeño temblor
que jamás grito

A la luz
Al arbol
A la lluvia.

He seemed to whine, like a dog when it knows it did something wrong.

A la Voz,
Al aire
Al final.

Y así este viento va girando
Y así este viento va, se fue .

Slowly, he brought his fist in front of him and opened it, his large skeletal hand facing palm-up.

Y asi este niño va llorando.
Llorando.  

Selene sat there, regaining feeling in her body as she finished the song, looking up at the boy that had saved her.

Suddenly, something appeared next to the girl on Mono’s hand. She backed away before standing on shaky legs.

Her soft brown eyes widened as she saw the black wisps of Mono’s shadow, looking up at its other half.

It glitched and popped in and out of existence, black particles surrounding it like flies to a corpse.

It seemed to lock eyes with the real Mono, reaching its right hand out.

A sort of energy began to build in its hand before it sputtered, like a dying flame.

It looked at its hand, before turning the shape of its head to look at Selene.

The girl thought it looked contemplative.

Suddenly, the shadow seemed to morph, reshaping itself into something else. Something long, and straight.

Selene bent to pick it up when it was done, finding it was light in her hand. Almost too light.

“An arrow?”

She gasped slightly.

“Does it want me to…?”

She looked at Mono and then back at the black, glitching arrow in her hand.

“But…”

Lumen looked up at Mono’s face, or where it would’ve been from his perch.

A sudden ringing noise pierced through the silence, causing Mono to clutch his head in pain. Lumen and Selene both went tumbling to the ground, one hand on their heads as the noise made their heads hurt.

Just as suddenly as it happened, it stopped, but Mono wasn’t pacified anymore.

The two travelers ran, trying to get some distance between them and the monster. Thinking quickly as the monster breathed heavily, in preparation to go berserk, Selene summoned her Spirit Arc and knocked the Glitching Arrow.

As she did this, she felt a soothing warmth on her back.

“Lumen, are you…?” 

“I am, Princess. I have a feeling you’ll need your wings sooner rather than later.”

She looked over her shoulder and saw his hands hovering over her wings, gently glowing with healing light.

“But your magic!”

“It will replenish if we can get out of here. Now take aim! Quickly!”

When Selene refocused, she saw Mono barreling down on her from the other end of the hall.

She aimed as carefully as she could, waiting for the right moment.

As soon as she felt her wings completely heal, when the monster Mono was right on top of her, she fired.

The black arrow flew straight towards his heart, and struck true.

The monster cried out in agony, clutching his chest as everything suddenly went black again.

Both travelers were knocked prone by the shockwave that seemed to come from Mono as the arrow worked its magic.

When they came to, the long hallway was gone, replaced by a single tall room composed of dark purple mist.

The first thing Selene saw was Mono, back to normal, unconscious on the floor.

She gasped with happiness.

“Mono!”

The girl ran over to him, cradling his head in her hands.

“Mono, please wake up! Tell me you’re okay!”

The boy stirred at her panicked voice, her face the first thing he saw when he opened his eyes.

At first, he thought she might’ve been an angel.

“S… Selene?”

“Oh, thank goodness! You’re alive!”

“You scared us, you stupid boy!”

Lumen exclaimed, though relieved tears threatened to fall from his face.

The three of them joined together in a group hug, but their reunion was short-lived. Mono suddenly jumped up and looked around wildly.

“It’s good to see you guys, but we can’t stay here. We need to go. Now!”

He grabbed Selene’s hand just as the mists dispersed around them, revealing the room to be made of flesh with multitudes of eyes.

“Run!”

And run they did, as the Many-Eyed Creature gave chase. The ground beneath them bent and buckled as the Monster moved, but it stayed just long enough for the children and spirit to Dash across to the next fragile platform.

They dared not stop for even a second, the Creature always close behind. The Black Tower was falling down around them, large pieces of debris threatening to crush the trio.

After what felt like an eternity of running and dodging and leaping and flying, they came to what they thought might’ve been the entrance, the door now replaced by a single active television.

“That’s our way out! We can make it!”

Mono exclaimed as soon as he saw it.

“Got it!”

Selene grabbed him from under his arms and lifted him into the air, her wings buzzing from the effort.

There was a long, thin platform beneath them which would have shifted and broke under their combined weight.

Just as they made it to the overhang in front of the television, they turned to see Lumen following close behind on the platform. He Dashed across on his small hooves, but the platform broke apart from under him.

The Creature was hot on his tail.

Selene summoned her bow and attempted to fire at the Creature’s eyes like she had before. Her arrows only aggravated it, urging it to go faster.

The Tower continued to crumble, and just as Lumen made a leap of faith towards the overhang, a piece of debris from above clocked him in the head.

“Lumen! No!”

Selene cried as she watched her friend fall.

Mono grabbed her hand as she tried to take off after him.

“Don’t!”

He warned, the ground beneath them starting to crumble away.

“But-! Lumen!”

“I’m sorry, Selene! I really, really am! But we have to go! Now!”

Mono insisted, desperately tugging the faerie girl towards the TV.

He already had one hand on it, ready to use it.

She looked down into the black abyss, then back at Mono, then the abyss, then back at him.

She nodded.

Reluctantly, and with tears in her eyes, Selene let Mono drag her through the television.

As soon as they’d gone, the small overhang broke apart, sending the device tumbling down below.

Chapter Text

The bottom of the Signal Tower was, in a word, stuffy.

It was warm, and uncomfortably moist. Like being inside a sauna except with the mingling odors of ozone and blood. There was also a now-familiar constant buzzing that would drive anyone insane if exposed to it long enough.

Not to mention the eyes.

When Lumen came to in the bowels of the Tower, it was the eyes that caught his attention first.

They were gargantuan. Multiple giant human eyeballs, irises of every color imaginable peering down at him.

He didn’t know if there were any thoughts behind those eyes.

At least they weren’t actively chasing him anymore.

There was an aching pain in his head, likely from when that debris hit him.

He gingerly touched the area with a paw, and then looked at it.

‘No blood. That’s good.’

But even if he wasn’t concussed, he still felt rather weak, and the buzzing and staring and humidity wasn’t helping his mood.

The only thing that kept Lumen grounded in this basement of horrors was a soft pulsing light emanating from the pendant around his neck.

Lifting it out from his shirt, he tried to focus on it. Five colors swirled around inside, all orbiting the familiar white light of his home. Niwen.

The coppery red of autumn leaves, the pale yellow of the summer sun, the cool blue of winter ice, and the rosy pink of spring flowers.

Lumen closed his eyes. He inhaled slowly, and exhaled. Centering himself, his dark fae-like eyes looked around for any sort of exit. The static was like mist in the air, obscuring his vision and hearing.

So he just started walking, hard hooves against soft floors that were more than likely made of flesh.

‘This is where all those humans’ bodies went.’ He surmised.

He felt a thrum through the chamber, as if some consciousness was confirming his thought.

His antennae twitched as he grimaced.

Lumen closed his eyes and breathed again. The air tasted unpleasant. He tried to remember more pleasant things. He looked down at his pendant, remembering the colors and the seasons associated with them.

A memory surfaced in his mind.

Before he and the Princess arrived in this Nowhere world, they’d stopped at a waypoint.

It was called the Valley of the Seasons. He’d only ever heard of it in children’s stories and rumors, but it was supposedly where all Spirit Trees originated.

Approx. Two and a Half Weeks Ago…

It had only been a couple of days since they set out from the Forest of Niwen, following Selene’s premonitions to lands unknown in the southeast.

On the other side of the desert, past the ruins of Gorlek civilization was a forested valley surrounded by tall grass.

Neither of them had been here before, but they had decided to spend a day or two there to rest and gather supplies.

It seemed as good a place to do so as any.

As they trekked through the grass and into the forest looking for food and firewood, they could feel there was something special about it.

There was an ancient sort of magic here, they could feel it in their cores.

They gathered some fruits and dried wood in their packs, following a barely trodden path. It looked more like an animal path than one made by spirits or humans.

In the center of the woods, they came upon a ring of four standing stones covered in moss and lichen, swirling patterns carved into them.

Standing by the stones were four great beasts. Selene quietly gasped at the sight of them, her first instinct to hide.

But their eyes shone with a light that was familiar to the princess and the spirit. It was the same sort of light that emanated from the Spirit Trees. They weren’t sure how they knew this. It was almost instinctual.

“Greetings, Seia. Greetings, Child of Seir.”

One of the Beasts spoke. It was a snowy owl perched on top of a stone, voice deep and baritone.

Lumen and Selene approached the circle with reverence. Lumen bowed to the owl while Selene curtsied.

“Hello, Mr. Owl.”

The Princess greeted.

“I am Princess Selene of Lemuria.”

“And my name is Lumen.”

The owl nodded.

“A pleasure to meet you both. You have come a long way.”

“We have. Would it be alright if we stayed here for a few days, to gather supplies for our journey?”

Selene asked respectfully.

She knew better than to take from a Spirit Forest without asking the Tree’s permission, even if this creature wasn’t a tree.

“You have our consent, Host of Seia.”

Selene raised an eyebrow in confusion.

“Forgive me, but… who is Seia?”

“Seia is the name of the Seed inside you, girl.”

Another voice spoke up, this one more feminine with an authoritative edge. Like a strict schoolteacher.

It seemed to come from a grey wolf, who snarled warningly.

“We would recognize her anywhere, considering we raised her.”

“We raised all the Spirit Seeds.”

Said a snake as it coiled around another stone. Its voice was gentle but firm.

“Though we take different forms each time. I was a cicada in my last life.”

“Yes, and I was an eel.”

A fourth voice piped up, coming from an otter. It was softer, but also more energetic than the others.

“Even so, it’s good to see our children alive and well. We heard what happened to Seir’s last host. I’m glad that was resolved in time.”

“As am I.”

Lumen said.

He cast a curious glance at Selene, who seemed to be contemplating something.

“It is thanks to Ori that the Spirit Willow could be reborn.”

“But enough about that.”

The otter chittered.

“You’re just in time!”

“If you wish to stay and watch.”

The owl cooed.

“Just stay out of the way.”

The wolf said, gesturing with a paw to a fallen log.

“In time for what?”

Selene asked as the two sat on the log, watching the four animals with confusion.

“The Ritual of course.”

The wolf barked haughtily.

“It’s time to send a new Seed on its way.”

The snake hissed.

“Here he comes now.”

Chirped the owl as a small wisp of bluish-white light entered the clearing.

“Oh!”

The wisp paused as he noticed the audience.

“Oh dear… “

It seemed to tremble in midair.

“Don’t mind them. They’ve just arrived.”

The owl consoled, using a wing to guide the wisp into the center of the circle. Rather, it flapped a wing, causing a cold breeze to waft through the clearing.

Selene shivered as she felt it.

“It is a privilege for them, and for you, little Seed.”

The otter chirruped.

“One of your peers, Seia, is inside the female. Just goes to show you’re not limited in your choices of host.”

“Oh…”

The Seed seemed to turn its gaze to Selene.

“How did that happen?”

“We’re not sure.”

The snake said.

“Perhaps she can explain, but after the Ritual. It’s time.”

“Right.”

The Seed did sound masculine, but young. It reminded Selene of a young boy, soft spoken with an accent reminiscent of the Aerostati.

The ritual itself lasted for only a minute or two, during which each of the beasts summoned a colored spark of light.

First was the owl, whose spark was an icy blue.

Then the otter, with a pink spark

Next the snake, conjuring a yellow spark

Last was the wolf, creating a red-orange spark

All these sparks danced through the air in a synchronized pattern around the Seed, imbuing it with pieces of their essence. The Seed briefly shone with each of their colors as they combined, the Seed’s light growing slightly larger and more colorful.

When the ceremony was over, there was a noticeable calm in the Sanctuary, like a big event had just taken place and the forest itself breathed a sigh of relief.

“Now, you need a name. What’s one we haven’t used before?”

The owl asked its compatriots, breaking the silence.

“What about Seik?”

“No, that one’s on the Island of Rime. Remember the fox?”

The wolf rebuffed.

Selene perked up at the mention of her father’s country.

“I like Seil.”

The otter said.

“We know you do. You gave that name to a Tree that has already passed.”

The owl said mournfully.

“Right…”

“Let’s see…”

The snake hissed.

It bobbed its head as if to a tune only it could hear.

“How about… Seim?”

“Seim…”

The small Seed tested the name on its nonexistent tongue.

“I like it!”

‘Not very creative…’

Lumen thought.

“It’s nice to meet you, Seim. And congratulations!”

Selene spoke up.

“My name is Selene, and this is Lumen. We were just passing through here from Lemuria.”

“Lemuria? Where’s that?”

“It’s a grand kingdom, just to the west of here past the Forest of Niwen.”

“Where Seia settled.”

The otter clarified.

“She became known as the Spirit Blossom, with light spirits of her own.”

“Yes! I remember mother telling me this story, though I didn’t know the Light Tree had a name.”

Selene said, holding out her hand and summoning a Sentry. The light construct fluttered up and towards the Seed.

Seim giggled as the butterfly danced around him.

“Wow! So… Seia is inside you?”

Seim asked, flying down toward the guests in the Sanctum and circling Selene once.

“I… suppose so? But my mother also has her powers. I inherited mine from her.”

“So Seia is split. I see…”

The snake said, a bit melancholically.

“That tends to happen when the host has children. We should know.”

“Oh… I should like to meet her sometime. You two have done a lot of traveling, haven’t you?”

Seim asked, fascinated.

“Yes, I suppose we have. Though… this is my first time so far away from home.”

Selene admitted.

“Mine too. We’re on a quest to uncover who or what has been plaguing the Princess’ mind. You see, she’s been having terrible nightmares.”

“And I can’t explain it, but I feel as if they’re leading me somewhere.”

Selene said.

She would be right of course, as her dreams led her right into a nightmare.

Lumen only hoped Mono would take good care of her in his stead.

Seim bobbed up and down, as if nodding.

“I see… that’s terrible. I hate nightmares myself. I wish there was something I could do to help…”

It jerked upwards.

“Oh! Hold on a moment!”

Seim flew up to the four beasts and seemed to silently converse with them.

When they were finished, they all looked to the winged girl and the light spirit.

“It seems he wants to travel with you two, until he can find a place to settle and start a Spirit Forest of his own.”

The owl explained.

“It is traditional for the Seeds we raise to go off on their own after the Ritual. But good hosts are hard to find close to the Sanctum.”

The wolf explained as it began to walk away.

“I’m going back to my den.”

“Good night, Autumn.”

Called the otter.

The wolf huffed in response, disappearing into the surrounding woods.

“Don’t mind them, they’ve always been the grumpy one.”

The owl said reassuringly.

“How do you feel about letting Seim tag along, little spirit?”

“I don’t see a problem with that.”

Lumen said.

“We’d be welcome of the company.”

“But where you are going, he will need protection. To that end…”

The otter turned to Selene, head tilted.

“Do you perhaps have any jewelry on you? A sizable stone should work.”

“A stone? … yes, I believe I do. Give me a moment.”

Selene removed her pack and started rummaging through it.

“I thought it’d bring some oculi to trade with in case we needed to buy something. I wasn’t sure if Lemurian marks would be accepted where we’re going.”

After a moment, she removed a pendant with a piece of Tumbled Spirit Stone set inside. Spirit Stone was a newer form of oculi originally discovered on the Isle of Nereida.

The otter clapped its paws in delight.

“Oh yes! That’s perfect!”

“I can feel the energy from here.”

The snake remarked.

“Go on, Seim.”

The owl encouraged.

Selene took to the air, wings fluttering as she met the Seed halfway. She held the pendant outstretched in her hands.

Present…

The same pendant that Lumen now held.

He could feel the presence of Seim inside, dormant yet aware ever since they left the Santuary.

He could feel the Spirit Seed getting restless. It wanted out. 

“Here?”

Lumen asked, incredulous as he felt its intent. His voice seemed to echo and reverberate metallically in the deep chamber.

“Are you sure?”

He sighed in acceptance as he received Seim’s response.

“Fine. But if not here? Then where?”

He paused, looking around for a possible direction or path.

He didn’t like the softness of the surface beneath his hooves.

He found his answer as he came upon a brightly lit area, as if a ray of sunlight was being let in. There was a large object in the light, a wooden chair.

Cautiously, Lumen approached the wooden object. It looked well worn, the seat smooth and slightly indented, as if many people had sat there before him.

In a single bound, Lumen leapt up onto the chair, his hooves clicking against the wood.

He took a breath and released it slowly, a single tear falling down his face.

“Well… I suppose this is it. I’ll be following in the hoofsteps of Ori in doing this. But…”

He stared down at the pendant instead of the eyes staring down at him. Seim pulsed gently from within the Spirit Stone, trying to reassure Lumen. All this time, Lumen had been relying on the magic in the Spirit Stone to replenish his stores, and now there was barely any left.

Without the light of a Spirit Tree to sustain him, Lumen would die. He hated to admit that he’d been leeching off Selene as well.

He pulled the pendant to his chest, looking up into the bright light above.

In an instant, Seim freed himself from the pendant, and the air suddenly vibrated.

The entity that was the Signal Tower did not know what was happening, nor could it ever know.

It groaned and writhed as the magic of the Spirit Seed intermingled with the static of its signal, bright white light blinding its eyes and seeping into every vein in Lumen’s body.

Seim and Lumen merged into one, the light spirit giving himself to the Seed.

Lumen felt himself shrink into the ground, compact and small. The next instant, he had sprouted into a new form of life, Seim by his side in his consciousness.

He felt himself grow larger, taller, his limbs stretching outwards and branching off into ends that extended further than he thought possible.

The Tower’s attempts to halt the process only accelerated it exponentially, the new being absorbing the energy the Tower had collected for itself to expedite its growth until there was nothing left of the entity.

Lumen breathed fresh air once again as the Tower finally crumbled to dust, the rainclouds burning away to let the sun shine down on his new form.

A being of pure light and life emerged from where the Signal Tower once stood, its broadcast forever cancelled.

Chapter Text

“No! Lumen!”

Selene screamed, tears streaming down her face as she tried to take flight. Mono held her down, hands tight around her ankles.

He grunted as the girl stubbornly lifted him off the ground by an inch, until they both fell back down in a heap.

“Why!?”

The winged girl cried, bordering on hysterics.

“Why him!? W-we need to go back!”

“No!”

Mono yelled. He faltered, surprised at the volume of his own voice. He glanced around worriedly in case anyone heard him.

“It’s too dangerous.”

He cautioned, voice now more hushed.

“But… but he could b-be hurt… or worse! I-I… wanted to leave with both of you…”

Mono didn’t have words to describe the torrent of emotions he felt.

He was relieved to be out of the Black Tower, to be back to his normal self.

He was happy to see Selene was alright. He was proud of her for braving the Tower and the Thin Man.

He was sad about losing Lumen too.

He was angry at himself for getting captured like he had.

He was worried about this girl whom he’d come to care so much about going back there.

In his silence, Selene stared at him with anger and a great sadness in her eyes, the likes of which he’d never seen before.

Just as he thought she was about to scream, yell or storm off, she threw her arms around his shoulders.

Mono froze as she sobbed into his chest, feeling the wetness of her tears through his jacket.

His face flushed pink, but he returned the embrace. He wished he knew how to comfort her.

She’d just lost a dear friend, not just to her but to both of them. He was upset too, but he had become too used to bottling up such emotions. He didn’t want her to feel them.

Mono began to hum a familiar song, and slowly but surely the quaking of Selene’s shoulders ceased.

The song was her mother’s song, the Hymn of Light.

When he was done, they pulled apart a little, the boy’s dark eyes looking into Selene’s reddened ones.

“Feel better?”

He asked tentatively, wiping stray tears from her cheek.

Selene held his hand against her face.

“… a little. But… Lumen…”

She turned to look at the broken TV behind them with a forlorn expression.

The glass was shattered, exposing its inner workings. They couldn’t use it to go anywhere now.

Mono nodded, then turned his head to a door to their right, left ajar.

“… where do we go?”

The boy shrugged, an apologetic smile his only answer.

Selene let go of his hand, letting it fall away. She thought for a moment, looking towards a closed window.

“We should inform my parents of all this. But… I’m not sure how to get back to Lemuria from here.”

Mono idly stepped back, his foot touching a loose paper. He looked down to see a flyer of some sort. He stepped off it and bent down to get a better look.

He gestured for the girl to see the flyer.

“That looks like a boat.”

“Hm…”

She wasn’t so sure about that. But… she felt a sort of deja vu looking at what the flyer advertised.

“The Maw… I have a bad feeling about it.”

Just the name sent a jolt of foreboding through her, but for some reason she felt that same feeling that called her to the Black Tower.

“… You said your country was across the sea, right?”

“Yes.”

Mono glanced back at the flyer uncertainly.

“We will need a boat.”

“And to find a boat… we’ll need a harbor.”

Selene reasoned, her previous hysterics pushed aside for the moment. Though her face still showed signs of it.

“Surely this city has one.”

“Yeah…”

Mono muttered, reaching down and rolling up the flyer before folding it small enough to fit in his pockets.

With a destination in mind, the two children had another, more immediate directive to complete.

Get out of the building.

They moved into the next room, which looked like a living room with a worn looking couch. There were puddles of water where rain had previously seeped through the roof.

The stained couch was in front of an intact TV set with a coffee table between them.

The television was on at the moment, being stared at by one of the Pale City’s mindless residents.

The Viewer looked to be a woman wearing an admittedly nice dress with white hair held in a messy bun.

Like most other Viewers, her face was a dark hole.

She seemed to pay no mind to the two children sneaking around her apartment, staring at the white screen listlessly. Waiting.

Nonsensical but whimsical music came from it.

The children spotted a window nearby, which appeared to be partially open from the fluttering curtains around it.

It was dawning outside.

Before they could make for it, the television suddenly crackled with static, cutting off the music.

Selene suddenly felt something inside her pulse in reaction to the bright light now emitting from the screen.

Mono had to double take as he saw the screen for himself.

This broadcast… felt different somehow. It wasn’t like the hypnotic drone that came from the Black Tower. It was more… he didn’t quite know how to describe it, but it made him feel warm inside.

As they watched, something started to emerge out of the screen. They were both prepared to bolt in case it was another entity like the Thin Man.

“What happened to the Man from the TVs?”

Mono whispered.

“He’s gone, I know he is.”

“Then…”

Before Mono could finish the question on his tongue, he saw that what emerged was the branch of a tree.

‘What the…?’

The woman showed no physical reaction to the plant emerging from her screen, more branches joining the first until the weight of it caused the TV to topple over onto its side.

She stood there, rooted to the spot as the device fell to her feet.

Feebly, she bent down to try and right the television, but only ended up flipping it onto its back. The branches continued to grow upright until its branches touched the ceiling.

Its wooden limbs continued to grow towards the window, towards sunlight.

Thinking quickly, Selene helped Mono up to the sill, and together they opened the window just in time for the branches to reach through into the fresh air.

Once it did, the glowing ceased and the branches grew foliage a shade of cerulean blue that was unusual for most trees.

But Selene recognized them.

“This is…”

Mono stood to the side of the sill, glancing back into the apartment.

The tree had enveloped part of the room, knocking the faceless woman to the floor with a thud.

The Viewer still seemed to be alive, but she made no move to get up or remove the errant tree growing in the middle of her living room.

Instead, her body started to disintegrate into dust. It started at her digits, to her limbs and torso and finally, her head.

After only a few minutes, just in front of the mysterious tree was a pile of dust and old clothes where the Viewer had once been.

The children didn’t move until the Viewer was entirely gone.

Mono stared at it with some fear, wondering if he’d turn to dust if he touched the tree too. But the winged girl, while disturbed, wasn’t deterred. She flew out onto the branch, examining the leaves.

She plucked one from the end and held it to her face.

“Impossible…” 

Mono was thoroughly confused.

“What is? The tree growing out of a TV?”

Before Selene could say more, they both heard a loud wooden creaking and groaning, like a house settling.

It came from around them, or more accurately, the other apartments in the building, and those across from them.

Mono clambered onto the tree branch to join his friend in watching the strange phenomenon, both of them gaping at what they saw.

From seemingly every television set in the city, previously active or not, trees sprouted and grew until their branches reached sunlight, each of them sprouting leaves much like the ones at the children’s feet now.

But the thing that shocked them most, was that in the very center of the Pale City, where the Black Tower once stood, grew a giant tree about as tall as the Tower had been.

Its branches touched the sky, cerulean leaves as many as there were droplets in the nearby river.

Several broke off in a breeze that passed through the city, blowing away the rainclouds and making way for the most beautiful sight Mono had ever seen.

“A rainbow…”

He muttered.

The colors shone bright against the monotonous blues and greys of the Pale City, but not as bright as what was nestled into the crook of the gigantic tree, at the nexus point of where all the branches grew.

It glowed with a familiar white light, in a sort of large orb shape.

Neither child could make out any other details.

Selene thought it looked eerily familiar.

Then it hit her.

“It… looks like a Spirit Tree… but that can’t be. Not here! Lumen said…”

Saying his name made a lump appear in her throat.

More branches continued to grow from the largest tree, weaving through and around the high rise buildings that bent towards it.

The tops of them crumbled as the supports were lost, crashing down onto the damp street below.

One of those high rises was the building the children had been in, and a long branch stretched past them as they watched in amazement.

Mono suddenly leapt from the branch he was on to the larger branch. Selene cried out at the reckless action, but calmed when she saw he was okay.

She flew over to him, joining him on the growing branch as he started walking on it, following it back to its source. She held him steady by the hand, making sure he wouldn’t fall.

While they couldn’t clearly see all of the massive tree, the City was silent enough that they could hear the destruction wrought around them.

Equally massive roots tore through the tarmac and pavement at the base of the tree, revealing the soil beneath. A few buildings even toppled over and crumpled to rubble as they lost their foundations to a quickly-growing forest.

As the sun rose over the cityscape, painting the sky in a beautiful array of oranges and pinks, multitudes of trees could be seen sprouting from abandoned televisions, all along the many roads that wound through the Pale City.

“What… is happening?”

Mono asked, more to himself than to his friend.

He could spot the School from his vantage point, and the now-small figures of what must be the Teacher and her students running outside to escape the trees growing out the building.

He smirked.

‘Serves them right.’

Selene looked to the tall, central tree as they approached it. It was in the exact spot the Black Tower had been before, yet there was no sign of it.

There was no trace of the fleshy monster with multitudes of eyes, no maze of energy that messed with her brain.

She was just as confused as her friend, until a sudden realization hit her.

“Lumen… you didn’t…”

Mono looked at her confused, panicking a little as he spotted more tears start to well up.

“Hey, it’s okay, don’t cry! I’m sure we can figure this out.”

Selene shook her head, wiping her tears again.

“No… you’re right. There’s nothing we can do now.”

“What?”

Selene stared forlornly at the orb of light tucked into the base of the branches.

“It… really is a Spirit Tree… He sacrificed himself. He’s that tree now, just like the Tree of Niwen.”

“What are you talking about?”

Mono looked between her and the tree, shock and confusion coloring his exposed face.

“How…?”

Selene gave him a melancholy smile, sitting down on the branch.

Mono sat down next to her.

“Since we have some time, let me tell you.”

She sighed, looking to the tree again and then at her friend.

“So… you know how Lumen and I… came from Lemuria?”

Mono nodded.

“Bordering it, across a mighty river and past the Isle of Nereida, is a mystical place known as the Forest of Niwen. That is where Lumen was born.”

She paused, swallowing the lump in her throat.

“It is a magnificent forest, with many creatures living together to keep it in balance, including the light spirits born of the sacred Spirit Tree. These Trees are special, in that they harbor a light spirit of their own. Each Spirit Tree is different, and in Niwen’s case, it takes the form of a willow tree, and is called the Spirit Willow. Its Spirit is named Seir.”

“The Spirit Willow has looked after the Forest of Niwen for a very, very long time, but like all living beings, trees don’t live forever.

A long time ago, long before even my mother was born, the Willow, and consequently the forest it supported, lost its Light and thrust Niwen into a period of decay.”

“So what happened?”

“The Willow was dying… all its child spirits perished, and so did many of the peoples that lived there.

But as luck would have it, a young spirit from another forest, the Forest of Nibel, came to Niwen. His name was Ori. He helped the peoples to recover from the destruction wrought by the Decay, and recovered the Spirit Tree’s lost Light.

By then, the Willow was too weak and sick to hold its Light again, so Seir needed a new host to revive the Forest.”

The term ‘host’ struck a chord in Mono.

He looked towards the tree with a newfound understanding.

“The Tower… wanted to use me as its host. But… Lumen took my place. Didn’t he?”

A spark of anger flashed in Selene’s eyes, but it was quickly extinguished in her sorrow.

“He did. But he had a secret weapon. You remember his pendant?”

“Yeah.”

The Princess smiled almost mischievously.

“There was a Spirit Seed inside that pendant. They are young Spirit Trees that have yet to find their host.”

“Wait… he said he was using it as his power source?”

“He did. And he was. Sources of Spirit Light are not as naturally occurring as they are in Niwen and Nibel. So in order to use his powers, and more importantly stay alive, he was allowed use of a Seed before leaving our old continent.”

Mono nodded, seeming to understand.

“So… let me get this straight. Lumen is that Seed’s host now?”

Selene nodded.

“Yes, at least I believe so. According to history, Ori’s final act was to sacrifice himself to become the new Spirit Tree of Niwen. And that…”

The Princess of Lemuria gestured to the giant tree that had taken over the central Pale City.

“is exactly what Lumen has done.”

‘That explains some things’

Mono thought as he stared at the growing greenery.

“But… how are you able to use your powers without a Seed?”

Selene smiled with mirth at that.

“Oh, but I do! See, my ancestor became host to a Spirit Seed a long time ago, and passed down her abilities through the generations. It still lives inside me, though fractured since part of it lives in my mother and brother as well.” 

Mono nodded, comprehending.

“I think I get it.”

With her story told, the two children noticed that it was now very quiet in the city.

It had been quiet before of course, but it was different sort of quiet now.

More… peaceful, with the pleasant scents of fresh rain and greenery on the breeze.

They got up to continue their trek towards the tree, the branch getting steadily thicker and wider as they went.

Looking down, they could see more figures emerge from the various buildings.

They recognized some of them as Nomes, others appeared to be children like themselves.

It wasn’t long before they arrived at the massive trunk of the newly formed Spirit Tree, looking up into its many branches.

Just below them, they spied what looked like a sort of pedestal at the base, formed from the root system.

There was something on the pedestal.

Mono carefully leapt down from branch to branch until he landed on the intertwined root system, careful not to trip over them as he clambered over.

He met Selene at a wooden altar, the pedestal he saw from above.

Something like a balcony extended from the altar, overlooking the heavily cracked street and slowly gathering crowd below.

“This looks like the one in Niwen.”

Selene observed, looking over the altar.

She gasped as she saw what was there, laying on the pedestal.

“Lumen’s bag!”

Mono helped her to move away the vines that covered the item. The faerie girl held it up by its straps, frayed but still serviceable, inspecting it for any other damage.

“Still looks okay…”

She sat down on the pedestal as she checked inside the bag, finding only a couple of items.

These were spare sets of clothing (mostly nightclothes), as well as some leftover food and a book titled ‘Legends of the Light’.

“Everything inside is still intact… “

She held the bag close, standing back up to look at the massive tree.

Mono put a comforting hand on her shoulder, smiling sympathetically.

She nodded to him before handing him the bag.

“Hold on to this for a moment.”

He took it without question, before Selene fluttered up to stand upon the altar. She placed one hand on the trunk of the tree and closed her eyes.

She could feel a warm, gentle thrumming under the thick bark, like a heartbeat.

She felt that same warmth emanating from her core again, and she let it travel up her arm through her hand to meet the other spirit inside.

Above, the Spirit Tree’s Core flared with pale blue-white light, and two large streaks of light darted through the bark down towards where the children stood.

One streak met Selene’s hand while the other stopped under Mono’s bare feet. He almost dropped the bag at the sensation he felt, the light making contact with his skin.

They could both feel the rush of power as they absorbed the light, though for Mono there was also some pain. His signal powers were being overridden by the Spirit Tree, and his body didn’t like it.

This time, he did drop the bag as he fell to his knees, hugging his body as a strange warmth enveloped him. It burned away whatever dark magic still held him, replacing it with something else.

Something… he couldn’t quite describe.

The warmth was still there when the burning sensation was finally over, leaving the boy to slump over onto the smooth wooden surface.

“Mono!”

Selene cried.

She flew over to him, hovering over him.

“Are you alright?”

“I think so…”

Mono grunted, using the pedestal to haul himself back to his feet.

“What… was that?”

“I think… that was Lumen saying goodbye. He granted both of us pieces of his Light.”

With a swish of her hand, Selene summoned white flames to her hand.

“Look! I can use Spirit Flame now!”

The flames snuffed out with a wave, and then a familiar light construct manifested.

“And Spirit Smash!”

Mono stared at the weapon with awe, then he looked at his hands. He could feel a strange tingle, like static.

He stared at the bag he’d dropped.

‘If I can just concentrate…’

He held his hand out toward the bag, and focused his energy. Staticky particles coalesced slowly around the object and Mono’s hand, and just as slowly, the bag began to levitate off the ground and toward the boy.

“Mono… you’re psychic?”

Selene asked as the bag inched its way closer.

“I guess I am! And I don’t need that stupid signal to do it!” He laughed joyfully as the bag came close enough for him to sling it around his shoulder.

She smiled, happy for him.

The princess glanced behind him, down at the Nomes and small collection of other children at the base of the Spirit Tree.

She noticed that some of the porcelain students were there too, alongside the Teacher.

The grotesque woman was staring up at the tree with an unreadable expression.

Selene walked to the edge of the balcony and stood up straight.

“Everyone!”

She called, catching the audience’s attention.

“The Black Tower is gone forever, as well as the monster that dwelled within, and those it controlled!”

She paused.

“This-“

She gestured to the Tree.

“Is this City’s new protector! Through its light, no darkness shall taint this city ever again! If you will let it.”

A hesitant cheer went up among the Nomes and children.

“My name is Princess Selene Carniola of the Kingdom of Lemuria, and this is Mono. A good friend of ours sacrificed himself for this Spirit Tree to be created. Don’t let his sacrifice be in vain!”

A more vigorous cheer went up. She noticed the Teacher looking guilty.

Her speech over, the Princess gestured for Mono to follow her before fluttering down to the ground, where she was immediately met by the Nomes and children.

“Are you… really a princess?”

A shy girl in a rabbit mask asked.

“I am. But you don’t have to call me by my title if it makes you uncomfortable.”

The girl nodded, nervously clasping her hands.

“I’m sorry about your friend. I know what that’s like…”

“A lot of us do.”

An older boy with a burlap sack over his head said, pulling the rabbit girl close.

“That’s why we gotta stick together. Right, sis?”

“Mm-hmm!”

“I have an older brother too. He’s probably worried about me…”

Sadness sprang back into Selene’s eyes.

“I miss him… but I feel there’s more I have to do before I can go home.”

“Like what?”

The older boy asked.

“Well...”

Mono said as he caught up, unfolding the flyer he’d picked up.

“I don’t suppose you know the way to the harbor?”

The siblings looked at each other, the girl looked concerned.

“We might. We actually came from a harbor when we arrived in this city. Now that the Tower’s gone, it should be safe to go back.”

Mono nodded in agreement

“My thoughts exactly. Care to lead the way?”

“I can give you directions, but I’m not going back there.”

“Fine. Can you write?”

Mono turned the flyer he’d picked up over to its blank side.

He then took out a pen from Lumen’s bag and handed it to the other boy.

Chapter Text

Dark ocean waves lapped against the small rowboat as its oarsman pushed it along, its two young passengers unable to see much else in the early morning fog.

It had taken Selene and Mono a few days since leaving the Pale City’s borders to secure themselves passage, having had to navigate the furthest reaches of the city to reach the harbor.

News of Lumen’s actions spread quickly as more and more affected televisions sprouted branches of the Spirit Tree he’d become.

They’d seen adults and children alike using the new wood for kindling, others using it for shade.

The City had become a safer place for the wandering children.

They couldn’t say the same for everywhere else.

As soon as they’d found the city harbor, night had fallen again and Selene and Mono had been forced to run and hide away from various gargantuan humanoid creatures.

She remembered a butcher that had tried to slice at Mono, only for Selene to strike him in the eye with an arrow.

That was swiftly becoming her signature attack.

Upon reaching the boats themselves, they were lucky enough to find one such monster that didn’t seem as monstrous as he appeared.

He seemed more curious about them than hostile. He dressed normally, in a fisherman’s hat and boots, a brown coat and worn looking pants and a faded shirt that was greatly obscured by his disfigured face.

It sagged off his head like a large bag of flesh, kept off the ground by the end tucked into his belt.

It flapped a little in the wind as the Boatman rowed, his head turning back a bit to see where he was going.

“So… “

Mono started, a touch bored and in need of stimulation.

“I meant to ask this earlier, but um… how much do you remember?”

Selene tilted her head curiously.

“How much of what?”

“Your um… your past life?”

“Oh…”

The dark haired girl’s eyes wandered, thinking about how to answer.

“Not much, to be honest. I’ve only seen Six’s memories in dreams. I don’t remember every detail.”

“Ah.”

He looked almost disappointed

“Why do you ask? Do you remember things… from last time?”

“…”

Mono looked unsure.

Without the paper bag over his head, Selene could read his face like a book.

She found it rather refreshing.

“Kind of? I know what was different. Like meeting you, and taking different paths. And the Tower…”

“Right. You said Six was taken the first time.”

“Yeah. I can’t really blame the Thin Man for taking her, if what I remember happened before.”

Selene nodded.

“I’m sure she had her reasons, as awful as that was for you. I’m glad we changed things.”

“Me too.”

Mono smiled gratefully at the faerie girl who risked her life to save him.

“I’m sure Lumen is too. Even if he’s… a tree now.”

“He’ll be fine. In fact, he’ll probably have his own little spirits running around in the city in no time.”

They smiled amusedly at each other, giggling a little as they imagined a bunch of mini-Lumens causing chaos in the city-turned-forest.

“Speaking of the city, I think we should call it something else. It’s not really a city anymore.”

Mono pointed out.

“It still is… but I see your point. What did you have in mind?”

“Well, I heard the locals call it the Pale City. So how about… the Pale Wood? Like a forest?”

“I love it! The Pale Wood. It sounds so enchanting!”

“I thought so too.”

Mono smiled excitedly.

He turned to the boatman.

“How much longer?”

It was the second time he’d asked since they departed from the docks.

“Not long now.”

The Boatman told them.

And he was right.

The children watched with awe as the sun burned the last of the fog away, revealing a beautiful golden sunrise over the sparkling ocean.

Silhouetted against it was a large, rounded metallic structure, gleaming bright in the sunlight.

At first glance, the structure resembled a turtle’s shell, complete with a loading dock resembling it’s head.

“The Maw…”

Selene muttered as the structure grew larger the closer they came to it, the sun dipping behind it as they drew into its shadow.

It was moving slowly, allowing the small boat to catch up to it.

The boat bumped lightly against the Maw’s outer hull, jostling its passengers as the boatman took a rope tied to the boat and tied the other end around a stray pipe sticking out between sheets of metal, acting as a makeshift mooring ring.

Once it was secure, he bent down and offered his large, gloved hand to Mono, who hopped onto it. Selene fluttered next to him, seated on the boatman’s palm as he lifted them up to the nearest port hole.

Selene flew up to the lip of the ship’s window, having to haul Mono up as he jumped from the man’s hand.

“Good luck… you two.”

The man said as he retracted his hand, immediately getting to work untying his boat.

“Thank you! And farewell!

Selene called down to him.

He tipped his hat as she and Mono waved goodbye, the two children watching as he stowed the rope and began to row back to shore.

They turned their backs to the ocean as soon as he became a speck on the horizon, venturing further inside the port hole until they came through to what was on the other side.

The two children found themselves in a decently sized room with a few stray objects littering the floor. Most of them looked like they fell out of someone’s suitcase, they being some articles of clothing, papers and office supplies.

There were also large, wooden toys, but they looked broken and in disrepair.

Mono hopped down, somersaulting once he hit the floor so the impact was evenly distributed.

He took a few steps forward, looking around curiously.

“So this is the Maw.”

He remarked, keeping his voice hushed now that they were in potential enemy territory.

“Mm-hmm.”

Selene hummed, landing lightly beside him.

He turned toward her, noting her expression.

“You okay?”

“Yeah… just being here makes me nervous. I’ll be fine.”

Mono nodded, giving her a reassuring smile before approaching one of the suitcases.

It was left open, its contents spilling out.

Just as he lifted the lid a little more to look inside, they heard footsteps approaching from outside the room.

They met each other’s panicked eyes before Mono gestured to the suitcase.

He climbed inside at the same time Selene darted under the lid.

They managed to close the case and cover themselves with a large business suit top when they heard someone come in, their footfalls thumping loudly against the hard wood.

The children kept quiet as they felt the suitcase be lifted by its handle, only one of the latches able to close.

The other had been broken some time ago.

Selene and Mono fell with a soft thump to the bottom of the case as the Maw worker carried the case somewhere.

From the sliver of light from the half-open case, Selene could see a glimpse of the worker, appearing to be a bellhop judging from the scarlet red uniform sleeve.

She couldn’t see his face very well, but like many of the adults in this Nowhere world, it was likely horribly disfigured.

After a few minutes, the case changed position again as the worker lifted it and horizontally inserted it into something metal.

The bellhop then pulled a lever, and the suitcase suddenly flipped 90 degrees, sending it careening down a metal chute.

The children had the decency to scream as they fell, holding onto each other as they floated in free fall.

Just as suddenly, the suitcase landed at an angle on top of what they assumed to be a pile of junk, cushioning their fall.

However, something else landed just after they did, causing the case to slide down the pile.

It took the children tangled inside for the ride as momentum led it to slide into a hole in the floor, and again they fell for a long, long ways until they hit a hard, metal surface.

The impact broke the other latch on the case as it landed on its top before tilting to one side and ultimately landing on its flat bottom. The children were knocked unconscious in the tumult, but were otherwise unharmed as the cloth protected them from the worst of it.

And there they stayed as the Maw continued its journey to its next destination.

Across the structure, a lady looked out over the ocean from a metal balcony.

She inhaled the salty sea air slowly, carrying a scent of smoke from the stacks standing tall from the turtle’s back.

The lady leaned forward over the railing, letting the morning sun warm her and sea breeze run through her chocolate locks.

“One more stop… and then I’m coming for you.”

She grinned wickedly, fangs glinting as her serpentine eyes looked in a certain direction.

“Aurora.”

Chapter Text

Darkness

That was all Mono saw around him

He seemed to float forwards, trying to grasp at something, anything, in the darkness.

After a moment, he thought he saw something, or someone, just ahead.

They were heavily obscured in shadow, but Mono could make out a long gown, and brunette hair done up in a bun.

Two slips of long cloth, like a pair of capes or wings, hung from the woman’s shoulders. There were also what looked like antennae extending from her head.

As Mono got closer to the mysterious woman, she seemed to sense his presence, turning to face him.

Only, a human face wasn’t what greeted him.

A long snout opened up to reveal two rows of razor teeth, and a plume of fire erupted from its mouth.

The boy shot up in the suitcase, gasping for breath and panicking as he desperately tried to untangle himself from the suit top he had been hiding in before.

Once he tossed the offending oversized garment away, Selene woke up in a similar state of post-nightmare panic.

Her wings fluttered as she shot away, hovering a few inches above the ground as she tried to orient herself.

The two children looked at each other as they calmed down, both realizing the same thing.

“Did you have a nightmare… just now?”

Selene asked tentatively, lowering herself back down to the ground.

“Yeah. Did you?”

Selene nodded.

“Did you… see a dragon?”

“Is that what that was?”

Mono asked with some confusion.

“I saw a lady, and then she breathed fire on me.”

“I did too. Sounds like we had a shared dream.”

Selene said as she took stock of her surroundings.

The last thing she remembered was the tumble down the hole in the floor, trapped inside the suitcase.

The sounds of dripping water met her ears, pooling in the corners of the room and around the suitcase.

The lid had shielded them both from the falling water until now.

Mono clambered out, shivering involuntarily as he stepped onto the cold rainwater soaked metal.

“Is that bad?”

“Hm… I don’t know. But I think it means we’re both meant to be here.”

“Right…”

Taking her word for it, Mono turned back to the suitcase, rummaging through its contents as Selene scouted ahead.

The room was made of metal, with pipes in the corners stretching upwards to the next level. Rotting wooden planks rested against a nearby wall to her left, next to a support column.

Just beyond a bend, she could see a stack of cardboard boxes.

Anything beyond that was obscured in shadow.

“So we stick to the plan?”

Mono asked, looking for something he swore he felt in the suitcase earlier.

“Yes. We hide out somewhere until this ship gets us to Lemuria. The Boatman said that was its destination, after its next stop.”

Selene answered, venturing into the shadowed area.

“How do we know we can trust him?”

That was question he’d been meaning to ask since they got on his little rowboat, but was too nervous to say it in front of him.

“I… I’m not sure. We got us here in one piece, didn’t he? Besides, I just feel like we can.”

“Alright…”

Mono sounded unsure, despite the fact the boatman was one of few (or perhaps the only) adults in this world that didn’t want to hurt them.

Selene couldn't blame him for being suspicious, after all they’d gone through.

‘He’s doing his best to protect me.’

She gasped as she accidentally scared something away, the small creature emitting a sort of croaking, gurgling sound.

She couldn’t see what it was.

“Hey look, I found a lighter!”

Mono exclaimed.

“You found a what?”

The strange creature was quickly pushed to the back of her mind in favor of turning towards the boy.

Mono produced a rectangular metal object from the suitcase, showing it to his friend proudly.

“A lighter. You know, like a cigarette lighter?”

“… what’s a cigarette?”

“… right, I forgot you’re not from a modern country. Um… cigarettes are… something people smoke? Like a… like a mini cigar? Or a pipe?”

“Oh!”

Selene’s eyes lit up in recognition.

“I see. So that’s used to light it?”

“Yep! See?”

With somewhat clumsy hands, Mono opened the lid of the lighter and clicked a button, causing a small orange flame to flicker into existence.

Selene couldn’t help but marvel at the tiny flame, like a moth being drawn to it.

“Oh… what a handy invention.”

Mono nodded in agreement.

“Yeah. But lighting cigarettes isn’t all it’s used for.”

“I’m sure. For now, let us use this. [Sentry].”

The familiar white butterfly manifested, lighting up the area around it.

The children’s footsteps were loud against the metal, the butterfly dutifully following them as they went further in, eventually approaching a dead end with a hatch in the wall.

To prove his earlier point, Mono trotted over to an open-air lantern bolted to the floor. He used the device to light its wick, providing them enough firelight so that Selene could call off her Sentry if she wanted to.

“Let’s hope there’s enough oil in this thing to last us.”

Mono muttered as he went over to the hatch, lifting it open with a grunt.

“After you.”

He offered, gesturing for the girl to go first.

“You’re too kind, sir.”

Selene smiled amusedly as she crawled through, followed by Mono and the butterfly.

After some minutes of the duo crawling through pipes, they came to a space with larger pipes going in and out of the walls.

Mono hopped down onto a wooden bench before landing on the floor while Selene flew down.

She noticed a large, steel door to her left, with a wheel in the middle.

Directly in front of them was a staircase leading to a higher platform, supported by poles extending into a misty infinite.

As they climbed the stairs, they also noticed the large chains connecting the walls, continuing into a blue-tinged mist that went on to their left and right.

The entire time, they could hear dull echoes of metallic clanging ringing through the area.

“This must be a gap between parts of the ship.”

Selene supposed.

She’d never been on a metal sailing vessel before.

Mono silently agreed with her as they stepped foot on the higher platform, walking past another steel door and a couple metal boxes.

Mono spotted something to his left as they passed an alcove. Curious, he turned on the lighter and went to inspect it.

It was a pile of broken, porcelain shards, colored red, black and white.

He pocketed one of the larger shards before hurrying to catch up with Selene, ducking underneath wooden boards blocking the way into the next room.

In it was an admittedly nice looking red couch, with a pile of broken scissors on one of the cushions. The room was dimly lit by a small porthole shaped window high on the wall, allowing the children to see the square window on the adjacent wall.

It overlooked a twin sized mattress on a wiry bed frame with a chest next to it, sealed with what looked like duct tape.

Mono climbed on top of the chest before jumping onto the sparse bed, using it as a trampoline to get to the window above it just as Selene landed in the sill.

On the other side was another mattress for Mono to safely land on, but they both had to stop and stare at else was in the room.

Just in front of them was a man suspended off the ground a few inches above Mono’s head. Not just clothes this time, but an actual body hanging from a noose tied to the ceiling.

His head looked like it had been made of wax and melted like a candle.

Selene stared in horror and sorrow, spotting a letter on the ground under the man’s dangling feet.

Mono saw it too, bending down to pick it up. It was dry, mostly.

“Leave it alone.”

Selene said sullenly, flying upwards to where the rope was tied.

She alighted on the high beam, and carefully got to work untying the knot.

“What are you doing?”

Mono called, craning his neck to see.

“Get that mattress under him!”

She called back down, pointing to the mattress under the window.

Putting together her intentions, Mono ran over and dragged the piece of bedding until it was in position.

“Got it!”

The signal given, the knot was untied and the hanged man fell in a heap to the ground, the mattress cushioning his fall.

“That’s a bit better.”

Selene said, looking over the now horizontal body.

She held her hands in a position of prayer.

“May your soul find peace.”

She then took two fingers and made a line across her shoulders and then from her forehead to her chest.

Mono raised an eyebrow at the action.

Selene noticed.

“That’s just something my parents taught me to do during prayer. They say it comes from their old world.”

The boy’s curiosity was piqued but he wouldn’t ask about it right then.

‘I’ll wait until I can ask them directly’

As Selene headed for the door at the other end of the room, Mono looked at the body, idly wondering what led him to end himself like that.

He placed the letter on a chair before turning away.

Part of him was excited to meet Selene’s mother and father in Lemuria. Another was nervous, but he chose to ignore that feeling until they actually got to the mysterious country.

‘If we get there.’

A pessimistic part of him thought.

He had to pause as he caught sight of the door. There was an eye engraved into the upper part of it, its pupil positioned so that it was looking right at him.

At least it felt like it.

It eerily reminded him of the door with the eye in his dreams, the ones he’d had before he freed the Thin Man.

Selene held the door open for him, and he gladly went first into the next room.

It was dark, save for light coming in from gashes in the wall. They could see a large, rotating turbine through them.

As the children entered, they heard that same almost-gurgling noise from before.

They followed it to the other end of the room, where stood a toilet and an unplugged refrigerator with a wooden plank propped against its side.

Mono went around to the door, finding a pair of small black handprints.

He did as the handprints suggested and opened the door, only for a small creature to dart out of it and into the darkness of the room to his right.

“Is that the same one?”

Selene wondered.

“We’ll have to catch it to find out.”

Mono said, turning on his lighter and spotting a gash in the wall in front of him where the creature likely fled into.

He pursed his lips as he thought about it.

“But… maybe not now.”

He stowed the lighter again as he turned back to the empty refrigerator.

The shelves looked awfully climbable.

“Think this leads anywhere?”

Selene flew up, noting a stream of light coming from above and a slanted wooden platform ending just above the top of the refrigerator.

“I think it does! We need to go higher.”

“Got it.”

With that, Mono climbed up the shelves until he reached the top, then ran up the incline to the next level surface.

As soon as he started walking across to the next platform, separated by a gap, he heard Selene scream.

“Aahh! Get it off me!”

She threw whatever it was to the ground, the thing being a black, slimy tubular creature.

“Ew… I hate leeches.”

Mono complained as the ‘leech’ started to slither towards him.

Fast.

Thinking quickly, the boy ran and jumped across to the next platform. He heard Selene knock an arrow and fire at the leech, effectively killing it.

This platform was darker, and longer, with only Selene’s Sentry providing light to see by.

He heard a squelching sound as another leech seemed to unhook itself from a pipe overhead, dropping down to the ground.

More leeches followed suit as Mono broke into a run to a lit room just ahead.

He jumped onto a box to reach a lever.

As he pulled it down, he heard the leeches’ dying screeches as they were hit by arrows.

A door opened to his right, Selene joining him just in time for them both to go through.

Mono jumped across another gap between two metallic platforms, leading them into a closet sized space with a door barricaded by multiple wooden planks.

The two jumped in fright as a door closed loudly behind them, blocking the way out.

“Help me get this off?”

Selene asked, her hands already gripping the bottom of the lowest plank.

“You know it.”

Together, they tore the plank off and crouched underneath the small opening it had blocked.

Entering the next room, they heard and saw that same gurgling creature dart away.

“Hey, wait! Little Nome!”

Selene cried.

She and Mono made to follow it, only for the floor to break under Mono’s feet.

“Mono!”

He fell a short distance into a black puddle. It felt slick and slightly sticky.

“Eugh…”

“Are you okay?”

Selene asked worriedly.

An unholy screech interrupted the boy’s response, alerting him to a veritable horde of leeches coming towards him.

He ran as Selene and her butterfly got to work sniping at the offending things.

Mono turned on his lighter as he weaved through the oncoming blood suckers, until he came to a door blocked by three planks.

“Great…”

He groaned, glancing behind him at the leeches that continued to come after him.

He backed up into the door, only for it to fall backwards, forming an incline that he swiftly slid down, jumping across to a platform made of wooden planks and climbing up a ladder.

He took a moment to breathe once he was at the top.

“Am I safe?”

He turned on his lighter, spooking a Nome that had been hiding behind a nearby bucket.

“Hey!”

He called after it, following it onto a narrow plank leading to another platform and up another set of stairs.

That was when Selene entered the room, spotting her friend and joining him as he reached the top.

This room was pitch black, Mono’s lighter not doing much to illuminate his path.

Together with Selene’s sentry, they found the path forward, leading them up another set of stairs and more winding paths until they found a pulley system tucked away in one corner.

Mono did the honors of turning it, which opened the roof to let in blessed sunlight.

They could hear the wind whistling around them the entire time.

They could see the path clearly now, with Selene going to stand next to the door with her Sentry.

“Let go!”

At her command, Mono let go of the rotating lever and booked it, leaping across the gap as the roof closed overhead.

He and Selene made it into the next room just as the door closed behind them.

This room was dimly lit by light coming in from the circular hole on the wall, a turbine slowly rotating inside it.

Mono noticed the grate next to him, going to open it only for a Nome to pop out.

It ran across the room into a hole, the two children following it only for it to seemingly vanish again.

Selene silently huffed with some annoyance.

The path ahead led them across a bridge, presumedly taking them to yet another part of the ship, except there weren’t anymore stairs.

Instead, a rope made of long strips of cloth dangled from a window high on the far wall.

They could hear metallic scraping noises from above, prompting them to look up.

On another bridge, higher up, was a diminutive humanoid creature dragging what looked like a metal chest across the bridge.

It had a bulbous head, short stumpy legs and very, very long arms.

Neither of them waned to encounter that man if they could help it.

They quickly moved on, Mono climbing the linen rope while Selene flew up to the window. She noted the iron bars in it, which she carefully squeezed through.

‘Those are never a good sign.’

She thought to herself.

On the other side was a small room with a sink, and another door with an eye carved into it.

Mono pointedly ignored its stare in favor of noticing the door was ajar and moving into the next room, which appeared to be a bathroom judging from the presence of rolls of toilet paper and bench toilets.

“Hey, um… do you need to go?”

He felt a little awkward asking that, but if there was a time to relieve themselves, it would be now.

“Um… not really. Do you?”

Mono fidgeted in place, electric crackling and popping distracting him long enough to notice the door out of the bathroom was electrified.

“Yes, actually… maybe you can do something about the electricity while I…?”

Selene’s cheeks turned pink.

“Uh, yes! Of course.”

She spotted a grate on the wall, flying up to open it and peer into the next room.

It was dimly lit, filled with large toys and play sets. It looked like a children’s play room.

‘Like the one at the hospital. But bigger.’

She thought as she flew into the toy room, looking around for a wire or something that could lead her to a switch.

“Ah!”

“Mono, are you alright?”

“Yeah. Just a rat. I’m fine.”

Selene frowned with disgust, looking back into the bathroom through the barred door.

It was then she noticed something under the weak electric light, just behind the open wooden door.

“Mono! There’s a lever by the door.”

“I see it! Just a sec!”

She heard him hop down from the toilet, push a box of toilet paper into the sink room, and use it as a platform to reach the sink.

When he was done, he pushed the box back into the bathroom and used it to reach the lever.

Once pulled, the bathroom and the toy room went dark, cutting the electricity.

A sound like a ticking clock emanated from it, indicating that the electricity wouldn’t stay shut off for long.

Mono didn’t waste any time as he shimmied through the still-warm bars into the toy room where Selene waited for him.

She used her Sentry to light the way, the two of them moving past a set of blocks, a seesaw, a swing set and even a spinning contraption one would see on a playground.

Mono leapt over a set of train tracks as he squeezed through the barred door at the other end of the room.

Just in time for the electricity to come back on.

They both breathed a sigh of relief as the bars sparked, before they took stock of the new area.

There were large, metal doors on either side of them, reminding them eerily of the hospital and the living mannequins that roamed there in the dark.

They kept quiet as they continued on, just in case.

At the end of the hallway was a large room with heavy rectangular objects hung from the ceiling, and an overturned bed in the middle of their path.

What looked like a statue of a child was positioned in front of it, looking up at…

The two children looked up themselves, spotting a metallic eye similar to the ones on the doors. Its metal lids squeaked open.

Its pupil was brightly lit, swiftly moving towards their position and shining a blindingly bright light.

Mono and Selene stood in the shadow of a thick pillar, preventing the light from hurting their eyes too much. It allowed them to see more ‘statues’ of children, one curled into a ball near the pillar.

“I don’t like that…”

Mono muttered.

“Me neither.”

Selene agreed.

The looked at each other and nodded.

Mono took a tentative step into the light, and immediately he felt a heavy, burning sensation on his leg.

“Agh!”

He stumbled back into the shadow.

Looking down, he could see a rock-like film had developed over his skin, which broke off like an eggshell leaving his skin reddened like a sunburn.

The message was clear.

Stay out of the light.

The eye reminded Mono of an entity, one he’d met a long time ago, back when he knew his real name. Vague memories surfaced in his mind of the entity who gave him the power to control the television signal, and then chose to take it away.

A few seconds after almost turning to stone, whatever was controlling the Medusa Eye, as Selene had dubbed it, turned it away from where the children hid, stopping briefly in the middle of the room before moving to the other side, and back again.

Selene gestured to the space just below the eye.

“A blind spot.”

She whispered.

Mono nodded, and together they snuck past the light, keeping to the shadows as they made their way across the room to a large pile of cardboard boxes and small metal cages.

They were stacked in such a way that Mono could climb it, Selene spotting for him until they reached the top.

It was another hallway like the one a floor below, but this time they went in the opposite direction towards an open door on the other side of the room.

It was a sparse bedroom, with metal walls and small, black inky handprints on the wall.

There was also a drawing of the Medusa Eye, as well as paper drawings scattered on the floor.

It almost reminded the two of the room where the Thin Man had captured Mono, but they chose not to think about that.

Instead, they searched the room for anything interesting.

Mono found another pile of broken porcelain shards in the corner, but other than that the room was sparse.

“I think I saw more rooms down the other way.”

Selene said, keeping her voice low just in case.

Mono nodded, following her out of the room to the other end of the hall, under a dangling light.

Chapter Text

Just past the hanging lamp was what looked like a long bedroom with multiple beds next to each other.

Some of them were occupied by other children, though they were still small compared to the size of the beds.

Flying just above them, Selene internally debated waking one of them up, intending on asking questions.

But before she could, the main door to the room opened, revealing the long-armed man they’d glimpsed before.

The two quickly darted beneath one of the beds, where they could still see him as he passed by, stubby legs inching across the wooden floorboards.

They creaked loudly, contrasting the soft breathing of the sleeping children.

It seemed who or whatever this man was, he didn’t need a light to see by.

This worried Mono somewhat.

‘If he can see in the dark, we can’t use it to hide.’

They didn’t dare move until the man left the room the way they’d come in, closing the door behind him.

Still, Mono crept across the floor as quietly as he could, keeping to the soft mats to quiet his footsteps.

Selene followed his lead, deciding to ground herself for the moment as they headed towards the light at the opposite end of the room.

This led them to a dead end, or perhaps a small storage area with a few metal boxes and cages, and a wooden box of toys.

In one corner, black handprints painted the wall up to the children’s height.

It reminded them of the ones they saw on the refrigerator before.

Looking up, they saw a ledge with a lit crawl space.

“Think you can get me up there?”

Mono asked the winged girl, pointing to the ledge.

“I think so… but it would be easier if I could make it a straight shot.”

She looked towards the cages, and a bookshelf just above and to the right of it.

“Get up to that bookshelf first.”

“I can do that.”

Mono said with a semi confident smile, walking over and starting up the metal bars.

Selene dutifully waited for him on the bookshelf.

Once he jumped onto the shelf and was in position, Selene tucked her arms under his and helped him across the way to the ledge.

The crawlspace led them into a ventilation shaft where they could hear the wind whistling loudly outside.

They were glad to be in another room at the other end, hopping down a set of suitcases to the floor.

They could see a light ahead, so they followed it to a long set of barred windows, where an electric bulb was brightly shining.

It dimly lit what looked like a cafeteria with several tables.

Mono felt his stomach growl at the thought of food.

Selene felt somewhat hungry too, but didn’t at the same time.

She couldn’t rightfully explain it, but there was… a memory of hunger, seeing this room.

Hunger so painful and gnawing that she could scarcely think.

Near the end of the room sat the single occupant of the lunchroom, who appeared to be a child like themselves.

He sat near the window with a tray of food and seemed to be eating it slowly.

“Excuse me?”

Selene asked, keeping her voice hushed just in case, but loud enough for the other child to hear her.

He seemed to snap out of a daydream, looking around until his eyes landed on her.

“Are you going to eat all that?”

She pointed to the food on the tray.

The boy looked between his tray and the two strangers.

After a moment of consideration, he picked up half a loaf of bread and handed it to the girl through the bars.

“Thank you.”

She whispered, handing the loaf to Mono who broke it in half as best he could.

The three ate in silence. The bread was a bit stale and dry, but it would sate them a while.

“Could you tell us where we are?”

Selene asked the boy once she was finished.

He seemed to be done eating as well, but made no move to leave.

“… it’s a Prison.”

The boy said, quietly, timidly.

“A prison for children. The Janitor watches us.”

“Janitor?”

Mono wondered.

“Is he the man with the long arms?”

“Yes.”

The other boy squeaked, looking around as if mentioning the Janitor would summon him.

“Don’t get caught by him. He can’t see, but he can hear.”

The boy warned, before getting up from his table and darting away.

“Well… that was concerning.”

Selene commented.

“Yeah. But now we know how to avoid that Janitor guy.”

Selene nodded.

“But let’s still be careful. I don’t want to know what happens if we get caught.”

“Me neither.”

Mono said as he made for the end of the room, climbing on top of two large boxes and into a hole in the bars he could crawl through.

“I just hope he can’t stretch them any farther.”

He thought of the Teacher, and her grotesque ability to stretch her neck.

On the other side was a metal room with a noose hanging from the ceiling.

He could hear running water coming from the next room, and followed that into what he assumed were the showers.

Selene shuddered at the memory before following, tempted to look around for soap and take a quick wash as she looked around the shower room.

Goodness knew she needed a bath.

But they knew they couldn’t stop or they’d eventually be caught, so the two moved on to the next room.

They crossed a metal bridge through a storage room with metal boxes and cages piled high against the walls, slowing to a stop once they noticed the door on the other end was electrified.

“What now?”

Mono said exasperatedly, looking around for some kind of switch like in the bathroom.

Craning his neck, he could see a set of four cages hanging above them by a thick chain, and a high ledge.

“I’ll go look for a switch. Be right back.”

Selene promised, taking off into the darkness of the room above them.

Passing the hanging cages, she followed the chain up until she saw the ledge, which led to a small platform higher up.

On this platform tucked into a corner were two levers, one vertical and one horizontal.

Experimentally pulling the vertical lever on the wall seemed to activate the pulley system on the chain, pulling it upwards.

She then pulled the horizontal lever on the floor, which turned on a light on the wall and caused the chain to move away from the platform.

“Huh… “

Moving the floor lever the other way made the hanging cages return, now level with the platform.

Curious, Selene left the lever and hanging cages behind while she flew over to the other side of the room, where a longer platform was illuminated.

This led her to a small room with blue filing cabinets, and a stick-like switch in the wall.

She flew up and pulled it, turning off the electricity and plunging the entire area into darkness, just like the toy room.

Selene quickly summoned a Sentry, lighting up the area just enough so she could see.

It followed her as she shimmied through the bars, finding another dead end but open-air room dimly illuminated by natural light coming from somewhere, filtered bluish by the mist.

There was a hole in the floor, with a metal box attached to a thick cord sitting by the edge.

The butterfly fluttered towards a cage tucked into the corner of the room, which Selene noticed was occupied by a Nome.

She went over and inspected the cage door, finding its lock easy to open.

Upon opening the door, the Nome ran back into the room with the cabinets.

Deciding to ignore it for now, Selene looked down into the hole, able to make out the light from the cafeteria, spotting the noose.

Thinking quickly, she flew down into the hole and into the dark, using her Sentry to see where she was going.

As she entered the showers, however, she found it eerily silent.

Flying further in, instead of water she could hear something slithering above her.

She grimaced in disgust, readying her Sprit Arc as she dodged a dive attack from a leech.

She aimed and fired, killing it instantly as it hit the ground.

“Ew…”

She groaned as she flew back out onto the metal bridge, avoiding the other leeches who slithered after her.

She panicked slightly when she didn’t see Mono, but continued on past the warm bars into the next room.

She found him there, hiding in the shadow of a metal box from another Medusa Eye.

Selene landed behind him, tapping him on the shoulder.

He turned quickly, wide eyed. Mono calmed when he saw it was only her, only to wilt a little at the scolding look she gave him.

“Why didn’t you wait for me?”

He smiled sheepishly.

“Sorry… I got impatient.”

Selene sighed.

She supposed she couldn’t blame him for that.

She’d be antsy too if she was kept waiting in the dark. Alone.

Her mind went back to when she and Mono first met. She’d been alone then, but she had hope that someone would come rescue her.

Now…

She rid herself of those sad thoughts as the Eye moved.

“I was worried, you know. But it’s alright. Let’s just get past this.”

“Right.”

Like their last encounter, the two children kept to the shadows best they could to avoid the Medusa Eye’s gaze.

There was a janitor’s cart rolling back and forth as the Eye changed direction.

Now that she saw that, Selene could feel a shift under feet.

‘We really are on the waves.’

She thought as she and Mono changed tactics and moved with the cart to the other side of the room, through a door into a more brightly lit area.

It seemed to be another connection point between parts of the ship.

As they walked across the metal bridge, however, it began to move, both halves pulling away from each other into the walls.

Selene scooped Mono up in her arms as he struggled to run fast enough, carrying him to the platform on the other side safely.

Moving on to the next part of the ship, a chained grate fell behind the entrance, trapping them.

But they weren’t completely trapped for long, as they could see some Nomes on the other side of the room, beckoning to them.

A door opened, and the children ran towards it onto a platform, suspended above a pit.

To their left was a staircase going up. With nowhere else to go, they followed the stairs upwards along the left hand wall to the first landing.

They could see what looked like someone’s office through a large doorway, as well as a black stain on the checkered floor.

Going further up the stairs to the third landing, they came to what Mono thought could be someone’s house, judging from the wooden awning above the door and window.

He jumped up to the sill, peering inside.

“No one’s home.”

He whispered to Selene before jumping down. Upon landing on the other side, he looked around, and it did indeed look like it was someone’s home.

Except all the furniture and appliances were abnormally tall.

Even the nearby sink would be too high for anyone to reach without long legs or… arms.

“I think this is the Janitor’s room.”

Mono remarked as he stepped further inside.

“It might be. But let’s try not to make a mess. We don’t need him to be angrier with us than he likely will already be.”

Selene cautioned, flying up to the top of the very tall dresser.

“Agreed.”

From her vantage point, Selene turned towards the tall medicine shelf, where sat a silver colored key.

From past experience, she knew it might be important.

She glided down beside it.

“Mono! Catch!”

She warned just before pushing it off the shelf.

Mono barely caught it as it clattered to the floor, the key being the size of his body.

He sent her a thumbs up, before looking around for someplace to insert the key.

On the other side of the small one-room abode was what looked like a sort of door.

‘That could work.’

Selene glided down to the cut out in the wall, holding it open for him. She noticed it was already slightly ajar.

Mono put the key down for a moment while he got out the lighter, as the room behind the small apartment too dark to see.

A couple of feet in front of them was a steel door with a padlock.

The children nodded to each other, the boy picking up the key and dragging it over while Selene closed the opening in the wall behind them.

Just in case.

Mono held the lighter in one hand and the key in the other, hauling it up the step to the padlock.

Just as he lifted the key into position, the two could hear someone coming.

“Hurry.”

Selene urged, whispering as she helped to hold the key up and insert it into the padlock.

The padlock fell just as the door to the apartment opened with a bang, startling them both slightly.

They dared not move as they could hear someone, most likely the Janitor, move about his own home.

Mono kept the lighter on so they could see, groping the wall for the door.

It opened slightly with an uncomfortably loud creak.

It coincided with the sound of water running from the sink.

They both froze, keeping their eyes on the opposite wall as they heard the tap turn off.

Nothing.

Slowly, they tiptoed through into the next room, spotting the elevator button on the other side.

Selene immediately took flight towards it, pressing it. A light above the button turned on as they heard the elevator move.

The room shook as it rose, the children glancing back to the Janitor’s room, hoping he didn’t feel it.

After a few seconds, the elevator announced its arrival with a ding, and the two quickly got inside.

The wooden floorboards creaked as Mono walked upon them, making him wince slightly.

It seemed to be a one-way elevator, as there was only one button inside.

Selene pressed it too.

The doors closed, allowing the two to breathe for a moment.

“How much farther do you think we have to go?”

Mono asked.

“Honestly… I’m not sure. I know Six has been here before. But the memories are… spotty at best.”

Selene admitted.

“…”

Mono hummed, crossing his arms as he waited.

“… so this is where she went after… last time.”

“Most likely. And from here… to Rime, then Nibel.”

Selene recounted, recalling the story.

“I think… if we can get to the Captain’s Quarters, then we should be alright until we get to Lemuria.”

“The Captain’s Quarters? Does this ship have a Captain?”

Mono asked, genuinely wondering whether the Maw was run by a Captain or if it was somewhat sentient, like the Tower was.

“Dunno. But I think it should. And if not… maybe you can fill the role, temporarily.”

The kids shared mirthful smiles as the elevator came to a stop, the door opening on the same side as before.

“Maybe I’ll find a Captain’s hat or something!”

“You can add it to your little collection.”

“Exactly.”

Throughout their journey through the Pale City, Mono had picked up a myriad of hats but chose not to wear them.

Unfortunately, he’d lost a lot of them while he was trapped in the Tower.

All except one.

He rummaged through his pockets, finding the folded up pioneer’s hat. He placed it on his head with a dramatic flourish, the raccoon tail swishing behind him and making Selene giggle.

“It’s so cute.”

She gushed, petting the tail as it bobbed along with Mono’s movements.

“I know, right? I found it in the Hunter’s house.”

Their mirth helped them not to feel so nervous as they traversed the metal corridor in front of them. It was dark, with light filtering in from behind a turbine.

As they moved down it, they heard the squeaking of a rat.

Selene grimaced at the sound.

A bright lightbulb lit the way further down the hall, leading to a small set of stairs.

At the bottom was a cage, where the rat was feasting upon a bit of meat left inside.

It startled as they approached, running off to somewhere in the darkness.

Selene again felt that phantom hunger, placing a hand on her stomach. The scrap of meat didn’t look appetizing at all.

In fact, it made her want to gag.

The children decided to leave it alone, going past the cage as they turned the corner.

A familiar gurgling sound met their ears, and two or three cone shaped heads poked out from behind the pipes lining the walls.

“Oh, hello.”

Selene greeted pleasantly.

The Nomes cautiously regarded her, one of them gesturing for the kids to follow them while the others darted behind it.

They heard clanking from above them, as if someone or something was moving.

They followed after the Nomes down a small hallway made of pipes, at the end of which was a vent large enough for the children and the Nomes to crawl through.

Mono went in first, and just as Selene started behind him, she glanced back and gasped.

Partially obscured by the steam emitting from some of the pipes, the Janitor stood stock still.

His head was tilted, listening.

Like whips, his arms extended towards the girl.

She hurriedly clambered into the pipe, tugging on the end of Mono’s jacket.

He looked back as the Janitor’s hand reached into the vent, spurring them into crawling faster.

The hand spreads its fingers around the sides of the vent as it went, feeling for his prey.

The children climbed up a lip into a long section of vent, the hand unable to follow them any further.

Mono breathed a sigh, but kept going, following the white of the Nome in front of him.

They navigated a somewhat confusing series of pipes and vents, unable to tell where exactly they were going or how long it took.

But the Nomes seemed to know the way.

Chapter Text

The sound of the waves lapping against the craggy cliffs, the salty scent of the sea and the sparkling water under the sun melded together into a serene atmosphere, one that Prince Helios of Lemuria was all too familiar with.

He hovered in the air over the open ocean, staring at the horizon with worry in his eyes.

“It’s been two months already…”

He said to no one, one hand over his heart.

“I hope you come home soon, Selene.”

As the older brother, Helios felt a sort of responsibility for his younger sister. He loved her as any brother should, even if they got into sibling spats and battles.

Especially when she was having her mysterious nightmares.

He missed her.

He missed his precious baby sister and he was wrought with worry over her wellbeing.

He knew she could hold her own, as did their parents, but it didn’t stop them from inquiring about her to sailors every so often after the first month.

His faerie wings kept him aloft as a particularly strong breeze blew into him from the sea.

He could smell rain.

“A storm? … I need to warn the fishermen.”

Reluctant to look away from the direction he knew his sister would come from someday soon, Helios dived towards the ocean’s surface, course correcting before hitting the water and flying back towards land on his glittering faerie wings.

In front of him was a bustling port, ships of all shapes and sizes docked and tethered while their occupants milled about the port town of Pisces.

The lizard-like Pisceans lived and worked there, including several fishermen that were a ways out onto the ocean on their boats.

As Helios passed over them, several of the Piscean and human boatmen waved up at him. He waved back, giving his warning.

“There’s a storm approaching! Be inside by nightfall!”

He received various confirmations and assurances. Satisfied, and sure that word would spread quickly, he flew back out to sea for one last look.

That was when he spotted it, a yellow something gleaming in the sunlight.

Going down to get a closer look, he saw someone on a small, wooden raft, seemingly asleep as they were curled up on it.

The figure wore a yellow raincoat, not unlike the fishermen he’d just spoken to, but this person looked small, with their hands and legs bare and exposed to the elements.

Their hood was up, preventing the sun from getting in their eyes and Helios from seeing their face.

The Prince of Lemuria carefully landed on the raft, noting the empty bags of what might’ve been supplies.

He approached the prone person, one hand on his hip.

A memory flashed in his mind.

‘Do I know them?’

He thought, thinking he recognized them from somewhere.

Trying to remember, he recalled a memory that didn’t feel like his, of a child in a similar raincoat standing before him.

He had been holding something out to them, only for the child to charge at him, tossing the object away.

He didn’t quite recall what happened after that, but he stumbled back at the jolt of fear he felt from it.

‘What was that?’

He thought, shaking his head.

Cautiously, he bent down and gently shook the small person by their shoulder.

“Hey, are you alright?”

He asked softly.

The other person, a child around his age, groaned as they seemed to wake up.

They sat up, still a bit groggy. Their hood fell from their head, revealing a head full of dark hair pulled into a side braid, and their face.

‘A girl? What’s she doing out here?’

Helios wondered as he took in her disheveled appearance.

“Sorry to wake you, Miss. But um…”

He stammered a little as the girl looked up at him, blinking in the sunlight.

‘By the Stars, she’s pretty.’

She suddenly gasped, backpedaling away from him in fright.

“Hey, hey! It’s alright! I’m not going to hurt you! Er, I just wanted to warn you that a storm’s coming.”

He said with his hands out in a placating gesture.

She eyed him cautiously, like a caught prey animal.

“Would you like me to escort you to shore?”

He held out his hand to the girl, a charming smile on his dark skinned face.

She looked between his hand, to his warm brown eyes, and back again.

She then peered behind him, gasping again, her eyes widening.

‘She saw my wings, didn’t she?’

Helios assumed. People always had different reactions seeing them, especially people who had never met him or his family in person before.

“Yes, I have wings. I got them from my mother. She’s the Queen of this country, which makes me… “

He bowed, his scarlet red hair swishing with the movement.

“The Prince. Prince Helios of Lemuria, at your service.”

He held out his hand again, which the girl took with some trepidation as she let him help her up.

She was smiling slightly.

“H-hello. I’m Cici.”

She introduced herself.

“A-re you… Selene’s brother?”

His eyes widened, a fire of hope igniting in his chest.

“Yes! You know my sister?”

Cici nodded, taking her hand back and nervously running it through her hair.

“I met her. She saved me from a terrible monster.”

“Did she really? You’ll have to tell me more when we reach the docks. But, Cici, how was she? Is she alright?”

“She seemed just fine to me when I left. That glowy friend of hers, um… I don’t remember his name. He was fine too.”

The girl’s voice croaked a bit as she spoke, her throat dry from the sea air and not used to talking so much.

“Lumen! Oh thank the stars!”

Helios exclaimed, relief rushing through him.

“Do you know where they went?”

“Uh… “

Cici faltered.

“I’m sorry, I’m not sure.”

Helios was disappointed, but he could ask more questions later.

“Let’s get you to shore. You must be starving, and thirsty.”

Cici’s stomach rumbled at the mention of food.

“Hold on.”

Helios said as he flew behind the raft and positioned his hands against it.

Using his Air Dash ability, he pushed the raft towards the Piscean docks, specifically an unoccupied strip of land that was level with the ocean. Or it would be until high tide.

Upon reaching the shore and beaching the raft, Helios led Cici up to the dock where he treated her to some fresh water and seafood snacks.

She looked completely bewildered as they walked along the boardwalk and a ways into the seaside village, marveling at how the adults were actually… normal. Well, except for the Pisceans, Capilli, Aerostati and Bolmus peoples intermingled with the humans.

But they weren’t very monstrous looking, nor were they trying to chase her.

When prompted, after downing three cups of water, Cici told Helios all about how she first met Selene running around in the strange nobles’ house called The Nest.

“Why is it called that?”

“Um… maybe because it’s really high on a cliff?”

“And you saw her there. For how long?”

“I only spent maybe a week getting through that place. Who knows how long your sister was there before I came.”

Cici said, munching on her food and talking between bites.

“Feel better?”

He asked as she finished her third fish stick.

“Much. Thank you, uh, your majesty.”

Helios smiled.

“It’s my pleasure. Now, Cici, please tell me any ideas you have as to where my sister could have gone.”

The girl looked away as she thought.

“Well… they went in the opposite direction I was. So…”

She sighed.

“I’m sorry… I really don’t know.”

Helios sighed too.

“At least I know she’s alright.”

He looked like he wanted to say something else.

“Was there something else?”

Helios looked unsure.

“Yes… I think. You see… I don’t know why I’m telling you this, but I’ve been having really… strange and vivid dreams lately. My sister had them before she left on her journey.”

Cici’s eyes widened.

“… what sort of dreams?”

“I dunno. I’d wake up somewhere… nightmarish. With adults that were far too large and… just unnatural. Sometimes, I’d see other children but…”

“Me too.”

Cici said.

“Did you see the Boatman?”

“A… Boatman? No, I don’t think so. Wait, you have them too?”

Cici nodded.

“Yes. They were… awful, but I felt like I belonged there. The Boatman, he… helped me to leave my world behind. Are you from the Counties?”

“Counties? No. If you’re talking about Earth, then my mother and father are from there. Austria and the Caribbean, to be specific.”

The gears began to turn in Helios’ head.

“Really? That’s… weird. But a good weird! I think.”

Cici didn’t really know what to think.

She vaguely recognized the names of those places.

‘Am I still in the Nowhere?’

She wondered.

“Helios, where are we exactly?”

“This is the Kingdom of Lemuria. The Forest of Niwen is east of us past the Isle of Nereida, and the Island Kingdom of Rime is a long ways southwest by boat.”

He explained, listing off the places he knew neighbored the Kingdom.

At her lost and confused expression, he sighed.

“This is a separate world from the one my parents came from. And yours too, I’ll bet.”

“I see… so you were born here?”

“Yep! Selene too. As was my grandmother, Queen Luciana.”

Cici had a thoughtful look on her face.

“It might be a bit different for you then. Hm… if you’re having the same dreams as your sister, then maybe… you should follow them.”

“Follow them? That’s what Selene said she was doing.”

He gave Cici a serious look.

“Are you saying… I should go after her?”

“I don’t know. Do what you think is best. But if you follow your nightmares, be prepared to fight for your life.”

The girl said as she got up from her seat, her hunger and thirst satisfied.

She felt strange. She hadn’t had to eat or drink much of anything since she came to the Nowhere.

“Is there… someplace I can stay?”

“Of course! There’s an inn near here, but there’s others all around the country. If you don’t mind traveling.”

Cici smiled.

“I think I can get by. I’m used to surviving on my own. Thank you for your kindness.”

“You’re very welcome!”

He waved goodbye, but frowned concernedly as she left.

“Surviving… poor girl.”

‘Just what did she go through?’

He wasn’t sure he wanted to know.

“Wait! At least let me help you find good lodging!”

He flew after her, landing beside her before she could get far.

That night…

The next dream he had, he was swimming in some dark, stagnant pool.

He couldn’t feel his wings, and he was swimming as fast as he could to get away from… something.

It proved to be for naught, as he felt that same something wrap a bony hand around his ankle and pull him under.

The sensation of being dragged deep into the depths didn’t last long, as he suddenly fell through into a different scene.

He’d been transformed into some… thing. He found a reflective surface, and didn’t recognize himself at all.

He saw a girl in a yellow raincoat curled up into a ball. He knew it wasn’t Cici, but someone else.

The sound of her angrily growling stomach made his heart twinge in sympathy.

He presented her with some food… only for her to tackle him to the ground, the food discarded.

He became her food instead, as he felt her bite viciously into his neck like a vampire.

Helios woke up in a cold sweat after that, and a light ignited in his eyes.

One of determination.

Several Days Later…

Helios had abandoned his small sailing boat after he finally caught up with the moving marine vessel.

He was grateful to Lady Genovefa, who had volunteered to teach him how to sail, just to make sure he got there in one piece.

The Chief of the Pisceans was a talented healer and bard, and an adequate seafarer.

“I hope you know what you’re doing, Your Majesty.”

She had said before his departure.

“Bring her home, you hear? If what that new friend of yours says is true, you’re in for one heck of an adventure.”

She was right.

Just getting to the Maw was a journey by itself.

But at least he made it.

He didn’t quite know how, but he just knew his sister was in there somewhere.

He dove in between the gaps of the Maw’s turtle-like carapace, flying down into its unknown inner workings.

The light didn’t completely reach the depths he went to, filtered blue through the clouds of steam rising from the ocean.

He slowed his descent as he came to a particular bridge spanning the length between parts of the ship, where he saw a rope of bedsheets tied together dangling from a barred window to his left.

Then he noticed someone, a girl at first glance, running towards the opposite end with a light source in hand.

She didn’t seem to notice him, then again she never looked up.

“Hey!”

He called, hoping to catch her attention.

She paused, fearfully looking around, but kept going.

Helios frowned, flying after the girl through a crawlspace into a dimly lit room, illuminated by only a single hanging bulb.

“Hello?”

He called, not seeing her anywhere.

He huffed, landing on the floor.

Except it wasn’t the floor he landed on, but a long drainage pipe that he consequently fell into.

He was so startled, and the space so confined that he nary had time to fly out.

The pipe let out into a deeper part of the Maw, one that was partially flooded.

He caught himself before landing in the water, hovering just above its surface. It was a miracle his wings weren’t injured.

He instead landed on a nearby floating box, trying to catch his breath.

“Well… that was unexpected.”

He looked around the room, feeling an odd sort of familiarity.

“At least the place I’ve landed is somewhat familiar. Like deja vu…”

He couldn’t just fly back up the pipe, he decided. It was too narrow for his wings.

So he had no choice but to move forward, flying above the water to the other end of the room.

The way into the next room was boarded up, but there was gap in between just large enough for him to pass through.

The room was dark, then he spotted something on the ground giving off a bright light.

He landed on the cold ground and picked it up.

“This is what that girl was carrying, isn’t it?”

He felt the device, finding the button that, when he pressed it experimentally, turned the light off, then on again.

He smiled appreciatively.

“What a handy device…”

Like his sister, he was capable of creating Sentries, but with this device he wouldn’t need to use it as often. 

“I’m coming, Selene.”

He promised as he summoned his weapon of choice, a light construct called Spirit Edge.

It was a sword made of light that he had used in combat during his journey to the Maw.

He would have to use it again, slashing through another boarded up entryway and striking down the black leech he encountered on the other side.

He slew more of them as they slithered through the watery areas beyond, effectively keeping them off him.

Chapter Text

The Nomes, Mono and Selene climbed and crawled through ventilation ducts and over pipes for several minutes. The further they went, the more anxious (and admittedly bored) the children were starting to get.

“Hey… how much further?”

Mono asked the Nome in front of him.

It turned its conical head, gurgling something.

It was likely meant to be reassuring, but the boy didn’t understand a word.

He sighed impatiently, continuing to crawl through the metal vent until something hit him in the head from above.

“Ow!”

He stopped, rubbing the spot lightly as the projectile bounced, landing in front of him.

“… a shoe?”

He felt Selene come up behind him and peer over his shoulder.

She looked up inside a vertical vent above them, where the shoe had come from.

Another shoe fell down, almost hitting Mono again.

They kept moving, not wanting to be pelted by shoes.

Before he knew it, Mono tumbled down the chute the shoe was meant to go down, the Nomes continuing on none the wiser.

Selene immediately dropped down after him, using her wings to slow her descent.

She found Mono picking himself up after a rough landing at the bottom of the ventilation shaft, clumsily crawling up into the horizontal one just above him.

“Are you okay?”

She asked, meeting him there.

“I’m fine.”

He assured her. No matter if his legs vibrated a bit.

She looked worried, but took his word for it. Mono took a moment to regain his bearings before venturing down the next shaft.

The boy took out his lighter to see by.

Another shoe fell from another vertical shaft in of them, just before it let out into a small open alcove.

Mono lit a lantern there, before hopping on top of a waterlogged suitcase into the next vent. He tried to go in the same direction the Nomes had been.

They found more shoes near the end, leading them out into a room filled almost to the brim with all kinds of footwear.

None of them appeared to be the children’s size.

Mono landed on top of a trunk while Selene chose to hover close by.

“That’s a lot of shoes.”

She remarked, able to see the way out from where they stood.

“Yeah… what are they all doing here?”

Mono asked out loud.

He felt like he’d seen something like it before, like in a photo or TV documentary.

He couldn’t remember the details.

“Good question. I’m not sure we want to know the answer.”

Quite frankly, it was reminding her of when they found clothes left behind from the abducted Viewers.

Mono tentatively sat at the edge of the trunk, placing one foot on top of the nearest shoe.

It held his weight well enough, even as he tried to jump to the next one.

He moved towards the nearest platform, illuminated by an electric light above, keeping his balance.

“Mono, move!”

Selene gasped, hovering nearby as the boy felt something like quaking towards him. He dared not look as he all but ran towards the next platform, that being another large suitcase.

He slipped and fell waist deep into the giant shoe pile, but managed to climb onto the suitcase just to time to see something come barreling towards him, sending shoes flying in its wake.

It stopped as it seemed to sense Mono was no longer within range, but it did bump against the bottom of the suitcase, likely trying to knock him off.

“What. Is that?”

“No idea, but I don’t want to find out.”

Selene said, holding out a hand and summoning a different weapon construct of light. She held the Spirit Smash semi-confidently.

“I don’t think my arrows can get through that, but this might.”

Mono grinned, nodding with some melancholy. Seeing the weapon reminded him of its previous wielder.

“Right. Need to go fast.”

And go fast he did, leaping onto the discarded footwear and running across them as quickly as he could, trying not to slip again.

The creature hiding beneath made itself known seconds later, but Selene was ready for it.

“Take this!”

She cried as she brought the hammer down where she figured the monster would be.

Both children heard a squeal as the light construct seemed to do some damage, allowing Mono to reach the next suitcase without issue.

They repeated this pattern once more before Mono made it to the door, going on ahead to the next room.

He scared away a rat that had been drinking from a nearby pot being used as a rain catcher.

He looked back to see Selene summon familiar white flames to her hand, and then continually shoot it into the pile of shoes until some of them ignited.

This distracted the monster long enough for her to fly away.

A grate came down as soon as she came through, effectively blocking their way back and keeping that particular monster from getting to them.

“Did you have to set the room on fire?”

Mono asked.

“I was trying to hit the creature.”

Selene defended.

“Hopefully no one needed those shoes.”

Mono had a sinking feeling that no one would, especially now. They could already smell the acrid smoke, and so quickly moved on into a long shadowy hallway with pipes lining the walls.

No sooner had they passed the threshold than the Janitor descended upon them.

He paused to sniff the air, locating his prey as Mono grabbed Selene’s hand and they ran.

The girl took the lead as she used Dash to put more distance between them, the Janitor’s long arms reaching towards them.

The pitter patter of their feet on the ground only helped the blind man to pinpoint them.

She summoned a Sentry to help themselves see in the near-darkness of the maintenance lines, just avoiding knocking their heads against a large pipe that formed a sort of low archway.

They ducked beneath it, Dashing past a turbine that provided a little more light.

They ran straight into a dead end, which was actually another elevator.

The two children panicked a little as they realized this, not knowing what to do.

Mono recognized it as the same elevator as before, spotting the same boxes piled in the corners.

The Janitor was approaching, rapidly.

“You go high, I go low.”

Mono told the faerie girl before letting go of her hand and darting into an open box at the bottom of the pile.

Selene flew to the top, opening the box there and hiding inside just as the Janitor came waddling in.

He breathed heavily, labored from the chase, his hands feeling around for anything out of the ordinary.

Finding nothing, he grunted with frustration before positioning himself inside the elevator, pressing the button with more aggression than necessary.

He held onto a shorter stack of boxes as the elevator went up, feeling his way to the other side, where Selene and Mono were hiding.

Mono held his breath as he saw the Janitor’s hand come uncomfortably close.

Suddenly, a Nome came running out from somewhere in the same pile, momentarily startling the monster.

The moment the elevator arrived at its destination, the Nome ran, distracting the Janitor as it gave chase.

The children waited about a minute before emerging from their own hiding places, seeing the other side of the elevator was open now.

The grate closed behind them as they moved onto the new floor, noting the box full of building blocks nearby, as well as all the various toys scattered about.

Mono winced as the floor creaked loudly under his feet. He tried to move as quietly as he could, Selene keeping to the air.

In fact, the floor felt like it could give way if any more weight was put upon it.

The door to the next room was slightly ajar, although there wasn’t much light, only dimly lit by a shaft from above, overtop a rug.

Mono crept over to it, before he spotted a crawlspace near the wall adjacent to the gigantic cabinet behind him.

They both noticed the presence of small doll-like figurines in the room, finding them unnerving but tolerable.

‘Better than the Students’

Mono thought as he crept over to the crawlspace, noting the carpet just in front of it.

He also noticed the multitude of dolls littering the floor of the other room, more brightly illuminated.

It really started to remind him of the porcelain schoolchildren, and the mannequins at the hospital.

He shuddered at those memories, sincerely hoping these dolls wouldn’t come to life on him.

Selene meanwhile kept close to the ceiling, keeping a bird’s eye view of things.

The Janitor was in the room with the majority of dolls, doing something with them.

Selene hovered in place while she thought of a way to distract the monster, her eyes tracing the path Mono would take.

Something in her mind told her she’d taken it herself once.

She hovered by the Janitor’s head, figuring the sound of her wings would attract his attention. He sniffed the air curiously, before Selene grabbed the small fedora on his head by the brim.

“I’ve got your hat! Come get it!”

She taunted, flying upwards and away.

The Janitor cried out in indignation, reaching up towards her angrily.

Mono tried not to laugh as he crept his way towards the tall dresser in the corner, keeping his feet on the thin rug.

He used the horizontal handles as a ladder until he reached the top, climbing up on top of the shelves.

There was a box full of blocks barring another ventilation entrance, which Mono pushed out of the way while Selene kept the Janitor busy.

As she played keep away with the Janitor’s hat, Mono got an idea.

He braced his hand against the corner of the box, one foot on the wall, as he pushed it towards the edge of the platform

He grunted a little from the effort, but it was worth it as the box teetered, before toppling over and spilling its contents all over the hapless Janitor.

Selene dropped the fedora as the Janitor’s groping hands flailed, joining Mono on top of the shelves. Both of them went straight into the vents as the Janitor screeched, stomping his feet, throwing the blocks every which way and slamming his fists on the highest part of the room.

The children started climbing the rungs inside the vent as they heard his irate grumbling, and the loud squeak of another door opening.

“Think that’ll teach him?”

Selene asked.

“Hopefully.”

The vents let out into a mostly empty room, though they froze as they saw the Janitor climb on top of some large wooden object to another floor.

They waited a moment before moving, sure he was gone.

They moved quickly, keeping to the few rugs on the floor as much as they could.

They worked together to open the door to the next room. It seemed its hinges were broken, having to push it open so it’d fall to the floor.

However, this caused a grandfather clock on the other side to fall over with it.

This inevitably attracted the Janitor to their location, as he seemed to drop down in front of them, blocking their escape.

Before he could do anything, however, a cacophony of loud bongs and chimes from the row of grandfather clocks went off at once.

Both Selene and Mono had to cover their ears from the noise, as did the Janitor.

They noticed this, and used it to sneak past him. Selene went straight for the button on the opposite wall, opening the door that led into a winding hallway.

It was lined with a myriad of clocks, all tall and grand and very, very loud when they all went off.

Selene took Mono by the hand and led the way down the hall, her flight interrupted whenever the clocks chimed, which occurred every few seconds it seemed.

It helped to keep the Janitor off their tail, but it wasn’t so great for their own hearing.

Mono felt he might go deaf.

At the end of the hall was a door that Mono went ahead and tried to open, only able to get it open partway because of a tall pile of books blocking it.

Selene darted through as the clocks went off again, Mono closing the door behind him.

This room was a library of some sort, with books of all sizes piled high to the ceiling.

It reminded the boy of the library at the School.

Looking up, they saw a grand piano dangling precariously by cords of rope.

Selene flew up as Mono started towards the desk on the other side of the room, jumping up onto it and then climbing up the shelves behind it.

Upon reaching the top, he waited for the piano to swing his way before making a running leap onto it.

From there, he jumped onto the tall bookshelf behind it, climbing up further.

He accidentally knocked various books from their places on his way up.

Just before reaching the top, he saw the Janitor’s back as he came down from somewhere.

Luckily, he didn’t seem to notice the boy as he went off into the next room.

Mono climbed up and waited for the Janitor to turn a corner before following him. He kept to the mats on the floor, softening his footsteps as he entered what looked to be the actual library room.

He looked up, expecting to see Selene somewhere up on the shelves.

But he didn’t see her.

‘Where’d she go?’

Mono wondered, climbing up a small stack of books onto a shelf.

While Mono meandered through the shelves trying to avoid the Janitor’s detection, Selene had wandered further ahead into a room with a TV.

Or rather, what used to be a TV.

Now, the electronic contraption served as a pot for a tree, one identical to those that grew from similar televisions in the Pale City.

Mono leapt onto its branches from a crawlspace high on the wall, seeing Selene hiding there.

Now it was his turn to be upset with her.

She saw the look on his face.

“Sorry…”

She whispered.

“I saw the leaves and…”

She gestured to the midnight blue foliage.

He sighed, and nodded.

“Lumen.”

He supposed that wherever there had been a TV under the Black Tower’s influence, there would now be a tree very similar to this one.

‘Surprising to see it spread all the way out here, though.’

He thought, scanning the floor and waiting to see if the Janitor would come by.

He couldn’t hear anything on the other side of the wall.

Looking around, he spotted something glinting in the dim light, and vaguely recognized its shape as that of a crank.

‘That must go somewhere’

He thought, reaching a hand out towards the crank on the floor and willing staticky particles to manifest around it.

Slowly, carefully, he used his newfound telekinesis to lift the tool towards him.

Selene watched him do this in appreciative silence.

“You’re getting better at that.”

She remarked as Mono took the crank in his hands.

“Thanks. You’re getting better too.”

He said as he carefully carried the object under one arm while walking across the branch back to the crawlspace.L

Selene followed him there, going in first and keeping a lookout as her friend climbed through.

“Take it.”

He whispered, holding the crank out to the faerie girl. She took it from him, wobbling in the air a little.

He safely descended to the floor and, seeing the coast was clear, began the short walk back to the ledge.

Instead of going quietly, he booked it across the library, which garnered the Janitor’s attention.

He’d been in a far corner of the room when he heard Mono’s hurried steps.

Selene gave the crank back to the boy as they arrived at the ledge, inserting it into a triangle shaped hole and began turning it as fast as he could.

Selene helped him turn it from the other side.

She glanced behind her, seeing that they were lifting the piano.

Once it was level with the ledge, Mono stopped turning. Luckily, the crank stayed in place as he leapt from the ledge onto the piano.

The Janitor arrived at the ledge just as Mono jumped to the other side and into another crawlspace.

It led onto a mine cart track of all things, which neither child was expecting to see on an aquatic vessel. It gave them a temporary reprieve, though, and they were going to take advantage of it.

There was even a mine cart in front of them, which Mono experimentally pushed forwards. It was rather heavy, laden with trash bags.

“Perhaps there’s an incinerator?”

Selene proposed.

She knew of steam ships that used those to get rid of unwanted trash as opposed to throwing them in the sea.

“Maybe?”

Mono’s mind went back to the incinerator at the Hospital.

“Think we could drop that Janitor into it?”

“Mono!”

Selene chastised.

“What!? He deserves it!”

“You don’t know that. I’m sure we can get by him safely. Besides, he hasn’t tried to actually hurt us.”

“Yet.”

Mono spat.

“But… yeah…”

He rubbed his head guiltily.

He never wanted to actually hurt the monsters that chased him.

He just wanted to get away, and if hurting them was the way to do that then so be it.

But he never felt good about it.

Selene was the same way, though he would admit he felt a little envious of her.

The power she wielded, the light she brought.

Even now, when he had a good grasp of his telekinesis, he felt next to useless.

Still, Mono did his best to help them both through whatever obstacles stood in their way, and he was determined to keep the Princess safe in Lumen’s stead. It was the least he could do for their late friend.

With that thought in mind, Mono moved around the mine cart down the track. He carefully skirted around a thick jet of steam from a leaky pipe, feeling the heat of it against his skin.

At the end of the track was a door, which led to a large room that looked like it collapsed in on itself a long time ago.

Mono kept to the near-rotted floorboards sticking out of the left hand wall while Selene flew to the other side.

They crawled into another ventilation area, this one comparably larger to the others they’d been in before.

Selene wasn’t able to fly very high, though, so she’d opted to walk through the open shaft onto a series of pipes.

She summoned a Sentry to see by, going on ahead a few feet in front of them.

By its light, Mono noticed the gaps in the walls and tried to peer through them.

‘I don’t see anything…’

It was too dark on the other side.

A pit of dread formed in his stomach.

A rat suddenly scurried by them, squeaking loudly. A wheezing cry sounded before the spindly hand of the Janitor emerged from a second hole, alerted by the rat.

It felt around the grate the children stood upon and up the nearby pipes.

His other hand came through the first hole, feeling around for anything alive.

The children stood still, hoping he’d move on.

But he didn’t.

He had them trapped, and was clearly waiting for one of them to get caught.

The Sentry tried to attack the hand, but its small white flames didn’t seem to do much.

Just as Selene was considering diving beneath the hand in front of her, Mono held out his own, concentrating.

Black particles formed over the Janitor’s left hand, and suddenly it was unable to move.

Mono gestured for Selene to go ahead, keeping his concentration as he moved behind her. The Janitor’s right hand tried to swipe at them, only to miss.

Mono let go as they both moved on down the metal chute past larger pipes.

Another rat, or perhaps the same one, scurried away at their approach.

They came out the shaft into a room with several carts filled with white trash bags, their smell unmistakable.

The sudden unlocking of a door alerted them to the long armed man coming in from the other room, prompting them to run into the next room along the tracks.

Selene chose to stay grounded, running slightly ahead of Mono with their hands clasped tight, using Dash to gain more distance.

A metal door was sliding down in front of them, kept from closing completely by a metal cage placed beneath it. The children slid under the door into a small closet space with two smaller cages stacked in a corner and a dustbin on the other.

There was also an opening to another ventilation shaft above them, which Selene was quick to open as the Janitor still attempted to give chase.

With the larger cage keeping the door ajar, he was able to slip his long arms underneath, both his hands feeling the ground and walls for his prey.

Mono kept away from the hands best he could, keeping to the middle and jumping up on top of the cages and dustbin when necessary.

He even used his telekinesis on them again, trying to push them back.

Even if they ran now, he’d just reappear later.

They had to waylay the creature for longer.

Selene fired her arrows at the hands, inuring them. But they didn’t seem to do any lasting damage.

Watching the hands scurry around, she was reminded of the detached mannequin hands from the Hospital.

Then she got an idea.

She summoned her Spirit Smash as she descended, and waited until the Janitor’s hand was groping along the ground near her.

With a sickening crack, she brought her weapon down on the giant hand.

The Janitor squealed in pain, immediately retracting his injured hand.

Mono and Selene’s eyes met, a plan forming between them.

It was just like the mannequin hands, but now the princess was the one with the hammer.

Despite the injury, the hand returned with a vengeance, albeit with a big purple bruise.

It formed a fist and slammed on the ground, hoping the resulting vibration would make one or both of the children fall.

It did make Mono stumble, almost getting caught by the other hand.

The children repeated the process of Mono freezing a giant hand with his telekinesis and Selene breaking the bones in the Janitor’s hand until he couldn’t use it anymore.

It was a brutal tactic, but it was better than cutting his arms off, in Selene’s opinion.

The memory flashed before her eyes.

Eventually, with his hands battered and bruised, the Janitor retreated with his metaphorical tail between his legs.

Just before the cage finally gave and was crushed beneath the door.

Both children breathed somewhat heavily, relieved that was over.

“Well… he shouldn’t be able to come after us for a while.”

“Yeah. Now how about we get out of here?”

Selene said as she flew up to the panel that had covered the vent.

Mono promptly jumped up on top the cages in the corner and leapt to the hanging panel.

From there, the two crawled through another long ventilation shaft, unsure of where they were going.

Mono just hoped they’d be able to get to the Captain’s Quarters soon.

Chapter Text

The sounds of rain and the cold metal they laid against prevented the children from getting any meaningful rest.

But at least they were able to rest at all, at the bottom of a vertical shaft, with another horizontal one stretching in front of them.

They’d decided to take a nap after falling down the vertical shaft, too tired to keep going for the moment.

When Mono woke, he found Selene’s head against his chest. A warm feeling rose within him, dusting his cheeks pink.

His brown coat was draped over them both, keeping out the chill for the most part.

Reluctantly, he took back his coat and tried to sit up, slipping his arms into it.

The movement roused the girl, who groaned grumpily.

“Morning, Princess.”

Mono said teasingly.

She just grumbled sleepily as she got off her human pillow, rubbing the crusty bits out of her eyes and yawning.

“Mm… morning. … is it morning?”

“Hard to tell. Might as well be.”

Mono shrugged, now wearing his coat again.

“Shall we keep moving?”

“If we must, we must.”

With that, they started along the darkened shaft, swiftly coming to a ladder illuminated by light from above.

Water came dripping down as well, the cold liquid splashing against their faces as they climbed.

“Okay, I’m awake now.”

Selene said, causing Mono to chuckle lightly. He went on ahead of her, not wanting to accidentally look up her dress.

At the top of the ladder was a long, metal room with rows of hooks dangling from chains. They went by on a pulley system extending out a window.

Most of these were unoccupied, but one or two that came in from the opposite window held large bags that looked like they could contain a body.

The boy and girl didn’t really want to think about it as Mono jumped onto one of the chains, hanging on as Selene hovered nearby, ready to catch him in case he fell.

The pulley system took them out of the room into another connection point between parts of the ship, going at an upwards angle.

Something like a gong sounded, causing Selene to look around and spot a figure standing on a balcony in the near distance.

They appeared to be smoking something, a person with a rather large build and bulbous features, but she couldn’t make out more than that at a distance.

She didn’t think the figure noticed them.

Mono let go of the hook as they entered the next part of the Maw, a room containing several of those suspicious bags which the boy used to cushion to his fall.

He slid down them to the ground and through a door into a hallway, with more bags piled in a corner.

A pile of discarded clothing was left in the middle of the hall, the two scaring away a rat that had been nibbling on it.

Seeing it made Selene’s mouth water, reminding her of that gnawing, painful hunger that had afflicted her in her past life.

She shook her head to rid herself of that memory, disgusted.

She was actually starting to get hungry, though. Just as she thought that, she heard Mono’s stomach rumble audibly.

He looked sheepish, but she just smiled in response.

She and Mono followed the rat down the hall, the boy jumping up on top of containers full of the human sized bags that blocked the way to the next room, which was also full of bags.

‘How many of these are there?’

Selene wondered.

At the end of that room was a pair of double doors with circular windows in them, a stark difference from the rest of the Maw.

Upon opening them, the children entered a darkened room with a similar door to the side, as well as a red tile floor as opposed to wood panels.

In front of them was a window high on the wall, which Selene helped Mono to jump up to.

On the other side was one wall stocked with various cans and loose pieces of food, mostly spices and things like ginger or onions.

Cloves of garlic hung high from the corners, and bottles of what might’ve been alcohol were on higher shelves.

A couple of carrots rested on the bottom shelf, which the children immediately took for themselves. They also grabbed a turnip from the second shelf, sharing it between them.

Selene at least checked hers over before eating it, hoping it wouldn’t make her sick.

They could hear a scraping sound from a room nearby, like metal against rock.

“I think we found the kitchens.”

Selene remarked.

“I think you’re right. Lucky us, huh?”

“Yeah… lucky. Let’s just avoid getting turned into soup or something, alright?”

Mono nodded, his mouth full of food before swallowing.

Sated for the moment, the children crept through the door into a hallway. They noticed an elevator shaft at one end of it.

The scraping was coming from the next room, which they peered into from the door.

It definitely looked like a kitchen, with pots and ladles piled on a stove next to a simmering broth of some kind, and a large fish carcass on a table by the door. The children hid beneath it, able to smell the fish carcass.

It made them both want to gag.

To the right of the door was the figure Selene had seen before, large and fatty wearing an off-white chef’s hat and a tunic-like outfit.

They watched as he brought a kitchen knife down on a slab of meat, preparing it for some dish.

Peering out from under the table while the chef’s back was turned, Selene looked up and saw a series of beams close to the ceiling in the other room.

The chef sawed into the meat before stabbing it with his knife, turning around to grab a sausage from the pile on the table, throwing it into the broth.

Selene ducked back under the table.

The chef didn’t seem to see her, but she grimaced in disgust at the smell of the soup and the chef himself.

As soon as the chef turned back around, the two children snuck behind him into the next room, containing rows of ovens with stovetops and a bag of something bloody hanging over one of them with a spatula sticking out of it.

The room was warm from a fire burning in an open air oven in the middle, that all too familiar eye symbol watching over it.

As soon as they turned the corner into the room, a Nome came out of hiding.

It’s high-pitched gurgling could be heard over the noises in the kitchen, causing the chef to let out a wheezing wail of alarm.

Panicking slightly, Mono darted beneath a nearby table while Selene shot upwards to the ceiling, hiding behind a beam.

The chef ran into the room, looking around for what made the noise.

From her vantage point, Selene saw that his face didn’t really move.

It was placid, almost… mask-like.

‘Is he wearing a mask?’

She wondered.

Her mind went back to those faces on the wall in the Hospital, and the Janitor with his mask folded down over his eyes.

The chef went back to work soon enough, taking another sausage from a nearby pot and throwing it into another pot of broth, to which he added pepper from a nearby pepper grinder.

There was a heated pot of water opposite it.

Mono waited a minute before coming out of hiding, trying to keep out of sight as the chef worked.

Selene tried to follow him from above, flitting from one beam to the next.

The girl watched as the chef coughed roughly and wetly into his hand.

“Ugh…”

She groaned, disgusted.

Mono reached the other side of the room, climbing up the shelves of a cabinet and jumping onto the nearest beam.

Selene met him there, pointing towards the other end of the room.

On top of the farthest beam was a stack of cages, some of which held fish, and woven baskets with what was likely grains inside.

Just above them was a grate.

He nodded his understanding to her, and began walking along the flat beams towards it.

There were various objects scattered about up there, which Mono was sorely tempted to drop on top of the chef’s head.

Instead, he skirted around them.

Climbing up the cages, the duo tried to ignore the fish smell, slipping through the grate into someone’s bathroom.

It consisted of two toilets placed uncomfortably close together, their seats tilted at an angle.

Moving on through the door, which opened with a loud creak, they found themselves in an area that looked like someone’s house.

In the middle of the hallway was a short set of stairs leading to an elevator, a lever attached to the wall next to it.

At the end of the hall was a dark bedroom, with one of the beds occupied. They looked to be just as large as the chef downstairs from their silhouette.

In the near darkness, Mono could just make out a key hanging from a peg across from the door.

He gestured for Selene to stay in the hallway while he crept inside, focusing his powers on the key.

He kept his own movements quiet as possible, positioning himself so that he could catch the key when it fell.

This meant he had to stand next to a space heater, which he didn’t mind all that much.

It was warm and the rest of this stupid ship was cold as heck.

He telekinetically nudged the key forwards until it fell from the peg, barely managing to catch it before it clattered to the floor.

He froze, glancing up at the sleeping twin chef.

Still asleep.

He tucked the key onto his belt and crept his way back into the hall. He didn’t know what the key was for, but he knew it would come in handy.

Just as he rejoined Selene, they heard the other chef wake up, turning on a single bulb light.

They hid behind the door as he shuffled his way towards the bathroom, already dressed for work. They waited until that door was closed to move.

They went straight for the elevator, which brought them back down to the kitchen floor and the room with the shelves of spices.

Passing the shelves, they noticed a Nome trapped in a jar, hopping around inside.

Selene paused to take out her Spirit Arc and shoot the jar, shattering it and freeing the Nome.

The children hid under the shelves as the first chef came to investigate, the monster under the mask none the wiser.

As soon as he was gone, they tried to think of where the key might go.

“I think I saw one in the room with the ovens.”

Selene whispered.

“Near that cabinet.”

Mono thought he knew where she was talking about.

His shoulders slumped, knowing it meant they’d have to backtrack through the kitchens and avoid the chef. Again.

Entering the front area of the kitchen, they found that neither chef was present. They could see one of them still meandering through the second room, preparing soups and adjusting dials on the stoves.

He came into the front room briefly to fetch something from a cabinet holding packaged meats.

The children moved quickly and quietly, with Mono going low while Selene went high.

With just the one, slow moving monster it was relatively easy for them to evade its gaze a second time.

The faerie girl kept a lookout as Mono reached the end of the room again, going straight for the padlock on a big, metal door with a porthole in the middle.

The key fit, and the door opened with a creak.

The chef didn’t seem to notice, too engrossed in his task.

The two passed through a darkened room, with meat sausages and a cleaver on one table, next to the door.

They tried to open it, finding it locked from the other side.

Mono spotted a crawlspace high on the wall next to it, accessible by the aforementioned table with the cleaver.

He jumped up to the table, managing to avoid cutting himself on the cleaver blade as he made for the window.

On the other side, Mono dropped down to the floor, performing a somersault to distribute the impact.

The main feature of the room was a metal contraption upon a table, with a long cloth tube held up by a belt from the ceiling.

It’s end was a nozzle facing down.

“What’s this?”

Selene wondered aloud.

“Not sure.”

Mono said, climbing up the table.

On a hunch, he jumped up and pulled a handle attached to a cord from the ceiling.

It opened some hatch above the machine, dropping a chunk of meat into its funnel.

The boy then dropped drown and experimentally turned the wheel on the machine’s front.

This seemed to grind the meat in the funnel, sending it through the tube to the nozzle where it came out as a single linked sausage, fully cooked.

“Huh. I guess it’s a sausage maker.”

Mono surmised. He noticed the sausages already hung up, and those collected in a bucket beneath the nozzle.

Part of him was temped to ask Selene to heat them with her fire magic. One look at the greasy, red meat in the bucket and the mess around it, and she refused to have anything to do with it.

“Eh… do you… want any of that?”

He asked, pointing to the single sausage.

“Not really.”

Selene said truthfully, flying over to the ventilation shaft at the end of the room. She enjoyed sausages as much as any Austrian-Lemurian, but she felt fine for the time being. Besides, something about the meat just didn’t sit right with her.

“Want me to fly you over?”

“Yes please.”

She obligingly lifted her friend up and let him crawl into the vent before her.

The other end let out into a large room with sacks of meat hung from the ceiling, kept cool by turbines in the wall.

They also let it in enough light to see by.

The other end of the room led to a metal door exactly like the one in the kitchen, except it still had its padlock.

There was also another elevator opening at one end of the hall.

Thinking he might find a key if he went to another floor, Mono went over and pulled the lever, which called the elevator.

He realized his mistake as soon as he saw the silhouette of the chef come down.

The boy ran back into the meat storage room, while Selene opted to hide above the elevator doors.

Unfortunately, there weren’t really any good hiding places in the storage room.

The chef spotted Mono immediately, screeching as he went for him.

Selene went on the offensive, firing an arrow through the chef’s hat from the doorway.

This distracted him long enough for Mono to run back to the elevator where his friend was waiting for him.

The doors closed before the chef could reach them.

The elevator took them up a floor, but it closed again as soon as they exited.

They knew the chef would come looking for them.

There was a ventilation entrance just low enough for them both to climb inside right by the elevator.

They crawled to the back of the shaft, huddling together as the elevator returned.

The chef looked around as he exited, but found nothing.

He huffed, deciding to ignore the pesky children for now and continue working.

He opened the door opposite the vent and went inside. It was another preparation room, with tables along the walls and one in the middle where the chef took a cleaver to a large chunk of bloody red meat.

The children came out of hiding as soon as they saw the door didn’t close all the way. Peering into the room, they saw pots and pans hung from a rack above the chef’s head, which meant Selene couldn’t fly if she didn’t want to get caught.

Both children snuck underneath the tables along the walls as the chef hacked away, eventually using his hands to crack open a ribcage.

The sound didn’t sit well with either of them as they made for a crawlspace on the other side of the room.

They kept an eye on the chef, making sure he wouldn’t turn around and see them in the open.

As they looked, Mono noticed the chef accidentally drop a key.

‘There!’

Once in the other room, he taps Selene on her shoulder.

“They key’s on the chopping table.”

She nodded, looking around.

“Got it.”

She saw a machine with meat stuffed into it on one wall. Pressing a button, it came to life with a loud, grinding sound.

She gestured for Mono to go while she flew out of sight. He went back through the crawlspace as the chef ran into the grinder room, quickly spotting the key on the table.

Glancing over to make sure the chef was still distracted, he jumped up to the table, hooked the key to his belt and jumped back off.

He met Selene by the elevator, which closed behind them as they entered.

Of course the chef heard the elevator descend, and was likely checking his pockets, so they needed to move quickly.

The moment the elevator opened on the floor below, Mono ran to the door with the padlock and unlocked it.

The two found themselves in what looked like a trash room, from the amount of trash bags piled on one side.

They knew the elevator would return so they quickly found places to hide, Mono inside an overturned bin and Selene behind the door.

The chef lumbered into the trash room, looking side to side for the troublemakers.

He grunted in frustration, again choosing to ignore them and move on into the next room.

The two waited a moment before following him, finding that the next room was actually a dishwashing room.

Soapy water spilled onto the floor from green and blue checkered wash basins. Stacks of dirty dishes, pots, pans and utensils were piled high, almost to the ceiling.

The children had to avoid both of the chefs while they were hard at work washing a single stack of dishes, which it seemed they’d barely lowered yet.

Mono felt tempted to try helping them in their task, if only so they wouldn’t feel inclined to chase after them anymore.

Selene looked between the ceiling high stacks, forming an idea.

“Mono, when their backs are turned. Move.”

He nodded, wondering what she was planning.

She pointed to a stack behind the chefs.

Quietly as she could, she flitted between basins and hid behind stacks until she was positioned behind the one she had pointed out.

The chefs were none the wiser.

Selene summoned her Spirit Smash and struck the pile of dishes from behind, causing them to lean dangerously in the chefs’ direction.

Mono’s eyes widened when he saw what she was doing, getting ready to run just as she struck the stack again.

The pile toppled forwards, crashing on top of the twin chefs and knocking over their own pile.

Barely cleaned plates and pots tumbled and shattered to the ground and on top their heads, dazing them long enough for Mono to book it across the room and through a door.

The chefs cried out in pain and indignation, wildly searching their immediate area for the perpetrator.

Mono jumped up onto a table that spanned one wall of the smaller room he had dashed into, catching his breath.

Thinking it might do something to help them, he pulled a horizontal lever on the wall.

With a mechanical whirr, it activated a pulley system with hooks similar to the one that brought them to this part of the Maw.

Mono could hear that the chefs were too busy trying and failing to clean up the mess of broken porcelain around them to pay attention as Selene swooped in through the high window riding on a hook.

“Hop on!”

She encouraged, holding out her hand.

Mono jumped up and grabbed it, letting his friend swing him over to the hook behind her.

The pulley system took them through a giant porthole into a room where the clean dishes were supposed to go, as evidenced by the neatly placed white crockery in black basins.

One of the chefs, with shards of porcelain stuck to his costume, emerged from a door on the second level of the room.

He screeched upon seeing the children, and ran towards them, grabbing at them with his sausage fingers.

Before he could reach Mono, Selene summoned white fire to her hand and hurled a fireball his way.

The chef screamed as the flames hit, lighting up his hair and mask.

He ran back through the door in a panic.

“Impressive!”

Mono praised, continuing to hang onto the hook as the line took them away from the kitchens area.

“Thanks! I’ve been wanting to try that one.”

The chefs tried to stop them once or twice more as the line took them through the remaining areas of the kitchen, but Selene kept the twin monsters off them with white fireballs and errant arrows.

Mono got in on the action as well, causing a slab of meat on a hook ahead of them to fall on the already burnt chef’s head.

As they reached the point of departure, the chefs tried throwing objects at them as a last ditch effort.

They screamed and stomped in a joint tantrum as the children were taken through into another large connection point.

Mono turned and stuck his tongue out at them, giggling to himself.

“… I can’t believe we did that!”

He cried in joyous triumph.

Selene shared his happy smile.

“We’re not out of the woods yet. Or ship, in this case.”

Mono sobered at her serious tone.

“Where do you think this is taking us?”

“If I had to guess… wherever the food goes when it’s prepared.”

“So… a restaurant?”

“Maybe. If the Captain is anywhere, he’ll likely be in or near where the guests are.”

It was mere speculation on Selene’s part, but it made sense to her.

The line of hooks took them through another giant porthole, leading into the next part of the Maw.

Chapter Text

Deep in the bowels of the Maw, though closer to the surface than they had been before, Mono and Selene found themselves traversing a series of vents and drain pipes.

They were up to their ankles in freezing water, and Selene felt she might get sick from it if she didn’t get warm soon.

She ignited a ball of white fire in her palm in an attempt to stave off the cold, but it was weak with how much she was shivering.

Mono wasn’t much better, his hands clamped around his arms.

They could see the end of the pipe in front of them, leading out into a room with rotted wooden floorboards.

Mono dropped down first, glad to be out of the water.

As he landed, however, the floor broke beneath him.

“Ah!”

He didn’t fall very far, but his bottom hurt.

“Mono, you okay?”

“I’m fine…”

He reassured his friend, standing back up.

Under the floorboards, he thought he saw a flicker of orange light.

“What the…?”

‘A fire?’

He pointed it out to Selene when she got closer.

Going to investigate, the two stumbled upon a campfire, around which sat five other children.

A boy in a tattered green hoodie

Another boy in an orange cloak

A girl with long blonde hair wearing a lighter green hooded poncho

A boy whose face was wrapped in bandages

The fifth was the largest of the group, wearing a brown sheet that obscured all their features.

“It’s you!”

The boy in green exclaimed when they saw the two newcomers enter their little space.

“Do you… know us?”

Mono asked, approaching the other children with trepidation and excitement.

Selene followed behind him.

The boy in orange stood up, running up to the dark haired boy with his hands raised.

“You don’t belong here! Y…”

“What are you talking about?”

Mono said as he came down, a bit insulted.

The boy in orange looked up at something fearfully.

Selene followed his gaze to a large leech slithering down from above them, its mouth open revealing rows of razor teeth.

He’d been trying to shoo it away.

In a flash, Selene summoned her Spirit Arc, turned in midair and fired a small volley of flaming white arrows into the thing’s mouth.

The leech choked, the arrows leaving bloody burning gashes as they went straight through.

It fell to the ground in a heap, dead in an instant.

The other children stared at the faerie girl in stunned silence.

“Who… what are you?”

The boy in green asked, bewildered.

Selene took a moment to catch her breath, landing on the ground gracefully at Mono’s side.

“My name is Selene, and this is Mono.”

She half curtsied as she introduced herself and her friend.

“I uh… I’m magic.”

She said simply, shrugging.

Mono smiled at her.

“Yeah, and I’m psychic.”

He said almost proudly, using his telekinesis to lift the dead leech up about an inch off the floor before letting it drop back down with a wet squelch.

“Cool.”

The boy in orange grinned, impressed.

“It’s safer now, but it’s probably best if you two stay a while. You look like you’re freezing.” 

Selene sneezed, a shiver running up her body.

“Thank you…”

The boy in orange led the two newcomers to their seats around the fire, sitting between him and the boy in green, across from the larger child in brown.

“So… how did you get here? What have you seen?”

“Where do we even start?”

Mono said, sharing a knowing look with his friend.

“If you’re talking about how we came to the Maw, we came by boat.”

Selene explained.

“A Boatman brought us from the docks by the Pale City.”

“The Pale City? That sounds big…”

The long haired girl said timidly.

“It was. We had our hardships just getting from the city’s center to the harbor.”

Mono groaned.

“But with our combined powers, we managed.”

“Those looked useful.”

The boy in green said ruefully.

“You’re quite the special ones, aren’t you?”

Selene looked a bit embarrassed at being called out.

“I suppose so… our powers have helped us through a lot. But we can’t do everything.”

“Neither can we.”

The boy in orange said.

“But I have heard of this place granting powers like that.”

The girl in green leaned towards them.

“Are those… real wings on your back?”

Selene turned to let the other children see. They sparkled in the firelight.

“Mm-hmm! You can touch them if you like.”

With trepidation, the long haired girl got up and approached the other girl with her hand outstretched.

The left wing twitched as it felt the girl’s touch.

She smiled with awe.

“They’re real… how is that possible?”

“I inherited them from my mother. She has them too.”

The girl in green let out a breathy giggle.

“That’s amazing that you can fly. I wish I could… I love your dress, by the way.”

“Thank you! I like your hair. It’s pretty!”

“T-thank you.”

The other girl smiled happily, running a hand through her blonde locks with a slight blush.

She went back to her spot around the fire.

“That doesn’t answer my second question, though.”

The boy in green said.

“What have you seen?”

Mono and Selene had to think about that one.

“A lot of things. Some I wish I never had to.”

Mono said after mulling it over. Selene nodded, sharing the sentiment.

“There are things… in the shadows. Secrets that I want to know, yet… don’t at the same time. In the City, there was a Tower that broadcasted a signal through every television there. It controlled the people there, turning them into mindless drones.”

He sighed.

“We destroyed that Tower.”

“That’s… still impressive.”

The larger child said.

“More than what most can do.”

“I realized that. There’s something else in the Tower’s place. Something good.”

“You might’ve seen it. There’s trees growing out the televisions now.”

The five children looked at each other in askance.

“I can’t say I have.”

The long haired girl asked.

The boy in green nodded.

“Me neither. That’s good to know, though.”

“Selene and Mono. That’s your names, right?”

The boy in orange asked.

“That’s right.”

“Your abilities. Where did you get them?”

“I… well, I got mine after I came to this world.”

Mono admitted.

“The details are fuzzy… I just know I wanted to escape through the TV…”

“That’s okay.”

The boy in green reassured.

“I get it. You were probably given powers for that purpose. For me, there’s something about the darkness. It… calls to me. It feels safe. Sometimes, the light doesn’t help at all.”

The other children murmured noises of agreement.

“You’re right.”

Selene said.

“But it can be good too. Like this fire, it can be a source of warmth, and if it’s bright enough…”

Selene summoned white fire to her hand.

The other children stiffened.

She cast it into the orange flame, the two colors mixing with vibrant rainbow hues before it changed back to its regular color.

“You can blind your foes. I learned that trick from my brother.”

“I’ve used light that way before.”

The child in the brown cloak spoke up, their voice soft.

“It’s very effective.”

“So have I.”

The boy in orange said with a hint of pride.

“… you have a brother?”

“I do. His name is Helios. I call him Lio for short.”

Selene looked away, wringing the hem of her skirt.

“I hope he’s alright back at home.”

“I’m sure he is. Especially if he’s got the same powers as you.”

“Oh, he does and then some. He should, as the Crown Prince.”

The other children didn’t seem to believe that remark.

“Where is home, if you don’t mind my asking?”

“Not at all. It’s a country called Lemuria. We have it on good authority that the Maw’s next destination is there, so we were planning on getting off as soon as it arrives.”

“Sounds like you have a plan.”

The boy in green said.

“But are you sure you can pull it off?”

Mono and Selene shared a look.

“I think so, even if all doesn’t go as well as we hope.”

“You’re free to join us, if you want.”

Selene offered.

“Lemuria is peaceful compared to this place.”

“Really?”

The girl in green said.

“No monsters at all?”

“Well, I wouldn’t say none. But they’re not like… them.”

She gestured upwards.

“They also tend stay away from more populated areas. Like wraiths, gryphons, drakes…”

“Gryphons!?”

“You never mentioned that before.”

Mono said, just as astonished.

“It never came up before.”

Selene said defensively.

“That sounds… rather inviting. I’ll certainly think about it.”

The boy in green said contemplatively.

For the next hour or so, the seven children sat around the campfire, sharing stories.

The boy in orange introduced himself as Dennis, who told them of how the North Wind tricked him into thinking he was traveling with his little sister for a time, when she’d actually been dead, and the Wind used her decaying body as a puppet.

In his grief, the Boatman came and rescued him from the North Wind’s tricks.

The bandaged boy’s name was Jay, but he didn’t talk much. All he would say was that he’d been wandering a desert when he came across an abandoned citadel covered in sand.

He wound up in an underground waterway that led him straight to the Boatman.

The Boy in Green, whose name was Thomas, told of how he came to the Maw. The Boatman came for him as he was traversing a perilous swamp, avoiding deadly tree monsters and alligators.

The girl in green was named Isabella.

She shyly told her tale, how he had been crawling around a tomb with only a camera for light.

She’d taken many photographs, some of which she wished she still had on her.

“Some parts of the tomb were beautiful… lots of gold and jewels, and the outside looked nice and tropical. Fit for royalty. I lost the pictures after the Boatman saved me from the Mummy King…”

“That’s too bad. I’m sure they were lovely.”

Selene reassured.

The larger child revealed herself to be a girl with a large humpback. Her name was Felicia, but she didn’t feel comfortable telling her story yet.

All she would say was that it involved mirrors.

It wasn’t until the fire burnt down low that they deemed it time to part.

The five children led the two travelers to the nearest exit out of their little hidey hole, down a long pipe that forked midway.

“That should take you to the hull.”

Dennis explained.

“I saw a boat coming in when I arrived. They should be boarding soon.”

“I wish you both luck.”

Thomas said, shaking Mono’s hand in farewell.

“Thanks. You think we’ll run into each other again?”

The other boy shrugged.

“Who knows? We’ll be somewhere around this monstrosity of a ship.”

With that, the two groups split up, each going their separate ways.