Little Dreams and Hollow Nightmares

Ph1 Ch21: The Pale City of Tears

The knight looked at the dead body of the doctor, and then back to Mono. The knight walked over, and looked at its friend, checking to see if they were okay. Mono turned to the knight, and looked at it in the eye.

"You came back to help me," he said.

The knight nodded. Of course it came back. Mono was its friend after all.

"We need to find a way out of here," Mono said, looking around the room.

The knight and Mono wandered around the hospital for a little while, looking for a possible exit. They looked, room after room, and soon they found a cracked window, leading outside. Good enough. The knight helped Mono through the window, and they both landed on the stone floor outside. Rain sprinted down from the sky, landing on top of the knights shell. They must've still been in the city of tears.

The knight walked through the caverns, leading Mono along with them, and soon, they both came to an open area. The knight simply stared in disbelief. The buildings of the city of tears were warping, bending towards something. Not only that, but there were other buildings, not like the ones in the city of tears. Those buildings were bending as well.

The knight looked at Mono, wondering if he knew what was going on. It watched as Mono gazed at the warped buildings all around them. He definitely knew something about this place. In the midst of all this confusion, the knight forgot about the injuries it gained from fighting the doctor. It needed to find a place to rest. There, it could heal up, and maybe find out what was going on.

The knight started walking forward, and Mono followed. The knight looked over the city, and saw loose clothing, hanging everywhere, TV's active, and inactive, hanging as well, and orange vines and bubbles of infection, crawling up the buildings. It couldn't believe what the city of tears had turned into. The knight continued to wander the city, and finally, it found a bench surrounded by soul particles.

The knight sat down, and then looked up at the tower in front of them. The tower was straight unlike the others, it had an orange light, buzzing on top of it, had chains surrounding the bottom of it, and all the other buildings seemed to be leaning towards it.

"The signal tower," Mono whispered.

The knight looked at Mono in confusion. What was this signal tower? Mono looked at the knight, and sat down next to it.

"That tower is the source of everything wrong here," Mono began to explain. "It broadcasts a signal through the city, making anything, and everything submit to its rule. That's why all these buildings are bending towards it."

The knight nodded, processing everything Mono said.

"I'm just explaining that because you seemed confused," he clarified. 

The knight sat on the bench with Mono, looking at the signal tower.

"Looks like it's merged with the infection," Mono said. "Maybe the two have combined, making these two cities into one."

The knight looked at Mono.

"Sorry, I was just making a theory based off of what I was seeing," Mono said. "The pale city sure has fell from what it used to be."

The Pale city? What was the pale city? The knight wondered for a while. Could it be connected to the pale king? No, this city was from Mono's world, not theirs, so it could't have any connection to the pale king.

"What do you call this place?" Mono asked, while the knight was thinking.

The knight pulled out its map, and pointed to the section labeled, "The city of tears."

Mono looked at the map, and then back at the knight.

"Perhaps this city needs a new name, with everything going on now," Mono said.

The knight nodded, a new name would be suitable, seeing that the city of tears had merged with this pale city that Mono was talking about.

"How about...the pale city of tears?" Mono suggested. 

The knight stared at Mono for a little bit.

"Yeah, I know it sounds stupid, it was just the first thing that came to mind," Mono said.

The knight didn't know anything better, so it turned the map around, and began to make a map of every place they had been to so far. Once it got caught up, it labeled the section they were in, "The Pale City of Tears." Mono looked at the map, and then looked at the knight.

"You like it?" he asked.

The knight nodded.

"Thanks!" Mono said, his voice sounding cheerier than usual.

The two sat on the bench for a while, looking at the city. The knight then remembered that their work was not yet finished, and got up from the bench. Mono got up with them, and they both walked ahead through the city. The knight looked back at the bottom of the tower, and saw the chains at the bottom of it. What were those chains for? The looked similar to the ones at the temple of the black egg.

Could the signal tower have possibly merged with the black egg, just like the pale city and the city of tears merged? The knight didn't know. It only knew what it had to do. As it walked, it remembered its main mission. To defeat the dreamers, and break the seal, protecting the temple of the black egg. Only one more dreamer remained. Lurien. 

Lurien resided in the city of tears, and luckily, The knight and Mono were in that area. The knight pressed forward, determined to put a stop to the infection, and protect its friend more than ever.

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Hey everyone! Sorry this chapter is shorter than the others, I've just had a lot of trouble thinking about what should happen next in the book. We haven't even gotten to the other phases of the book, and I'm already struggling.

Thank you for all your support on this story so far, it means a lot, and I will see you in the next chapter!