Little Dreams and Hollow Nightmares

Ph3 Ch7: Janitor

If there was one thing that the knight knew right now, it was this. Six was hiding something. Everything seemed to be saying she was. The way she ran from Mono, how she looked at the knight, and how she was hesitant to follow them. If it was Six following the knight, then it would understand. But why wouldn't she want to follow Mono? According to him, she was his best friend. Why would someone not trust their best friend?

The knight wasn't jealous. Far from it. If anything, it felt happy seeing Mono and Six reunite. After all, the knight had friends of its own that it considered best friends. But something about Six. Something didn't feel right. Whatever kind of dark energy had entered the knight, is felt similar to her. Was she the source of its hunger? Or was she just another victim of this mysterious force?

The knight searched the rooms, looking for something that could provide light. Paper wouldn't do, nor metal. So the knight kept searching the rooms.

Once it got to a dark room, it heard something. Someone was breathing. The knight had no way of seeing who it was, so it stayed still. It suddenly heard footsteps moving across the floor. There was still no light. Whatever this thing was, it didn't need to see. But as the knight stood still, it heard the footsteps coming closer. A faint orange light came into the room, revealing a massive figure, with even longer arms. His face was covered by his skin, his hands were old and boney, and his teeth were moldy and crooked.

The thing moved his arms around the room, feeling his surroundings. The knight remained absolutely still. If it moved, the thing would surely hear it. But as the knight stayed still, it looked around the room, now that there was light. As the figure walked around the room, the knight saw a lantern. Six had a lighter. That would be perfect. Suddenly, the figure started to move closer to the knight. It looked up at the approaching figure as it walked closer.

Closer.

Closer.

His hand touched the shell of the knight.

The hand inspected the shell.

Picked it up.

Shook it.

Then put it down.

The knight would've sighed if it could. That was too close. The figure left the room, letting the knight move freely again. It moved to the lantern, remembering its surroundings. Unsure if the thing was nearby, it quietly picked up the lantern. It tiptoed out of the room, and looked around for the figure's orange light. The coast was clear.

The knight moved back through the rooms, all the way back to where Mono and Six were. It arrived at the foot of the room, and jumped up and down to get their attention.

"Hey! Great job!" Mono said. "Now throw it up!"

The knight tossed the lantern up to Mono. Once he caught it, the knight used the monarch wings to leap up to the room. The first thing it noticed was that Six was scared, and hunched back at the wall. Mono handed the lantern to her, and asked her to light it. Six pulled out her lighter, a bit shakily. She lit the lantern, and Mono set it down.

"Okay, now that we've got light, how about a bit of catching up?" Mono asked.

The knight nodded, and sat down.

"Umm, I was actually wondering about something," Six said. "Do you know anything about what's going on with this place?" She asked, looking at the knight.

The knight didn't know how to respond.

"Umm, it can't talk," Mono clarified. "But, I can explain it myself."

"Ok."

"So first, the knight is from a place called Hallownest," Mono explained. "Hallownest is a kingdom of bugs, and it has this infection going on, making bugs revert to their savage minds. This infection is caused by something called the Radiance."

The knight pulled out the hunter's journal, flipped to the page about the Radiance, and showed it to Six.

"So, how did it get here?" Six asked, after reading the page.

"Well, somehow, Hallownest merged with this world," Mono explained. "The Radiance found the Signal Tower, and combined their powers together. This resulted in bringing several dead beings back to life, changing places around, restoring things that were broken, and strengthening the people around."

Six suddenly looked shocked.

"Oh no, I completely forgot about him!" She said.

"About who?" Mono asked.

"That's why his arms are back! That's why he's covered in orange goo! I didn't even think about that! I was too caught up in thinking that I was seeing things!" She said, panicked.

Six then looked at the knight.

"Did you see him? Is he real? Did you see the Janitor?" She asked.

The knight nodded, knowing what she was talking about.

"Oh no, we need to go now," she said.

"Six, who's the Janitor?" Mono asked.

"One of the horrible monsters lurking in this hellish place," she explained. "He usually patrols around these areas. If he's alive, we gotta go no-"

The knight quickly covered Six's mouth as an orange light approached. It looked at Mono, and put its hand on its shell saying, "quiet". The three if them watched as the Janitor walked around the room, reaching up and cleaning the shelves. As he moved closer, the knight started to fear the worst. He reached up his cloth to the shelf they were on. Everyone moved quietly, trying to avoid his arm. As his arm neared their lantern, a single finger of his touched the small flame.

The Janitor retracted his hand, screaming, and blowing on it.

"Run!" Mono yelled.

The three of them hopped down the shelf as the Janitor blew on his hand. As they ran, their feet slammed against the rickety wooden floors. The Janitor heard their sounds, and started chasing after them. He waved his arms around, swiping down anything that was in his way. The knight thought fast, and came up with a plan.

It broke away from the group, and ran to the Janitor's left. It let out a loud abyss shriek, making Mono and Six seem like flies buzzing their wings. The Janitor turned his attention to the loud shriek, and as it echoed through the metal halls, the knight managed to escape. Mono signaled for it to come back, and pointed to a vent. The knight arrived, and the three of them worked together to pry the vent open.

Once it opened, the sound alerted the Janitor. As he reached his arms out to grab them, the knight struck his hands with its nail. Once he was stunned, the knight jumped into the vent along with everyone else, barely getting away.

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Lemme explain something. Neither Six or the knight fully trust each other. The difference is that the knight wants to trust Six, while Six doesn't want to.

I can't figure out any other way to explain that without you guys thinking, "what the f is going on?"

Anyway, now that I got the plans back, I might be uploading a bit more. But no guarantees!

Winter break is coming up, and I won't be uploading as much during that time so be prepared!

Anyway, see you in the next chapter!