Little Dreams and Hollow Nightmares

Ph3 Ch24: Melody of Forgiveness

Six breathed heavily, trying her best to not stop running. She didn't dare look back. She could hear the voices taunting her as she ran.

"Why did you do it?" "I thought I was your friend." "I just wanted to help you." "Why did I mean nothing to you?"

Six kept running, ignoring every voice and every word that entered her mind. She ran and ran, until all of a sudden, the voices stopped. The sounds ceased. Everything was perfectly quiet. Six took deep breaths. For now, she was safe.

Or so she thought.

A burst of black energy slammed down behind her, sending her flying. Six fell onto the hard ground, and looked where the burst came from. She shrieked, and started crawling away. She heard the thing walking closer. She tried to move faster, but she was too hurt to move. Even now, she was surprised she could even crawl. The thing reached her, and picked her up from her neck. Six started shaking in fear. She tried to break free, but the thing was too strong. She looked down in terror.

She stared into the vengeful eyes of the knight. It drew its nail, and violently shoved it into her chest without mercy.

Six gasped as she woke up. She looked around, making sure everything was just a dream. Once she confirmed it was a dream, she curled up into a ball, and started crying. She reached in her raincoat, and pulled out Mono's paper bag. It was all that was left of him. The bag's eye holes looked back at Six as if Mono's face was still behind them. Six hugged the bag, holding it close to her chest, and cried even more.

"It really is a shame, isn't it?" A familiar voice asked.

Six didn't even look up.

"You ate your best friend. Your best friend in the entire world. He did nothing but help, protect, and encourage you. And how did you repay him? By eating him. That's how," shadow Six teased.

Six didn't pay any attention to her shadow.

"You chose to eat him. You chose to ignore the sausage. You chose to betray him. Again," her shadow said. "You really are a monster."

"I am a monster," Six said under her breath. "I'm the worst monster of all."

Six cried, and cried, and cried. Hugging Mono's bag, she wished that this was a dream as well.

"Six?"

Six looked up. She heard a very familiar voice. But, that voice couldn't have been real.

"Six?"

The voice called out again. Six stood up, looking all around. Where was the voice coming from? And why did it sound so much like... Mono?

"Six? Are you there?" The voice said.

Six covered her ears. The voice wasn't real. It couldn't be real. Mono was gone, and he wasn't coming back. Six heard the voice coming closer and closer. She closed her eyes, begging for the voice to stop. She opened them, to try and see where it was coming from. Once she did, she became as still as stone. She looked across the room, shaking uncontrollably. The knight was right in front of her.

Six stared at the knight, not knowing what to do. The knight stared back with its empty, hollow eyes. The knight took a single step forward, and Six's survival instincts kicked in. She sprinted through the rooms, terrified of what the knight would do to her if it caught up. She heard the knight's footsteps, and the sound of it dashing towards her. Six gave all her might to run just a bit faster. She closed her eyes again, hoping that this was a dream as well.

Suddenly, she found herself falling into a large pit. She opened her eyes, and screamed. She braced herself for the impact, but felt herself being pulled by her raincoat, and onto a wall. She looked at the thing who pulled her, and screamed again once she saw it was the knight. She swiped its hand away, and managed to land safely on the floor of the pit. She ran around, looking for a way out, but everything was blocked off. She tried to climb the wall, but it was too smooth. The knight also tried to climb the wall, but it's mantis claw wouldn't grip anymore surfaces.

With no way out, Six curled up against the nearest wall, and started to beg for her life.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to! I didn't mean to kill him! I didn't want to! Please don't kill me!" She begged.

She expected the knight to ignore her pleadings, and walk right up to her, but it didn't. Six looked up, and saw the knight just standing in place, looking at her.

"Why aren't you moving?" Six asked. "Aren't you going to kill me?"

The knight shook its head.

"But... aren't you mad at me?"

The knight shook its head again.

"Do you even feel anything?!" Six yelled.

The knight shook its head yet again.

Six stopped. Was it telling the truth? Did it really not feel anything anymore? Did it break apart after it learned Mono was dead? Was it really not going to kill her?

"You're lying," Six said. "I know you want to kill me. Everyone does. Everyone hates me!" She yelled.

"Everyone I've ever tried to help has betrayed me, hurt me, and left me to die! Even when someone trusts me, they always die because of me! No one has ever tried to help me! And once someone did, I left them to die because I thought they were going to betray me! AGAIN!" Six yelled. "I just want to survive! I just want to live! I just want to be safe from death! But no matter what I do, or what I try, something inside me always takes everything good away from me! OVER, AND OVER, AND OVER AGAIN! I try to be good, I try to be nice, I try to be a good friend, but I always get everything I want, TAKEN AWAY!"

Six spilled out every word she kept away. She let every thought leave her head. And once it was all gone, she fell to the ground, crying even more than both times before.

"I'm a monster," she said. "I don't deserve anything good in this world. The only thing I deserve... is to die."

Six cried her eyes out. She heard the knight walking closer to her. This is it. This is where I die, she thought. She closed her eyes, and waited for the knight to pierce her head with its nail.

But then, she heard a sound. A melody. A nice, calming melody of notes. She looked up, and saw the knight holding a small object. It placed the object on the ground, and pushed it towards Six. Six looked at the object. It was a pale, white, beautiful music box. It had white vines at the bottom, and beautiful white petals at the top. Six crawled to the music box, and reached out for it. She lifted the box off the floor, and held it in her arms. She listened to its calming melody, and stared at its beautiful pale color.

Six looked up at the knight. It was sat down, watching her, and listening to the music box. A similar melody came from the knight, harmonizing with the music box. Six didn't know what to say. How could it forgive her? Even if it didn't feel anything, she still killed its friend. She was still a horrible monster. So why? How could it forgive her? Perhaps it knew her thoughts. Maybe it knew she didn't want to kill Mono.

Maybe, just maybe, it knew she still needed a Mono to reach out to her, and take her hand.

Six and the knight sat there together, listening to the beautiful melody of forgiveness.

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No! You can't upload another chapter! Not after you said you'd take the rest of the week off!

Haha sugary coffee go brrrrrr.

Jk! I lied! I'm going to post one more chapter this week. I just really wanted to get this chapter out after MONTHS of planning it.

These last few chapters were very important to me, and I'm so glad I get to share them with you now! Thank you for reading them, and as always,

See you in the next chapter!