The Sixth | Ekko

Chapter Sixty-Two

Momo watched Ekko's chest rise and fall with every slow breath he took. His face was still loose in sleep, peaceful and contrasting the rampage of thoughts in her head.

She was lying beside him and facing him, while his arm was draped over her waist, twitching occasionally.

She thought he might be dreaming.

She had a choice to make, each one at war with the other. She either had to leave him behind, or tell him everything.

She couldn't tell which option would hurt him less. The longer she lingered on it, the more she realized it wasn't about what choice would inflict less pain—it was about what was safest.

Telling him about his parents risked him putting himself in danger in order to get them back. She couldn't let that happen. Perhaps it would make her selfish—taking the choice away from him before he even knew he had one. However, she'd rather be selfish than risk his getting hurt.

She chose to leave without waking him to avoid the delay of having to suffer through a heart wrenching farewell. She also knew that if she woke him up now, she would become even more hesitant to leave. Daunter was waiting for her, and was probably questioning why she was taking so long. She couldn't stretch this any further.

She slowly slid out from underneath his arm, leaving it to flop onto the bed where she once lay. She idled the side of the bed, the sight of him underneath the sheets making her reconsider what she was about to do.

She sighed quietly. It was temporary, she assured herself. He'd understand in the end.

She stepped closer, the ends of the sheets that fell over the side of the bed brushing against her legs. She leaned forward and pressed a phantom of a kiss to his temple. A wordless apology.

As she descended the stairs to the first floor, she vowed that she would make freeing his parents her priority. Once they were safe, she would return to him and explain everything. Together, they would uncover what was happening with both realities and find a way to stop it.

She picked up the book she'd dropped then paused to look upon the painting of her alternate self and their other selves' child. She still didn't know how he knew about them. The only explanation she could think of was there being something within The Last Drop from the other reality he might've found pertaining to their alternate selves.

Her determination amplified, knowing that it wasn't just their world at stake. It was the alternate one as well. That determination was accentuated by stress, the weight of having the responsibility of such a thing on her shoulders heavy on her mind and pushing symptoms through her body—panic rising in her chest and nausea in her tummy.

She forced herself to look away, knowing that lingering here would only make things worse.

She left through the door.

The lab felt colder than normal—the dampness in the air more prominent, as if the room could feel her emotional distress and was mirroring it. The waterfall had also been cut off by the closing door in Janna's eye, leaving the space barren of sound and much light, the blister shrooms gone dim from the lack of noise.

Six dropped the heavy book onto the workbench, the nearby shrooms twitching to life at the sound for only a few seconds before fading again. It was too dark to read any of it, and even if it wasn't, she wouldn't do so now.

She needed to form a plan to free Ekko's parents without delay.

Since her arrival here, she hadn't gone to visit them, knowing that they probably recognize her because they thought she was dead. That and they hadn't seen her since she was a child, and her hair was plum coloured now. She also wouldn't be able to tell them who she was because her burn mark prevented her from saying her own name.