Mono + Six Afterstory || Little Nightmares II

Twenty-Five

Riley shrunk away after his outburst, showing his shame as Julie walked to the bed. To their surprise, another woman walked in behind her, one that only Six and Mono knew the identity of.

"Are you feeling alright, darling?" Jezebelle sat down next to the bed; her presence was enough to return Mono's breathing to normal. He was relieved to see her.

"I'm okay. I just feel really tired." He answered her truthfully, pausing afterwards to gain some confidence to ask what was on his mind. "Is my mom...?" He trailed off, unable to form the words that scared him so.

The woman frowned initially at his questioning, expressing her aversion to discussing the subject of her sister. "I...um..." She stammered, choking up from the mere mention. "She's..." Once again, her words wouldn't come out. It was simply too hard for her to admit such a thing. Mono understood what this meant.

He thought he would be sad, and maybe he was, but he couldn't feel anything—just the numbness of his body, heart, and mind. He wasn't exactly shocked to hear this news, unfortunately. "Please, tell me what happened..."

Jezebelle let out a strained breath upon hearing Mono's request, wiping her tears just as quickly as they fell. "It was suicide. I'm sorry, dear." She watched Mono closely, noticing that he didn't move an inch. "I did not want to tell you, because I felt like you might blame yourself after what happened." After explaining the reasoning behind her reluctance, she dropped her head in disappointment, sniffling subtly as more tears fell. "If anyone is to blame, it's me. Why, I was so frightened by her actions that I was unsure how to calm her down. And quite honestly, I was so furious at her for treating you that way. I will never know what was going through her head, but perhaps that is for the best." Her speech was thoughtful and reassuring, enough to provide a reason for Mono to stay calm.
Regardless of his feelings, his aunt took a moment to herself to calm down and then introduced a different subject to lighten the mood. "I know you and your mother weren't very close after the things she said and did to your father, but even though I let her stay with me, I still visited your father in the hospital. Oh, how I loved him, I really did. He was a great man. He told me to take care of you if anything ever happened to him. I could never utter a word to Mira about it." Her words were full of emotion, voice carrying the passion of sorrow and happiness at the same time. "I can finally do something now; I promise to make sure you grow up to be a fine young man." She was finally smiling towards the end of her message, though it was weak and shaky, just like her frail hand that she reached over to Mono.

The grieving boy was touched by Jezebelle's vow, and felt more connected to her after having heard how close she was with his father. He couldn't resist also smiling—her happiness had always been so contagious, which is likely why all the other kids were smiling too. "I want to stay with you in the city. I want to finally be a normal kid." His tone was laced with desperation, which is likely why Jezebelle's was too, in response.

"Of course. Let's go then, shall we? It's best we stick together for now." She helped Mono up and waited for him to come closer, but to no avail. He had his worried eyes glued to Pericia.

"I was going to take Perry back to her mom..." He admitted this calmly, staring back up at Jezebelle longingly even though she couldn't see his expression.

Thankfully, Mono didn't have to fret; when Pericia spoke up to reassure him, he was immediately touched by her patience. "Don't you even think about leaving your aunt. You go spend time with her. I'll be just fine." The proper young girl didn't hesitate in her response whatsoever, and Mono truly felt like he could hug her, but he didn't want to make things weird.

"Don't worry, Mono. I'll go in your place. Just make sure you brag about me a lot while I'm gone." Suddenly Six interjected, her typical devilish grin decorating her face. She had of course forgotten that Julie was in the room as well, and tensed up when she walked over to scold her.