aterat | Little Adventures

Entry tags:

Little Adventures

Who; Mono and all of you!
What; Open Logs!
Where; Market shops, Park, Harbour district
When; Mid-August to now
Warnings; None aside from parts of a weird kids song in the last one atm, but I will update if anything comes up since Mono does come from a canon that can have sensitive topics.

Melancholic Melody - Something charming about the sound of a music box.

Mono had learned to budget what money he managed to get, and he was looking forward to having an actual job soon to make that easier… But he should be saving what he had for now to buy bread at a discount later from the baker’s stall. Or saving it away to buy clothes, or to get the ones he had repaired.

What the child was currently doing was staring in the window of an old-fashioned shop that had music boxes in the window. Specifically, one that worked with a little crank on the side… It wasn’t the same, of course, as the one he remembered seeing… But it was close enough that it had caught Mono’s attention enough for him to press his face against the glass and stare at it pensively. He wasn’t sure why, but he wanted to buy it… Just in case Six showed up.

It wasn’t like he owed her one. The more he thought about music boxes, the more that nagging, prickling sensation from the back of his mind bothered him. Almost like he did owe her one. Like he had a reason to feel kind of bad, like he’d done something.

But he remembered her having a music box in the Hunter’s cabin… And it had seemed important to her then… So maybe that was why? Maybe it was simply because he hadn’t stopped to grab it and take it with them when they fled that horrible place.

So anyone walking by would see the kid staring intently, as though debating something of great importance. Humming under his breath as he tried to remember the melody, and wondering what the one in the shop sounded like.

Learning that nature can be fun - Climbing trees or getting on eye level with the creatures!

Mono tended to stick to the city since arriving, but slowly he’d eventually gotten curious enough to venture into the park. He’d never seen so much green, or so many interesting creatures before. The forest that the… Hunter’s cabin… had been in had been ominous and full of fog and a number of very unpleasant things and sights.

The park was bright and green, and the sound of wildlife was far more inviting than the squawking of the crows (although he had happened upon a few in his time here) feasting on who knew what. Mono had to admit… Nature like this? It was kinda nice. He still didn’t think he’d be wandering into the actual forest anytime soon, but he was happy to run around in the grass or climb the trees there to get a better view of the park and what people were doing in it.

Mono could be found doing just that, or if you happened to spot the child later in the day? He was lying on his stomach next to the pond, feet kicking in the air lightly as he poked at the water and considered some frogs that were swimming around or sitting on the rocks nearby.

Sent on a ferry upon our sea - Why are kids songs … so weird?

Mono, like any child, got little ideas in his head when he was bored that may or may not make sense to everyone else. He liked to wander, and today had found him wandering around the harbour district. Specifically, near the docks. The child was wandering down the weathered wooden planks, bare footfalls drowned out by the sound of him humming a song stuck in his head, and sometimes the odd pieces of the song being sung quietly. “Having a nightmare in a boat. Come with me, oh no, no, no…” Humming a little more, he never could figure out all the actual lyrics. The bullies always sounded so garbled and… honestly, he was pretty sure they changed them sometimes. “He’s gone, he’s gone, he’s gone… Don’t leave me. No more bellman among the sea.”

Mono sat on the edge of the docks, his little feet dangling over the edge as he considered a little rowboat. He’d been on the river before. It was kind of nice and peaceful. Just floating across it on the door… It still had taken him back to the Pale City, but it had been nice after the horrors of the forest. And the child couldn’t deny that, as daunting as it had been, he felt like he’d been meant to return there. “Run, run, here comes Veronica… Sent on a ferry upon our sea.”

Tugging his yellow sou’wester hat a little more snug on his head and down over his eyes, he finally slipped off the edge to hop into the little rowboat. Exploring the inside of it for anything interesting. Wondering absently how hard it might be to go out in it.

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Mono nodded a little at that, “I think so... I think she really liked the song that it played, like it meant something to her.” He never really figured that out, though. Six was even more quiet than he tended to be... And he’d gotten her out of a very scary place. “I miss her a lot...” And he’d just lost her before being dragged here, had fallen for something that seemed so foolish now. She’d even tried to stop him, so it was his fault.

He tilted his head a little though, “Without magic? So there are ones that work with magic? I know these are all full of metal and little gear things... If you aren’t careful, they can break.” He wasn’t entirely sure how he knew that, but it sounded right.

"I miss him too," Rhy answered, letting Mono know he isn't alone on his feelings. But the rest?

He shook his head.

"In my home, if magic can do, it does do. The idea of little boxes with magic that work by pieces of metal is breathtaking to me."

Mono frowned sadly. It was nice to know he wasn’t the only person who missed someone… But he still felt kind of bad; he knew how much it bothered him to be separate from his friend. To know they needed him to save them, and that he was here instead of there. “I’m sorry… People keep telling me that maybe she’ll show up here, but I dunno… But maybe they both will?” Still, here was better than there and so he kind of hoped others were right.

“That’s kinda neat, though? That magic can do things like make pretty music and stuff.” He responded, tilting his head up at Rhy again. “People with power in my world don’t do nice things like that.” He looked back to the window again, looking at the box again. “But there’s lots of stuff with gears and electric things.”

Who knew. Maybe they would. But Rhy didn't hold his breath. He hadn't seen his mother, after all. Or his father. Perhaps it was for the better, the chance to grow.

To not see Alucard.

"Magic can do many things," he said, his hand coming up to touch his chest.

“Yeah, not all of it good… At least not that I saw.” The kid responded, shuddering a little as he thought about the porcelain bullies. He was pretty sure they were made of magic… They didn’t have gears, just shadows and smoke that escaped when you broke them. He just wasn’t sure who made them.

But he was trying to not sound too curious about Rhy’s world, with the idea of pretty things being done with magic.. Everything was far too warped where he was from, and pretty things were few and far between. The music box itself had been rather out of place, but it had suited Six in its own way.

"Magic is not often inherently good or bad. It is the people who use it that choose the bad or good," Rhy answered.

But he couldn't say it was NEVER good or bad. Osaron was magic. Only magic.

"Would you like a music box?"

“Yeah… A few people told me that too.” Which was good to have constant reinforcement on. Mono had been forced to come to some very unfortunate conclusions concerning himself and his own powers while in his world. And considering there were no adults who were… well, capable of speech for the most part, it wasn’t like he’d ever had people before this world to explain that it wasn’t the case.

The question gets a little uncertain nod. “Yeah… I kinda want it… Just in case, you know? I don’t know if they’re expensive or not though, and I was supposed to save this for the market…” He hummed a little, eyes drifting to the box again. Was it worth it? Probably not, but it just felt important to Mono.

"I don't think my magic is evil," Rhy shrugged. But he also didn't have very much. So what did he know.

But the question raised is one that gets Rhy to think. How can he get this child what he wants?

"Let us go inside. Many boxes have different music. Let's find music you like."

Mono blinked a little. He hadn’t thought about that side of it. “Oh! I um... I don’t think your magic is evil! I just... My world’s weird.” He fussed a little with the button on his coat. “I didn’t know you even had magic.” Which wasn’t odd, he supposed. Most people here didn’t know Mono had power, either.

The kid was surprised by the offer and hesitated for a moment as he looked in the window. But... Well, with someone as fancy as Rhy, at least he wouldn’t be thrown out for looking... right? He couldn’t be accused of stealing or making a mess! “Okay! Um... It’d be fun to hear what they sound like.”

"My world is weird too," Rhy promised softly as he offered a hand out to Mono. Come on, let him take you in.

"My magic is very weak. I can barely light a candle. Actually, most days I can't. Probably for the best. But yes, come in and we will find ones we like."

Rhy’s soft promise gets a curious tilt of the child’s head. Weird too, huh? That… Actually was kind of comforting. Also sad, considering weird meant kind of scary and bad to the kid. But that made two people, Rhy and Illyana, to confirm they were from somewhere weird too… So it made him feel a little less alone in that.

The offered hand gets taken surprisingly quickly considering his usual caution, it was almost an instinct. A reminder of his time with Six after they’d met at the hunter’s cabin. It had been very important to not get separated, and holding hands had ensured that. “I can’t control my power very good either.” He responded as he let Rhy lead him inside. “Sometimes I break stuff with it.” He shattered more than a few televisions since he figured out some of what he could do.

“I bet they sound really pretty, they all look nice.” Mono added a moment later on the subject of music boxes, looking around the shop expectantly. They always looked pretty, even the simple ones, and he was eager to hear what they sounded like. He really hoped there was one that might sound close to Six’s.

"I don't break things with it so much as can't control it. And when one is a fire magician..."

Well, clearly that's a problem. But his goal was taking the boy in. The vendor watched them carefully and Rhy let his fingers glide over wooden boxes.

"Let's start here," Rhy said, opening a box and listening to the music starting to tinkle out of it."

And, of course, Mono’s expression is the slightest bit more serious than you’d expect as he listened to Rhy explaining rather vaguely why it wasn’t good to not have much control over fire magic. Among the many unfortunate things Mono had experience with in his shortish life, fire was a big one. There was a reason there wasn’t an orphanage left, there had been a fire and then a monster had come for the children. So he escaped, and his travels began. “Oh… Fire is really hard to stop if it gets away, that’d be a hard magic for sure.”

Giving the shop keeper a shy, hesitant glance, he squeezed Rhy’s hand a little more tightly as they passed them by walking over to the display of music boxes. “These are really pretty.” He commented, peering over the top of the counter they were on. It really was nice to be able to see over counter tops, made this so much easier.

“I wonder what the song is called.” He commented curiously as the music began to play. Mono knew most songs were written by people, even if he didn’t know who or what the names of songs were. The music from Six’s he’d just ended up thinking of as ‘Six’s song.’

"A very hard magic," Rhy agreed. He needed his brother to control when he lost it, and Kell wasn't here to help people, so what was the point in even touching the power that barely even existed in Rhy?

"I wish I knew as well," Rhy answered, thoughtful as he looked at the box. But he still had an idea. "Perhaps you could hum what you remember? Maybe they will have something similar."

Mono’s attention perked up a little as Rhy shared his idea. It might just work, or at least make it easier for the man to help find something similar to what the child was thinking when he started looking at the music boxes. Standing a little straighter, he peered at the collection thoughtfully. “I could do that. I dunno why, but I remember what it sounds like better than other things.” Probably because it felt important where he’d heard it when he first met his friend.

Mono started to hum a few small notes, a bit uncertain at first where he wasn’t really used to it. Still, he felt like he got the hang of it and the tone steadied a bit. Pulling the memory of the soft, slow melody from his mind. Once he thought that probably was enough, he fell silent and tilted his head at Rhy expectantly. “Was that okay?”

"You remember it because you have strong memories of it," Rhy answered.

He remembered his mother's voice, for instance. Though he knew that would fade. Rhy gestured the merchant closer to listen too, and they both listened as they child tried to hum along. The Merchant was quickly trying to draw out the notes a bit, thoughtful.

"Well, keep it in mind. We'll let the shop keeper think while we go listen to more boxes, yes?"

Mono tried to focus on what he was doing when the merchant was drawn over to listen as well. Being the focal point of several people’s attention so directly was a little unnerving for the kid… But he trusted Rhy, and the merchant had seemed quite intent on writing what he thought might be notes down. So he did his best, then nodded as his friend suggested they move on. “Okay, that’s a good idea.”

He liked the idea of listening to more boxes, anyway. Even if they weren’t matches for the song he knew, it was still fun to listen to them and admire how pretty they were decorated. “There are so many kinds.” He commented as he lifted the lid on a box that was painted blue with a yellow moon and stars dotting it. “The ones at home were kinda mostly metal, and they weren’t painted as bright.” Though he supposed that they might have all faded with age… Most things were quite muted or washed out looking in the pale city.

"There are," Rhy agreed as he ran his fingers over one that had a redder colored wood. "Back home they are often inlaid with jewels or precious stones. But I have seen ones made from single pieces of stone, or never melting ice, because magic can allow that."

They were art, and he missed the form of them. His heart ached even more to miss his brother.

"We shall find something lovely."

“Really?” He tilted his head curiously, carefully closing the lid on the box with stars. “I’ve never seen anything like that before… I guess magic does really pretty stuff sometimes?” That was very nice to think of, that there were worlds where (while still complicated) some nice things were done with magic and powers.

Mono eyed the red wood box that Rhy was focused on. He noticed the man wore a lot of red, so maybe it was his favourite colour? He actually disliked red personally, but he was keeping that detail to himself. Mono didn’t think it would be nice to tell that to someone who was so nice to him. “Yeah! All of these are really nice, there’s just a lot more to look at than I thought.” He responded with a look across the selection again, hand moving to a carved one with a varnish that made it look glossy.

"The beauty of Arnes is entirely in the magic," he agreed with a soft smile. Magic made such beautiful things.

Corrupted magic, though... It killed. Had killed him.

"Artists will create to great degrees, and I think that works very well."

“It sounds really pretty then, Mr. Rhy.” The complete opposite of the Pale city… Though, if Rhy had brought it up? The kid definitely knew well how power corrupted, and… how it very well could continue to corrupt.

“Making art and things look nice seems like a really important thing to be good at. Everything is all sad and gray otherwise.” He responded with a little nod, reaching to turn the key in a box that was silent when he lifted the lid. “You make people’s clothes look nice, so that’s kinda like an art too… right?”

The child's pale city might not be too different from White London in the long run, so he knew how to fear that.

But he laughed to consider his work art.

"One day I will be good enough for it to be art. For now I work the hardest I can just to earn smiles."

The Pale City was certainly well on its way to ruin, and it had very few people who still had their wits left to do anything about it. Though Black London might be closer than White for a comparison. Not quite… but closer.

Mono tilted his head at the man’s laughter. “I dunno why it wouldn’t be art now, just because you’re practising to get better at it.” The kid commented curiously. It seemed good to keep trying to get better, but did not being good at your art mean it wasn’t art?

What? Rhy looked to the boy, a bit shocked. He hadn't expected that statement. Not at all. It made his heart ache in delight.

"You have a lot of insight, young man."

Mono hadn’t really expected the shock, “Do I? I just thought it made sense.” He responded, but there was one of his rare smiles, feeling quite proud of himself for it. After all, if it made his friend feel better about his art, then that was great. Mono, after all, thought anyone who could make things colourful and pretty was good. He liked getting to see things that were more vibrant, it made things seem more full of life than he was used to.

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