Book 2: The First Fallen Human

One Word

Cross furrowed his brow. He jumped as the red human released his SOUL and it drifted back to him. He took it back in, confused. The red human shook its head as he tried to give it back its own SOUL. Cross held it quietly, glancing between the SOUL and its owner. What did it want? He stared at it, the twisted heart drifting above his palm.

HUNGRY.

Cross jumped in shock as the voice spoke once again. Loud, breathy, and urgent. Cross realized what it had said and immediately guarded himself with wide eyes. The red human stared at him and it soon became clear that it wasn't him that it wanted. He slowly lowered his arms. "Why are you hungry?" He asked, his tone cautious. The red human blinked.

Feel alive.

That made Cross pause. "Do you not feel alive?" He questioned. The red human paused and turned away for a moment, completely silent. Cross blinked and stared at it. "Do you not feel alive?" He asked again, this time with more urgency. The red human paused again before shaking its head.

Cross blinked. "You can't just kill others..." He said, remembering the horrible things he'd heard that it did. "You can't just... EAT others!" The red human raised its head and locked its glowing eyes on him.

WHY?

Startled, Cross stared at it. "Because you shouldn't! You should NEVER kill someone unless they are an active, serious threat to you!!" Cross said, shocked that he even had to explain this. The red human blinked at him. It clearly didn't understand and that was infuriating to Cross.

"You're causing so much hurt!" He exclaimed. At that, the human-creature tipped its head.

HURT.

It echoed the word and Cross nodded. "Pain. You're causing PAIN! And it's NOT GOOD!!" He stated. The red human seemed surprised by this. Sure, Ink had been adamant on the fact that it wasn't doing anything good, but it hadn't really paid attention to him. Now this skeleton, it found him intriguing. Why was he just sitting alone in a white void like this? Was he an outcast too?

Cross stared at the red human, hoping some of his words were getting across to it. "You have to STOP!!" He finished firmly. The red human seemed taken back for a moment.

STOP.

The word echoed for a moment as Cross nodded. "Yeah! You have to STOP eating people!! You have to STOP hurting people!!" He had a begging tone to his voice. The SOUL twitched in his hand and he jumped, momentarily spooked. He managed to calm himself. "Please."

The red human tipped its head at him. It moved forward and stretched out a hand. Cross understood and reached up, handing the SOUL off to the other. He flinched as its chest ripped itself open again before the human-creature slipped the SOUL back inside. Its chest closed itself up. The red human stared at him for another moment.

"I don't know what you're going to do now, but STOP EATING PEOPLE." Cross said shakily. The red human blinked, but that was the only sign of acknowledgement he could get out of it. It turned away and reached up, drawing a large hole in the world with its hand. He watched as it moved through before shrieking as the hole snapped shut with a loud snap.

Cross realized he'd been holding his breath and released it, shaking. He sat back on the ground, his skeletal palm tingling where the SOUL had drifted over it. He was wide-eyed. What the hell had that even been?? He was in awe.

"What the hell was THAT??" Chara's voice made him jump and he turned on them with a glare. They snorted and rolled their eyes. Cross sat quietly, trying to make sense of what he'd learned from the red human.

"It eats others so it can feel alive..." He muttered to himself. He glanced over at Chara and paused at their baffled face. "What?"

"Sounds like a zombie movie I watched once. They ate to feel alive, like, that was their EXACT reason!" Chara exclaimed, shrugging. Cross stared at them before realizing something.

"Did you not hear it speak?" He asked in confusion. Chara blinked at him before shaking their head. Cross found that extremely odd. "That's... strange... can't you usually hear what I can?" Chara nodded. They even seemed a bit troubled at the thought that they hadn't heard it speak.

"What else did it tell you?" Chara asked quietly. Cross shook his head. The red human hadn't told him much at all. But he could tell one thing. It had little to no idea that it had been causing pain and hurt. That baffled him. Wouldn't it have been obvious? The repercussions of its actions?

"It didn't say much at all... but I don't think it truly grasps the fact that it was hurting people..." Cross mumbled, sitting crisscross next to his giant blade. Chara grunted as they lowered themselves to sit next to him. They snorted.

"You'd think it'd be pretty obvious that it's hurting people when the people it's eating are screaming and shit." They rolled their eyes, scoffing quietly. Cross wasn't so sure. Maybe that was just what the creature was used to.

"Maybe that's just all it knows..." He suggested, shrugging. Chara seemed less than thrilled at the idea.

"Then that's REALLY messed up!" They exclaimed, sighing. They seemed disturbed by the statement, nonetheless. They seemed bothered, tapping their fingers against their leg. "You think all DETERMINATION would be like this? It DETERMINATION usually had a physical form, do you think it would all be this bad?"

Cross blinked at the question before shaking his head. "No... I think it just got in with the wrong crowd. Relied too heavily on its natural urges of eating. And then meeting an evil being like Shattered Dream probably didn't help its case." He didn't know how to feel about it.

On one hand, he was horrified of it, for eating monsters and humans alike. On the other, he felt bad. It was a shadow of Scooter. Not even capable of developing itself further. Something that wanted to be alive, but didn't know how. Cross buried his head in his hands.

"Stars, what a mess..."