I can only wait for the final amnesia, the one that can erase an entire life" - Luis Buñuel
201X, somewhere around Mt. Ebott.
A child was frantically trying to escape their bullies, yet again. Hidden in a bush and quivering in fear, they heard their pursuers' footsteps closing in. While they succeeded in not moving a muscle, they nearly forgot to breathe out of fear, thus gasping for air a little louder than they should have ...
"Wait, I heard something moving in that bush."
Alerted, the child ran away one last time, not sure if their wobbling child-like legs would be able to take them any further.
"Over there! The little sh*t is going for the peak!"
"You'll regret making us skip lunch break for your sorry a** !"
It's been two hours since the child outran their pursuers, from the schoolyard - where most of the bullying happened. They had enough of being beaten to a pulp, robbed, and ashamed in front of their peers. Some of them spoke of a cursed mountain, and six missing children. They heard the same from yet another foster family they'd been given to.
Ditching the second period was their only window to escape, and thus they ran.
They somehow outran their foul-mouthed seniors, who probably gave up halfway to the summit as they lost track of them, and stood before a gaping hole, one they could see no end to it.
For a moment, it seemed like even that dark hole was gazing back at them, smirking at their pitiful appearance: a child covered in dead leaves and dirt, with their favorite clothes ruined and their body full of bruises and scratches.
It took some time for the exhausted child to consider a free fall, one they may not survive at all.
Was there anything else to go back to though? All they had was a life torn between one foster family to another, none of these were able or willing to properly care for them. They had to fend for themselves, and they got bullied more often than not.
Seeing that there was little to no gain in going back, they jumped into the abyss.
201X, In another plane of existence.
Strange memories flew into the Fallen's mind
They saw another human, whom they felt incredibly attached to, although they had no clear memory of them as of yet.
They could only hear them whisper: "I love you, very much so."
That same human held their hands in another flashback, locking lips as if it was a natural thing to do. It started to feel like they were their one and only, their significant other.
"Please, do not let go, your hands are warm."
Of course, it wasn't all rosy and lighthearted along the way. They had some bitter arguments and were on the verge of death more than once.
"I need some time, to think it through."
Yet in the end, they patched things up through thick and thin. After one last stand, however, death finally took its toll.
"You're here ... you made it ... I'm glad."
In their arms, was a frail-looking human in their dying breath. They were pale as snow, shivering as the life in their pupils faded.
Again, they screamed, not out of fear but of frustration.
It wasn't the end they planned at all, there were supposed to be together, grow together, and die together.
"Name your poison."
Something whispered to their ear, a growling, primal voice. It offered to give their beloved back, at a price. The world denied them that one wish, so they gave up their humanity to fulfill it.
"Nice doing business with you, partner."
All they knew became null and void.
Time stopped and then went backward.
Once again, they met a human. The one they wanted to save. They were barely alive, but at least they were there.
The child looked back at their sleeping face, then went to honor their part of the deal: Killing everything to keep their favorite human alive.
And so they did, taking countless lives and sullying their hands. They were no longer themselves; their "partner" had corrupted their very core.
"Behold the true nature of humans, you wretched monstrosity."
People they befriended along with their lover came to stop them, but they were too strong to stop.
"Ha ... Ha ... Ha ..."
They had to do it, no matter what. They were too desperate to stop, fearing for their lover's lifespan.
"I BELIEVE ... IN YOU ..."
At times, they met stronger foes. Those determined to end their carnage, those who almost finished them off.
"I won't ... give up ..."
Others went without putting up a fight, often boring them more than anything else.
"I guess you ... won't be joining ... my fan club ..."
Their best friend was the last one to stand in the way, after delaying the fight for as long as possible.
" ... kids like you ... SHOULD BE BURNING IN HELL."
Though they never made it unscathed, they lived on. They smelled of blood and charred skin, their blade never leaving their tiny hands.
Having sated their hunger, they wanted to die at their lover's hand. Only they were worthy of taking their life, only they will save what little innocence they still had.
When the blade pierced their heart, they were finally free from that filthy body of theirs. A specter came along the broken human they parted with, promising to do the right thing.
Before they left the world of the living, their demon came to make peace. Both of them parted with a lover, and both of them will soon fall asleep.
201X, once more, down the abyss.
The child opened their eyes, as much as they could manage to. They found themselves "sitting" on a golden flowerbed, bathing in a ray of sunlight.
It wasn't sitting per se, they were floating slightly above that flowerbed. The sunlight wasn't warming them up either, just passing right through them like thin air.
Were they finally dead?
The child tried moving around, testing their newly acquired situation. Of course, setting foot on anything would immediately make them phase through it. Any contact also held the same result, to which the child simply sighed.
They were dead, alone, and stuck somewhere unknown.
It was not that unpleasant, to be honest, for they will not be bothered down here. It's a good thing they're dead too, no one will exactly miss them on the Surface.
Their inexistent heart ached at the thought as if gripped by a human their age. At the same moment, they laid their eyes on another flowerbed.
A human was there, someone they'd met before, but couldn't place where that happened.
Brown hair, pale skin and dressed like them, the ghost child. They were seemingly asleep, the rise and fall of their chest were steady and quiet.
The sleeping child looked older and wasn't particularly attractive, but the ghost was incredibly nervous around them.
As the child opened their red, gleaming eyes and looked around the area in confusion, it only making things worse for the one floating beside them.
The ghost knew who that was, but they forgot everything, down to their name.
Speaking of names ... what was their own, again?