Geno held his breath while wrapping the bandages around Ink's injuries. This time they were really bad and he was having trouble getting the bleeding under control.

The artist gritted his teeth in pain, cursing under his breath. Geno mumbled a quick apology.

"Doesn't look good.." he mumbled, glancing around the medical tent for Reaper. The God of Death was nowhere to be seen. "Hold still," he ordered the artist.

Ink hissed, trying to pull his arm away. Geno frowned and continued holding the it tighter to make his job easier.

"I wish our Ringmaster was here.. He could do this better.." Geno voiced his thoughts. "Sorry.." he apologised as Ink winced again.

"It's my own fault.. I got myself injured like this. You're doing a good job," Ink answered, trying to hide the painful expression on his face.

"I can't even properly heal you because my magic's been acting off.." Geno admitted, looking down. Guilt and regret flashed in his eye lights.

"What do you mean?" Ink's eye lights switched to question marks and his browbones knitted together.

"Don't worry about it.." Geno brushed him off, laughing nervously. "It's nothing serious.." He refused to meet Ink's eye lights.

"Everything okay in here?" Reaper floated into the tent with a coffee in hand.

Geno stiffed, not turning around to look at his husband. "Mind taking over for a moment? I'm a bit exhausted on the moment.." he mumbled, looking down.

Reaper tipped his skull, concerned he asked: "Is something wrong?" He leaned against Geno, nuzzling their cheekbones together.

"Just feeling a bit under the weather.." Geno answered before slipping out of Reaper's arms and rushing through the door in the back without looking at the other two even once. Guilt coated his face, but they couldn't see it.

Once the door closed behind him, Geno leaned against it and slid down. He buried his skull in his hands.

His eyes shifted to little Goth, who was peacefully sleeping in his own cradle. He wrapped on of his arms around his middle, pulling his feet closer to his chest, keeping the other hand on his mouth to quiet out his sobs, trying not to wake up his baby.

How could he explain this to Reaper? He couldn't hide it forever and lying would only work for a while. He didn't want to hurt Reaper. And he really needed to speak with Dust..

Goth's quiet whining snapped him out of his thoughts and he was quick to rush to the small skeleton. Geno lifted the baby into his arms, trying to pull on a smile for the little one.

Goth leaned against his chest, seeming pleasantly surprised by feeling the soft ecto flesh instead of hard bone. Geno just pulled him close, holding back his tears.

This whole situation was his own fault, (and maybe Dust's as well) and he had to find a solution to it before it was too late.

-----

     The temperature outside had dropped drastically overnight. Cross was shivering when he walked through the snowy scenery.

Suddenly the coldness wasn't only in the air, but in his brain as well. He stiffed, immediately knowing who was walking behind him.

"Cross, it's rude to walk away when someone wants to speak to you," a familiar, smooth yet cold voice called out, making him stop dead in his tracks.

"Have you gotten the chance to meet 404 yet?" Nightmare asked as Cross turned around to face him. "Our technology guy," he added, studying Cross' behaviour.

Cross was able to hide his shock and just raised an eyebrow. "I don't think that I know who you're talking about," he lied.

"Well, thanks to him, I know have a bit more information about you," Nightmare hummed, grinning widely.

Cross felt his whole body seize up. His mind went blank, breath getting caught in his throat. He knew it was over for him. He knew that Four knew enough to dig up his entire back story if he wanted to.

"Your name is Cross Peñaloza, am I right?" Nightmare tilted his skull, smirking.

Cross stared at him, dumbfounded, teeth gaped open. He wanted to ask if the Ringmaster was joking, but he didn't dare. There was no way that he didn't know, not if he had asked Four, because Four definitely knew.

"What's with that look?" Nightmare inquired, but he didn't seem surprised by this reaction. He kept his mysterious, cold smirk on his teeth.

"That is..." Cross managed to choke out.

"Not correct," Nightmare finished for him. Cross felt his breath hitch. "I know," the Ringmaster hummed, keeping his smirk on.

"You came here at the age of 18, eight years ago, but there's no information about you before or after that, which leads me to the conclusion that you come from a questionable background and changed your name once you arrived to the city." The accuracy of Nightmare's guess made Cross' spine shiver.

"Tell me Cross, is there something else I should know about you?" the twisted man inquired, never-dying grin remaining on his teeth.

"Absolutely no." Cross wanted to answer.

"Absolutely no." Cross didn't answer.

"Just asking won't be enough," he instead answered, coldly, showing no other emotions. The Ringmaster's grin widened immediately.

"Ah, giving me a little challenge, aren't you?" he sang, stepping closer, one of his tentacles brushed against Cross' cheek.

"It's a bit creepy to go snooping around others' personal information, don't you agree so?" Cross dared to voice his thoughts, keeping on a poker face.

The Ringmaster raised a browbone, chuckling, "I mean, you are my property after all. You signed the contract, you belong to me, just like everyone else here. I can do anything I want to with you, so looking for information about you is no huge deal!"

Cross' SOUL stopped for a second. His blood ran cold. Yeah, he had kinda forgotten about that part and hadn't wished to be reminded of it.

"So, mind if I ask for your current last name? It would make my research a lot more easier," Nightmare sang, running another tentacle on Cross' cheekbone.

"Where's the fun in that?" Cross dared to ask, ignoring how fast his SOUL was beating. "You can't get everything you want that easily," he continued. Any one of the cold words that escaped his mouth could end up being his last.

Nightmare raised a browbone, clearly amused by this sudden bravery. "Well, everyone needs a last name, so why don't I just give you mine?" And Cross felt the whole world stop.

After seconds – which for Cross felt like an eternity – the Ringmaster continued: "I can't really have a half nameless performer in my books, so this is the best option for you. Unless you want to tell me what your actual last name is, you'll be Cross Joku from now on. How does that sound?"

Cross' spiral of emotions was cut off before it could reach the Ringmaster's powers. Chara could tell the surprise on his face when he noticed all of Cross' shock just disappear in a blink of an eye and be replaced by pure coldness.

"Wouldn't that be a bit strange?" Chara asked in Cross' voice, trying to keep their rage down, below the surface.

"I don't think so," Nightmare hummed, grinning as widely as before. He seemed to be clearly satisfied with Cross' little stubbornness.

"Well–" A gloved finger rested on Cross' teeth.

"As much as I would love to keep talking to you, I do have other things to do. I will see you later, Cross Joku." Nightmare left no space for any arguments as he disappeared into the shadows, leaving Chara in pure disbelief and shock.

"Fuck it, time to go hunt down the hacking bastard.." they growled, rushing forwards. All the signs of Cross were gone. They didn't know where he had gone, but it didn't matter on the moment. He would show up, eventually.

-----

     The tent flap flew open as Chara stormed in Four's tent, not even bothering to ring the bell, but the hacker didn't seem surprised at all.

"It's been a few years, hasn't it?" He grinned, tilting his skull while Chara glared daggers in his direction, Cross' eye lights now clearly red.

"How much do you know.?" they hissed, gritting their teeth.

Four's grin grew wider, "Oh, I know everything!" he assured them. "It wasn't hard to guess who you started dating after escaping from the war. I even know the names of" – a picture of three young skeletons flashed on Four's computer screen – "these three! And their birth- and death dates!"

Chara was stunned, starting at him, completely speechless. Even they felt sick to their stomach despite this not being about them, but Cross instead.

"I can get my hands on any information I want to. All the years of training in an actual war weren't completely useless. Compered to that, this is a piece of cake," Four explained, smirking at Chara's reaction.

"T-then why did you lie to the Ringmaster..?" they stuttered, not managing to process their thoughts properly.

"Nightmare wasn't the one who hired me. And believe it or not: but I'm somewhat loyal to whoever has hired me. He had only one request for me and I won't break the promise I made to him. He saved my life quite a few times during the war. So for his sake I can lie to Nightmare, and with your name change it works perfectly." The words weren't enough to assure anything to Chara. They didn't trust Four and they never would.

"I don't trust you.." they snarled at him, furrowing Cross' browbones.

Four didn't seem surprised. "What do you think Nightmare would do if he found out your past?" he asked, a challenging tone in his voice.

"I'd rather not find out.." Chara snapped, but in reality they had no idea. Their past was why Cross had originally decided to come to the circus and why they were trying to get the truth out of the Ringmaster. When push comes to show the Ringmaster won't be happy to find out that they're just trying to fish information out of him. Or well, that would be the plan if Cross hadn't already screwed it up by letting his emotions take control of his actions.

"Heh, the only reason he doesn't know it yet is because I made a promise," Four reminded them in a tone that sent shivers down Chara's – Cross' – spine. "Better watch your mouth little boy, say something I don't like, and well, heh, I think we both know that I can make your life a living hell if I want to." The warning was as clear as a day.

"Understood.." Chara murmured after a careful consideration. Whatever happened wouldn't have a huge impact on them as they were already dead, but they didn't want to ruin their brother's life, not after everything he had done. He had already been through too much.

"I think you ought to go now X. The bombs rained years ago, you aren't here anymore," Four pointed out, leaning against his hands, giving Chara a sly smirk.

"I'll see you in hell," Chara snarled before stepping out of the tent.

"Can't wait to rot there with you for an eternity!" Was called out after them.

-----

     Cross blinked a few times, adjusting his vision to the brightness outside. He was immediately hit with a wave of emotions around him. The gloomy and depressing atmosphere embraced him. It was enough to knock him down for a few seconds as it passed by along with a wave of nausea.

Cross had been too far in their shared mind to feel the effect of his curse, but now that he was back it was there to burden him again. This time it was worse than it had been ever before when Chara had taken control. That was easily explained by the fact that the overall emotional atmosphere in the circus was negative.

As Cross was trying to get him vision to stop swimming, he noticed a pair – or maybe four – of shoes in front of him.

His eye lights immediately snapped up to see Mare staring at him, hesitation clear. He looked as if he wanted to offer his hand and help Cross up, but something was telling him not to. He looked like a doll, showing only a slight fear for being so far from his owner – or at least that's what Cross assumed since he wasn't seeing Swad anywhere around. Mare must have ran away from him.

"Hey," Cross started carefully. "You–"

"Stay away from him..." Mare whispered, voice shaking with fear. "Don't let him close... He doesn't want anything good... Please stay away..." he begged, sounding almost desperate.

"Let me help you.." Cross whispered, offering a hand towards him, but Mare flinched away, shaking his skull.

"There's nothing left for you to save.." he laughed sadly, shaking his skull. "Don't waste your time on fixing something that cannot be fixed.." He smiled sadly, but Cross could easily tell that the smile was forced.

"I'm not giving up on you," Cross promised. Mare just shook his skull, doubtfully, as he walked away. That's when Cross came to realise the emotional emptiness around him, and it made even Chara's skin crawl. The cheerful boy they had once known was gone.

-----

     A knock on the door awakened Geno from his slumber. He sat up and rubbed his eye sockets when Reaper stepped into their bedroom. The God of Death looked worried, a frown on his face. Geno tried to look him in the eyes, but the guilt that was eating him from the inside got in the way.

"Gen," Reaper started softly, taking a seat on the bed next to him. "What's wrong? Did I do something to upset you?" he asked carefully, reaching to hold Geno's hand.

"No.. You didn't do anything wrong.. But I messed up.." Geno admitted, looking down, shamefully. Reaper's frown deepened.

"Hey, you can tell me what happened and we'll figure it out," Reaper reasoned, running his hand over Geno's, a gentle smile on his teeth.

Geno felt sick to his nonexistent stomach. "I..." he couldn't say anything. Tears burned his eye sockets.

"Geno, I love you, and whatever it is that you have done cannot change that," Reaper promised him. "You don't have to tell me now, take your time, but I promise you that it'll be alright. We'll get through it together." He raised his hand to carefully pet Geno's skull.

The first sob escaped from Geno's mouth before he could stop it. He couldn't let the truth slip yet, so he just buried his face on Reaper's chest and cried. The God of Death wrapped his arms around him, pulling him close, assuring him that it would be okay. But yet it didn't make Geno feel any better.

Words: 2485

[23.4.2023]

If anyone has any theories about anything in this book, feel free to drop them here. I'm actually curiosity about what you've figured out. And has anyone figured out Cross' past partner yet? I think I've made it obvious, but I actually don't know :D