(Two chapters in one week? I know, I'm surprised too. I've been motivated to actually write here lately now that we're getting to the part of the book I've been most anticipating. I've had this planned since before I even wrote the first chapter so I am very excited to be sharing this plotline at last! I hope you enjoy the chapter!)

~Y/n's POV~

My whole body was completely still. I felt like I had been paralyzed or that my entire body had been frozen over. The most concrete feeling I had was my rapidly beating heart as it threatened to beat out of my chest.

A neon blue skinned human was being impaled by an equally neon red knife. I recognized this knife anywhere. It was the same one who had stabbed me all those years ago on the battlefield. I felt a small sense of relief that Kris wouldn't be terribly hurt from this stab. But he was still under it's user's control...

The owner of the knife was here. Cross. He had a wardrobe change as well, it seemed not even he was immune to the Dark World's effects. 

(art by yours truly)

His hood covered over his skull, masking his face and expression. All I knew was the sight of that familiar monochromatic color scheme made me terrified yet enraged.

I was suddenly pushed aside as Ink and Nightmare caught up to me. Ink immediately assumed a defensive stance in front of me, his paintbrush at the ready. Nightmare stood next to me, his blue eye alight with magic. His tentacles seemed to have expanded and were swaying in aggravation.

"Cross." Ink growled lowly, his grip on his brush tightening. If I could see his face, I imagined he would be baring his teeth.

"Hello, Ink. Y/n. Night..." Cross greeted with an odd politeness in his voice. I couldn't help but notice his tone soften slightly when he said Night's name. Wait, he called him Night instead of Nightmare?

"Step the hell away from Kris if you know what's good for you." Ink warned with an aggression I rarely heard from him. I suppose him having Blade's SOUL might make him more prone to her emotions... I hadn't even thought of that implication.

"Alright, alright. Relax." Cross put his hand that wasn't holding his knife into the air. He slowly retracted the blade from Kris's limp body and let him collapse to the ground. I could see the telltale sign of Cross's possession around his face, yet he wasn't moving.

I couldn't help but wonder why Cross was being so... compliant? Maybe he just didn't want to get into a confrontation. Does this mean he knows he would lose? He is very outmatched in numbers but also just pure power. Ink was the creator of universes and Night was basically a deity. And then there was... me. If it was just me vs Cross I would absolutely lose.

Cross de-materialized his knife and put both his hands up, not towards the sky but more towards his chest. He wasn't surrendering but he was showing he wasn't going to do harm... maybe. Was this a trap? Was he trying to lure us into a false sense of security?

"Now, what the hell are you doing in Deltarune?" Ink interrogated without putting his paintbrush down. In fact, he only pointed it further at Cross.

"A skeleton can't explore? It's a lovely place and I was staying out of people's way. Isn't that what you want?" He cocked his head at Ink, his face still cloaked in the shadow of his hood. This made it very difficult for me to discern if he was lying or not.

"Then why have we come across you stabbing Kris?" Ink gestured at said Kris who was still immobilized on the ground. I think I did see him twitch slightly.

"It was a matter of self defense. He came charging at me with a sword and I had no choice. I didn't harm him and I don't plan to do any harm to anybody here."

He... actually seemed to be telling the truth. What was going on here? Had Cross possibly changed? I could feel my gut twist in uncertainty. If he really was telling the truth then I felt a bit of sympathy for him. He had just been on a walk and we ambushed him. But what if he was lying and this is a set up?

I could see Ink having trouble with his indecision as well. His hold on the paintbrush was wavering as he tried to make up his mind.

I glanced to Nightmare and I did it just in time. Night had his hands at his forehead, clawing at it as he doubled forward in clear pain. I instantly rushed to his side as he collapsed onto me. He felt heavier than normal but I was still able to support his weight.

Ink took a quick look behind him to see what was happening, his eyelights shrunken to a pinprick. I made sure to keep my attention on Cross while Ink was distracted. Cross had taken a step forward before hesitating. With his step, the light coming from between the leaves of the surrounding trees landed on his face. His expression looked full of nothing but concern as he looked at Night.

Why did he look concerned? Why did it seem like he wanted to reach out and help Night?? This was all so confusing. I didn't know what to make of him right now. All the past interactions were conflicting with the current one.

Ink finally turned back to face Cross so I didn't need to keep my eye on him. I looked down at Night to see him clenching his teeth in pain. It became a little too difficult to sustain his weight for so long so I hesitantly lowered to the ground with his upper body in my arms.

His eye sockets were shut tight and sweat was building on his temple. I had no idea what was happening or what I could do to help, so I just went with my instinct. I rubbed the top of his skull that wasn't being clenched by his hands. I whispered soft encouragement to him, hoping he could hear me and get out of whatever pain he was in.

Even if I didn't get a direct reaction from him, his tentacles started to gently wrap around me. It was mildly uncomfortable since they still reminded me of his past self, but I put that aside as it seemed he was just trying to hold onto me.

Suddenly, the ground seemed to be rumbling. Not like an earthquake or anything, but like if multiple people were running. That's when I heard the leaves behind us rustling loudly. I looked behind me and saw Lancer leading a pink scaled dinosaur lady and a black furred fluffy boy. "THEY'RE OVER HERE!" Lancer called out to them.

The pink scaled lady looked pissed the hell off as she came charging into the clearing with a mighty battle axe in hand. "ALRIGHT, WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU AND WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO KRIS!"

The fluffy boy (who appeared to be a goat monster like Toriel) quickly ran over to the unconscious Kris. He didn't even care that he wasn't that far off from Cross. Still, Cross made no movement to attack.

I saw green magic energy float around Kris before being absorbed into him. It was unmistakably healing magic. Kris stirred slightly and the possession marks around his face vanished. The goat boy quickly lifted him up with arms I didn't even notice he had. Making sure Kris was supported safely, he made his way back towards the snarling lady with the still seemingly unconscious Kris.

"ANSWER MY QUESTION ASSHOLE!" She yelled even louder, starting to approach Cross. However, Ink blocked her path with his brush. She looked extremely offended at this intrusion in her path.

"Don't mess with him, Susie. I mean it." He warned her with alerting seriousness. She gave an animalistic growl but surprisingly listened. She backed away slightly...

Before charging at Cross anyway.

I was surprised to see him smirk as she swung her axe right for his chest. But then, he vanished right as the blade would've made contact with him. I forgot he could teleport. I let out a sigh of relief unknowingly, why was I concerned he was going to get hurt?

Man I'm such an idiot.

I wasn't expecting what happened next at all. I didn't have a moment to react as a skeletal hand covered my mouth and pulled me towards their body roughly. None of the others could react in time either. Not even Ink and the reflexes he displayed before. I was being pulled through a portal before I could even process what was happening..

In the brief moment of traveling through the portal, neither at our destination or the one we were at before, I heard Cross whisper into my ear. "Sorry about this."

That's when I felt something hit the side of my head and everything went dark.

~~~