"I refuse."
Ryosei's black eyes were wide and defiant, his resolve steeled and unwavering despite the fact that his hunger tore at him. It begged him to eat, to devour the demon corpses in front of him, but he still refused the urge, the morals that had been engraved in him since childhood refusing to budge.
Eika's red eye narrowed slightly, her smile of amusement gone and her expression now that of a warning.
"You must. You'll murder someone if you don't, and then I'll have to kill you."
"..."
It was at that statement that even with his convictions, Ryosei began to waver; he had already gotten this far along, having already taken the bite of the temptation she had presented in front of him, and accepted the weird situation, all for the sake of being alive, all so that he could live.
The eating of a dead corpse that was not even human was not even too strenuous of a task.
Even so, it was hard for Ryosei to rectify his morals and the humanity he still retained, despite the dire situation he found himself in.
Silence hung in the air as his indecision grew, all the while Eika's keen eyes discerned his hesitancy—his fear of being a monster with his still present humanity.
'Fool,' she spat in her mind, her face carefully blank to hide the irritation. 'Like a child. Grow up—just eat the corpse and get it over with. It's not that bad...'
Her head tilted, blank eyes and empty humanity gazing down at the hesitancy, waiting to rip it to shreds.
'Should I just shove it down his throat? He'll learn to like it if he just tasted it...'
'"You didn't like it when he forced you to eat though, did you..."'
Her fists tightened into a vice-like grip, nails biting into her palms as the memory of that man, a grinning shadow that held her down as he fed her; at the blood that coated her hands when she finally took her own first bite. Disgust shuddered up her spine imperceptibly, the Others laughing and crying at the slightly opened door to the trauma.
They hollered at the timid voice: at the empathy it reasoned out, the humanity it brought, and the force that stayed her hands.
Eike all but growled mentally at the timid voice, incited by the cost of what staying her hands before had done to a charge—a charge whose humanity had blinded her, leading to another event she desperately did not want to recall.
She had to get rid of that humanity at whatever the cost, or else… he too would… along with that girl, be...
She closed her heterochromatic red and purple eyes, and with the opening of a strawberry tinted mouth, began to tell him a story:
"Back in ancient times, at the beginning of the world, there lived two personages; the first of humanity, the parents of the human race, the closest to divinity at the time. They were innocent, and in their innocence, they could not grow. Tell me, Ryosei, what were their names?"
Eika looked at him again, the veil of her poker face lifted from her visible crimson eye, holding an unfathomable solemnity, and other complex emotions that could not possibly be discerned. Ryosei had never seen such serenity during his life, never seen such solemnity and wisdom on the canvas of her typically mocking face as of yet.
He responded, his soft baritone voice thrumming to her pointed ears, past the black and white marble floors and through the tall, arching marble white columns in response to her inquiry.
"Adam and Eve."
The barest trace of a smile split across her lips at his response.
"Yes, Adam and Eve, God's first creation to be sent to the Earth that held his intelligence, and the unique ability to grow and adapt. I heard they were beautiful, the two of them, how I would've wished to see them…"
"You didn't?"
A tick mark appeared at Ryosei's comment, and with a dangerous smile and deadly eyes, she curtly replied, "I'm not that old, you childish ingrate! I'm young for a demon, only a few, paltry centuries old!"
Sighing and faking a cough, she continued the story.
"Ehem. Anyway, Adam and Eve lived in the Garden of Eden, God's paradise on Earth. They were free there, innocent and forever youthful, taking the immortality that God had given them for granted, naively believing that they could be like that forever. It was then, God gave a commandment to them, a rule in which they could not break. What was that rule?"
"...They could not taste of the forbidden fruit of the Tree of Knowledge, and could only eat the bitter fruit from the Tree of Life. Partaking of the fruit from the Tree of Good and Evil would result in their banishment, where they would die in a fallen state, never to see God again…"
"Indeed. My, and now your, forefather, Satan, tempted Eve though, inducing her to initiate the Fall of Adam. However, though Eve was innocent, she was not foolish."
"...She wasn't? But she initiated the Fall! She brought humans low so that we may die-"
"And if she didn't," she interrupted his tirade, her visible eye glittering like the jewel it resembled, "no humans would've been born. No devils, or demons, or any supernatural beings would have survived if they didn't fall. No, Adam and Eve would've stayed in that perfect garden, perpetually innocent, youthful, and ignorant. They would've never ever had children, and began to populate the Earth, which in turn allowed us supernatural beings to rise and live."
She crouched down before Ryosei, her tone patient and gentle, a wisdom that was beyond her looks resonating with the response that finally convinced Ryosei to eat of the forbidden fruit presented before him.
"You see love, Eve was smart; Eve knew that sometimes, you have to Fall in order to accomplish great things. She knew that while Satan's words were laced with poison, her purpose for coming to Earth was to fall. She knew this, because God gave another commandment to Adam and Eve: to populate the Earth. And God knew that they would be unable to do so, unless they fell from grace and entered the mortal plane. That's why The Fall of Adam is Demonkind's greatest triumph, and it's worst defeat, because while we succeeded in temptation, we played right into God's hands. And why did we, Ryosei? Tell me."
"...Because they Fell."
A staring contest between the two ensued, heterochromatic red and purple eyes staring into formerly blue, now black eyes. The older Demon staring into the eyes of a new Demon. Only one of them succumbed to the other's desire.
Slowly, cautiously, as if it would burn him alive, Ryosei reached for the tantalizing meal in front of him, continuing to hesitate before finally grabbing the arm of the corpse, ripping it free from the socket that held it captive and proceeded to devour it with a flurry of gnashing teeth and frantic movements.
Eika rocked back on her heels in her crouch before sitting down fully with her legs spread out in front of her, satisfied that her young charge had learned the valuable lesson. A quiet sigh of a relief that she released escaped the preoccupied young demon's ears, though it was not only because he had followed her persuasion, but rather because the Others were satisfied at the moment, even the Outsider's.
'How dare she attempt to keep me in check...'
However, her attention was diverted from her thoughts due to there being something that he did while eating that confused her; it was something she seldom did as she despised such an... emotional display.
She hated any truly emotional display that was not measured or calculated, but this one she abhorred due to the utter loss of control it presented.
Streaks of blood fell from his obsidian eyes, his expression monotone and static save for the mournful and even genuinely sad look that was held within his dark irises.
It was as if something had been robbed of him—as if something of immeasurable value had been torn away from him, and he was giving it a tearful farewell that he did not care to relinquish to begin with.
He was crying, as humans called it, a sight unbefitting for a Demon.
The sight of the blood tears that escaped his eyes brought back bad memories for Eika, the demon who had lived and suffered for more than a "few, paltry centuries", to a lost child who had not appreciated dreams enough to realize that only the best things in the world lived in them.
Gritting her teeth, her sharp incisors grinding against each other as she demanded in an incredulous and suddenly emotional manner, "Why?"
"..."
Ryosei remained silent, continuing to partake of the food before him with more vigor as his hunger started to overrule him, but even then, his dark eyes were heartachingly sad to witness.
"Why is it that you humans always seem to mourn when your humanity is lost or challenged, when the majority of humans just ignore it their whole lives? Whenever you get angry, or are bored, or lazy, or are even suffering through grief, humans often disregard their humanity and empathy for others."
The image of a crying demon woman came to mind, her body broken and bloodied by the humans around her as she cried for mercy. Eika grit her teeth even more at the memory, her fangs sharpening even more in her confusion and rage towards what staying her hand to fulfill that pathetic mercy had cost her.
"Why long for humanity, when strength is what protects you?"
Silence overcame the pair, save only the crunching and tearing of flesh being devoured by the ravenous young demon, and the patter of blood as it fell onto the black and white checkered floor beneath the two demons; the entire world seemed to hold its breath as the answer that had yet to come was withheld by the crying, eating demon.
"Tch."
Eika walked away, the question that had been boiling within her for centuries finally released upon her newly converted charge. The damned question that remained unanswered even now continued to leave behind an addled mind and a thrashing black tail for the agitated demoness.
"Because…"
Eika stopped her march from the room, her sharp, almost elf like ears prickling to hear him further elaborate, to give her the explanation she had been craving for ever since her second Turned had died.
The sound of eating was gone, and Eika knew that if she were to turn around now, she would see a broken, kneeling Ryosei with his ash white haired head lowered, staring down at his now bloodied hands with tears of blood still dripping from his now tragic, ocean glazed eyes.
"Because we only ever realize how precious some things truly are when it's suddenly gone. That's the only answer I can give you, as I myself am not sure. Not anymore."
"'Father, I did it, I slayed them all! I completed the task, and... Father?'"
'An empty pair of eyes. A blank expression that seemed slightly disappointed in her.'
"'...I see.'"
'The unspoken words that trailed behind him as he walked past her figure continued to haunt her.'
''So you're not a child anymore, Eika.''
Eika stayed silent, and before Ryosei's eyes, she seemed to curl inward almost, her shoulders hunched and her usual proud head fallen. She looked tired, worn, like she had been stretched far too thin for far too long and was suddenly released from what had restricted her.
It reminded him an awful lot like his mother, of the blood that tainted his hands and the empty icy eyes that stared up at him with a glazed expression; of the rest only death could bring.
"...Is that so? ...Humans are idiots."
With those final words she walked away, leaving Ryosei and his tears to himself.
Truth be told, he had half-expected such a response from her.
Alternatively, what had blindsided him was the rush of ecstasy that had flowed through him from eating the corpse's flesh, and the tears that followed as something within him slipped from his grasp.
But what he did not know though was the burnt mouth of his Demon Turner, bleeding and raw from speaking of the Lord's name for his sake, nor did he know of the taboo that would soon afflict him.