"You... ate it ? What the hell ?"
"I was hungry, okay ?"
"But... does this mean there is no way out of here ?"
"There is one. A Room with either no Door leading to it, or no Door leading out of it, simply cannot exist. A Room like that would be fated to collapse in a couple of years."
Alice already somewhat knew this. Not only because Nikoletta said it, but also because, according to Stranger's message, that was the reason why the Forest of Glass was... well, the Forest of Glass, and not the paradise it previously was.
"Where is it, then ?"
"I already told you. It's here."
Shapeshifter pointed his fingers towards his belly.
Did that means that even after being eaten, the Golden Door could still be used ? And was the Door really small enough to be inside Shapeshifter ?
"Can you... huh... spit the Door out of your body ?"
Alice really struggled to hide her disgust.
"Yeah, I could. But why would I do that ?"
"To help me ? Because you have no reason not to ?"
"But I do have a reason to not do that."
Alice frowned.
The more time she spent with Shapeshifter, the harder it was for her to hide it.
She hated that person. If Shapeshifter could even be considered a person in the first place.
Was the fact that she despised him really that surprising ? He took Will's appearance, he tried to eat her, EAT HER ! And now that he knew that eating Alice wasn't a good idea, he wasn't willing to help her leave this damn Room !
Alice's tone became colder than what it was before:
"What's that reason ?"
"You see, I can rarely talk with people here. One time, I keep someone hostage here, for about a week. It was a little girl about the same age as you, with these two beautiful red eyes. We talked a lot. About the rest of the Sky. About her family. About her dreams. About life."
Alice looked around. Nobody was here but her and Shapeshifter.
"What was her name ?"
"I forgot it. It was quite a long time ago, you see."
Suddenly, Shapeshifter's body changed again.
He was now a little girl with two red eyes burning with determination.
This was... disturbing.
"You don't have to tell me what happened next. It's obvious."
"You think so ?"
"You did not let her go. One day, you were too hungry so yyou ate her. She had the same fate as the rest, in the end. Am I right ?"
"Yes."
Silence.
Alice felt weird. The girl Shapeshifter talked about had nothing to do with her, yet...
Hatred.
After hearing this story, Alice hated the man-eatinf monster even more than before.
But she hid her hated behind a smile.
"So, if I understood correctly what you are trying to say, you don't want to let me out of here because you want to have someone to talk to, right ?"
"Yeah... I already told you little things about my life, but I would like to tell you more. You see, I might seem like a monster, but what I do is totally justifiabale. I have no other choice if I want to eat, after all.
My life is so sad and lonely... most of the time, I am alone here, in this Room. This place is one of the worse to be stuck alone in. There is simply nothing to do. It's all nothing, nothing and even more nothing.
Sometimes, a human came in, I take the appearance of a loved one, and I see their face full of that thing I wish I could feel.
Happiness.
And then, I eat them. They're lucky. They die happy, without understanding what is happening. Whereas I live in an endless chasm of sadness and sorrow.
Is it really my fault, Alice ?
Is it really my fault if I was born the way I was ?"
Of course it's your fault, thought Alice.
Suddenly, the young Lightbringer heard a whisper. It was Killer.
Urging her to attack the man-eating monster in front of her.
Yet, Alice ignored the whispers.
"How many people ?"
Shapeshifter looked at her in the eye.
"How many people did you kill, Shapeshifter ?" repeated Alice.
Shapeshifter took several seconds to give an answer.
"4 732 in total."
Alice felt it. The urge to attack the monster in front of her. Killer was screaming in her ears to do just that.
But that would be stupid.
Because she could die, if she did so. Or even worse, the living curse could take complete control over her body.
Alice wasn't a hero.
She wasn't going to take unnecesary risks just to avenge people she did not even knew.
But even then, hiding her feelings of disgust and hatred towards Shapeshifter had become... simply impossible.
"You even know the exact number. I guess you're very proud of yourself, aren't you ?"
"You don't understand ! It's the only way for me to live !"
"Then just kill yourself already. The world would be better without you."
"I want to live."
"Is living like this really better than dying ?"
"You're just a child. You can't understand."
"That's the same thing my mother said to me, before beating me up for no reason. But it's wrong. I understand."
"You understand what ?"
"That your pathetic life doesn't allow you to kill five thousand people. You're a monster, Shapeshifter, and not just outside, but inside as well.
If you have any shame, kill yourself. Now. "
Shapeshifter's voice became menacing.
"Careful, Alice. If you continue, I might kill you. Sure, the curse will make that tricky, but there is always a way."
At this point, the Lightbringer smiled.
"Try it."
"What ?"
"Did you already forget what I was ? I am a Lightbringer, you know. Want to know my Name ? It's Killer."
"And ?"
"To get here, I beheaded the last Heart Eater, Nikoletta of the Fourth Ring, with my own two hands. I killed twenty Two Mouths, created by the same Isa that cursed me, alone, and then I defeated Brandon, son of Stranger, at the price of this eye."
"You're lying. I can tell."
Alice smiled.
"No, I told you the truth. If you don't spit out this Door right now... Then, you die."