13. Lie

When the world was just visible, I dreamed of seeing heaven. I've experienced death before. I once went to a very dark place. There I was alone, unable to find anyone other than myself.

The dark place was filled with the smell of blood and fish. Being trapped there for a long time was horrible. I wanted to get out of there, but I hesitated because I didn't know where to go, having gotten out of that place called hell before. Where should my feet go?

***

Leano is the name of the demon who left hell. He escaped from there and decided to live on Earth. On Earth, Leano changed his form into a terrible monster. The monster had the form of a giant snake with the head of a dog. The monster brought fear to the humans on Earth. Some humans, who felt frightened by the monster's presence, offered some sacrifices. The monster was pleased, especially when he got an offering in the form of a young man with a healthy body and a handsome face.

The monster then ate the young man's soul and took over his body. After taking the young man's body, the monster then went around the world; he also used his old name for his new identity as a human. During his journey around the world, Leano met Farael. Farael is his rival and also an angel. Farael is known as an angel who has a beautiful face. Despite having a beautiful face, Farael had a bad nature, so because of his bad nature, he was banished to hell and ended up being the guardian of the door of hell.

Leano, who reunited with Farael on earth, tried to invite the fallen angel to join him, but Farael refused. Farael said that he already had a new family on Earth. Farael refused Leano's invitation because he had found a home for himself to return to. Farael himself also said that he had left hell and decided to live with his new family on Earth. Being rejected by Farael made Leano curious to try living with humans. Leano then decided to go looking for a figure called Family by Farael.

***s

Graiss closed the storybook and exhaled heavily. Reading storybooks before bed is her habit. But this time, unlike usual, she chose to read a book written by Mr. Lotto himself.

"Grimm doesn't mean Lotto; he seems to love writing horror stories. He's always telling the dark side of the world in the form of fairy tales," Regen commented. "You better not touch that book again!" Regen forbade Graiss to read the book written by Mr. Lotto.

"I miss Mr. Lotto. I honestly don't care about the story because I don't understand the content. I read this book only because I missed Mr. Lotto," Graiss said honestly.

Regen was silent, but he secretly glanced at the book Graiss was holding tightly. To Regen, the story written by his close friend was too horrible to be read and understood by a child. The story was more suitable to be called a dark fairy tale.

***

"There used to be a beast that descended from hell to earth. It had a very horrible form. The people on earth were terrified and worshipped it because they thought it would cause havoc." A man read out a fragment of the story from the storybook he had brought with him this time. "What do you think of this story?" The man smiled at the girl in front of him expectantly.

"Terrible. Are you sure a book like that deserves to be called a children's storybook? Even adults would find the contents of that book horrifying," the girl commented bluntly.

The man closed his book, breathing heavily. "You're right. The story is too horrible."

"People are easily frightened by things they find horrifying. Even if it's not a real threat. How easily people fall for such tricks." The girl glanced at the storybook held by the strange man in front of her. "What a strange book."

"This book only depicts the reality of the world in connotations. We all live a lie. Treasure, position, beauty, and all that is luxurious and beautiful in this world is the happiness that humans can get," said the stranger.

"It's too false. Everything you mentioned feels too limited. How can anyone be happy with the few things you mentioned," the girl said quickly.

The stranger's eyebrows went up one side. "But why do you look like you don't want to enjoy it all?"

"How can I possibly enjoy them if I'm incapable of feeling them myself," the girl retorted.

The man's brow furrowed upon hearing the girl's reply. "What do you mean?"

"You sound like you want to offer me all those delicious flavors. But it's too bad I can't feel them. I feel incapable of understanding it. It's useless if you insist on forcing me to understand," the girl replied coldly. "What's the difference between thinking with your heart and your mind?" he asked curiously.

"With the heart you can feel emotions and consider the feelings of others. But with the mind, you can understand a person's mindset and understand them logically." The stranger replied with a big smile.

"What if I can't feel it?" The girl looked like she didn't believe the answer

"I doubt your words." The stranger doubted the answer given by the girl.

"I'm not sure I can understand it well." The girl took a long look at her teacup. "One can feel with the heart, and I wonder how that heart can reach someone like me," she said.

The stranger fell silent. The figure in front of him now was slightly different from the one he had met in a different place. But the two still shared a similar resemblance.

***

"Huh?" I can feel my body filling with cold sweat. My head felt so heavy, and so did my body. I blinked my eyes repeatedly, trying to understand the events that happened to me just now. Everything seemed to happen so fast and seemed to take control of my mind. I wasn't sure if everything that had happened was a dream. Everything felt so real.

Where was that stranger? And who was the man with glasses who had a face that resembled mine? I might not be completely sure of my memory, but I was still convinced that the mysterious figure shared an uncanny resemblance with me. How horrible...

I took a deep breath, got out of bed, and went to wash my face in the bathroom.

***

Under this vast sky, or even on the other side of the earth, I always try to find you. No matter how vast the place is, even if I can't reach you, I will always be there trying to find you.

The tears that fall soak the dry earth. Satisfying the thirst that constricts love.

Look at the moon, never lonely; at night, the stars always accompany her.

No matter the darkness that tries to swallow you, I will stand behind you to push your back away from that darkness and towards the light.

When that naughty little betrayal appears, don't worry about feeling afraid of being abandoned; here, I am always standing by your side to accompany you to the end. This is love from beyond the darkness. Love that is born from the dryness of the land.

In another world, I would stand to see you laugh and cry as an important person in your life. But in this world, I stand in the darkness, trying to protect you. No matter if the darkness swallows me, I will still stand in the darkness so that I can push you away from the darkness itself.

I promised to protect you and keep you away from everything bad in this world. I tried to understand it until I couldn't tell the difference between love and obsession.