"To keep hating someone.
That can take a lot of energy out of you.
Your mind and heart will feel heavy and eventually you will hate yourself.
You see, hatred and outrage keep people in chains, never truly free.
Why choose hate when you can choose apathy?" - Mr. X.
'I don't know what to do. He doesn't have a single friend! He spends time drawing or daydreaming. I just want him to be happy.'
'Enough. I can hear you speaking about me over the sphere-phone. I don't care if I have no friends. I'm fine!' is what I wanted to say.
'But that boy isn't really his friend. He enjoys making fun of him far too much.' She continued to say
Until I went inside her room.
'I'm going to the park with a friend I made recently ok mum.'
'Really? How wonderful! Have a nice time, Jonny.' She replied cheerily
I hugged, kissed her goodbye then left.
So I went to the park and sat on a bench somewhere and started sketching.
'At least you're my best friend, Mr. Sketchbook. You understand me and I understand you.' I whispered to my sketchbook
What a beautiful scenery! It's getting me inspired. I'll draw a hero then a beautiful lady! Or is that too cliche? I can feel them laughing at me through the page. Maybe I'll create something scandalous like a hero and a beautiful man! But does a beautiful man actually exist? Or a hero who's a lady. Or my mum sitting on a chair in heaven playing a flute or something? It's not like I want her dead. Whatever. I'll draw what I want to draw!
Oh shit! All those beautiful birds and small creatures ran away! I can feel some kind of intimidating presence! I'm too young to die!
I'm just a student!
Then I saw him!
Those orange eyes fixed on me, filled with wonder. His shoulder-length wavy silver coloured hair dancing with the breeze.
Despite it being quite cold, this tall man only had a white coloured loin cloth on and nothing else!
But I was fully clothed and even had a scarf around my neck.
Suddenly, he disappeared!
'Hey there. Are you an artist? May I take a look at your drawings?' I heard from behind me
'W-Wait.' I managed to reply
His large hands were on my shoulders and upper chest. He was crouched down and I couldn't help but shiver at his presence.
'I see. You must be Jonny. Do you remember me? And that sketch at the bottom right corner. Was that supposed to be me? How beautiful!'
I couldn't believe it!
'Beautiful? M-My drawings you mean? Or am I b-beautiful?' I asked him, starting to wish that I didn't open my mouth to speak
'I meant your drawings, kid. But, whether or not you are truly beautiful cannot be determined by appearance alone. I'd have to get to know you. I'll give you an example.' He said, then clicked his fingers and made a whistle sound
Then another young man and a woman stood next to him.
'Do you think he's beautiful?' He asked me, pointing to the man next to him
'I guess so. He doesn't look disfigured in any way.' I replied
'Well, that's what any ordinary person would say but if you get to know him, you'll realise he's a liar, a cheater, a coward, a scammer and secretly hates our beloved country, Lakedaemon. Does he seem at all, beautiful to you now?' He asked me
'No.' I replied
'Excellent. You're such an honest boy.' He replied whilst keeping his hands on my shoulders
'Be careful, boy. Arkhon is-' The woman called out as she was leaving with the man
The silver haired man suddenly punched her in the chest. It was enough to knock her out even though he was using very little of his strength. The other man had to carry her away silently.
I was starting to get scared. Why would he just punch her for no reason?
I must've been hyperventilating and breathing loudly until the man pulled me close, my sketchbook and pencil clattering against the ground. I felt hot all of a sudden. Why did I wear this coat?
His heavy hands were placed around the back of my head. I was so close to him by the way he was holding me. A bit too close for comfort! My hair was going to get messed up for sure by that man and I'd just brushed it and put it in a ponytail before coming here!
I looked at him all confused wondering when he'd stop holding me.
'Shhh.' He whispered against my ear as he tucked the rose that he had tucked onto his hair onto the side of my hair, using something string-like to attach it there.
I didn't know where this was going.
'Arkhon.' I called out
I think that was his name.
The man suddenly turned me around towards him with ease so I was facing him.
He held my chin up with one hand and his face was inches away from mine.
That's when he told me, 'Let's become friends, Jonny.'
There were tears of joy in my eyes. My entire heart and soul were crying out from the bliss of finally making a real friend! The feeling that this man gave me then, was out of this world!
I hugged him even tighter.
'So you'll be my older friend? This is real, right? Not a prank. So you'll love me as a friend. So like Light and Price?' I replied
And why were there these stupid tears in my eyes? Why was I shivering so much?
'Why yes Jonny. I hope that one day, we'll truly get to love one another..as friends.' He smiled
THAT BASTARD!
Why did he hurt me in the forest if he really wanted a pure love in the form of friendship?
Thus, Jonny thought, reacting to the flashback inside his mind.
***
What a catastrophe!
It all started when Jonny and Arkhon decided it was a good idea to go to a bar to drink and talk privately.
If only things went more smoothly.
Jonny's POV
Someone's actually calling me on my Sphere phone?
What the hell do they want?
I'm in the comfort of my own home.
The phone rang again and I picked up.
As soon as I heard his voice, I felt like hanging up immediately.
'Wait don't hang up! I want us to hang out and talk. I'll give you the directions.' He said quickly
"This isn't a trick, right? I'll kill you if you try anything." I warned him
The phone conversation ended.
"Who was that? Do you need to go somewhere?" Alice asked
"An annoying friend of mine wants something from me."
"Ok. Stay safe. Have a nice time." She said
"Of course I'll be safe. I'm Death Dealer." I said then kissed her goodbye.
I was perfectly relaxed. She was leaning on me on the sofa and we were watching tv.
Now I need to go.
I won't bother dressing properly. I'll just wear what I want.
Who the hell am I trying to impress anyways?
Arkhon gave me directions and I was getting closer and closer to the city.
I went inside the bar and walked around then noticed the man waving at me in the corner somewhere.
"What do you think, Jonny?" He asked
I looked at him all confused, sat opposite to him and said, "You look like a clown. And yellow shoes? What the fuck were you thinking?" I said
Arkhon started laughing even though nothing I said was supposed to be funny.
"Not me. I meant, what do you think about the drink I got you? I remember it being your favourite-
He paused.
Before I knew it, his hand reached out for something on the inside pocket of my dark red jacket.
"What a spectacular weapon you've brought along with you! Was that meant to be for me?" He asked
"No it wasn't. And don't touch it! It's not yours!" I replied
That's when he took hold of my chin and pulled me closer.
"If you really want to hurt me, you could've bought something with greater firepower. I want to know why you hate me so much. Take a sip, relax then tell me what I can do to mend our relationship. Be like the way we used to be."
"You can kiss my ass for all I care. I'm still not becoming friends with an ugly wanton beast like you! You cut my friends up like steak and when I decide to duel with you, you break its sacred law by humiliating me and you turn me into a demon." I told him quietly
Arkhon sighed and paused for a second.
I sipped my drink, enjoying this peaceful moment.
"Jonny. Let's communicate and aim to understand each other. You can tell me anything that's on your mind."
"Ha, you think I'm the kind of weakling that needs therapy?"
"You look down on therapy. Even Price needed therapy at one point."
"Whatever. You want me so talk so bad? Then fine, I'll speak to you." I told him
"You know what hurt me the most? And don't make that face! The answer isn't what you just thought of right now! You lied to me. That's what hurt me more than your 'unwanted advances'. You used to tell me whenever we'd hang out by the lake that you wanted our relationship to stay pure. But you're not capable of that! So why did you trick me? Didn't you want to find the true beauty beyond attraction to 'common bodies'?" I said to him
"Yes, I did lie to you. But I also lied to myself. We had a wonderful and special relationship. The older you got, the more beautiful you began to appear to me. I cared for you so deeply so I've been forcing myself to bury my desire for you. How could I reveal my attraction to him? A boy who only cared about pure things such as beauty and virtue. A boy who wanted love in the form of friendship but wanted that with an older lover?
Can an older lover really be expected to have such a superb amount of self control?" Arkhon replied
"BUT WHY ME?! I only wanted your friendship but you screw me then you avoid seeing me for ten years. Did our friendship really mean so little to you, Arkhon? You could've tried to talk to me, no matter how much I'd try to fight back or refuse to listen if our friendship really meant something to you! You could've been honest with me by telling me that you couldn't control yourself and it wouldn't happen again. Or told me that you didn't have evil intentions. Perhaps in time, I could've moved on from that incident but there's more." I told him
I drank a lot more this time.
The drink was warming me up and making me more relaxed.
"Easy on that drink. It's quite strong. And Jonny please tell me what else is on your mind! I'll explain myself well." Arkhon replied
"You also killed off most of my friends except one. You chopped them up into pieces then attached those pieces to the Human Tree! Why?" I asked
Why the hell were my eyes so watery? Dammit! I don't wanna cry!
"Please believe me as your older lover-" Arkhon started off replying but I felt like scoffing loudly at his statement.
"You still wanna be my older lover that bad? Gross. I'm in my 30s and you make me seem like some weirdo love struck teenager. Well, you are 275 years old so technically that makes sense. And the so-called OLYA relationship is still valid even if you're married. It's seen as a purer form of love. Whatever. Go ahead and be my older lover all you want but don't expect me to be the naive admirer I used to be. I might consider forgiving you now that you've been honest with me but don't expect me to forget! It'll put my mind at ease at least but try anything shady or try and touch me again, I'll torture the living shit out of you, you old bastard so-called older lover!" I warned him
I will hurt him badly if he tries anything perverted! I'll put cannon sized bullets in him!
He burst out laughing again.
That bastard isn't taking me seriously!
"Jonny, please believe me. I killed your friends because they were plotting to sacrifice you. They were going to torture you, screw you one by one, chop you into pieces then leave your flesh on top of the human tree as an offering to their god. They were going to ensure that their god would be able to extract all your soul energies. Probably because your soul energies are incredibly rich and you have a powerful will! I only had to extract very little out of you to turn you into a demon and even as a mere level 1 demon with an incomplete transformation, you're stronger than most level 3 demons!" Arkhon told me
"So you ended up sacrificing them instead. All to protect me. Oh, I see now. I see exactly how much you love me. It's a little overwhelming. You're far too clingy and overprotective. You love me that intensely and I'm not even a woman. You're not right in the head."
"For loving you instead of a woman?" He asked
"No! It's for loving me that much. It's not a good thing. Even I don't love Alice like that! Even though I do love her and am very attracted to her."
"Very attracted? Oh my. Goodness." Arkhon said in a tone that seemed like he was teasing me.
"When I look at her, I think 'Oh wow, she's hot.' and whenever I look at you, I think 'oh great, now what does this annoying bastard want now? He never stops talking!' and even though you're attractive for a man, I've never in my life felt like being intimate with you. Gross. If anything, I feel like making you cry out in pain by doing things that will really put your regeneration abilities to the test!" I told him
"Ooh! Oh my, how kinky." He replied
"You're a fool." I told him sternly
"Do you forgive me, my love?" Arkhon asked
"Nope. You wish! Me forgiving you is letting you off too lightly. If you can't go to prison for what you did to me, I'll have to look for another way of getting revenge. Another way to punish you so I could have my justice. By the way, I don't recall myself telling you that I went to a nice fancy bath house and Hawkstorm was with me."
"H-Hawkstorm? M-My son? Why spend time with a bastard like him and not me? Did you think he was more manly? Did you think he was more beautiful than me? You can be honest. Don't tell me you rubbed each other's shoulders-" Arkhon asked
"We didn't do that, you fucking weirdo. Anyway, I think you should really sort things out with Hawkstorm. He has a real hate-boner for you. He even told me to..oh never mind." I replied
"What the hell did he tell you? I'll beat him up again until he can't move." Arkhon said
"He wants me to try to 'understand' you better." I altered Hawkstorm's words that were telling me to try to 'seduce Arkhon'
"I see. He's a good boy after all. I'm proud of him. You can tell him (for me) that he's gotten stronger and more mature. Tell him I don't actually hate him. He makes my life interesting. I hope he kills me for good. I'll die peacefully then. Tell him that since he's closer to you than to me. And tell him, I'm sorry about his mother. It was out of anger and jealousy which caused me to have my way with her. I wanted her to respect me. I was foolish. I'm beginning to understand how fucked up I really am." Arkhon confessed
"This was a good talk. I'll pass on that message." I replied
Arkhon smiled and got teary. He silently wiped his tears away.
He was probably relieved that I've temporarily decided to forgive him and our relationship is back to normal.
***
I messed up! This talk didn't go the way I expected it to go.
Now, it's too late.
I've already carried out my revenge.
TO BE CONTINUED...
P.S. This chapter was getting too long!