A golden rotten apple was resting on a red velvet cloth, protected by a transparent dome and framed by a border the same color as the fruit. What supported its weight was an enchanted wooden structure resembling a tree trunk and akin to a ceremonial pedestal, flanked by small, slender branches of golden leaves.
The monument remained shrouded in the encroaching darkness of a vast dimension. Metaphorically speaking, even very hopeful people would find it hard to make the sadness go away against such a gloomy backdrop.
A black-haired boy with bright green eyes was seen sitting on the ground to the left of the pedestal. He wore anachronistic clothes, which had holes or tears. The fact that he seemed to be in terminal condition was even more shocking: wounded, soulless and completely disconnected from reality; one could say that the child was the spitting image of the rotten apple.
"Can you hear me?" the lonely voice of a man echoed through the invisible walls of the dimension, and the male continued talking to him despite not knowing if he was listening "There's only one way to save you, but that's a very risky, if not impossible, bet" he said.
A glowing, ethereal human-like figure appeared suddenly out of nothingness as they hovered above the little one. The mysterious visitor—who was, in fact, the voice from before—flew toward the kid until they were within a reasonable distance of him, oblivious to what was going on.
"Listen carefully. This will be a secret between the two of us" the individual said and, of their own volition, watched their body fragment into various small pieces that together formed a celestial orb, which in turn dove into the young vessel "It shall be my, no, our… ultimate lie" he said.
🐍🐍🐍
A 16-year-old lad of medium height, with hair black as ebony and bright green eyes, walked silently through a path of emptiness, each step creating the way. He was wearing a long-sleeved white shirt and black joggers. As he wandered deep into the darkness, the youth began to hear derogatory remarks that undermined his inner peace.
"He's even rude to his own parents."
"He hurt his classmate! The poor boy ended up in the hospital!!"
"That's awful."
"Shut up" the teenager said, unshakable and serene.
"He's a snake disguised as a person! Heck, to think my son passes the day with such a freak."
The lost young man walked for what seemed like an eternity until he finally spotted an object in the middle of nowhere. It was exactly as they used to say, "a light at the end of the tunnel". In this case, a golden apple on a red velvet cloth, on top of a pedestal.
He ambled toward the mythical fruit and the dome opened automatically. The teenager placed his hand on the apple, and it glowed in the dark, as if trying to suppress the negative emotions in the air with its dazzling light.
🐍🐍🐍
Lied Fujita abruptly woke up from a recurring dream. The dark-haired youth rolled over in bed and looked around, making sure he was surrounded by the four walls of his generic and extremely low-profile bedroom.
"This weird dream again" he said.
Lied picked up the smartphone next to his pillow and sat up in bed. Was reality worse than his nightmares? The young man wasn't sure anymore, thereby he lived only for himself.
Lied checked the time on his cell phone—8:30. He was late for school. Lied stood up and yawned, then he left the room and went to the bathroom to take a shower. Finally, Lied put on a white shirt, dark jeans and black sneakers, and looked at himself in the mirror one last time.
The youth descended the stairs of the two-story detached house and met his parents in the open-space kitchen, where they were calmly eating breakfast.
"Good morning, Lied" the 39-year-old mother, named Makoto Fujita, a brown short-haired lady with amber eyes who was wearing a blue cardigan over a dark pink blouse, smiled at her son and said.
Lied ignored his mother and kept walking with his hands in his pockets toward the front door. The boy put his hand on the doorknob as he was about to turn it.
"Aren't you going to eat anything?" the 40-year-old father, named Seiji Fujita, a gray short-haired man with silver eyes who was wearing a T-shirt the same color as his hair, asked.
The young man shot his father a sideways glance and then turned his back on him. Lied's behavior infuriated the man as the latter slammed his fist on the table and rose out of his chair. Makoto watched anxiously as she wanted to stop them from having another argument, yet the woman lacked the confidence to do so.
Seiji strode up to Lied and grabbed him by the collar.
"We're giving you a roof over your head, so what's with the attitude?" the father, annoyed with him, said.
"Nobody asked you to do that" the son retorted, his gaze sharp without a hint of hesitation.
Seiji gritted his teeth in silence fury as he almost lost his temper. No matter how hard he tried, there was a wall between father and son that Seiji was unable to break down, and it still stood.
"That's enough…!" Makoto stood up really worried and told her husband, who immediately let go of the youth.
Seiji growled and Lied left the house without saying anything.
🐍🐍🐍
Ganeden
We were in Ganeden, an island country in East Asia, located south of Honshu, Japan, where both Japanese and German were spoken. Once part of the Empire of Japan, it was used as a secret Nazi military base during World War II and later gained its independence.
Since he was already late to the first class, Lied decided to clear his mind by heading to his favorite place: the park.
As he walked along the road, the teenager was surrounded by dozens of spiritual balls that curiously shared the same destination as Lied. From a young age, he, and only he, was able to see them—those harmless, tiny spheres that seemed alive, perhaps even possessing self-awareness.
Lied turned left and arrived at the park, which consisted of a few benches and lampposts, and at that time of day wasn't too crowded. The spheres joined him there.
The teen dropped his backpack on the lawn, lay on his bag, and took his phone out of one pocket and his earphones out of the other. He connected the audio device to the smartphone. The phone woke up and Lied played his Ständchen playlist, composed by Franz Schubert. For some reason, that was a nostalgic song.
He wasn't alone there. A girl with long orange hair secured with a hair clip and light blue eyes wearing the uniform from his school—a white shirt under a black jacket and a dark navy blue pleated mini skirt—was seen silently reading a book on a park bench. The lass stole occasional glances at Lied, but didn't strike up a conversation, and he wasn't particularly interested in making friends either.
The only sound you could hear was the sound of tree leaves dancing with the wind.
Ten minutes had passed. Lied put his phone in his pocket, brushed off his pants and stood up. He left the park under the girl's shy, steady gaze.
Lied was walking at his own pace to school when three boys slightly taller than him and dressed casually in T-shirts and jeans stood in his way. The loutish fellow in the middle of them, who was clearly the leader of the gang, had red hair and reddish yellow eyes. His henchmen—one black-haired guy with his hair tied back in a ponytail, and another teen with spiky dark yellow barnet, both with eyes the same color as their hair—smirked, thinking of themselves more highly than they should. But looks were not deceiving in this case; they were all generic and plain.
"Yo, Lied. Dude, are you still going to school?" the leader of the ruffians asked.
"It's none of your business" Lied snapped back.
The top dog of the miscreants crossed his arms as if signaling something, and his two underlings begirded Lied. The tension there was palpable, though the teen remained unfazed by the pressure. The redhead gave a smug smile and placed his hand on his shoulder, as if trying to assert dominance.
"Aw, don't be like that!" the leader exclaimed and motioned for Lied to follow him "C'mon, let's hang out for a bit" he said.
Lied led the way into the nearest shady alley, which had a dumpster and an empty cardboard box. There, the three scoundrels assumed fighting stances before a calm and collected youngster. The group sprang impetuously at Lied. The fight lasted a little more than three minutes and went virtually unnoticed.
The Fujitas' son walked out of the alley with minor facial injuries and his right knee bleeding. As for the ruffians, they were sprawled on the ground, groaning in pain.
After walking a little farther, Lied finally arrived at school carrying his backpack in hand. The second-year student strolled past the creaking metal gates and stepped onto the floor of that abomination of a building. He got to the second floor, where the 2-A classroom was. Lied thought twice before walking into the classroom, and he ultimately turned his back. The image of his parents having breakfast came to his mind, and then he opened the classroom door without a hint of hesitation.
The whole class was stunned, and understandably so—Lied was really hurt and looked like he was about to faint. The young, bespectacled teacher was astonished and had to stop his lesson.
"…Could you please go to the infirmary?" the teacher forced a smile and asked.
Lied didn't reply and instead just slammed the door shut.
🐍🐍🐍
The school gates were silhouetted by pink rose petals drifting down in a graceful dance.
The school bell rang, marking the end of classes. A multitude of students burst out of the building like a flock of ducks and split into small groups. The lone wolf Lied was now seen wearing a band-aid on his cheek. Right behind him came three girls chatting happily amid the buzz, among them the lass from the park, who glanced shyly at Lied.
Lied went straight home without getting into any more trouble.
He threw his bag on the bed and went downstairs. As soon as he opened the front door to go out again, the youngster found his parents waiting for him.
"Son, I… didn't mean to…" Seiji said, visibly embarrassed.
"Lied, your father and I are very sorry, so please don't forget to come back home, okay?" Makoto placed her hand on her husband's shoulder, gave him a sweet smile and made a heartfelt request.
Lied didn't make any promises as he walked past them with his head down and his hands in his pockets. His mother believed in him, but his father appeared remorseful and ashamed of himself. Little did he know that he would never see them again.
The lad went to the park accompanied, as usual, by the intriguing little blue balls. He sat on the grass and took a deep breath as he freshened up his lungs.
The girl was sitting on her favorite bench, watching him curiously and lightly touching the fascinating blue spheres without a care in the world.
"Maybe I should have said something to them…" Lied thought as he remembered his mother's request.
The youngster had a guilty conscience as he began to fear that it was too late to make his mind at ease. That was when the girl mustered her courage and slowly approached him.
"I know you've been following me for the past two weeks" Lied said without taking his eyes off the small balls as he caught her on the hop "What do you want?" he gave her an icy stare and asked.
"He's actually a great observer for somebody who doesn't seem to care about others" the lass blushed and thought for a moment as she looked away.
The girl inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly, trying to relax, moments before getting closer to Lied. Then, she sat down next to him and touched the same blue ball he was playing with.
"I can see them too" the teen smiled and said.
Lied stole a glance at her, not sure how to react to that sudden revelation, yet the placid expression on his visage never changed. The young man quickly digested the news and they stood up.
"I see, so I'm not the only one" Lied said with his eyes closed, then opened them "Your name is Naomi" he said.
"Yes, how do you know who I am?" Naomi Setsuko, 16 years old, asked him, slightly surprised.
Lied simply extended his left hand in response as he was holding a student ID card with Naomi's picture and full name, as well as other information pertaining to her.
"That's mine!" the lass exclaimed, looking astonished.
"You dropped it" the lad said, handing the card back.
Naomi hesitantly took the thick plastic item from him and put it in her bag, which was already open, most likely the reason she had lost the card in the first place.
"And you're Lied, right?" Naomi asked him.
"Yeah, you're pretty good at stalking" Lied said, smiling ironically.
"O-Oh shut up, I just didn't know how to approach you!" the girl sheepishly denied the accusation.
Lied placed his hand on his chin and fixed his eyes on the supernatural spheres. Naomi did the same as she was still feeling a bit nervous at the beginning of this new relationship.
"I've been able to see them for as long as I can remember. What about you?" the lad asked her.
"Since I was a child, I guess… What are these things anyway?" the lass replied and asked him a question as well.
"Beats me. They usually get together and always go to the same place" Lied lowered his head, looking really serious "I'm only sure of one thing: those balls are alive. Unbelievable as it may seem, I even saw them taking human forms" he said.
Naomi swallowed her saliva. It sounded like a far-fetched idea, far beyond what most people would consider common sense, but she didn't doubt him. That was when the ocean above turned gray thanks to a thick smoke billowing into it, rising over the park and not boding well for Lied.
"Is there a fire?" the girl gazed at the sky and said.
"It can't be…" the youngster said as his eyes widened in disbelief.
Lied instinctively started running toward the park exit without even saying goodbye to Naomi, driven by a heightened sense of urgency. The lass just stood there staring blankly at him.
"Where are you going?" Naomi reached out her hand and asked, but he didn't hear her "W-Wait!" she shouted and went after him.
Meanwhile, despite all the commotion, a single person remained unbothered by the ruckus: a blond-haired, turquoise-blue-eyed young adult in a white hood sitting on a bench, who was keeping a vigilant eye on them. For the time being, he was merely an observer.
Lied was seen running as if there was no tomorrow, shoving aside those who appeared in his path. The fire truck siren sound pressed upon him, and he kept moving forward while overcoming his obstacles, until the burning dwelling was in sight.
A crowd of onlookers had gathered by the house; some of them were filming the fire for their social networks. Naomi was stuck behind the flock, trying to catch a glimpse of Lied.
The Fujitas' son, who half a dozen firefighters recognized, penetrated the security perimeter set up around the detached house. Lied tried to get inside but was promptly cut off by a firefighter.
"You can't go in there, it's too dangerous!" the public safety officer warned Lied about the danger of entering the house as he raised his hand to push him away.
The teenager, however, paid no heed to him and continued boldly going where safety was not guaranteed. Nobody could stop him, not even the Devil himself, if he existed.
"Hey!" the firefighter shouted.
The lad entered his dwelling and somehow managed to bypass the waves of fire that apparently started in the kitchen, spreading to other rooms afterward.
Lied stopped dead in his tracks to look at a piece of furniture that displayed, among other mementos, a picture in a frame of him with his parents, taken on Shirahama Beach, in Shimoda, Japan, six years ago. The bairn had a grumpy face, unlike his mother and father. He watched with a woebegone countenance as the uncontrolled fire mercilessly consumed the photo, the picture frame being reduced to ashes. It was as inevitable as grief.
Lied opened the door on his right leading to the dining room. Before him and amidst the dancing flames stood an ungainly male figure in his thirties, with long black hair and golden eyes, wearing a white T-shirt under a pitch-black cloak, dark blue pants and black boots. The boy lingered for a while, yet there wasn't a single nibble.
"Who is this guy…?" Lied thought, looking perplexed.
The stranger noticed Lied at last. Anxiety was hitting the latter hard as he moved his eyes from side to side repeatedly searching for his parents, but there was no sign of them. A perfectly knitted scarf was lying on the couch, sadly about to be incinerated. It was one of two things: either Makoto and Seiji managed to survive, or they were wiped out. The answer was obvious.
The teenager clenched his fists, gritted his teeth in anger and glared at him.
"Where are they?" Lied stepped forward and asked.
The intruder smiled enigmatically as if amused by the whole situation. He cocked an eyebrow at the lad's question; his ego the size of a giant tree.
"What did you do to them?!" Lied asked another question, but the awkward fellow ignored him yet again, which made the teen even angrier "Answer me!!" he shouted and dashed fearlessly toward the man.
Lied, however, found himself inexplicably paralyzed before he could even close the distance between them. The boy let out a groan as he felt something strangle him in midair with tremendous strength. Lied looked down to see a phantom hand attached to the man's back stretching like a rubber band.
"W-What… is… this…?" the youth thought as he struggled to cope with the pain.
The individual made his third hand disappear probably out of pity, and Lied fell to the floor. A few more seconds and he would have died there. Lied was feeling ashamed of having his life spared by him.
On the verge of fainting, Lied stared at his parents' killer, his heart burning with hatred. The awkward fellow sauntered over to where the youth was, then he crouched down in front of him and smiled smugly.
"Hey, has anyone ever told you that you have the eyes of a snake?" the insolent man asked a rhetorical question.
Lied's eyes shut involuntarily as his brain wasn't getting enough oxygen. The lad wished it was all just another nightmare, and that, in reality, he was about to wake up from the bad dream.
🐍🐍🐍
Lied woke up in the place of his dreams. It was as black as pitch and actually colder than usual. The total darkness was his only companion while he gradually sank into the abyss. The golden apple was resting majestically on the same old red velvet cloth, though not as lustrous as it used to be.
"To think I'd breathe my last while dreaming. How ironic" Lied said as he had a weary smile on his face, gazing at the endless ceiling.
His small smile vanished and his strength faded away. Lied stretched out his hesitant hand in the hope of summoning up faith, which he needed now, and more than ever. His true desire, however, was to stay there forever.
"Am I really going to die…?" Lied wondered.
"No" a soft female voice said suddenly, and the apple began to glow at the same time, but he didn't hear her.
"So, this was my fate…?" Lied said as he sank deeper and deeper into an indescribable void.
"No" the female voice from before said it louder, and the breathtaking splendor of the apple was off the charts.
Lied, who had lost his hearing, closed his eyes and surrendered to the endemic negativity. It was at that moment that the voice echoed through the dimension once more:
"Live."
The place of his dreams was filled with the positive vibes radiating from the apple, a burst of hope that woke the teenager up and brought him back from the abyss. A slender 19-year-old woman with turquoise hair and eyes blue like the gemstone emerged from the blaze of light. She wore a flowy short white and cyan dress with a wavy gold V-neck, plus a crescent moon necklace.
The lady with a mystical aura flew toward him until they were face to face.
"Who… is it…?" Lied asked.
The beautiful woman smiled and extended her hand to him. Lied hesitated a second before falling into her charming smile and letting her lift him up. The youngster who was lost was found.
🐍🐍🐍
Lied regained consciousness and found himself lying flat on a stretcher outside the detached house. He was surrounded by busy firefighters that were working tirelessly to extinguish the fire.
Shortly after the confrontation with the presumable killer of Makoto and Seiji a few minutes ago, he was rescued by a public safety officer. The crowd had dispersed as most of the people in the audience lost interest and moved on with their lives.
Lied had many questions; for instance, who was that beautiful lady that helped him in the dream world, but he didn't feel emotionally ready to seek answers. On the contrary, he just wanted to get away from there and collapse somewhere.
Lied got up from the stretcher and rumbled, bumbled and stumbled his way to wherever his heart led. He'd had enough of the flames devouring his former home and the whispers of the bystanders.
Naomi, who was trapped in a crushing crowd for a long time, moved toward the front when the 'traffic' became less congested. The lass anxiously searched for Lied and saw him rushing out of the site down a side street.
"Excuse me!" Naomi said as she hurried after him and walked past two people standing in her way.
Lied felt powerless as he was experiencing too much at once, his soul exhausted. Memories generally evoked strong emotional responses, but this was the opposite.
🐍🐍🐍
Eight years ago
A hot afternoon. The sun was at its highest elevation during the summer solstice day as the temperatures were peaking at around 31°C in some East Asian countries. Ganeden was no exception. Health authorities were keen to stress on the importance of staying hydrated, and the children of the Regenbogen orphanage—the only one of its kind in the island—always made sure to drink plenty of water.
The residential institution was well maintained, having recently undergone renovation to keep the people living there comfortable. The facade was painted in rainbow colors; it was even possible to see the multi-colored arc unfold in the front part of the building. As for the interior space and the entrance, it was characterized by simplicity and a certain minimalist grandeur. Inside, Lied, an introverted 8-year-old orphan back then—wearing a T-shirt and shorts—, accompanied by a social worker in her 20s—she had her hair in a ponytail and wore a short-sleeved collared blouse, plus a skirt—, was about to be adopted by a radiant, relatively young couple. The lady was wearing a short-sleeved polo shirt and trousers, and the man wore a T-shirt and jeans.
"Thank you so much for adopting him" the assistant bowed her head and thanked them.
"No, we are the ones who should be thanking you" Makoto, 31 years old, said with a fleeting smile "I have always wanted to have a child, but since I'm sterile, this was the only way to fulfill that dream…" she told her, now with a troubled expression.
"I see…" the social worker said sadly and turned to the kid "From now on they'll be your parents. Greet them" she gently placed her hand on his little head and smilingly asked him to introduce himself.
Lied tilted his head; being insipid was his natural state. They emanated good energy, reminding him of the scorching sun, and just as a person would get sunburned when overexposed to UV radiation, his heart of stone, too, burned fiercely. Indeed, it gave him a very uncomfortable feeling.
"He doesn't talk much, huh?" Seiji, 32 years old, said.
"Yes… it turns out that this boy has no memories from before coming to the orphanage. The whereabouts of his biological parents is also unknown" the social worker patted Lied on the head and said, the sadness etched on her face was like a bottomless well.
"Amnesia…?" the father concluded in a somewhat curious tone.
"The only thing he remembers is his first name, Lied" the social worker said, still staring at the kid who was a bit of a misfit around them, and not taking her hand out of his hair.
"Lied, is it?" Makoto looked at him and said with a welcoming smile, then she lowered her body to the kid's level, his eyes fixed on the floor "It's a pleasure to meet you" the mother tucked her hair behind her ear and greeted him.
Lied felt drawn to her, as if hypnotized by a snake charmer. He gazed at Makoto for a few seconds before averting his empty eyes and thus breaking the spell of the charming witch.
🐍🐍🐍
Six months later
Makoto was cooking lunch as she diligently chopped a carrot, the ceramic cooktop behind her doing its magic in a boiling pan.
Lied went downstairs and met his mother in the kitchen of his new home, from where he often left without saying anything. He was occasionally reprimanded by his father for going out without their permission, but his mother was very open-minded and willingly accepted her son's choices.
Lied gazed at Makoto with his hands in his pockets as he waited for an emotional reaction. The woman stopped cutting the carrot and returned his gaze. A tender smile bloomed over her visage. In the end, she always said the same thing:
"Don't forget to come back home, okay?"
Lied was caught off guard once again as he blushed so hard he couldn't stay there anymore and simply strode to the door, closing it without looking back. The kid stood outside of the door for several seconds, as if trying to process the emotions he was unconsciously avoiding, but to no avail.
🐍🐍🐍
At the present time, Lied had reached the park and knelt on the grass. His eyes were sunken and he felt like he was watching a derailed train coming toward him. He burst into tears, looking up and down. He never felt so desolate and frustrated before. Meeting the mysterious woman helped him release the emotions that had been dormant, or rather suppressed. For the first time since he could remember, he cried.
"Mom… Dad… I'm sorry…" Lied said through his tears, unable to control them.
Naomi, who had followed him there, immediately hid behind a park bench as she didn't want to invade his personal space at such a vulnerable moment.
That was when two blue orbs popped up out of nowhere, spinning around him until they became Makoto and Seiji. The smiling spirits placed their hand on their son's head almost simultaneously. Lied kept frantically crying.
Naomi gasped in astonishment as she remembered what Lied told her earlier and connected the dots. As for Makoto and Seiji's ghosts, they disappeared without a trace shortly after the reunion. Seeing how heartbroken the young man was, the compassionate girl thought it was best to leave him be and walked away from the park.
By coincidence, or maybe not, the white hooded man showed up after Naomi left. Dozens of small blue orbs joined him in the verdant stage as the dreary scenario turned into a magical scene. Lied took a moment to calm down and then faced the robed figure. The hooded man unceremoniously pointed his right index finger at him. The jinxed bells rang once more.
"Are you going to let those tears blind you and run away? Or you will face your own destiny?" the white hooded man posed a question, even though he wasn't expecting an answer.
"I…" the youngster said hesitantly as the drops of salty liquid rolling down his cheeks also came to a halt.
The sun was setting over the horizon. The curtains closed and the lights went out. Lied felt the urge to sleep as if by design; indeed, it had been a long day.
"Huh? I'm feeling kinda sleepy… Did he… do this to me?" the young man thought and stared at the robed figure with his eyes half-closed.
Lied gave way and collapsed onto the cozy lawn, his bed just for tonight. His brain was sending him a clear message: it was time to rest and forget the pain for the night.
A long time ago, someone used to tell him something before he went to sleep. He pictured in his mind a lady elegantly dressed, with long dark hair and strangely familiar golden eyes. His memory was hazy, but Lied still remembered the gentle and intriguing latin saying:
"Carpe Noctem" he murmured and fell asleep.
[END OF CHAPTER]
[START OF THE GANEDEN ARC]