A toned young man, about 19, with tanned-skin and dyed, pink hair is seating in front of a table. The room he is in, isn't your ordinary room, but the 'White Room.' Everything in it is white —clothes, the lighting, furniture; also, the food he is given is white.
Those who persecuted him hope that with no color or stimulation, he would go crazy after a few hours or minutes like the rest —as a last resort method since cutting his limbs was useless, because they returned to their original position in the next second. Little to their expectation, however, the young man endured the White Room for two years.
Today, the youth is humming to himself, gazing at the plain porridge before him —he doesn't dare touch the food given to him by those who want his life.
Taping his feet on the ground, the young man grins, and looks over to the ceiling: "So, that fucker has met Lucien? I wonder if I can possess Lucien's body to talk to him?"
***
Tsukino is flustered with the occurring events: one minute she is screaming in pain; the other, she has a nostalgic feeling wrapped over her arm.
Looking at the light blue hue, Tsukino creases, her rage palpable, "What did you do to me?"
"Punch anything near you and see."
Lucien answered half-heartedly, his gaze searching for a place to sit.
Not taking his words seriously, Tsukino performs a light jab to her side.
Boom! A tree that is nearly ten meters away from her falls to the ground. Forthwith, the young lady's mouth drops in bewilderment and shock, as her eyelids slap each other at a rapid speed.
"Wha....what happened?"
Seeing no reply from those near her, she grabs her kitanas, and like she expected: light blue paints the blades, making it seem like it was like that before; surprising enough, her birthmark is written on the side of the blades.
Although she doesn't know what is happening, Tsukino produces a crazy thought, deathly looking at Lucien's back. However, she doesn't act on it, as the light blue chroma vanishes, living her drained.
Thud!
She fell to the ground, as if her bones have dislocated. Not only that, but Tsukino feels tired enough that she can't gather the energy to sleep. Even, shutting and closing her eyes has become arduous.
Her flimsy gaze slowly moves to Lucien for answers. Despite the power being great, the fatigue is too much. Before she can say a thing, Lucien moves his lips first:
"Flamingo's Sin what is your real name?"
Tsukino wants to ask what is that, but a stunned voice chirps loudly from behind her, "Lucy-san, you know my nickname?!"
Although Lucy said it because the youth called him 'Silver Hammer' in chapter three, the other reason is that Shinji said that he looks like the Flamingo's Sins in the [Journey of the First Tama-Artist]. Since Lucy hasn't reached those stages in the story, he drops it.
"My name is Lucien Derniere Etoile, by the way."
Ten nods, scratching his head.
"Phiri Tento, you can call me Ten." (1)
Lucien turns his head, his brows wide open in shock. How can he not know about that family name?
Taking a second to compose himself, he asks:
"You're from the same family as the First Tama-Artist?"
Ten chuckles lightly.
"My big brother says so."
Tsukino listening on the sidelines doesn't know the Villain Rehabilitator has a name. After all, she read the story because her little brother is obsessed with it. As for her, she sees it as a made up story with a crazy lead.
However, what takes her breath away is that Lucy seems interested in talking with this person, who periodically gets bullied by her slaves.
"If you are free to talk, come; sit with me."
'Am I dreaming?'
Tsukino pondered, thinking the fatigue is getting to her. However, the heatwave tells her otherwise.
'So much is happening today.'
Her gray eyes follows Ten, who happily goes toward the shed Lucien is heading. Although the 5 feet 2 youth has started developing some fat from when he joined the age regiment, Tsukino thinks she can beat him.
—What are you thinking?! That's what Lucien should be thinkung, not you!
Although her thoughts are utterly inane, Tsukino really thinks Lucy wants to kill Ten, and listens to their conversation.
"I do see you train occasionally, but the reason your body hasn't developed well is that you have been having the wrong diet."
"Oh, I see."
"You can come to my place for a meal."
Ten chuckles lightly, hiding his blushing cheeks with his hands.
From his evaluation, Lucien doesn't look like someone to randomly ask someone out on a meal. Maybe heaven is helping him, or maybe his big brother possessed Lucien
Shaking his head to remove the ridiculous thoughts, he replies: "Please don't mind me. I don't want to trouble you."
"It's not trouble, we always cook more. Also, I need to repay you for giving me water that one time, I was really thirsty."
—I didn't know Lucy-san repays a drop of kindness with an ocean of love.
Ten smiles.
"Then, I wouldn't mind."
'Is the sky green today?' Tsukino can't believe what she is hearing. Lucy engaging in small talk with a stranger! It seems like a bad omen to the world, and worse, it doesn't stop there.
"You appear stressed: is something bothering you? Perhaps, a bully?"
—I'm always stressed.
Ten face becomes a little gloomy, and he looks at the space in between his tabi.
"Who wouldn't be stressed in this situation? Although I'm grateful to Scholar-san for making things at the camp easy for us, I'm still suspicious of that female Tama-Artist. Who knows when such a beautiful woman might do something to us. As they say: most of the time, evil is hidden beneath the smile of pretty faces."
"You're right." Lucien replied, looking at Tsukino.
Not knowing, that Lucy is saying Ten is stupid, Tsukino feels offended by the statement, as she roars in her thoughts:
—It's tall and cute guys who are evil and heartless!
Not caring what she is cooking in her mind, Lucy asks again:
"Has someone been troubling you?"
Ten anxiously rubs his shin, struggling to come up with words.
"I wouldn't call it troubling... more like seniors educating a junior, since I'm the youngest. I do take care of them, but it's pretty much..."
"Annoying."
Lucien finished Tento's statement, inciting the young man to nod.
"Yes."
"Then you're being bullied. You make it look normal to avoid the pain. Worse, it's those seniors who want you to see it like that, so they can exploit you more. Next time, tell them to come to me, I'm good at being bullied."
Tsukino doesn't miss the small cringe in Lucy's face on his last sentence, but what bothers her is Ten's gaze: it's filled with reverence for Lucy.
"You're really the Lucy-san. Guys like us, want to be cool like you: strong and handsome."
—Cool?! There is nothing cool about him!
Tsukino can't even think handsome, because in the camp Lucien can be placed among the middle range, even Ten is better looking than him.
—Something is wrong with this kid's mind! How can one like a man smasher like Lucy?
—Wait!
'Didn't he say he takes care of those who bully him?!'
—He is the one responsible for that missing Bushi together with my slaves who didn't return back the camp!
"Ahhh!" Tsukino screamed at her own revelation, pulling her hair for her lapse in judgment.
Scrutinizing her, Ten somewhat flinches, his brows contorting:
"You did tell me that sometimes beasts get possessed by those that want to kill us, right?"
Lucy nods, and Ten adds:
"I think she has been possessed, since she is brainless."
Tsukino's screams intensified, scaring all the birds in the area.
Ignoring her, Lucy turns his head to look at the young man next to him.
"I'm interested in this brother of yours. Does he have a birthmark on his left wrist?"
"Yes."
Ten nods, his face becoming gloomy again. His brother is someone he is not comfortable talking about —the bastard robbed him the chance of being a Tama-Artist!
"What does it say?"
Ten blinks his eyes several times, recalling all the theories he has about that birthmark.
"I didn't know this later on, but after the past year, I found those symbols translating to Zero Holy, or Holy Zero."
Lucien flinches. How can this kid understand the words? His shock, however, doesn't end there, as Ten continues talking.
"Looking at it, one might think it's something that lacks holiness: an impure creature that must be eliminated. However, I think it's closer to holiness than impure."
"Closer to holiness?" Lucy repeats the words.
Ten nods.
"Yes. Think about it, every number is born from zero. Being closer to zero means, you're closer to the genesis. And if my hypothesis is correct, then the birthmark must mean something closer to the Origin of this universe that is holy."
"In other words, the universe is declaring whoever has that birthmark to be its own, maybe because it has plans for them like the Tama-Artist."
Lucien nods, gazing over to the sky. Despite his mother telling him that he is going to be part of the Second Villain Rehabilitator, she didn't explain much as Tento.
Although one might not see it as an explanation, Ten's words indicate that all those with the birthmark have been set aside to be the new heroes of the Earth, who are going to perform certain deeds for the people of the earth.
However, one of those deeds include suffering for people —like any hero.
—Even without doing a thing, those with the mark of the Villain Rehabilitator are hated by those in power, even when they are innocent. I took the path of revenge because I remember my mother saying that a time for all those with the mark of the Villain Rehabilitator to be hunted shall come. However, I'm not going to be like the First Tama-Artist who suffered for others.
Dropping the issue, Lucien decides to entertain the guest who came to his mind, a while back. On the other hand, Tsukino is having a nose bleed, everything Ten said made her head throb in an otherworldly pain.
'Just what is this birthmark?'
....
1 — the word 'Tento' originates from three languages, Japanese, Shona and Italian. Although it has 7 other interpretations, the first interpretation is that it stands for: the (new: often not included) last piece of Entropy or Disorder or Destruction.
Although found in other languages 'Phiri' is Shona, and it's prounced as Piiri. Also, it can mean 'two.'
Therefore, Phiri Tento means: The Second Last, Piece of the New Entropy/Disorder/Destruction.