In the world there are a few things one should wish not to see up close. The list is long but here are a few that make Lozo's top five. Coming in fifth place the tears of Hinari, his little sister. She's an angel when she smiles and a devil when she cries. Number four angels, the individuals who were created to guide the world but, in the end, have forsaken this cursed world. Number three is a close call between the devil's face and bunnies. The devil's face is an obvious reason in itself but as for the bunnies its majorly because of their more than obvious cute and harmless facade that they play when in light Lozo knew they hid bloody daggers under their fluffy fur.
For number two he left it open. The world was large to be only seen in books and thus he decided that if he were ever to venture out in the world, something he really thought of, he would find a suitable thing to fill that spot. As for number one it was something he had set in his past. Even before he was found and brought to the Dream well orphanage by the old man Ji. If he had to say, it was the sole reason for his existence yet he wished nothing more than for its existence to wither away and be rid from the world.
In first place were the doors to his mother's house…
But three of these didn't matter given his current predicament. Only the third mattered. And possibly five. He was currently face to face with it. Its cold unfiltered intent to end his life, he could feel that in every breath he took. The cold stare of death masked under the skin of one who called himself a saint, a servant of his lord. Also the underhanded proxy between his face and that of the saint Jumbo. This characteristics unquestionably classed Jumbo's face to that of a devil.
" He's fast! " His mind quickly sprang into action under the impending strike to his abdomen.
He curled shielding his stomach with his arms from the incoming blow from the saint Jumbo.
" Rawwg ! "Jumbo screamed as he drove his fist into Lozo.
The shock-wave was vast, sending ripples of air crashing into and putting out the flames around them.
Lozo was send into flight gritting his teeth from the impact. His hands felt heavy. They rattled like a metal pipe that had just struck solid stone. Moving them had suddenly grown cumbersome, something he need to do to shield his head against the incoming wall he was bound to collide with.
1…2…3. Each a flaming wall his body was forced to bombard with.
His body ached, muscles screaming for no more torturous bumps and collisions. The force that had ignited the ride was far great too for him to oppose. There was nothing he could do but grit his teeth harder and enjoy the involuntary ride.
But luckily for him the ride was interrupted as his back crashed onto the rocky walls of the well stationed at the middle of the orphanage. He crumbled down with the wall falling into the water filled well.
***
Dream Well orphanage was serenely build haven for children and people abandoned by their families and possibly the world. It was located near a softly babbling current that provided a constant, soothing rhythm to the land. There was a giant sycamore tree nested by that tree and never lacked drawing or carving etched onto it. It was at the edge of the property, where the gardens gave way to a wide, green field, where it stood as a massive, ancient sycamore tree.
As for their homes they were mainly build of wood with a few parts of the small land with stone structures, like the well build at the center of the orphanage. The orphanage itself was separated from the open world by a large river stones that towered over the average adult male. There was also a main gate leading into the small orphanage, the sole bridge to the outside world.
The orphanage was structurally layered in a way that no matter what path one took as long as they walked towards the sound of the stream babble, they would end up to the well that was located in front of the main building that housed the administrative and grandfather figure of the orphanage, Old man Ji.
***
" Disappointing. " Jumbo said as he walked towards the shattered well.
He walked unwary of the flames around him crashing every little smoldering charred piece of wood under his oppressive height and built.
" Really thought he'd be more of a challenge than the old guy. But that's what you'd expect from small people… they're lazy. " He said as he stomped his way towards the well.
Jumbo glared down into the well. It was grew darker with depth with the only visible parts just faintly noticeable thanks to the light from the fires.
" Disappointing. " He spat then literally spat into the well.
Normally any projectile launched into a well will always met the water with splash sound. Be it a rock or an extremely disgusting ward of spit. That what Lozo thought as the ward of spit landed on his face. — Disgusting! —
Suddenly as Jumbo turned to leave the crumbled well a stream of tentacles shot from the the well. The crisscrossed across the sky like well honed whips of water all whooshing towards Jumbo.
Jumbo turned. Jumbo smiled.
" This is more like it kid. Struggle for your small life under me the Saint Jumbo! Rawwg!! " He shouted in delight as the water tentacles stringed around him.
They were fast for the normal eye to see but their result was simply magnificent for the eyes.
" Water Tree Binding… "
The tentacles formed around Jumbo, intertwined into a crystal clear tree like structure made of water that Lozo called…
" … and Spikes. " Lozo added.
Just as fast as they formed the water tree shot inward as protruding water spikes driving deep into Jumbo's stone hard physic. Slowly the crystal water began to bleed. A deep scarlet color that retreated Lozo's previous view on Jumbo.
" … Looks like you're still a human. " He added standing before his scarlet red blood tree.
Jumbo's life faded with a heinous grin on his face. The thrill of getting to see another sin's blood had gotten him excited such that at his time of passing he was smiling.
" Or maybe a human devil. " Lozo corrected himself.
As he watched Jumbo's eyes lose the energy to stay wake he felt something crawl down his face. It was gooey slowly and took its time to trek across his cheek. His hand moved towards the source of the eerie feeling. But the moment he came into contact with it, he wished he hadn't.
" Gross… gross… grosss! " He said trying to wipe off the sticky ward of spit in his hand on his clothes. Then he realized something, his clothes were now sticky with it.
" No…no..nooo !" he said.
In distress he summoned a ball of water from the well and flushed it over his clothes. After a few iterations the spit had been vanquished, just like its master.
" Final— "
Reacting to threats almost instantly had always being his forte but the speed at which the attack came his life would have been far gone to the afterlife. But it was luck that he had dodged it when he did or the assailant missed purposely, he didn't care. This new threat scaled too high compared Jumbo. Too high for him to fathom a win.
Lozo's body arched backwards moving away from the scarlet tree. His eyes narrowed towards the invincible, to him, attack that had come close to make away with his life.
" Where did… ? " He wondered as searched around for the source of the attack.
…
" Big brother… "
Her voice came as frail, wounded, hurt and worst of all tearful.
His head turned, Lozo could never dare to mistake her voice. Not especially with tears could potentially be pooling by her eyes.
" Hinari !! " He called out rage babbling through of his voice.
In Lozo's eyes the world had always been a gray world. For most its the same. The divide of good, light, and of bad, dark, always blurred together into the world we lived in. He had grown to accept that at an early age. But there was something more he had noticed in his sixteen years in that same world, the light of the world was spread out across onces life with a few spikes of utter joy. It never clumped up into a single moment where he would wish never to leave. And as for the dark of the world it was the polar opposite.
The bad moments of the world always converged into one big cold moment. Where all the pleasant emotions went extinct turning the world into a sphere darkness.
In that moment his theory came into play.
The flames dulled. The sounds faded. His eyes wept in circumvent fury as he saw Hinari's burned body.
No rather half charred body.
Lozo could only but scream.
" Hinari!! "