He stared in the direction of the brother-and-sister duo for a while.
Innominatus…
He picked up the basket of food. Looking inside, he saw bread, buns, and a round bottle of water reminiscent of ancient times. He took a piece of bread and bit into it.
After finishing it, he closed the basket and began to take a stroll.
I need new clothes. Looking at his attire, he shook his head. Passing through a bushy field, he entered a place with a good amount of civilization.
Sneaking behind a house, he snatched a pair of clothes, running off before he was noticed.
"The sun is still high. Let me head home for a while," he muttered, walking down a path. He covered his head with a hoodie as he moved.
The path he took was surrounded by traditional-looking houses. The area was filled with people going about their normal lives.
As soon as he began walking among them, the atmosphere changed. It became sour and dark. People turned their heads to look at him with disgust and disdain.
Life isn't something you decide.
Every person there frowned upon his presence—men, women, even children. They momentarily stopped what they were doing to glare at him.
"Why won't you just die?!" a man shouted. "Why won't you just die?" he whispered again, tears welling up in his eyes.
"Nobody wants you, nobody needs you. Just f*cking die, please," another shouted.
SPLASH!
A person threw a tomato at him in rage.
SPLASH!
SPLASH!
SPLASH!
This prompted others to do the same.
"JUST DIE!!" they all shouted like a chant or a mantra.
"Leave this world, you miserable soul."
Death is something you get to decide as a person.
"You're worthless, just go."
"Please, just go. Just go."
"Why do you bother us with your presence in this world?"
"If you weren't here, everything would be different. Everything would be better."
Their voices were filled with all sorts of emotions—sorrow, dread, pain, regret, fear.
I don't get to make that choice, though. I can't make that choice!
I've tried. I've tried so d*mn hard.
Inno kept walking, ignoring their voices and the things being thrown at him. He lowered his head, and the shadow of his fringe swallowed his gaze. His eyes went dark.
I don't blame them.
He reached a small one-bedroom house barely holding up.
Imagine everything you hated. Everything you ever feared. Every pain you have ever felt. Every experience you had to bear through. Every harshness you have experienced in this world. Every heartbreak. Every guilt. Every shame. Every embarrassment. Every betrayal. Everything holding you back is bottled up into a person. A person you don't have a relationship with. Just a random stranger. And all you have to do to get rid of those painful things is kill that person.
He entered the house, and the advances of the people stopped, eventually disbanding and leaving.
He placed the basket on a rusty old table and sat on a bed right beside it.
Now, if you are a good person, you may say: "No, I won't just kill a man because of that, whether I know him or not."
He removed the robe and lay on the bed, staring at his nearly ruined ceiling.
But what if it isn't just your weaknesses bottled in that man?
What if it is everyone in this entire world's weaknesses bottled in that man?
Even if you choose not to kill him, you can't say another person will do the same.
Rumble!
Rumble!
His stomach growled again. Touching it lightly, he frowned. He stood up, wore the robe, and picked up a spear. "My tongue is dry. I need to get water while I'm at it."
He left the building. Upon closing the door, he saw something written on it. It read:
F*CKING DIE ALREADY
"Hmph! I wish I could," he smiled to himself. It wasn't a happy smile but one that portrayed sadness.
He walked into a forest, spinning the spear in his hand, made from a rod and a sharpened rock.
"Let's hunt."
In the Council Room
In a large room, a round table could be seen. Seated at different ends of the table were prestigious-looking people, each wearing a special robe and holding a hand fan.
"Where is he? Didn't he organize this meeting?" one in a black robe with fancy designs said.
"I don't know. You tell me," another in a yellow robe replied. She was a woman, unlike the others. "I need to take care of things, so he should be fast."
"I have free time. I can stay here for ages," one in green said while eating a bun.
WHAM!
A door blasted open.
STOMP!
STOMP!
Footsteps echoed in the room.
"Speak of the devil," the one in the black robe said, opening his fan.
The person emerging from the darkness and coming into view was a man in a red robe. It was Thomas.
"Sorry for keeping you waiting. The meeting officially commences now. Our main topic of discussion for today is…" he said slowly and steadily, with a sense of urgency in his voice.
There was a momentary silence.
"No, don't tell me," the man in the black robe said, wide-eyed.
The woman in the yellow robe frowned.
"Yes, we are going to discuss the anomaly, better known as…"
"Weakness."