Chapter 0 Epilogue: The Light Behind Her Savior

The appearance of a storm creates the vision of loss.

A butterfly's wings of emotions are the reason.

That is a connection from the basic theory of chaos.

That is always nested in all humans.

. . .

Like a sea of stars, chaos will always make its entrance.

And the narcissistic found a way to be the most dazzling

Show them the bigger chaos through your performance.

And outshined them as the biggest star in the evening.

-Koko, September 27th xxxx.

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Sooooo cool.

Tenten's brain trembled slightly. Whether the reason for it was because of the little side effect of her power or due to the awe from the first time she read a poem is left to be unknown. Uncertainty.

Speaking of it, the surrounding of blood painting the wall and floor, the atmosphere as if a spirit of these adults cursing at them for simply living, along with the darkness gently rubbing her skin accompanied by a small light that passed through those windows weirded her out―there's no need to guess the artist behind this scenery.

Usually, this was just a normal pathway between her prison and the experiment lab. A corridor with large, beautifully designed lined windows. The majority of what she saw beyond that are just bushes covering most of the bottom parts of these windows and sometimes a big tree made their appearance too, but not too often.

Between those windows is a steel door with a three-digit number plate beside it. No one really knew other than the adult what those numbers really meant, and it didn't really matter anyways to all the little red hoods who had entered the door, been eaten by the wolves, and never came back like the grandma in the fairy tale.

But there's no need to be scared by them because these wolves had returned home to where they belonged. She can't help to let out a small grin with her disorganized teeth.

Despite those small satisfactions, her body still felt uncomfortable for no apparent reason. Uncertainty.

The reason for the gaffe in herself might be because the thing right in front of them were a double steel door at the end of this corridor.

As they got closer to the exit of this corridor, her heart thumped, racing, and fluttering at the suspense of what came next behind it. Her mother warned her to pinch her nose before they go through the door, yet she didn't elaborate further on the reason behind it. Accidentally, she hyped Tenten up as the pound in her heart gets louder.

Finally, those two pairs of mother and daughter―still holding each other hands―reach the end of the corridor. Her mother, Koko, opens the door. Behind it appeared to be a big hall. There's a three-layered large crystal chandelier in the center of the hall's ceiling, along with a long-curved staircase and many other opulent architectures. Simply put, they were inside a big mansion.

Around the hall was a mess with lots of broken furniture, possibly as one of the mother's wild traces―with a giant cupboard in front of them laying on the ground as the most noticeable thing aside from these corpses. The other trace was the same as the one in the corridor earlier with the only difference being the piercing smell of sweet chemical odor that tickled her olfactory bulb―even though she already pinched her nose.

Overall, it was quite underwhelming. The beat in her chest slowed down a bit, yet these odd feelings of hers didn't go away. And this was made worse when another suspension arose from another double door―more welcoming and a lot fancier than before―right in front of them. This time towards the outside world, confirmed by her mother's words in the hall.

Will this be another letdown to her? Who knows? The only thing this little angel wasn't uncertain about was the anticipation killing her.

When was the last time this feeling emerged? Three years ago? Is it when the adults that she doesn't know brought her to this weird place? Is it also when those same adults strapped her on the table for the first time? Or maybe before she took notice of the 'reading' power she had? She was unsure of it. Uncertainty.

"You okay?" Koko asked her daughter worriedly.

"Eh?" Tenten turned to her mother, looking at her with one hand still pinching her nose.

"Your hand started shaking for a while now. There's a noticeable cold sweat on here too." She wiped a small sweat from her daughter's forehead with her index finger. "Are you simply anxious?"

Anxious? A new word for the little girl's vocabulary. So, she asked her about it.

"Anxiety?" her mother paused before she answered, "It's what you felt right now. That alone was self-explanatory, right?"

It was a lazy explanation to an angel in distress.

Unimpressed.

Her words might not have been the eye-opening explanation as before nor those were words that she hoped to hear from her. But it didn't take long for her to get what she wanted to hear.

"This kind of thing is okay, ya'know? Anxiety is a normal and occasional reaction to uncertainty about what is going to happen next."

She gave her daughter the simple conclusion behind her worried thought about that lingering one crucial word. Uncertainty

"Ohhhhhhhhhhh."

Now she's aware of it, she immediately questioned the flaw of simplicity in that conclusion from looking at her. Uncertainty.

This woman, Koko, is a walking contradiction of that concept. By the dictionary, she supposedly is considered a stranger to her since they only met less than half an hour ago.

But why is Tenten―

"Everything is going to be okay, my little angel."

. . .

Simple words of comfort gave her the conclusion. A conclusion that are clear as day as she looked at her with those worried thoughts eased.

With a big smile on Koko's face, she said, "I assure you, once we get out of here. Those feelings will turn to ashes by me."

Those were the words she hoped to hear from her.

"C'mon, Let's go. To the main event of your night. To the outside world. And finally, your freedom. Hehe~"

As they moved towards it, the little angel was content with herself. Her hands stopped shaking and her heart regained its composure even though she hasn't reached the outside world yet. Because her world is here.

Thanks to the warmth and light given to her, she reached her conclusion.

It's not about how long it's been since we met, but it's about how much she meant to Tenten in those fleeting moments.

Behind her, her encouragement was the energy to push her and overcome any obstacle on her path. The best part of it was the honesty that she can detect just by closing her eyes. It means everything to her. She showed her the warmth of the moon through her color.

It's not about living in the past, but It's about living in the present and the future.

In front of her, an illuminated path showed her the way among the infinite branch of possibilities leading her to the ideal change she desires. It's better to look forward with high hopes than to push yourself back down. She showed her the light of the moon through herself, with her left eye reflecting it.

That's right, the place where Tenten belongs is―

Before she finished the last sentence of her conclusion, her mother gently opens the doors, leading her daughter to freedom. This is what she has been waiting for three years yet it oddly wasn't the main focus of her vision. At that moment, her focus was on the left side of her mother's face, with the moon behind her resembling the rusty red color of her left eye.

―The place where Tenten belongs is under the red moon with the excitement for a better night.

At that moment, she hasn't realized they are in front of a crowd full of people with the same outfit. Putting them both in the spotlight with a rifle pointed at them, specifically at Koko.

They finally reached the main event.

"It's show time, bay bay."

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As she snapped back to reality, they already have taken twenty steps ahead or more from the entrance door, crunched every leaf of the same color as the eclipse up there.

Koko, her mother, has her eyes busy looking at her surroundings. In front, behind, left, right, above, and below her. She has her eyes focused on everything. Amidst the confusion, the little girl, Tenten, imitated her mother's doings.

There's a tree with a branch full of the same leaves as those under her feet. What was behind these fallen leaves on the ground was a stone plate with a consistent pattern that extend into a nice-looking, forty-meter straight path. Between this straight path, there are beautiful gardens that mirrored one another, the same green field with the same water fountain and the same bushes and tree she had seen before by the wayside of that exact same straight path. And at the end of this path, that's where the adults were, blocking their path.

So, this is the outside world?

"Tenten, cover your right eye and hide behind me, now!" she whispered with her upper body bent to the lower left side. Tenten closed both of her eyes and hid behind her legs following the order coming from her right ear.

"What took you so long?" she said, in a rather arrogant tone. She doesn't know who is she talking to. To satisfy her curiosity, she took a little peek from her left eye. Her mother's neck was clamping a flat-shape technology that allows her to have a long-distance conversation.

After her small curiosity subsided a bit, Tenten closed her eyes again. All focus now on her hearing.

"The audacity you have to call us with his phone!" A deep-rough voice, presumably a male, coming from that thing called a 'phone' on her neck. "Hey, you haven't answered my answer yet, klutz," she said, this time in a sullen tone. There's a noticeable silence from the phone. One second. Two seconds. Three seconds. Still no answer.

Even though she asked it, she already knew the answer behind her own question.

Oh well, this klutz already told all of those answers from our earlier phone call, Hehe~. That was what the little girl read.

What followed those thoughts were random words without their context. Those words are explosion, long distance, one hour, reinforcement, etc.

Seven seconds. Koko hasn't gotten the answer she already knows. So, she took the initiative to break the silence first. "Is this really all you got?" She couldn't understand the reason for belittling them, as Tenten saw the gravity of the situation differently. There were around a hundred, or twice, maybe even thrice the number of people in front of her. They were all fully armed and equipped with their sturdy vests

"Put your hands up, now." A distant shrill voice rang out loudly using cone-shaped, sound amplifier technology. Those are the same deep-rough voice from the adult on the phone, and he didn't take those belittlements lightly.

"Where's the president?" the adult asked from the phone.

"Who?" she asked back. "Ah! You mean that wannabe president in this non-existent country, eh?" she said out loud only to give herself the opportunity to say that answer, or to be exact, an insult.

"Let me make it clear." Koko has a reply in mind to fight back the threat, to raise the ground in her favor. "I took down thousands of yours across the entire island single-handedly, you can believe it or not but it's the truth. It's the damn truth, and I suggest you give me a noble prize for that, klutz." She fought fire with fire. Simple. Worryingly too simple. At least simple is better than added the complication at the end which is what she is doing right now.

"You are the one who needs to understand." The adult spoke back with an aggressive tone. "I don't know if you are mentally insane or just plain stupid, but let me remind you that we have outnumbered you, this isn't a stand-up comedy and your joke is not funny."

"I know my enemy and myself very well. Y'all brutes among men are the ones who need to understand whose is the God among us here."

"Oh great, one of those teenagers."

Both persons are engaged in a back-and-forth conversation to assert their authority over the situation, while Tenten still hid behind her mother's leg with her eyes still closed.

"Where is the president?"

"I wonder where," she said in a teasing tone, "'Where o where is mister wannabe is right now?' is what you asked for, yet you never asked 'how is the president?' You will get your boyfriend heartbroken, ya'know." What followed was a hysterical laugh cackling at her own joke. She continued her mocking.

"Then how about you asked nicely like a nice, little baby boy? But there's no need for it, right? Because you knew the fate of those around me, a mentally insane or just plain stupid person that is me. Get it? Your word! Hahahaha! LAUGHABLE."

A small sweat began to drop from the little girl's forehead while questioned silently the reason behind her provocation. Tenten might have no experience to rebel like her mother but even she knew the consequence of it. Like the same fire that she fought back with fire earlier and the hot light from it shows a person with common sense a clear outcome of it.

People who fight fire with fire will end up with ashes.

And that flame is ready to engulf them both.

"Put your hands up now or we will open fire." Another distant shrill voice rang out loudly. Tenten took a peek to confirm the situation. She saw the light that put them in the spotlight earlier had grown brighter. Their toy―the same toy used by the lab guard called a rifle―is pointed at them both.

Then she closed her eyes to see, hear, and 'read' the unseen side of the situation. A sound like many birds chirping vibrated her brain cells. Unlike before when their word overlayed each other and made it unreadable for her little brain, now their chirps are full of more consistent words. Order. Order. and Order.

All of this indicated the course of the storm was coming towards them. Yet Koko still persists in the face of the storm.

"This is your last chance," he declared as he emphasized those last two words, "It's not too late to late to drop your superiority complex and sur―"

"As if you would let me live. What make you think you can kill me?"

"With that child beside you, what makes think you can do anything?" For the first time, her existence was acknowledged, but as a hostage.

The adult was like a beast growling to appear strong. Although that comparison might not be accurate for an adult who used the lowest of the low kind of threat.

Set aside the little angel's disgust with resentment, there's no changing the fact that their 'weapons'―the fang and their claw that was called rifle―are a real threat. So, what can she do?

What make you think you can do anything?

The question repeated in the mother's head. A sign of dilemma for an infinite answer. Thinking it through is normal for the sake of accuracy to launch an impact with both person's intentions put into her thought. That if they were normal.

She reached her conclusion without a single word put into her thought. What Tenten saw in her mind was a glorified image of her kneeling, waist raised straight up, and her arms spread wide. Immediately, she did it with no hesitation.

She opened her eyes and saw a familiar reality with the only difference being the phone still clamped between her shoulder and cheek. Abruptly let go of Tenten's hand that she doesn't want to let go of. In exchange, the silhouette of her back―covered by her messy blonde hair―called her.

Whispered into the winds to come and embraced her.

The call of the red wings to look at her.

It was as if she was the center of the galaxy.

"Do I have everybody's attention now?"

Enveloped in awe by the sight in front of her, her body was pulled by her and she moved according to the subtle orders by her mother to take cover. Whether the order was actually intended or not is not important. She just wanted to cling to her mother.

"We haven't introduced ourselves yet, eh?" It's unnecessary, normally, for this kind of situation. A personal presentation of one person to another. The job they do and the conversation they had were already self-explanatory to know who they are talking to. That's indeed self-explanatory enough to understand her reasons.

Koko has her arms wide open for them, her enemies and her daughter, and offered them a chance.

"I'll give you the first shot to introduce yourself."

She made the decisions that opened a path from the blood moon's reflection. After it, they exchanged their final words.

"We guarantee your stupid brain will sell well."

"Bite me, tiger."

Thus marked the end of the beginning . . .

"On my signal,"

. . . and the beginning of the end.

"FIRE!"

In the eyes of the storm, she embraced it and faced death.

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Zero seconds have passed.

Her ears were instantly deaf to hear the consecutive raindrops that much louder than usual.

One second has passed.

Her eyes were closed without any cripple around them. The instinct of self-preservation was gone, leaving her with only self-acceptance of her fate. Yet . . .

Two seconds,

―Three seconds,

――Four seconds,

―――Five seconds.

Yet she's still alive.

The angry typhoon should have smacked them into oblivion, pushing them toward their doom. The thunder had already struck them in the transience moment of the inevitable five seconds earlier. Yet after all of that only to be realized a miracle that stands in front of her.

Six seconds have passed.

She's still alive all thanks to her savior.

It didn't pierce through her body but instead collided with it, like raindrops when they hit the ground. The force of it can be felt from her back. It pushed her mother's body, often her body flinching backward a little bit from it.

Eight seconds have passed.

It was a narrow place to hide right in the center of her back which resulted in ten seconds of mixed feelings due to her instincts being full of ups and downs.

Fear. Relief. Awe. Anxious.

She can only watch the madness unfold while anticipating what will happen next.

Ten seconds have passed.

It's still "raining" heavily. It's suffocating her. Her heart and ears weren't used to "explode" because of the consecutive loud noises. Everything from heart to mind was faster than usual, hoping it will end soon.

Thirteen seconds have passed.

They kept moving forward. They just kept moving forward. They desperately kept moving forward. Still. Kept. Moving. Forwards.

Until they heard a maniacal laugh that blew the storm away.

Fifteen seconds have passed.

Crackle-crackle-crackle.

Her body warmed up. And she wasn't that oblivious to realize the source of the heat licking her back.

Woooosh!

She looked back to see it. A familiar reality. Once again, she felt she had the ability to see three steps into the future just from reading her mind when she laughed like a maniac before. A belief of true chaos.

If I surrounded myself with a flame of my preparation.

The reflection of those will show me my most glowing masterpiece.

"I promise you, after all. I will turn it all into ashes."

She looked back to see the light behind her savior.

Woooosh!

A roar of fire. A beast had been awakened by its own kind.

Everyone got absorbed by what they had just seen. The fire spread rapidly upwards. Look like a manifestation of someone and it looked down upon its peasant. All of us were just a mere attendance for her performance.

As she stood up with open arms, once again getting back her attention, everyone refocused their rifles aimed at the person who had swallowed the shadow of her own silhouette. A megastar had risen. At the same time, her left eye shone brightly as she look up at the moon.

"Look at me, now!"

She put both of her middle fingers to her thumb. And then―

Snap!

Immediately, the bad adults―with their backs leaning forward―fall to the ground. They seem to do so not of their own accord. Or worse, they seem to do so since they didn't have the power to stand up, to do anything based on the looks of them who fell sluggishly before. They just fell as if the sky they were staring at pushed them down to the earth. As a result, the crimson light of the night sky has created this scenery.

The roar of fire drew heat from her audience, made her enemy pass their fire, and lighted up the chemical liquid behind her. Then her snaps froze their attention to her and only her in a form of prostration, made her enemies kiss the ground below her feet. A snap that pushed her egos and pride to activate her divine power.

"Bow down to me!"

For she, an enigma of the end had complete control of this situation.

"Hey, Tenten,"

Suddenly, she turned towards her whom she called her name.

"I've kept my promise, so to return the favor, can you watch me from there, from the front row," Her finger pointed towards the hundreds of people who were bowing down to her.

"After that, the both of us will be equal."

With the fire still cracking behind her back, melting her, she had no choice but to do it. Reluctant at first, since she wanted to be close to her, but she didn't express it.

Equal. Hearing those words made her nod her head like a good girl. She proceeded to run like a kid who never run for the past three years. Towards the place that she pointed at earlier. For the first time, she didn't think much of her actions now.

She finally reached the end destination of her promise. Standing in front of the bad adults with some of their eyes staring at her bare-naked feet. She turned her body. As their smiley face was contagious with each other, the mother opened her arms. One. Last. Time.

"Allow me to introduce myself.

"I am the one above all, standing here right now as the hero in shining armor with the sword chosen by the God itself, born in hell and eradicated the devils not for the mission but for her own amusement. It has already been that way since the first time that hero bathed in their blood.

"All of this thanks to all of you insects, the race that creates the place. Your unmeasurable greed. Your undying madness. Your unpredictable stupidity. Fascinating. Fascinating. Fascinating. Your chaos has enveloped this island and me. Now I am the chaos itself. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA~

"Hear me! Bow down to me! Look! Look at my light! Look at me! Me! Me! ME! For the longest time, I have given you insect salvation for your immoral act by crushing it and cleansing its taint. But rejoiced for today, peasants! No longer in death. The heart's unforgivable sins will not need to stop beating.

"Because I'm here.

"I'm here to let know of my existence in the realm of you, insects. To open the new path of salvation that I promised. Therefore, I order y'all to live! Live! Fulfill your powerless destiny! From now, pray for your safety to me and hope for a better night to me. Tell the others of your experience in two paths between hell and heaven. Spread my later last words, my existence, my performance, my everything! Tell them a star descend to this earth! Tell them about me! For I, the artist who outshined this world's chaos with its art. I proclaimed to you all.

"The Angel of Sin has been born!"

The curtains were closed that night with a burst of maniacal laughter heard around the world, opening a new day and a new cycle of beginnings and endings upon its sinners.

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Now opened your eyes.

―

What did you see?

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A crowd gave you applause beneath you.

Everybody noticed you played your role to the absolute best.

Did you feel the pride I had that day? I wonder.

―

One thing for sure is I felt the same pride watching you, my daughter.

I'm proud to have chosen you to be by my side.

Each day you grew up, you remind me more of my rebellious youth.

Especially now you played the main lead of my living legends seven years ago.

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I love you,

My little angel.

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You deserved your smile and tears. I will soon follow you.