Vexatious Surprises | Act I: There Is No End

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I wake up. Well, not really. More of a realization of some sorts. And that realization is...

'Man, my friends are weird.'

Being put against a wall, I quickly realize what was going on. Looking up, I saw a black-haired, ragged boy, roughly around my height, come up from the shadows and reveal himself to me. I quickly realized who it was.

"Anthony?" I asked.

"Hey, Deus. How's it going?" He said.

"Good, I guess. Apart from this sudden move, I guess I'm alright."

"Good good. Hey, you mind answering a few questions for me?"

"Um... sure?"

Anthony lets go of my clothing and takes a step back, letting me breathe for a second.

What was exactly going on here?

"I, uh... saw that you came out of that house there...." He stated, being all conspicuous.

"Um... yeah..?" I said, all confused.

"Isn't that Mr. Lundi's house? You know, the one Lentil gossips a lot?" Anthony queried.

"Well, yeah, but--" I said before Anthony swiftly interrupts me, replying with,

"Why is you were inside that... That devil's lair?"

"First of all, mate, I was only in there to give some of his stuff back after my mum borrowed it. Secondly, he's really not the devil. Stop with the exaggerations." I stated, firmly.

"I can say anything about anyone anytime I want. Just like that man does whatever he wants with the little children of this place." Anthony stated.

"Come on mate. You really believe in all that rubbish those kids say about him?" I asked.

"I believe in Lentil. He's our brother. In he, I can trust."

"Lentil says a lot of things. You know that. Plus, not everything we all say is true."

"But what would he have to gain out of lying about someone like him?" He asked, with tone.

"But what if he doesn't know he's lying?" I replied with another question.

"That literally makes no sense."

"For you, it doesn't."

Anthony took a few steps, groaning. He's not liking my responses and overall, he's not liking my attitude either.

I am not liking this hostility. Not when it's about a very misunderstood and misjudged man like Mr. Lundi.

"Look, all I'm saying is that the man is misunderstood. If you just looked over all of his hostilty, you'll find something much sadder." I tried to explain.

"Well, mind telling me what sadness was this 'man' experienced to hurt children like the way he does?" He asked very maliciously.

"It's something rather private to him."

"Oh wait... You talked to him?"

Oh no. I spoke too much.

After this, Anthony started laughing. Hysterically. Like if all I was saying was a joke.

"Oh, so you're telling me that you went up to his house, had a conversation with the unspeakable, and you found out all about his sadness. Is that what you're telling me. What are you, some kind of Messiah? Some kind of savior? So powerful that all the demons inside him just vanished into thin air?" He said, all so mockingly.

"No, I am not. I just took the time to actually know the guy. Something none of you guys will ever have the empathy to do it."

"Oh, I know all about empathy. But what is there to empathize about a literal child slaughterer?"

"My god! You really believe in all of that rubbish? That horseshit? I thought you were the reasonable guy. Then again, you're not as experienced as that Allen guy." I stated, getting a little pissed at this tomfoolery.

"Allen? You think Allen is better than me? Hell with you, you haven't even been with us for a day! You have no right to tell me I am not as experienced as Allen!" He said, with some sort of dignity. With misplaced pride in his heart.

"Then again, there is no 'rights' when you're an anarchist... isn't there?" I remarked.

"You don't even make sense!" He said.

"Nothing you kids even think of make sense!" I replied, keeping my ground.

Suddenly, Anthony took a swing at me. Just from out of nowhere, he turned his left fist, locking it tight, and going all in. I managed to dodge it, scathing from it just barely.

"You think you're smarter than me? You think that all because you're older than me, it makes me the inexperienced one? To hell with it! I know just as much as you do, and we both know that this world isn't pretty. That this world hides a dark truth. And sooner and later, you will realize that it can come from anywhere! And even if the old man is good now, what makes you think he was a good one before all of this? How about in the future?" Anthony stated.

"All I know is that you're one immature bastard." I stated with dignity, bracing myself as I prepared for the coming battle.

Anthony had enough. He started to charge at me, trying to tackle me to the ground. It was predictable, yet at the same time... it was all the more terrifying. After a couple dodges, I started to notice something wrong.

Something terribly wrong.

Everything had started to hurt now.

I hadn't even been touched once, yet my muscles started to ache. The more I dodged, the more my muscles could feel like it could snap at any moment. I tried to keep myself up, but I could feel myself getting particularly lower and lower by the minute. My legs couldn't hold me.

"What's the matter, KID? You talked the fight, yet you won't fight! Face this like the grown man you are, you coward!" Anthony taunted.

His taunts weren't even worth responding to. But I couldn't just walk out of this. Not like I could. I tried to hold things together, but my body felt like it could collapse at any moment.

I thought I was prepared for this.

Turns out I wasn't.

Oops.

"You okay, mate? Look like you could use a HAND!" He said as he took another step to charge at me.

Almost catched me off-guard as my thoughts clouded my mind for a second.

And...

WHOOSH!

The pure speed flowed past my clothes, barely scaping by, as it could feel the fist almost hitting my chest.

This wasn't good.

The gap was closing in on us.

And it was only a matter of time before my body will actually ache from not just this strange fever I'm having.

"What's the matter? Too scared to face the consequences of your actions?" Anthony further taunted.

"More like you're too scared to face the truth." I replied.

I just have to speak my big mouth, did I?

"Maybe the truth doesn't want to face you!" He screamed as I instantly prepared for the coming hit.

This is it.

Can't continue dodging. My body will no longer support that. All I could do...

All I could do is hold my arms ever so high, even through it's nervous vibrations, and brace for it.

This is it.

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Something's off.

As I open my eyes, I try to find Anthony but all I could see was...

Oh god.

Not this again.

As I looked up, I saw the sky ever appear so dim. Present in it's dark shades of black. As I look out the neighborhood, I no longer saw the houses and the people and the sun and the road and...

Nothing was up.

Nothing was there anymore.

Except for the floating structures again.

The shock factor has already left the second time this happened.

But it's all the surprising either way.

Especially after an encounter like that.

"Hey, Deus." The voice returned to me again.

"You..." I said, feeling a little cautious of this all.

"Relax, Deus. You should be glad. The pain you feeling is gone for now."

Something told to look at my right.

And all I could do then was sigh after seeing it.

Lying there in the sky was some point of view of the real world.

And there.... lied me.

All beaten up.

All broken seemingly.

God darn it.

"You should be glad I pulled you in when we did." The voice continued to say.

"We?" I asked.

"We. He's around here. Just watching, though."

"Who is He?"

"You'll figure it out soon enough. Just gotta wait only a few days."

"Wait-Wait... What's gonna happen in a few days?"

"Like we said... You'll see."

"What the hell do you mean? Can I get at least some explanation for what's going on? What is this place? Who, by holy hell, are you? What is going on here?" I asked, frustrated in how everything felt so vague.

"We can't really answer those questions just yet, kid? All we can really confirm is that... Get comfortable. This won't be the last time you'll be here."

"Yeah. That's what I'm starting to see. But--" I tried to say before the voice said "Shhhh. Just get comfortable. Because you ain't staying comfortable for much long."

"You wanna know just a tad detail about something?" The voice asked.

I nodded, assuming the voice could see my movements.

I could hear it snicker.

"Look back there again."

Looking back to my right, I saw my body just lie. But something started to change.

My hand twitched.

My leg followed.

Soon, it became apparent that I wasn't done yet.

And just as I saw this... I hear just the tiniest whisper. I could hear it still, but it was all so forebodingly quiet.

"You ready for the decline?"

GASP!

PUFF!

GASP!

Puff!

Gasp!

Puff...

Gasp...

"Mate?"

Suddenly, I looked to my right again, only to see a friendly face.

"Hey, Lentil. Took you long enough to finally show your face."

"Mate, you alright? You look pretty rough." He asked.

"Nope. But I'll try." I said, trying to pick myself up.

No luck. The muscles ached too much. The beat up I just received wasn't exactly helping it either.

The only reason I managed to get up once more was with the help of Lentil. He tried to hold me up, although you could tell that I was a bit too heavy for him.

"Say.... MATE. How did you wind up like... Like THIS?" He said as he continued to use all of his might to keep me up.

"I... You won't believe me." I said, fearing that he may not believe it's one of his friends.

"Try me." Lentil said.

I sighed.

"Anthony." I said quickly.

We stopped. Lentil was both tired and probably... surprised.

"Anthony, eh?" Lentil said, strangely without any surprise in his voice.

I nodded.

We stood there for a moment in silence again.

And then all of the sudden, he said:

"What a hopeless lunatic. What the hell he hurt you for?" He asked, seemingly knowing that Anthony is a jerk.

We continued walking.

"You ain't surprised one of your own did this?" I asked, a little dumbfounded myself by his response.

"It ain't surprising that he did it. He's horrible. It's just why did he do it. What did you do that pissed him off?" He said.

"Called him immature and stupid."

"For what?"

"For believing in a bunch of horsecrap about someone."

"And who this person may be?" He asked, seemingly getting more accustomed to carrying me up.

"Mr. Lundi." I said, without hesitation.

"What?! Mr. Lundi? Why, no wonder he beat ya up! Mr. Lundi is one nasty old fellow." He stated.

"But, mate, that ain't true. Or at least, he isn't really." I replied, a little vaguely.

"What makes you say that? Did you talk to him or something? Oh, that's a little far-fetched, I'm sorry. No way you could've--" He said before without warning, I interrupted him, saying:

"Yes. I did."

We stopped once more.

This time, Lentil was... surprised. Like for real.

"WHAT?! HOW?! Like... Heavens, mate!" He said, all surprised, jumpy, and stuff.

"Yeah. I know." I replied, a little nonchalantly.

"Well, what did you do with him? What were you doing there?"

"Mum wanted me to bring some things there. That she borrowed from him."

"Your mum knew him?! My god. Well, then, what happened?" He further questioned me.

"Well, at the beginning, he was just like you rumored. House all messy. He was one mean old fellow. Wanted me gone. But after a while, and after a sudden realization by him about a few things, we sat down and talked a little bit. And well, let's just say I got to see a little into his past. And he ain't bad. He's just... misunderstood." I explained.

"Wow. And what did you learn?" He further asked.

I wasn't sure if telling him about something very personal to Mr. Lundi was a good idea, so...

"Well, I rather would think he would want to keep it private so all I can say is... He lost someone very close to him. And it drove into a deep sadness." I said.

"Wow. I get it now. As much as he may still be a bad person for all he said to us, at least you can try to understand that he had... He had a tragic fallout, right?" Lentil replied, seemingly understanding everything.

"Yeah. Exactly." I replied.

I'm glad that Lentil gets it. Thought he wouldn't because well, how similar he is to the rest of the Brothers. But there's a reason he's my best friend.

We continued walking up the street, coming back to my house. It took a while, considering just how leisurely we walked across the road. And once we finally made it to the door, Lentil was just exhausted.

"Oof. Wow. You're pretty heavy dude. But can you walk now?" He asked, huffing and puffing.

"Yeah. My bones kind of quake but I'll be fine." I said, trying to keep my head straight.

"I swear, when I see that jerk again, I'm going to break his bones just so he can--" Lentil angrily mumbled before I stopped his hate speech and said:

"Mate, that ain't gonna work."

"But, mate.. He literally beat you up to a pulp man. It's only fair if I do to same to him." He tried to explain.

But that wasn't going to work well for him.

"Dude, if you try that, you're bound to be kicked off from the group. And I know you and Chris are becoming fast friends too. I don't want you to lose that." I said.

"But he literally beat you up, man! He deserves it!" He replied.

"As much as I would want you to avenge me, going after him isn't right. My dad once told me of an ancient proverb, saying that another proverb, 'Eye for an eye', isn't going to work.

Because an eye for an eye makes the whole world go blind." I told him, spewing some random wisdom that popped up in my head.

Lentil groaned. I know he wants to make things right, but just like I said...

"There's another way to getting back at him. But this isn't." I preached.

"Ugghhhh... Fine. I just hope you know what you're doing." He replied, giving in to the plan.

"There you go." I said, patting his back.

"Well, you best be careful, Deus. I don't know what but if you come back to the hall... things may go down." He warned me.

"Well mostly likely, yes. But at least I'll have you by my side right?"

"Of course, mate." Lentil assured me, playfully running around a bit before deciding to head off.

"Well, I gotta go, mate. Take care." He told me.

"You too, Lentil. See you later."

He nodded and then showed off his signature grin before running off to the east, presumably, heading for home.

Hah.

Same old Lentil. Always first to head into battle. Might hit in the arse, one day.

And now... Let me get inside.

As I slowly walking up the stairs, being careful as my body continued to ache and groan in pain. I tried my best to keep it cool, but my hands quaked as they held me up by the sidebars.

THUD!

THUD!

Finally after what I presumed to be a long minute, I finally got up to the front porch and after a little bit of wobbling and trying to maintain my balance...

I opened the door.

I don't know why is this all so dramatic to me, considering these are just things that I do everyday, but it could be this weird heat in my head, which is still there after several days, that's giving me this new... point of view of things.

I don't know.

"Oh, no. Everything's fine, here. It's just, you know, me and Deus."

Wait... mum?

"Oh. Well then, how's Deus been acting then?" Another voice appeared.

"The usual. Playing with his friends, wandering off to who knows where. He has been acting a little strange lately but it must be nothing. Might just be me, I reckon, after staying in this house for far too long."

"Wait.. what's wrong with him?"

I continued to slowly move across the enterance, silently closing the door. I could hear the conversation coming from the living room, and so... I trudged through the place and stood right behind a wall, close to the living room.

"Well... last morning, he seemed to have stayed longer in bed for some unknown reason. It's not normal of him but it could be that he was tired. That night, he came back home late, so that might be it. But even more stranger, he didn't want to eat his meal for the morning."

"Why not? We all know that your broth is one of the best."

"I don't know. He might've not been hungry but then again... we all are always hungry."

"That is true." The voice replied, chuckling afterwards.

Who was this man inside my home?

Was it a stranger?

A friend?

A possible foe? I couldn't tell.

The only thing I can do is to try and peek in. See who's talking to my mother.

And so... I did just that.

Steadily, I peeked through one of the cracks between the wall's barely supported surface. And while I couldn't see much, I could identify a few things.

The man was sweaty, which I could tell from his own skin being wet.

The man wore rags, covered in mud, leaves of grass, and dirt, hinting that he just came from work.

The man seemed friendly and knew my mother, otherwise, my mom wouldn't be talking to him in such a manner.

Could it be?

No, it could just be some random friend I don't know about.

But it may be him...

I decided to risk my element of surprise here, and peek outside the wall, where the others were talking.

As I did, I slowly came to the realization and even, the shock of finally seeing him again.

Is it?

Is it?

Is it.....

"Dad?"