The Look of Determined Liars - Hero's Lies Arc

*Author's Note - I have set up a new Instagram! The name is toshirotsuyuri, with my profile pictures matching on Honeyfeed and Instagram. There, I will post character designs and cover art for all the different arcs of Engulfed in Darkness. No spoilers, but it will be running much longer! Thank you for your support and continue reading! :)*

“Thank God you can fly. I would have been so stuck without you,” Hiroshi gave Kuro-Yami his gratitude. He was currently laying back, with his hands over his head, stomach pointing towards the deep darkness of space. He thought it was so relaxing, flying through the clouds.

Alone. In his own thoughts.

Well, not quite.

“It’s challenging to do, my friend,” Kuro-Yami said, giving a little smile from inside Hiroshi’s brain. “You need to have so much manna to even get off the ground. It needs to come from within your very soul. You don’t just learn it overnight. And besides, I’m in the middle of teaching you how to do it yourself, without my help.”

“I know…so does that mean these three are really strong?” Hiroshi asked his only friend curiously.

“Yes…in fact, they are probably all stronger than you,” Kuro-Yami said solemnly. “But it will be a good test for you. Use that anger you had leaving that stupid village. You don’t have to worry about holding back now. Go wild.”

Hiroshi nodded and grinned to himself. He had been following the heroes for the last couple of days. Was there even a Love Crystal? Maybe they were just lying? No. They couldn’t be. They wouldn’t do all of this, while being recorded, just to look for something that doesn’t exist.

“What even does the Love Crystal even do?” Hiroshi asked Kuro-Yami.

“Not a clue. The Gods never talked about it with me. Probably because we were too powerful enough to care,” Kuro-Yami sighed, struggling to remember about his interactions with the other Gods all those years ago. “I’m sure I did hear somebody saying something about it connected to controlling emotions in that crowd…maybe I misheard…”

“That’s fine. I’m sure we will find out soon enough,” Hiroshi responded, supporting Kuro-Yami. “Hold up, they are slowing down.”

Hiroshi was absolutely right. The three heroes, Eve, Grant, and Schulz, had all come to a screeching halt. Hiroshi stayed up high in the sky to make sure he wasn’t detected. They had stopped in front of a cave entrance. The drones flew lower and focused on the heroes faces. The looks of determination on their faces filled the capital with hope and joy. The crowd cheered, still looking on at the events unfolding on their televisions at home. If they weren’t there, they were in the city center, looking at the big screen that was three thousand square feet in size.

“Look what we have here, everyone! Have our heroes found the location of the Love Crystal, said to be lost for centuries?!” Alexander boomed in his microphone. He was exhausted. As he wiped the sweat from his brow, he looked at his watch. Two whole days. He had been presenting for that amount of time, hardly ever having a break.

It was worth it in his eyes. To see people smiling.

The three heroes nodded to one another, then entered the cave. The drones followed, watching their every move.

Hiroshi softly landed on the ground after they had gone inside, and he laughed a jolly laugh to himself.

“What’s so funny?” Kuro-Yami asked in a stunned tone. That laugh really came out of nowhere.

“Can’t you see? It’s so obviously staged. You are telling me that this big cave has gone centuries without being explored? No…I see what they are doing. They had it before and planted it here to make themselves look more favorable…wait,” Hiroshi froze, a thought entering his head. Kuro-Yami heard it too.

“Hiroshi, you don’t think they are using the Love Crystal already, do you? Maybe it affects a person’s emotional state?” Kuro-Yami asked, questioning Hiroshi’s sudden thought. “Then why would they…?”

“Because it’s a stupid game to them. Make themselves look like heroes. Over and over again,” Hiroshi growled in anger, clenching his fists. “I have to destroy it.”

“Wouldn’t that make us the good guys?”

“No, and even if it did, I don’t care. Manipulation is wrong. It makes so much sense now…with Grant and Wisteria, and how he…”

“Stop thinking about her already! That life is gone now! And taking over the planet is alright, but manipulation is where you draw the line?!” Kuro-Yami cried out, hoping Hiroshi would find some sense.

“Kuro-Yami…I don’t want people to like me when I take over. I don’t care if they hate me. Loathe me. Want me to die and kill myself. Burn and rot in hell. It doesn’t matter. Once they treat each other with respect. That’s all that I want,” Hiroshi mumbled with brutal honesty.

He was hated enough as is.

Or so he thought.

In Lightley, a knock came on Wisteria’s door. She rushed to answer it, and she flung the door open to see Bibi standing there, looking gloomy.

“Still no luck? Oh, please tell me you found him!” she pleaded desperately to her friend. Wisteria’s hair was a mess, with loose strands sticking out all over her head. Her eyes had gained terrible bags under them, and she looked incredibly stressed and run down.

“I’m sorry Wisteria, he’s still missing,” Bibi said, looking down at the ground. Wisteria just wanted the world to swallow her whole. She slammed the door in Bibi’s face.

All her fault. All her fault. All her fault.

She got herself a tub of ice-cream and a spoon and began wolfing it down. She hadn’t trained, slept or eaten in two days. She turned on the television. The channel showed the three heroes of Acebia.

Grant was one of them. She ate even more ice-cream as a tear ran down her cheek.

“Why do I always ruin everything?” she asked herself.

Little did she know, Hiroshi was only a few feet behind her ex-boyfriend.

And he was out to kill him.

No matter how brutal.