The Supremacy of Peculiar Dolls

Chapter 13: Truthfully Written

The longer they stared weirdly at Valentin, the eerier the surrounding air tightened their chest. It felt as if Valentin was controlling the stunning atmosphere they were currently enduring, which perturbed all of them to the point that they might puke in no time. Valentin leant his back against the slimy wall, a little disgusting to his skin yet it was the only flat surface he could rely on in order to straighten his back. Yeomso firmed his grip on Kouki and Hiroki, and Hideo clutched on the documents Valentin has, again, thrown onto the grounds.

            It happened in split second. There was something bothering Valentin that he threw tantrum out of the blue regarding the documents Yeomso brought from the underground hideout. He said that it was defining everything about him, Valentin Bauer, including his favourites and ability. How could those endanger anyone? Hideo gradually shifted from the panting Valentin to the papers in his hands.

            The first word he saw was Biodata. By that sole one word, he could guess it was mainly about someone’s background, and his guess was correct when he read in detail. The first page revealed about Valentin’s full name, birth date and place, job, family members, and his ability. The second and consequence pages were more to summarization of memories throughout his life for the nth year.

            Yes. Hideo just realized this. He never knew how old The Defender was. Even though Valentin has been together with him from the day he transformed into a Human for the first time to the day he found the latter in a ruby, he didn’t think of asking for his age. Kai Stewart’s was unknown to him too, let alone the other eight members of The Defender. He scratched his chin in bewilderment.

            Kouki and Hiroki. How could this twins recognise him as Valentin Bauer? He was aware that he put them under Valentin’s care while he went to lend a hand to Yeomso. Taking in the parameters when Valentin appeared in the hideout, the shrouding darkness should limit their sight. In conclusion, they would not be able to perceive Valentin’s physical that amusing unless Valentin’s large body and tallness.

            The werewolf could not stop himself from curiosity. His hand grip on the documents became hardened, refusing to let it go. Furthermore, Valentin was frantically denying it from existing. Or was there any other reason which drove Valentin to be in such state?

            “Valentin,” Yeomso broke the silence engulfing them under the tree root network. “Do you know this twins? Their names are Kouki and Hiroki.”

            “How couldn’t I know them?” Valentin grunted, clenching on his clothes, “They were once The Defender’s precious property.”

            “Precious property?” Yeomso raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean by that?”

            “Among those we’ve saved from black magic, Kouki and Hiroki were – I mean, are – the weirdest victims. I wondered if you could notice something that differed them to other normal children out there. Perhaps they even differed a little too much to the children in The Capricorn Valley too, Yeomso.”

            Only one thing came to his mind. These twins were surprisingly intelligent and had excellent memory. Moreover, they were identical twins which could not produce tears during weeping. He wondered if it was kind of normal, however he never perceived any kids who could not cry. The longer he stayed with them as their guardian, the stranger he sensed, especially when either one of them displayed something out of a norm.

            He never thought of doubting Kouki and Hiroki. He just found it utterly, or absurdly, fascinating. It was good to have a five-year-old kid with wide-ranged of knowledge, yet he has not figured out how long it benefited him. He did not even know if it would really benefited him.

            “I’m sorry if this sounds nosy. Since when did you meet them, Valentin?” Yeomso would prefer to be frank than beating around the bushes. Hopefully he would receive the same energy from Valentin.

            Valentin has already calmed himself down. He realized he has been the attention, noticing the sharp and cautious glare by Yeomso and Hideo. Kouki and Hiroki in Yeomso’s arms looked at him with widened eyes. It was an action to replace their inability to shed tears, therefore they would enlarge their eyeballs so that they could portray their sadness better. Valentin ducked his head in contemplation.

            “Not only that, Yeomso,” Hideo hesitated in between his waver, “I would like to know about your relation to the world where Yeomso came from too, Mister Valentin.”

            Ensuring his stabilized breaths would not shake him, Valentin at last made up his mind. “You’re sharp and keen, Yeomso. I will tell you, all right?” He took a glance at the twins before proceeding, “The Defender is a group of Humans with special abilities. All abilities mentioned here are mimic to the ability a Zodiac possesses.”

            He saw Yeomso gasping in mild shock. Hideo stiffened himself while listening, but his furrows depicted his inquisitiveness.

            “I don’t know where these abilities come from, but I heard it was distributed by a creature. A non-Earthling. In other words, a Dimensional.”

            “Was it from an Ophiuchus named Hebi?” Yeomso cut in, accidentally intervening Valentin. His throbbing heart beat drove him to act impatiently.

            A shrug by Valentin disappointed him. “I don’t know. For real. It’s because it was inherited generation to generation. The members of The Defender are all a third generation of our respective families.”

            It was said that a Dimensional who mastered various kinds of knowledge on The Dimension has come down to The Earth due to his greediness in learning. He liked being praised as the most intelligent creature of The Dimension, thus he decided to spread his experience onto The Earth. Stepping on The Earth’s Forest of Eve for the first time in his life, he then was welcomed by a much shocking news – There were more geniuses among Humans which could surpass him.

            Intelligentsias in The Dimension were minute in size. Because of the well-built boundaries in between Dimensional and even Valleys, the Dimensionals were unable to freely visit one and another. This one Dimensional has obtained an ancient book hidden from a library which summarized a worldwide knowledge, including The Earth, hence this one Dimensional attempted on learning more based on it. Feeling that he has studied enough during his life on The Dimension, he would like to try learning on The Earth along with distributing his own influence.

            The founding he happened to pass by literally stunned him to the point that he could not turn to blind eye – Earthlings had sophisticated technology! It simplified and aided in one’s life. The first ‘magical tool’ he spotted was a ‘trapped light in a round glass’, which then introduced to him as light bulb. He could not meet its inventor, however his fate changed as he encountered a school.

            Based on the written history, it was not a normal school. The mentioned building was actually a vocational school where students of certain ages learnt on motor skills. Crafting, engineering, hospitality, customer service, cooking, teaching, and many other courses were available in the vocational school. Due to his curiosity, he wished to get enrolled there.

            This was how the problem erupted. The teachers there did not believe him because he had different features compared to Humans. Furthermore, he could not prove his identity as an Earthling. Definitely he could not, because he was not even one to begin with. Apparently, his Dimensional features surfaced, proving himself as an abnormal creature. Humans were not supposed to know what The Dimension was, along with its content, and this Dimensional surely was included in the vagueness.

            Unfortunately, the town where that Dimensional wanted to stay and learn was a hotspot for a crime. Around the same time when the Dimensional was captured by the locals, there was a spreading rumour about a kidnapper wearing the same clothes as him. The other characteristics of the kidnapper suited him, so the issue was brought to the king – a Human king. After a thorough discussion for three days, the Dimensional was concluded to be beheaded in front of the locals.

            Obviously the Dimensional did not want to be killed. He has not had enough knowledge from the Earthlings. Furthermore, he has not gotten himself enrolled in the vocational school. He would not just surrender to the decision, thus implying his intelligence as a Dimensional was his only option.

            As the locals were engrossed with their gossips and rumours, plus the royal guards were keeping themselves busy with the preparation for execution, the Dimensional blew himself up which murdered two royal guards assigned to bring him to the s*******r. He was not really exploding himself – it was just an eye trick which made other Humans to perceive him as dead. It could be a good idea to escape from the monstrous king and locals.

            Nevertheless, the Dimensional had nowhere else to go. He could barely recognise Humans from other places. He wandered aimlessly everywhere for two motives – Firstly was to save himself and survive on The Earth. Secondly, to gain more knowledge so that he would not grasp his arrival on The Earth as useless.

            His luck did not run out. Along his wandering from state to state on The Earth, he met several people who happened to help him. Some of them gave him food, some of them brought him home. There were some of them even taught him skills like fishing, inventing, and many more. Due to unbounded trust, he divulged who he actually was towards those Humans, however they still never misjudged the Dimensional, in fact they considered him a precious creature they happened to come across. All these people literally saved his life that he could live for a long time.

            As a token of gratitude, the Dimensional splattered his soul into ten smaller pieces of living spirits and distributed them to those Humans. His soul was included his memory, hence those Humans could perceive his backstories as well. Unfortunately, the Dimensional has mysteriously disappeared, nowhere to be found. In order to find him back, the ten Humans gathered themselves in one country, in the middle of their own hometowns.

            “Wait, wait, wait!” Yeomso could not hold himself from not cutting in to the long story. “I think I need to breathe.”

            “Weren’t you before? Besides, why are you in need to breathe? I’m the narrator though,” Valentin’s twitching lips denoted that he was about to laugh at Yeomso’s clumsiness. In his point of view, Yeomso was far more childish than that Dimensional, however both of them possessed the same originality as non-Earthlings. It should not be hurt to disclose to him.

            “I never thought it began that complicated,” Hideo took a glance at the twins. They have already fallen asleep in the middle of the storytelling. “Is it okay to reveal this history to us in front of them, Mister Valentin?”

            Valentin’s beaming smile conveyed his willingness. “It may be good for them to hear this too, but it’s okay if they’re asleep. As long as Mister Yeomso and Hideo acknowledged this, despite not having a very ample proof.”

            One mission the ten Humans have agreed to hold on – To find back that Dimensional and thank him for the gift he bestowed them. As the effect for obtaining the Dimensional’s soul, each of them had one of his ability. They subconsciously studied about The Dimension, based from the Dimensional’s memories. They figured out right away that there was another world existing beside The Earth. The memories were too valuable that one of them wrote a book of it.

            They travelled across the world with one wish. They lived everywhere in a short time and continued their journey. They helped Humans in need and they never left a place without contributing. Nevertheless, they have never encountered the Dimensional again. This prolonged until they decided to settle down, build a family and died. Their children inherited the soul and they continued their fathers’ search.

            From the beginning of these second generation of those Humans, the villages where their fathers have visited last time called them The Defender. It was a gratitude for their fathers’ effort in helping whoever in need. Hence, these second generation held firm on that name and performed exactly how their fathers did.

            The acceptance was different to the third generation. Together with their comeback, there was an occurrence related to black magic practiced by abstracted Humans. Black magic was a study which falsely applied for the sake of greediness, devilish, and demonic purposes. Its very existence usually tormented Humans, even on the users. It caused massive mishaps which triggered most Humans to put the blame on The Defender.

            “That’s what we’re confronting currently,” Valentin concluded and sighed a lot. “I don’t know how to speak the truth to other people, because I ended up being looked as the bad one. Whenever we wanted to save someone or a village, there must be an incident taking place which would tarnish our name as well. Even when we moved around in smaller groups, misfortunes lever left us. The Witch and Stawarski’s village is one of the example.”

            Yeomso nodded, concurring to Valentin’s definition of a carefree world. The Defender was mainly to help people, but its presence was more to a proof that not everyone would like a man with kindness. In reality, everyone deserved to be loved, yet everyone would experience hatred eventually.

            “Kouki and Hiroki,” Valentin fixated his gaze on the sleeping twins, “are a few of those we’ve saved. Oh, and Hideo too!” he shifted to Hideo and patted his shoulder, “I was glad that all of you are still alive.”

            “Then, Valentin,” Yeomso’s hands naturally stroked Kouki and Hiroki’s hair respectively, “What should we do next? Their Father- I mean Kai Stewart, has entrusted them to me, and they said Kai reminded them to go find the other Defenders.”

            Valentin frowned a little, contemplating again. “There are ten abilities in The Defender, but since we’ve agreed to move in smaller groups, Kai and I were together with another two of The Defender. I suggest you to find those two. Jot this down.”

            Because Yeomso has not learned on writing yet, Hideo took the role using Yeomso’s pen from his magical robe. Valentin witnessed how Yeomso effortlessly fished out a ball point pen and handed it to Hideo.

            “Their names are Karl Schwarz and Sobong Yong Saeng,” Valentin tried digging into his own memories. “Karl Schwarz has smooth and silky black hair. It’s his trademark, so you should pay extra attention on someone with black smooth hair. His nickname in The Defender is The Transporter. While I have the power to transfigure living things or non-living things, he can transport anything he wants, including himself.

            “The other Defender who vanished with Kai and Karl is Sobong Yong Saeng. His trademark is his height, quite distinct because the last time we met, he was 190 centimetres tall. He could be taller by now. In The Defender, he is called The Fire since his ability is pyro kinesis.”