Beneath the proud tree, Kojo bucked against the maiden he stole away. He paid no mind to the life that watched or began around them. The air rang with her prayers and cries. Anyone who witnessed the act would mistake it for a magnificent occult tapestry playing out in real time.
This place was their temple.
His thrusts sped up, making the earth shake. The fingers that held her lovely face slipped into her mouth. In turn, her tongue wrapped around the digits: a betrayal from her body to her mind. She sucked and licked in shame. All grew in ferocity until the world was drowned in their pleasure.
This was His.
Kojo blinked at the sight of a ragged child standing several feet in front of Him.
"W̶̡̢͍͙̭̺̲͇̦͈͔͖͊̃̈́h̸̢̡̢̡̼̺̲͔͇̭̞̳̰͉̘͑̒̐͂̋̌̓́̕̕͝͝y̶̡͍͇͈͕͍͊̿̒͐͛̂̈́̏̈́͝ͅ are We here?"
"...Your question has no answer."
He tilted His head. "Dad?"
"What?"
"You brought Me here."
"I…"
The Child hummed.
Kojo embraced Him and held Him close.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing. Everything's okay."
"I don't understand."
"You don't need to."
"But I want to."
"W̵̠͎̮͙̥̰̍͌́͌̌́͌̃̉̎̾͝h̸̫̍̋̆̀͊͋̊̆̈́͂̍͑͘̚̚y̶̢̢̢̲͙̜̖͎̬͚̘̙͇̅̑̄̑̅̃̿̓͐̈̒̚͜?"
"You gave Me everything You had."
"I know it wasn't enough."
"That's not it. I'm Your son." He frowned. "You're holding too tight."
"I'd hold You tighter, but You'd break."
"You're going to squeeze all three of My eyes out."
Pulling back, He shot Him a look. "We only have two."
"No, there's always three for You and I."
"...I don't understand."
"There is who You were, who You are, and who You become with every second. You told me that, dad. There is the Me that was, the Me I Am, and the Me I will be. Of course, this applies to everyone, but You and I are unique in how constant it is."
"I've heard that before." He clucked his tongue. "You and I? What happened to We?"
"W̷̩̄̄u̴̢͖͒h̵̼̣͕͂̈͝-̵̖̫̂e̶̝̳͂̄̋e̷̛̼̊?̴̦͝ ̵̩̹͍͆̃͗W̴̼͙͆̓͑u̶̠̍̕͜ḧ̵͉̰̟́̆-̷̳̹̦͋̾̿e̷̻̅́ḛ̸̻̎?̶̛̮͕̜́͒ ̵̲̓̽͊W̸̧͔̫̽͋͝ư̶̱̖̐̈͜ẖ̵̣̇-̶̹̒̈ͅȩ̶̀̚͝e̷̞̫͐͘?̴̜͚̂̎̍ ̶̛̜̱͑W̸̼͆ǘ̵̟̪̔̔h̴̟̆̋̊-̴̗̻͌̏̏e̵͉͗͒̅ë̶͍̩͖͗̌?̷͇̥̻̔͑͘ ̶̡̒́̇W̵̤̩̫͌u̵̯̭̱͐h̷̩͆-̶̨͇̓̽̑e̴̹̬͒̀è̸̗̦̈?̴͖͈͇̉͐ ̷̬̜͋͘Ẁ̷͖̠͆ū̸͍͔h̴̛̰͙̆͊-̵͇̖̤̋̄̇ê̴͉̳̦̾̕é̶̯?̴̦̅͂ ̸̭͚̱͛͝W̵̗̤̩͋̐ù̸͔̪h̷̛̩̠-̵͉̪͎̏̆ȅ̸̫̙e̶̮̜̬͊̔́?̵͈͉̠̌ ̵̞̔͛Ẅ̴̹̰͍̋u̸̧͙̗͛͐̉h̵͖̭͕͐-̶̯̹̎̐͠ê̶̼̼ͅę̸̘̱̽̅̊?̷̢̹̥̇̋ ̴̨͙͊̓̆W̶̼͐̿u̶̥̔̏h̷̲̓̃͠-̴̘̣̳̂̎e̴̺̠͆̎̀e̴̥̠̺̊?̵̻̘̑̽ ̷̡̟̊͛W̷͙̭͔̓͛̇u̵̯̣̟̍̍́ḩ̷͍̉͒̓͜-̷̫̥̠̈́̀̅é̸̢̠̱͒͝è̴͇?̷̙̤̭̓̿"
"What the fuck is happening?"
You have forgotten what You know and will remember.
The Child vanished with the world, leaving Him to float aimlessly in void.
"Kojo!"
It is pointless: He is already dead.
"He shouldn't be… He was just a boy."
In another instance, perhaps.
"I don't understand."
You do, and You did, and You will.
"Who are You?"
Amusement filled his being.
He laughed and held on to His sides. "That's the stupidest thing I always ask." His fingers dug into His flesh. "I hate it."
It is in Your nature.
"I want to be free."
There is no liberty. You cannot even perceive yet.
"Show me."
A bloody red shadow blinked into existence before Him.
"I didn't think I had one."
Many do, but the ones that are worth anything are few.
"What are You waiting for?" He laughed.
You are not ready.
"Let me, dammit! I don't care! I'm sick of it! Day in and day out for what?! There is no purpose! There is no meaning! Do it or I will!"
It parted, erupting forth forever.
He shot to the sky from the earth and snarled.
Below, his minions gawked.
"What the fuck?!" One yelled. He glanced at the crater Kojo left, feet unsteady from a leftover tremor. "Jesus!"
Another laughed to calm himself. "Boss had a bad dream?"
Drops of red sputtered down from on high.
"Oh no."
He clutched his horned head as he fell back down.
"He doesn't dream," a blond young woman said. "At least, that's what Marcus said."
Kojo landed, huffing and puffing.
"Boss?" The first asked.
Blood dyed his eyes red and black, flowed down from his ears, and oozed out his nose.
"Oh fuck!"
"Where… What… I saw him… I saw him."
"Who?" The prime minion asked
He walked forward, oblivious to everyone else. "But he's dead… He died like I did."
"Uh?"
The blond scoffed. "He can't hear you, dumbass." She walked over and slipped her arms over his chest from behind.
"Hortensia?" He stopped. "No, I'm not there, and never again."
"I don't think I'm gonna be able to hear if he keeps talking that loud either."
"Shut up." She commanded.
He put his hands over hers. "This touch." He sighed. "Alex."
She tapped her fingers against him.
"Fuck you." He stepped forward out of her grasp and fell down on to the grass. "Fuck this fucking place!"
"How can he yell like that when he was hammering our eardrums earlier?"
Alex sat down next to him. "He doesn't want to hurt us, duh." She patted his chest.
"Leave me alone." He dug his fingers into his ears, scraped some odd matter out, and groaned.
"You said you saw someone and thought I was 'Hortensia.'"
He sat up.
"...Boss?"
Blood drops fell from his eyes. "Say that name ever again, and I'll kill you. Even ask me about it, and I'll kill you. Understood?"
"Yeah."
He scoffed.
"So, who did you see?"
Immediately, he fell back down.
"Uh?"
A minute of pure silence passed by.
"...What were you dreaming about?"
"I wasn't dreaming. I just thought I was somewhere else."
She tilted her head. "Then do you know what happened to you?"
"No, but I'm sure it's nothing. I'll be fine."
"People don't bleed from the head like you are right now."
"They also die if they do. I know I can't." He scraped more goop from his ears. "This is pieces of my brain."
"...What the fuck?"
He closed his eyes, not that he could see again yet. "Just shut up. I'm tired."
"You just slept."
He didn't respond.
She stared at him before closing her eyes and humming a pleasant tune.
One of his eyes parted for a second.
Alex's form followed the lullaby,
The others sat down nearby and listened.
An image of a smiling old woman came to Kojo's mind.
He remembered the days of winter they all lived together in warmth and slipped back into nothingness.