章 22: Chapter 12: Insanity (Part 1)
???: "The line between insanity and sanity – how thick is it exactly? If one tries to break a person little by little, how much time will it take to drive them insane? If one tries to break them at once, how big should the impact be? I have always wondered these things."
Floating in nothingness, a voice whispers this to Ro. He knows whose voice it is, but he cannot understand what the voice wants from him.
Ro: "Barry!"
He calls out the name of the person that voice belongs to.
Barry: "Yes"
And the person responds.
Ro: "Why haven't you done anything yet?"
He asks a question that had been bugging him for a while.
Barry: "Well, done what?"
The person answers that with a question.
Ro: "Why haven't you attacked me yet?"
He clarifies his question a bit.
Barry: "And why exactly would I attack you?"
And the person answers with a question again.
Ro: "Because you … would want revenge, right?"
His questions go on.
Barry: "Revenge?"
Answering with questions also goes on.
This exchange is almost poetic in a sense. It's as if Ro is asking to be attacked. It's as if he wants Barry to attack him. Why would Ro want that? It was like … he is asking for a punishment.
Ro: "Why are you acting like …?"
He himself does not even understand why his own heart desires these punishments. Yet, he asks someone else their reasoning. This is all he could do not to lose himself completely.
Barry: "Revenge for what exactly?"
Yet the other person keeps answering with questions. It's as if none of Ro's questions made any sense to him.
Ro: "For your brother."
Ro says it out loud. He acknowledges what he has done is wrong. After all, he has died. He might as well start confessing his sins now.
Barry: "You are talking like you killed him or something."
Barry's answer this time is not a question though. This time, it's a smirking reply as if to say Ro is wrong about something.
Ro: "We didn't, but …"
Ro could do nothing but ask.
Barry: "You kidnapped him, right?"
Barry would again answer with a question; even if it's a question he already knows the answer to.
Ro: "Yes, wouldn't you …"
Before Ro could finish his question,
Barry: "Do you honestly think he's that weak?"
Barry's next answer in the form of another question would come.
Ro: "What?"
This one surprises Ro.
Barry: "Do you honestly think you could have kidnapped him just like that?"
Yet, Barry's answers remaining as questions keep slicing up a hole in Ro's perception of the event.
Ro: "What do you …?"
The hole is being widened and widened until,
Barry: "Remember he felt a pain in his stomach after he took care of you two?"
Barry would finally open it up completely.
Ro: "I do."
Ro could already guess what the next line would be, but he could just not believe it.
Barry: "Why was that?"
Barry decides to probe in the doubts that he has brought to Ro's mind.
Ro: "Because … because … it was because invisible water …"
Ro tries to explain the cause for it, at least the one lie he had told the victim before.
Barry: "Don't bother lying to me."
Barry knows it's a lie. He would not be affected by it – not in the slightest.
Ro: "What!"
Ro knows it's a lie too. But he would still try to act as if it's not.
Barry: "I know that was not the case."
Barry would not allow him to continue the façade. He would keep widening the hole.
Ro: "But it …"
Ro would try to cling to the lie as long as he can.
Barry: "It is your tactics to say things that mess with your opponent's brains."
Barry would expose his secrets.
Barry: "You just saw he was feeling pain and tried to make it look like it was because of you two."
He would just not stop widening the hole in Ro's assumptions.
Ro: "How … do you …"
Ro would finally give up and ask.
Barry: "Know this?"
Barry would try to be sly.
Ro: "Tch!"
Ro would get irritated by the fact that he does not know the answer.
Barry: "Well, it's quite simple. I was the real reason he was feeling pain."
Barry would finally deal the finishing blow.
Ro: "What?"
Ro had already understood this before Barry said it. But it was his good mind that could understand this, not his fragile heart.
Barry: "It was a punch from this hand."
Barry would say so bringing up his right hand.
Ro: "W-why?"
Ro would ask the reason for it. There must have been one, right?
Barry: "That's simple. I wanted him to be taken to that island."
Barry has no reason to try to hide it, so he would gladly spill the beans.
Ro: "Huh?"
Ro would be hit with another unbelievable remark.
Barry: "And I guess that would make me your accomplice."
Barry would continue widening the hole, even after it had already done its job.
Barry: "Now why would I want to take revenge on my accomplices?"
Ro: "But … that's absurd."
Ro would say what he truly thinks and he would feel a little relief over it, maybe he has spoken what's on his mind after a long time.
Barry: "There's nothing so unbelievable about it."
Barry would not allow for the relief to be there though.
Ro: "Tch!"
Ro would not even try to ask with words. He would not have the willpower to ask the question that could shatter all his believes.
Barry: "You Embers have no idea how the real world operates. So it may look absurd to you, but it's just natural."
Barry would say something so important so casually.
Ro: "What does that …?"
Ro would try to muster his willpower to keep asking the questions.
Barry: "It means you are a bunch of idiots."
Barry has stopped answering with questions for a while. But the effect of his answers is still the same.
Ro: "What do you …?"
Simple questions like 'what' and 'why' are all that Ro could say at this point.
Barry: "Well, you'll learn that in a short while. You'll learn what actually happens in the shadows."
Ro: "Shadows?"
Barry: "Yeah, shadows. You ready? You are going to find out things are far more complicated than any of you ever thought it would be."
Ro: "Just … explain already."
Ro is anxious.
Barry: "I don't know where to start and where to end, so just wait like I told you to."
Barry truly does not know how he could explain things to anyone even if he tried to.
Barry: "Yeah. That's it. Just wait!"
Ro looks at Barry, eyes full of surprise.
Barry: "And maybe … I'll get my answer …"
There's a wide grin on his face.
Ro: "Your answer … to what?"
Barry: "I said it earlier, right? How thick is the line between sanity and insanity?"
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Zyanide100
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