Returning to the current timeline, we retreat from the battlefield after the conclusion of the blood-lusting confrontation. This time, there were no tears in our eyes; our tears strangely faded away into the air. This time, there was no sorrow flying all around. But sadness was visible in our weak eyes and blank expressions.
It was a huge realm, a realm that felt like paradise to me. Every single corner of the realm was blessed with the presence of flowers and sincerity. Suddenly, the voices and laughter of countless children broke into my concentration. It was coming from a bit far away, from inside a huge castle. They were singing while dancing in there, singing a song about the beauty of the world. They were smiling, very happy, as the smiles on their lips kept reflecting an endless storm of happiness.
Apparently, it was the realm where countless children resided. It was Arfanez who gathered all of them in this singular realm. Running across countless realms, he brought all of them here with the belief that they should remain innocent. He wanted to embody them with love and kindness, keeping them here to stop the concept of hatred and chaos from getting closer to these children. Successfully, he continued his attempt at that. For them, he was a saint-like figure who taught them sincerity and love. No matter how cruel and chaotic Arfanez was in the outer world, he was the kindest existence for them. The actual reason behind this was unknown, but he left the reason to Marco before his death. While Marco was working under his command as the chief of the army, Arfanez took Marco with him into the realm of purity. The reason behind this was strange but understandable to me. He wanted to keep himself from being a total devil who was continuously slaughtering every existing mortal. He believed the sincerity he would show to those innocent kids might be a way to keep himself from being a heartless devil. At that moment, I realized something: that Arfanez wasn't an antagonist to the world, but a figure who loved the world; he only hated its negative emotions. He was never a chaotic demon who would demolish everything, but a figure who wanted to change humanity.
Now, at this moment, I could hear the words he spoke right before running away from the face of the story. "It could be that my attempt to redeem humanity had to meet the face of failure, but I know, I believe that a certain figure will surely fulfill my goal. My soul existed in the world as a part of the goal I've been holding for so long. Throughout countless years and in the future, countless entities will appear in the stories with the dream of redemption. Among them, a certain entity will surely complete the timeless goal. But even at this moment, I will say loudly, I will shout with all my heart; I love the world, I love humanity, I love them all, and I will always love them." Every word he spoke tightly grabbed my soul, becoming a part of my belief. It was a moment where I figured out the flaw of humanity, the flaw that kept us from reaching salvation. I had been wondering about this for thousands of years, I cried for thousands of years just with the sorrow of not being able to figure out the truth. Now, at this moment, I believe it is what Aizis spoke to him; his way of salvation might be wrong, but what he believes is the truth. The world needs redemption, humanity and the mortals need redemption, they have to meet the ultimate redemption that will happen in the future by removing the concept of hatred and chaos from the depth of every mortal.
Coming back to the castle, a figure with a joker mask entered the castle holding a large amount of beautiful flowers in his hands. His entire figure and appearance were absolutely similar to Marco's, except the face, as it was hidden under the Joker mask.
All the children suddenly stopped their song as they stared at the figure with a bit of surprise.
Moments later, one of them threw a quick question toward Marco, "Who are you?"
The masked figure kept silent for a few moments. Then he spoke in a cinematic way while laughing, "I'm the Joker, the figure who gifts a beautiful smile to everyone's face for a few moments; I'm the person for you guys, a person for the world."
"So smile and laugh, allow me to complete my quest," he added, laughing a bit loudly.
The kids in the castle kept staring at him for a bit more time, then they started their laughter once again as before.
Meanwhile, the Joker spoke for one last time, "The Joker for laughter, the Joker for happiness, and the Joker with flowers for the sake of spreading beauty throughout the world."
While stepping all around the castle, he gifted all the flowers to the children as they accepted them while carrying their usual bright smiles. The sun slowly faded away from the face of the world, revealing the presence of a full moon night.
The part of the story I wanted to tell has been concluded at this point. I'm glad to tell it, I'm glad to be a part of the story while diving into it. But time is an unstoppable force; I can't stop the flow of the story from running ahead. So it is time already, time for me to shift the story to the person I'm dedicated to exist for.
Ever since my childhood, everyone around me used to call me stupid; some addressed me as 'fool'. And then some came up by calling me 'Joker'. To be honest, it was pretty understandable why they used to address me with all these insulting nicknames. From the depth of my soul, I never had any will for myself. Everything I do, every sacrifice I've made, was just for the ones I love, for the sake of the world. Don't get me wrong, it's not like I'm some selfless figure like Raizel who failed to realize the very feelings we call 'emotion'. They say it's just that I love the world with all of my heart. Everything I do is just dedicated to my loved ones, which includes the world itself. In fact, in my eyes, everything around me used to hold a strange beauty inside it, which is why it was never hard for me to fall in love with the world, with everything around me.
But the world has been dynamic from the beginning. My love and sincerity for the world allowed me to taste the greatness of the happiness I could witness with my eyes, could bless my eyes with the smiles on the lips of mortals. But the world wanted to change. I realized the certain flaw I was carrying since the beginning. The world began to be unfair to me, began to hate me with all its heart. It was the time when I was marked as 'The most cursed human'.
Anyway, it's not the time for me to tell my own story. Perhaps I will tell the story at some other time.
That dumb girl didn't want to continue telling the story, so she decided to shift the job to me. The story of Arfanez concluded right at that point. We step forward toward a new story, the next step where we will explore a different story with a totally different scenario. And here it is, I'm Marco is going to be the storyteller for this part of the story.