(Old ver. Discontinued) A Dream in the Faraway Past

19. The Crimson Circle {1}

How was his father in front of him, heck, still alive after trying to face a hoard of thousands of abnormally strong pigs

It just didn't make sense

The feats of power his father showed right before their group ran away was indeed impressive, but it was still doubtful that he would be able to take on the whole wave of orcs all on his own

Even if the rest of the villagers stayed back to fight alongside him, his chances of victory still aren't clear

The red haired ogre doesn't know

He can't come to a conclusion

"Well, let me spill it out for you" The Chief said while looking at the platinum haired girl "This lady saved me—saved us"

While the Chief's word's hung in the air, familiar figures seemed to be materializing from nothingness in the red haired ogre's eyes

The red haired doubted his vision, but the presences he felt were real—too real

An unbelievable sight was unfolding in front of him

The ones he thought were dead, deceased, were suddenly appearing before him

It was almost too much for him to take in at once

But, snapping him out of his trance-like state, a voice was hear

"Aha, so that's your move huh?  Impressive as always Ciel. So that's why I had this weird feeling that has been putting me on guard constantly. So things have accelerated huh?"

An androgynous figure, with long platinum hair adorning a hue of the color of the sky. If one looked closely, they could realize that the figure somewhat leaned to the masculine side, whereas the one who stepped forward earlier leaned to the feminine side. His golden crystalline eyes  shinning so deeply that even the sunlight —and the mask they were hiding behind— couldn't dwarf their luminosity

"But why didn't Argos pick up this change?" The person mumbled "it's odd. It's as if there's a huge blank in it's vision..." He said while putting his hand on his chin "...It's almost as if the world is trying to avert my eyes"

The impression that the red haired ogre had of this person was one that he hadn't even realized up until now

Familiarity, Loyalty, Friendship, Fear, Dread

The End

Many emotions were wriggling around the red haired ogre's head, trying to make sense of each other yet failing spectacularly to do so

The red haired knows that he should either surrender or run right here and now, yet he can't bring himself to do so, against his better judgement

But, that 'thing' wore a mask

One similar the mask of the majin who was responsible for the loss of their homes

"Now son. Stand down. You very well know that it's for the best" the Chief said while eyeing down his son with a determined gaze

Hearing his father's voice one more time helped the red haired ogre to regain some of his cool

It is then and there that he made a decision

He unclenched his fists while hissing "Fine. I'll listen to what you have to say...for now"

"There you go, was that really so hard?" the Chief mumbled out in exasperation

The reconciliation between father and son was an emotional moment for most of the people there

For all but two people

"Are you finished?" A cold and mechanical voice resounded through everyone's ears

The Chief quickly snapped his head to the side before kneeling

"Yes. As you commanded, Ciel-sama" He said in a voice filled with resolve

Resolve to follow this through to the end

"Very well. Now you shall lead them to the village. Ask the hobgoblins and goblinas to help them get used to the place. Feel free to stay at the guest house. We will return shortly" She said as her eyes darted behind her back

"Since we have important things to talk about, after all" The other figure, who's physique and hair was almost completely identical to the first's retorted

Then, suddenly, within an infinitesimal moment, both figures disappeared into thin air

The rest of the 'audience' stood there speechless

What had just happened? No one knew

The two's abilities were a mystery within an enigma within a larger puzzle of incoherency

There was no sense to be made in the first place—Everyone unanimously came down to that conclusion

The silence was deafening, to all but one person who spectacularly failed to read the atmosphere

"So...uuhhh...We should get going, I guess?" the Chief broke the silence, saying that

Everyone else looked at each other, shrugging before following behind the Chief

(A/N : Words : 1221)