Lost Fantasy-The Flowers of Stelis (Arc 2) [Hiatus]

Chapter 17

A fire crackled in the fireplace of the living room as the two stood facing off with the other. Loganel stared in silence at the mysterious girl who appeared before him. He studied her behavior, taking in the fact that she was the one that he was told to take care of by the soul of the original "Loganel". 

As he had known before, Mistivera was a woman with the appearance of a girl that's around his age, maybe a year or two older, and someone of exceptional beauty. It was a different type of beauty from Azura and Iry, with hers being characterized by maturity. Her long, dark scarlet hair moved ever so slightly in the air as she walked closer towards Loganel, and her dark, almost blood red, eyes gazed into Loganel's soul.

"How did you get in here?" Loganel asked cautiously. "What do you want?"

"What I want?" she chuckled and then glared at Loganel with a threatening gaze. "You killed him," she whispered. Her voice was quite soothing to hear. It had a lower pitch than usual girls, possibly from the things that she's experienced in her life and the aura of maturity. However, that just made her voice even more pleasant to the ears, as if a warm ball of cotton surrounding one's ear.

"I..." Loganel was immediately weakened by her sudden mention of the armored figure.

"Don't worry," she flicked her hair with one hand and looked Loganel in the eye. "I'm not here to take revenge。 That would be against what he had wanted..." She stared at the ground with sadness as she recalled the memories of the past that she had shared with the original soul of "Leshius".

"I'm sorry."

Loganel apologized as he did not know what he could do. He couldn't bear the fact that his actions was the source of this sadness that the girl before him felt. He couldn't believe that it was him who had taken away the life of someone whom she treasures above all.    

"Don't look at me with such a defeated face," she said. "Especially not with Iliad's face."

"Iliad..." Loganel repeated the name of the armored figure quietly to himself.

She half-crossed her arms and sighed. "I hope Iliad, that armored figure you saw, had explained to you his goals." She glanced over at Loganel, and seeing a nod from him, she continued on. "Then here's the question. Are you willing to continue on his legacy?"

"His legacy..." Loganel recalled Iliad's dream, the dream of peace between humanity and demons.

Am I willing to continue it on? he asked himself. It is a respectable dream, but am I willing to continue on his legacy? What does it mean for me? What will happen because of it? What will I have to do?

"You've decided?" she asked.

Loganel glanced over at her. What does she expect from me? He frowned. Continuing on his legacy...how am I supposed to do so with only one arm?

"I...I'm a cripple." Loganel raised whatever remained of his left arm up into the air, trembling slightly as he did so. "Do I still have the right to do so?"

"The right?" Mistivera seemed quite annoyed. "That is not the matter of concern at the moment. What is your answer?"

She seemed quite frustrated by Loganel's indecisiveness, or rather it was because of his appearance. It reminded Mistivera too much of Iliad, a person of great courage that she knew for sure would never even have a doubt when pressed with such questions.

This dream of his... Loganel thought, recalling the incident a year ago when the expedition team butchered the Kobold village. That...that was a bloody massacre that was uncalled for. But...peaceful coexistence...can that even be a thing among these two races?