Fantasy Caught in Between [Closed]

[ShenYu]

W/ Mentallynot

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The night was cold and abnormally quiet. The small secluded village that would usually be illuminated by torches, bustling with villagers as they call it a day was utterly silent and dark. Not a single torch lit up the place. The air was heavy with a stench of blood, dyeing the ground and buildings with its ominous color. The village that was once filled with lives was like a ghost village now. Even the cicadas and crickets that would usually sing their songs from within the forest, or fireflies that would add a mystical but beautiful atmosphere to the village, seemed to be staying away from this place. A dead place, as dead as the people that once lived in it.

On this eerie and dark night, next to the empty village, a young man could be seen digging the ground with a rusty and old shovel. He was the only living creature in this place, the only survivor. Scattered around the young man were small rectangular dirt mounds with a simple and crude wooden cross embedded on each of its ends. Those were the graves of the deceased. There might be nothing but crude and unidentifiable body parts to be buried. But to Ayre, it was the only thing he could do as a form of respect for the people who had loved and cared for him during these past five years. He might be the only one alive in this place, the only survivor. But his dull gray eyes were dead. The edges of his eyes were swollen and red, proving that he had been crying for an extensive amount of time. Yet, there were no longer any tears he could shed.

Ayre couldn't stop blaming himself for leaving that night. The village chief, the person that he had considered as a grandfather to him, was sick. He went to the city to find medicine for the old man. But he should never have left. He had seen the sign, saw how the night was colder than usual, or how the stars seem to disappear that night. He had felt the impending doom that might come to the village. Yet, he still left instead of believing his weird and strange conjecture. As soon as he came back, it was already too late. Everyone he had ever loved was dead. None of them survived with an intact corpse. Ayre saw his whole world break down in front of his eyes. He was in despair, wailing to the dark sky as he held the body of the village chief, not even minding how it made him drenched in blood. For the rest of the night, Ayre collected whatever remains of the villagers, dragging them to the open field next to the village. He choked back his tears and sobs as he tirelessly dug a grave for each and every one of them, trying to keep them as nice as he could. With each body he buried, the liveliness and cheerfulness that the village has given to him slowly disappeared. In the end, all that was left was a young man with a living body but a dead soul, mindlessly repeating the process of digging and burying bodies as if it was a programmed movement of a robot.

When the last body was buried away, it was close to dawn. Rays of sunlight burst from the east, slowly creeping through the thick forest into the village hidden inside it. But the warmth didn't touch Ayre's body. It was covered in dirt and blood. His skin was as pale as the corpses he had just buried. Ayre plopped down to the ground. How he longed to be together with the deceased right now. But he knew that would be a very irrational and irresponsible decision. He had to at least find the one responsible for all this mess and avenge the villager. Or else, he would never feel at ease.

However, when he roomed around the village last night, he found no clues that could point out the attacker. The condition of the villagers' bodies makes it seem like they had been attacked by monsters or beasts. But there are no beast footprints, claw marks, or anything that could point out what had attacked the village. Aside from the dead bodies, the village itself where intact. Nothing was out of place. He had no lead whatsoever.

Just how was he supposed to start his revenge if he didn't even know who the attacker was?

Ayre covered his face with the palm of his hands, not caring how it made his whole face covered with mud. He needs time to calm down, to process everything that has happened. Just yesterday morning, he was together with these lively and caring villagers, bathing in the warmth they had offered him. Now, he was all alone again, sinking back to the darkness that felt overly familiar to him.

 

[Mentallynot]

He remembered it clearly, having to stand on a cliff as a familiar blue flame engulfed the village in its vicious soul-draining properties. Those who were inside it would fall into the depths of hell, only to be locked away inside a purgatory where no innocent soul can roam free while those who continued to struggle would bleed out from the cuts from the chains that struck out of the flames. It was of course not a small feat to be able to cause such havoc. But the fact that his red orbs couldn't find any trace that would point to a specific perpetrator made him wonder. There were theories that popped into his head, none of them seemed plausible and yet it wasn't the first time he had seen this trick. Although, that was about a century ago and he was sure that no man nor any entity would ever be capable to do that kind of magic.

Despite those conclusions, he knew that something else was taking place, one that he couldn't figure out. This left him restless and concerned for his own future. As the smoke settled and the consuming flames vanished into thin air, The red-haired demon walked over the edge of the cliff, leaning to take a closer look at the result. He gently squeezed his eyes, noticing a figure appearing into one of the entrances of the remains.

"Ah, How unfortunate..." Muttered the male under his breath as the corner of his lips gently curled up to a small smile before tugging onto his worn out cloak to hide his eyes. While the leftover smoke filled up the sky, he jumped off from the ground, sending himself to fall 100 feet down before disappearing into thin air. Within a blink of an eye, a dark cloud of mist formed from one of the ruins and settled onto the ground before turning into a silhouette with the supposed demon emerging from it. While the smoke cleared out without a trace, he readjusted his eyes, placing the particular figure into his view. As he walked closer, the air got thicker which made him raise a brow to this particular finding.

Despite that he had seen this human around the village, Ultos had never actually bothered to care about his existence. Perhaps, there was something more than meets the eye. He wasn't sure what to expect but there was one thing for sure, that young man was the only lead he had regarding the attack. Surely, a simple pact as an exchange for his alliance and power would be nothing short of an opportunity. "My, what a mess they made. It's such a pity, I was starting to be fond of this place. No matter, at least they left one soul intact." A small chuckle can be heard from between his lips as he brushed the dirt off his shoulders before placing his hand back over to the split ends of his cloak, pinching it together.

 

[ShenYu]

As the ray of sunlight climbed through his feet, Ayre let his thought wanders. His gray eyes were unfocused, opened, but not looking at anything. Seeing, but as if everything in front of those eyes was an illusion, staring past the haze where even Ayre himself was unable to see clearly. He felt a sense of dissonance. This time, that feeling grew stronger. No one was there to remind him not to space out anymore. No one was there to shake him out of his stupor. His body was oddly still as he sat down on the ground. Whoever stared at his unfocused gray eyes would feel a weird and odd sensation which was hard to describe. That was why the villagers always thought of Ayre Nox as an oddity, full of mystery.

Suddenly, he spoke, "Who's there?" His voice was merely a whisper. But with how quiet and silent the surrounding was, the voice sounded oddly loud and clear. As soon as he heard the chuckles and words, he accurately turned his head towards the source of voice with an abnormally stiff movement. There, coming out of the shadow of the building, stood a cloaked figure that has approached him without any noise. Ayre gazed at the face hidden behind the cloak. His gray eyes were still unfocused. He was clearly facing his head toward the figure. But it was as if he didn't see him at all.

Ayre didn't say anything for a short while, letting the silence prevail. His whole body, if that could even make sense, was without any emotion. It was as still as a statue, movement as awkward as a robot. The gray pupils faintly shrank and enlarged for a split second. Finally, his body moved again. His head tilted to the side and, seemingly out of nowhere, he blurted out. "You're not human. How weird..." The voice that came out of his mouth was oddly different than the voice he used to call out to the newcomer. It was high-pitched, a bit like emotionless laughter.

Then, as if he had just woken up from a dream, Ayre suddenly blinked a couple of times. The movement of his body that was abnormally stiff turned natural and normal again. His eyes widened a little, looking as if he was surprised, probably more surprised than the figure in front of him. He didn't know what just happened. There was usually a time when he suddenly felt as if his body moved without thinking. When he come to, he had already done whatever weird things his body did. Sometimes, he forgot what he has just done. Other times, he remembered bits and pieces of them. Like now, for example, he knew he had unknowing blurted out that the other was not human. He inexplicably knew that was true. Yet, he didn't know how he knew.

Ayre pretended like nothing was weird as he squinted at the figure warily. "What do you want?" Ayre asked. His face was no longer expressionless. The wariness and caution were evident in his now clear gray eyes. Yet, it has come a bit too late.