Chapter 189 - Show Yourself!

Panic welled up in Argus’ throat as he frantically looked around, trying to catch sight of the mysterious, hostile entity. Giggles and bells floated in the air around him, coming from everywhere and nowhere at once.

“Who are you?!” He screamed, his voice cracking, “What do you want?!”

“Who are you? Who are you?” The voices teased Argus as he held spun around in a circle, unable to catch a glimpse of the entity.

He clutched his ears, trying to block out the voices as his breaths became shallow and rapid. He kept trying to activate his abilities, to no avail.

He didn’t understand what was happening, or why his powers weren’t working. Several ideas flashed through his mind, but there were too many unknowns, too many possibilities. All he knew was that whatever this monster or Exalted being was, it was likely far above his own power level.

Stranded in a desolate land, stripped of his powers, he was completely helpless.

“Leave me alone!” He screamed, taking off down the slope.

He ran across the barren landscape, a small solitary figure with nowhere to go. Sprawling vistas spread out in all directions, treeless plains broken up in sharp plates with sharp cliffs that plummeted into foggy crevices. As he ran he left panicked foot prints in the ashes, leaving behind the only tracks that disturbed the soft blanket of ash that lay over everything.

The pale sun shone down overhead as it slowly descended toward the jagged mountain range to the west.

Argus ran until his lungs were burning and his feet barely had the strength to support him. He only stopped when he stumbled out of exhaustion, just barely catching himself from falling.

Bracing his hands on his knees, his head pounding intensely, Argus couldn’t even think straight. His breath was ragged and he tasted blood in his throat. The iron lantern was heavy and rough in his hand.

End it already! He whimpered inwardly.

It was only after his heart rate had slowed that he realized that the teasing voices had stopped pestering him. He looked up in surprise, scanning his surroundings.

He was in the middle of nowhere. His footsteps extended out behind him, curving out of sight over the horizon. The only sound came from a cold, mournful wind that blew across the landscape.

He didn’t dare think that he had managed to outrun the entity, but even so there was nothing he could do. He stood catching his breath, waiting for it to show itself. The fact that he was still alive meant nothing. He was completely at its mercy.

His spiritual intuition triggered, causing his eyes to snap forward. Several meters away, a small bell appeared in the middle of the air. A second later, a second bell appeared behind him. Then another and another, forming a circle around him. They shook and jingled animatedly in a chaotic rhythm.

“Who are you, who are you?” The voices layered on top of each other as they giggled.

Argus didn’t know if this entity had intelligence, or was simply repeating his previous words.

“My name is Argus Dayton!” He shouted in exasperation, “Show yourself!”

The bells suddenly stopped, frozen in mid air. The jingling also cut off abruptly, leaving only the haunting sound of the wind blowing across the plains.

A shiver ran down Argus spine as each of the bells lit up in a bright red flame. Two glowing red almond shaped eyes appeared in the air above the bell in front of him.

Argus only had one thought as he immediately averted his gaze. Those evil eyes were unmistakably the eyes of a monster. It obviously wanted him to look into its gaze. He didn’t want to know what grisly fate awaited him if he did.

“The eyes of a monster? How… Rude!” Came a singular clear voice. It was distinctly young and female. Its tone was had a playfully offended tone much like a teenage girl would take, but there was a razor edge to the voice that brimmed with madness.

It’s reading my thoughts? Argus took a step back from the floating eyes. Did it steal all of my powers?

At these thoughts, the female voice cackled, the bottom of its disembodied eyes curving up in amusement. “You don’t have to act so surprised, Argus, although I’m flattered that you’d play along just to amuse me.”

Play along…? Argus didn’t know how to respond.

“Don’t tell me…” The entity paused, looking thoughtful for a moment, “You really don’t know who I am?”

“I knew that that Angel of Knowledge snipped you up real bad, but did He really cut out your memory of me?” The voice took on a pouting tone, “How cruel!”

“Angel of Knowledge-“ Argus blinked, not sure if he understood what he’d just heard, “What do you mean?”

“Ah, boo hoo hoo!” The floating eyes mock cried as the flaming bells all shook and jingled around him, “You really don’t remember anything?”

Argus hesitated. Was this a trap? There were certainly monsters in the world that could invert memories to lure in unsuspecting victims…

“How tragic… And here I thought that I’d been reunited with my long lost friend.” The eyes suddenly stopped crying as they opened wide and stared at him intensely, “But no, you’re just a shadow of your past self, a broken boy. At least, until you put yourself back together again…”

Her eyes grinned mischievously, “Ah… Is that why you were interested in Ying Chu? Could it be that you’re looking for that piece that you’re missing?”

“Do you really know where that piece is?” Argus couldn’t hold himself back anymore. “You’re not playing games with me?”

“I might know. But how do I know you’re really Argus?” The eyes stared at him then sighed, “Ah, the Argus I know wouldn’t forget about me. Even if his soul was ripped into four, he’d still remember his best friend in the world.”

“I really don’t remember you.” Argus replied, gritting his teeth, “But- I want to remember you. If you help me find the parts of my soul, I think I really could remember you.”

“I’m sorry. Are you telling me what to do?” The playful tone disappeared as the voice turned ice cold, “I. Don’t. Think. So.”

The flaming bells began to spin in a circle around Argus, each bell rotating at in a different direction in an orbit around him. They slowly began floating closer to him as they picked up speed.

“You do not get to tell me what to do, you stupid boy.”

“I apologize-“ Argus swallowed hard as he realized that he’d offended the entity, “I misspoke. Forgive me.”

“I’ll forgive you… If you remember my name.” The eyes narrowed into slits as they glared at him.

“S-since you’ve stolen my memories, you should know I can’t-“ Argus stammered, “But I want to remember, I do!”

The flaming bells spun faster and faster as they grew in size. The heat from their flames burned his skin as they came closer. Above the flames, two long, slender shadow arms raised into the air above him on either side of the eyes. The clawed hands extended out toward him, ready to rip him to pieces.

“Please! Don’t do this!” Argus cried out in a panic, “Help me remember you!”

“Mmmm… Help you?” The eyes looked away in thought for a moment before they frowned, “No.”

“Good bye.”

Argus watched in horror as the shadow claws raised up, preparing to slash down at him. However just before the struck the sky suddenly went dark.

A demonic black moon suddenly appeared in the sky, obscuring the sun in a solar eclipse. The pale sun flared intensely, creating a flaming ring in the heavens.

It can’t be. Argus gasped, instantly recognizing meaning behind the heavenly sign. Prince Deka is reincarnating?

The shadow claws paused as the two red eyes snapped up to look at the solar eclipse in shock. The entity looked distracted as she stared up at the sun.

In that moment Argus felt a surge of power return to him. He didn’t hesitate, instantly his iron lantern up and channeling his spirit into it. The ornate black lantern burst with a brilliant blue flame as a gray fog billowed furiously out of it, filling the air around Argus and obscuring his form.

Ice crystals bloomed on the ashes around Argus’ feet as the frigid fog engulfed the spinning bells, nearly extinguishing their flames as they quickly retreated away from him. The shadow claws retreated back to the eyes as well, chased off by the vibrant blue light.

The red eyes suddenly glared at him as they shouted, “Hey! Give that back!”

Argus felt a pull at his spirit as the entity tried to forcefully steal his powers from him again. However this time, whether it was because he was aware of the entity or because his powers were already active, he found he was able to resist.

“Not a chance!” Argus shouted, raising his free hand to the sky. A pale white ball of light burst into life above him, shining a brilliant light on the area around them.

Everywhere that the pale, yet harsh light hit became exposed and unable to hide any secrets. The shadow claws and illusory bells grew transparent and washed away like ink in water. The red eyes remained, but the true body of the entity appeared around it. The various illusions and concealment energies dissolved and peeled off, revealing the figure of a teenage girl.

She had a slim build with long, bony limbs, and wore a ragged, tattered black dress. She had a slim freckled face, a delicate nose and thin lips. Her large almond shaped eyes were accentuated by long black eyelashes. There was an air of mischievousness and playfulness in her smile. At the top of her forehead were two small, blunt horns, which stuck out of her short black hair.

From the waist up she had the appearance of a young teenage girl, but below that her legs were covered in soft brown fur and her feet ended in hoofs.

A demi-human? Argus blinked in surprise. What’s a demi-human doing on this side of the Altic Sea?

The half human, half goat girl twirled gracefully in the air, giggling as she looked down at Argus with a mischievous grin. Her eyes shone with amusement at having her true form revealed. The gray fog billowed furiously around Argus, concealing his form as he held his lantern high. He didn’t dare take his eyes off the girl for a moment as she pranced around.

“Do you really have something to do with this?” The girl laughed while gesturing to the fiery eclipse above her head.

“How very… interesting!”