Ogre Attack (2)

"CHEERS!!!"

After the battle against the ogre had concluded, the nomads made the battle site their camp for the night. The men that aided Chronos in combat threw their mugs in the air and drank to their heart's content in the memory of the one who lost his life. An enormous bonfire lit the surrounding area in a gentle orange hue as multiple meat skewers made from the meat of the ogre cast large dancing shadows onto the walls. A gentle wind blew across Chronos, who kept his distance from the others as a pang of lingering guilt weighed heavily on his mind.

Upon hearing that Loki had lost his life in battle, Chronos was guided to where they had found his body. To his surprise, a large cave was discovered, and Loki's corpse was near the entrance. His body was mangled as if something were in a rage, bashing him repeatedly. Sending everyone that came with him back to the others, Chronos dove into the cave. A few dozen ogre corpses were scattered throughout the cave, each with their hearts pierced. After ensuring that the cave was clear, he returned to the others to alert them to his findings, with Loki's body on his back. As he traveled back to the others, the constant thought of 'I could have stopped him' lingered in his mind.

The idea of a party to send off Loki was Pupagenti's, as, during the fight, Chronos crushed a few of the bottles of wine after being slammed into the dragon's meat. While the others cheered on the bravery of Loki, Chronos sat isolated on the cliff's edge.

{This is why I hate people…} Chronos thought as he stared into the distance. He swirled the wine in his cup back and forth without taking a sip. {I barely knew the guy, and I feel bad for sending him off to his death.} He stares off into the clear, moonlit sky with a distant look. "Maybe I'm not cut out to be a military leader. Death is bound to happen…but this pain hurts." He spoke out loud.

As he did, he heard the faint sound of footsteps cracking the gravel path behind him.

"No one is perfect on their first try," Pupagenti spoke softly, hoping to ease Chronos of his worries. She walked over and sat beside Chronos with her mug in hand. Chronos turned to face her. The flickering light of a nearby torch revealed Pupagenti's slightly intoxicated face. Though inebriated, Pupagenti kept her composure and behaved as if she hadn't touched a drop. "You, of all people, will soon learn to importance of those words. We sinners each have our own burden to carry. While I have only the slightest idea what yours is, I know that it's something that you choose to hide. Why is that?"

She took a sip from her mug. As her soft lips touched the cup, Chronos looked away with shame. Pupagenti looked at him from the corner of her eye and downed the rest of her drink. After finishing, she stood up and walked behind Chronos.

"Your silence only proves my suspicion that you are hiding something. But that aside, why did you volunteer to be a lookout? This party was for both you and Loki, you know. The two heroes that led us to victory in our rebellion against the creatures of God."

"It was just a hunch of mine, nothing special. And besides, Loki died because of me. I have no right to join the others in celebration." Chronos looked at his right hand. The handkerchief that had once been tied around Loki's spear was wrapped around his hand. "It wasn't a perfect plan, but you win some and lose some." He sighed as he looked at the moon.

As he said those words, he felt a strange presence behind him. The filling of thousands of eyes staring at him made him uneasy. Fearing the worst, he reached for his dagger without turning around.

"I'm disappointed in you, Chronos." Pupagenti's sweet voice turned bitter. "'You win some and lose some,' is that what his life meant to you?" Anger filled the air. "All of my progress was reduced to nothingness because you failed to predict his death. Why? WHY? WHY!!!!? You were able to accurately predict everything else but by not that? Or was it all part of the plan to have him killed?"

"Pardon?" With his hand resting on his dagger, Chronos stared at the people partying below. The stares behind him grew more potent as a silver mist crawled out from under him.

"It's your ability, isn't it? The power to predict the future."

"My power is akin to teleportation. You have seen it yourself." Chronos bluffed. An icy, rocky touch tickled the nape of his neck.

"DON'T JOKE WITH ME!" Pupagenti shouted bitterly. "Did you honestly believe that I would fall for that stupid lie? Teleportation, give me a break-"

{something is not right…} Chronos thought to himself while Pupagenti rambled on.

He carefully panned his head to view Pupagenti from the corner of his eyes. As she continued to ramble, a silver mist wrapped itself around her hands as an army of hundreds of marble dolls stood behind him. Each of the dolls held a small dagger made of stone. Pupagenti's body was covered in a strange set of black markings. Chronos recognizes the characters as an angelic tongue that very few can decipher. The characters traveled all over her body. They moved like flowing water in a river. Small dolls appeared from her body periodically from these markings, increasing the number of dolls that stood behind him with their weapons pointed at his back.

{What the hell?}

Chronos carefully panned his head a little more. He stared at the doll that held a knife to his neck. Pupagenti's eyes were soulless. There was no emotion as she still rambled.

{So she cannot see me? Or rather, is she not even in control of her own body anymore? I'm too old to believe in the supernatural. But seeing that God has made his presence clear to us humans, I have no choice but to believe in it.}

With a deep breath to calm his nerves, he spoke to Pupagenti, interrupting her. "Hey, Pupagenti, remember we you hesitated to fight the ogre in the last loop?" Time froze. "So that's how my ability works. Only I can know the details of the previous loops." He walked towards Pupagenti's frozen body. "He who carries the burden of the Sinners. What an annoying concept." He pulled out his dagger and looked Pupagenti in her soulless eyes. "If I can get another chance, I swear I will save everyone. You looking like this hurts my soul, but I guess I am the one who caused it." He closed his eyes and thrust his dagger forward. "!?"

Chronos felt a sharp pain in his side. An object that wasn't there moments ago wiggled inside him before being ripped out. Chronos fell to the ground in a pool of his own blood.

"Wh…y!?" Chronos heard a faint voice. "I…can…not…stop…the… cor…rupt…ion." He looked up and saw Pupagenti look down at him with tears in her eyes. The soulless glaze disappeared. She held a dagger that was in her throat. "My redemption…no…" She fell next to Chronos. With one final breath, she looked at him. "Please…fix…this...I'm...…..sorry."

Black markings completely covered her body as the light disappeared from her eyes. Chronos looked at the corpse in horror as it morphed into a large marble doll the size of the mountain itself. With its soulless eyes, the doll looked down at the weakened Chronos and raised its fist. An army of marble dolls held Chronos down and forced his eyes to meet with the marble giant. The silver moonlight shined gently off its fist, bringing it down. Chronos closed his eyes.

[No action is without consequence. Thy power may be endless, but one cannot expect it to be perfect.]

The mysterious voice from before echoed from within his mind.

[Corruption eats away at thy soul, so do the others. Tread the wave of emotions lightly around the graveyard of men.]

As the voice faded into the darkness of Chronos' mind, a blinding light pierced his mind.

"UGH!!!!" Chronos fell off his horse and slammed onto the ground, holding his side in agonizing pain. Unaware of his surroundings, he felt a warm hand touch his wound. As he opened his eyes, Pupagenti was before him with a worrisome look as blood covered her silver dress.

"Are you okay?" She asked. "What the hell happened?" Chronos ignored her question and looked around. He was at the mountain passage where they had set up an ambush. To be precise, just after Loki had left to scout up ahead after sensing something behind off. Chronos looked down at his side with horror as the wound inflicted on him was still there.

{What…? If I traveled back, how are my wounds still with me?} Chronos shook off the pain and stood up. {Never mind that. My reset point changed.}

"Pupagenti." Chronos was unaware of how weak his voice was and tried to speak loudly. "Take command here. I'm going to rescue Loki."

"In that condition!? You have got to be kidding me. And rescue him from what?"

"Up ahead in a den of ogres. Loki is most likely gonna die up there." Chronos patched himself up the best he could and remounted his horse. Despite his pain, he pushed forward, thanks to the adrenaline in his blood.

Seeing that her words could no longer reach him, Pupagenti sighed and waved her hand. A small doll jumped from behind her and landed in Chronos' cloak. With a faint smile, she stared straight into Chronos' eyes.

She turns away with her hair flowing in the wind. "You are my hope. Please save him." With those parting words, Chronos nodded and rod towards the cave.