Rebirth and Return

There's a woman. I see a woman. I don't know who it is. She has long, blue hair that goes down to her waist. There are two white horns going upwards on her forehead. Horns? I don't know, it's all blurry. Am I dreaming? Where am I?

The woman has a kid. A little boy with her. They're playing at a park. There's bright green grass everywhere. The boy has short hair, and it's blue just like his mother's. He has the same straight horns on his forehead, though they're much smaller than his mom's.

Why am I seeing this? What happened to me?

They're having so much fun together. The boy and his mom. There's a little girl there too... Could she be the boy's sister? Or a friend? 

She has the same horns on her forehead, and long, blood red hair.

"Crimson, come on! You don't want to worry your mother!" The woman calls out to her.

It seems the three of them are leaving the park now. She looks at the boy. Her son.

"You too young man! I know you heard me!" She calls.

The boy doesn't look up. He stays put, playing on the playground.

"I said come on! Lin-"

The dream ends.

Arc 2:

From the Dead

My eyes slowly open to the bright sun shining down on me. I'm laying on a grassy hill. It's a beautiful day.

I rub my eyes before sitting up.

"What the...hell?" I mumble.

What happened...? I'm so confused. My mind is a mess.

I'm on a hill I don't recognize, outside of a town I don't recognize... and-

"Where the hell are my clothes!?!" I jump up and desperately try to cover myself up.

What the hell is going on here?! I'm freaking out right now!

---

I walk into a convenience store, completely naked. I feel the cashier's eyes on me as I stumble through the store, grabbing a black pair of shorts, a white t-shirt, some sandals, and some underwear. I take a quick look in a nearby mirror and decide to grab a vial of brown hair dye from one of the shelves as well.

"W-Will that be all sir?" The cashier asks after I take my stuff up to the front desk.

"...Yeah, I think so... Wait, I'll get one of those scratch tickets too." I mumble, feeling kind of sick.

The cashier quickly grabs a scratch ticket from the shelf. and scans in along with the other items.

"That'll be 32 silver coins sir..." He says.

"Yeah, I got it." I reply.

I look down and finally come to the realization that I don't have any money.

"Y-You can just have it sir..." The cashier says, clearly trying to get me out as soon as possible.

"Really? Thanks man I owe you one..." I say before taking my items and leaving the store.

I quickly put the clothes I 'bought' on the minute I leave the store, and pocket the hair dye for later.

"...Nope, another dud..." I throw the scratch ticket in a nearby garbage can.

I begin walking through the streets of the town aimlessly. I have no idea where I am. I try to piece together little bits of information from before I woke up like this.

"Let's see..."

My name is Link. I met a demi-human named Emerald and killed one of the candidates for this years Arcana War, General Klein, making the new king of Kesmia General Kamikaze... Me and Emerald decided to climb the ranks of the rebellion so we applied to a random mission and ended up hunting a spectre. After that, umm... 

We fought him. His name was Rush. I don't remember anything after that. Was there an after that? This is the after. Fighting Rush was the last thing I did. Now I'm in a random town. 

I stumble into a nearby bar and sit down. On the TV is some talk show with a man with a paper bag on his head. I see him from time to time. I look into a small mirror on the counter. 

"My hair hasn't been this blue in a while.." I mutter.

There's not a speck of the brown hair die that was in my hair while I was fighting Rush. How could the dye burn out so fast? I normally only need to reapply it maybe once a month. The fire from my arcana tends to burn the dye away if I use it too much so if I overuse it, I have have to apply it more often, but it never usually burns it away this quickly. Nothing is making any sense to me. 

I look up slightly and see the bartender seems to be busy with an old man to my right. I look back up at the TV. It's a commercial talking about 'King Kamikaze'.

"-and that is why, in the near half a year our glorious king has been ruler, out country truly has never been better. He first and foremost vows he will-"

...Huh? What was that? 

Half a year? But Kamikaze only became king last week...

I feel sick.

Could the newscaster be wrong? That seems like a pretty stupid thing to get wrong.

I feel sick.

There's no way right? Could I be the one who's wrong? But...

I feel sic-

"Hey, kid, are you listening? I'm asking if you're old enough to be in here." The bartender is speaking to me.

"Hey, uh, mister...? What... day is it?" I force out.

He tilts his head in confusion. 

"It's the twelfth day of September. Are you alright kid, do you need some water?"

My eyes widen and my face goes pale. 

"Y-Yeah... I'd appreciate it..." I say.

The bartender grabs a glass and starts pouring some water for me.

The day me and Emerald applied for that spectre hunting job was... the second day of March. It's been six months? Half a year? But how? That doesn't make any sense to me. Nothing does. What the fuck, what the fuck, what the fuck, what the fuck-

The bartender slides me the glass of water.

"...Thanks." I say before chugging it down in a couple seconds.

I lost half a year of my life, and I don't even know how. I'm 19 now. I missed my birthday. Where is Emerald? Where has she been for half a year? Wait, I haven't even figured out where I am. I should do that before-

"...Link?" I hear a voice.

I look to my right and see that old man who was talking to the bartender earlier. Do I know him?

"No way... It IS you!" He says before rushing over to me and putting both his hands on my shoulders.

"The hell? Who are you?" I shake his hands off of me.

The man has short, grey hair and a short grey beard with yellow eyes. He wears white robes with yellow linings. The feature that stands out to me the most however is his long, white horns placed on his forehead and pointing upwards.

"Apologies. I do suppose it's been a while. I haven't seen you since your mother... Well, I didn't expect to see you again in a place like this. You were just a boy back then, I hardly recognized you!" He chuckles.

Huh...? Since my-

"I used to babysit you and Crimson often when you were a child. My name is Zion. Do you remember?" He looks at me expectantly.

I don't understand, I don't understand.

"...You said something about my mother...?" I force out.

His expression darkens, but quickly returns to it's original state.

"Yes... She was a magnificent woman. What happened was... a tragedy. You two were so close I can't even imagine how you must've fel-"

"My mom died giving birth to me!" I yell.

The old man looks shocked.

"What are you saying Link? She would bring you to visit the village almost every day, and would take you and Crimson out to play." He explains.

"Village? Crimson? What do any of those even mean? I don't know who you are! How do you know my name?!" 

I can't hold it in anymore.

He continues to look shocked for a few moments, before he slowly looks down.

"...I see. So that's what happened..." He mutters to himself.

I turn and get ready to leave the bar. I've had way too much confusion for such a short time period. 

"Wait! Let me show you the village! Perhaps you might remember... Your arcana is Azure Flame correct? You inherited it from your mother." He calls out from behind me.

He knows my arcana. Could I be the crazy one? 

I slowly turn around and look at him.

"...What village...?"

---

I sit in the back of a horse drawn carriage, steered by the old man who says his name is Zion.

I don't know if I'm making the right move, coming with him, but I don't really have any other options right now given by how I'm stranded in a town I don't know. Zion told me we're currently in a town located at the western most border in Kesmia, bordering Jinoshu, one of our neighboring countries. That's pretty much across the entire country from where I last remember being. He's taking me to a village that should be somewhat close to where my dad lives. I don't know whether I want to see him or not after what happened with Klein...

"The oni race is a proud race that has been around for almost as long as the god,  Arcane himself. It is said that the onis played a direct part in how our civilization is today." Zion begins explaining as the horses lead the carriage on our cross-country expedition.

"And is that what you are I assume?" I say while looking up at the horns placed on his head.

"Yes. And so are you." He says.

Whatever... It's just been one new thing after another. I don't even have the energy to be surprised at this point.

"Well, half-oni to be exact. There isn't very many of your kind." He smiles at me warmly.

"...Was my mom..."

"Yes. She was a full oni. Though most of the time she would live at your father's house with you, she also owned a home at the oni village that she would take you to visit often. You loved it there." He explains.

"...Why do I not remember any of this?" I ask him.

He lowers his head slightly.

"I'm not quite sure... When we arrive at the village we'll have a talk with Samara and Midnight and see if we can piece anything together." He says.

Samara and Midnight... Two more names I haven't heard before.

"So is my blue hair because of my oni blood?" I ask him.

"Yes. Your mother had the same. Your arcana is an oni arcana. All onis have the fortune of being blessed with an arcana, unlike the roughly thirty percent chance for most other races. Oni arcanas consist of a specific color and an element type. Your arcana is Azure Flame, and my arcana is called Golden Thunder." He explains.

Golden Thunder, huh? Sounds easy enough for me to understand.

"Got it, got it. I'm an oni, and for some reason I have no memory of my mom ever being alive. Missing anything?" I say.

"You're a quick learner." Zion smiles.

I lean my head back in the carriage and attempt to get some sleep on the road. My brain has for sure been overloaded these last couple hours. I close my eyes, and re-enter the land of dreams.

---

"Link. Link, wake up. We've arrived."

"...Huh?"

My eyes slowly open. Oh, right. I was going to a village with Zion that I'd apparently lived at as a child.

I sit up and take a look at where the carriage is heading. My eyes land on an opening in a mountain that it seems we're headed into. The mountain must be carved out on the inside. There are vines covering the entrance so it would be somewhat hard to spot if you aren't actively looking.

The carriage enters the opening, and I feel vines hit my face. My eyes widen as I see the inside. There are cabins everywhere, with lamps dangling from every corner of the village. There are countless ladders leading up to platforms with more cabins, and a few other facilities. I see little boys and little girls running around, playing. They all have horns like Zion, albeit smaller.

"Old man Zion! Old man Zion! Everyone! Old man Zion is back!" The kids begin running over to the carriage as we park at a small opening between a few fences.

"Yes, yes, it's good to be back!" Zion says as he pats one of the kids on the head.

It seems Zion is quite popular here. I guess he did give me the 'kind old grandpa' vibes.

A woman walks over to our carriage. She seems to be about in her mid to late 40s, and has long dark red hair. Her eyes are the same color and she has the same white horns I've been seeing a lot lately.

"Zion? I didn't know you'd be back so soon." She says after reaching our carriage.

"Yes, I do suppose I came back much earlier than usual. I found a little someone on my travels." He nudges his head my way.

She stares at me for a few seconds before finally, her eyes go wide. I don't know what to do so I just smile awkwardly.

"Uh, hi." I say.

"...No way!" The woman yells.

What a weird day.