Crimson

Bang! Goes my carefree life.

JUNO

Juno was sure he was not seeing things .

Vita had just run into an unknown camp like he lived there .

I looked down at Star , she was also still staring off at the way Vita had taken .

" Maybe he was hoping to create a distraction to enable us find Ali ".

Juno voiced his opinion out , he had always believed animals could hear and understand humans perfectly .

But , even to myself that hardly seemed like Vita's primary reason for running into the camp , maybe that was his secondary reason .

I crouched down so I was eye to eye with Star , I stroked her beautiful fur .

" I don't want us to search for Ali separately , let's look for him together ".

She whined softly , pushing her neck deeper into my embrace .

I stood up , there was no time to waste .

She followed behind me as we made our way into their camp .

It was an average encampment , but , from the style of their tents , it was obvious that they had not been staying here for long .

They probably travelled a lot as a large group .

I moved behind their tents , going through some .

They were merchants or had robbed merchants recently .

They had silk , in bundles .

Jewellery , fur , exotic dried fruits and a lot of things that I did not recognize , probably things from before the cleansing .

There was no way they were just roadside robbers but why had they taken Ali then ?

They obviously were not in need of food or any bare essentials .

I left the tent when I heard the commotion outside .

I could not walk in plain sight , so , I took my time moving through the tents while Star followed me quietly .

The noise was getting louder as we moved closer to the centre of the encampment .

Finally , we reached a tent that was directly behind the commotion .

I could hear them , if they were actually talking but they did not seem to be saying anything .

I turned to Star and gestured for her to stay put , it always made for a great show when a large wolf jumped in while discussions were not going a favourable way , namely , my way .

Just as I was about to step out of the tent , I heard one of the men talk .

" Is he one of yours ? "

He must have been talking to someone , but , there was no reply .

" It makes no sense for a Brigadier that was sent from Caeso to be travelling alongside you ".

The voice said again , reiterating his earlier remark .

It seemed Vita had been caught and brought before whoever held Ali captive .

" True . It does not make much sense ".

That was Ali replying .

Sometimes , I wished his voice carried more emotion , with his reply just now , I really could not tell if he was okay or pretending to be .

" But , here we are . A brigadier and you , the mind behind the Agrippan revolution ".

The voice was brimming with vigour .

Was this what people thought of us ?

Revolutionists ?

That was too much of a stretch , friendly neighborhood Vigilante was much more like it .

Agreed , the title was not as cool but it was more factual .

No wonder they had poured out the whole of their Calvary after us when we had just stolen a few things .

I heard Ali chuckle lightly , he would try to downplay what we had done .

" We are not revolutionists , we were just bored ".

Everyone was silent for a moment .

They could either believe Ali or choose to believe that we intended to overthrow the government .

We did not need that kind of negative attention on us , in fact , we did not need any kind of attention .

" Bored ? Bored , you say ? "

The voice sounded quite disappointed , Vita's presence was probably already forgotten .

Suddenly , the man began to laugh .

It started of slowly and soon began to rise to great heights , he finally stopped after a while .

" You will have to do a better job of taking responsibility ".

I moved closer to hear what he had to say .

" The tales of a faction that arose in Agrippa to equalize the power and wealth flow is whispered all through the Utopia and beyond the walls of the Utopia .

Stories of the thief whose blood hue allows him to change his appearance and walk into any building like it is a property belonging to him is whispered among children and adults alike .

The shelter and The Haze is existing proof of your work in Agrippa .

You might not realize , but , you and the man behind the shadows are becoming gods .

And gods must have worshippers ".

I stepped out from behind the tent before the man got any more crazy , this had slowly become an occultic gathering .

Every pair of eyes turned to me .

An overstatement really , one of the men was using an eye patch , so , mostly all eyes turned to me .

Ali stood with his feet apart , Vita knelt by his side , his hands held down by two people who looked a lot like the men that had been bleeding from my blades earlier .

I saw gauze around one of their arms , it really was them .

Then , the man that must have been talking , his face was a huge difference from his voice .

First , he was not much older than Ali and I , it was just the look in his gray eyes .

It reminded me of a statement I had read somewhere .

'Insanity for eyes'.

He had shoulder length blond hair that had been tied at it's nape .

He was dressed in a black unbuttoned shirt , black pants and black boots .

The man with the patch stood by his side , he was dressed in the same thing , except his shirt was buttoned and of a much lower quality .

His one eye was black as night , so also his hair .

He was staring at me intently , I turned to the man that seemed to be in charge .

" Well , I'm no longer the man behind the shadows ".

I raised my hand and waved at all of them .

Ali did not look too happy to see me , understandable .

Vita's face was turned away from me , so , I could not see his expression .

There was no need really , it was probably an unsatisfied expression too .

We would talk about the need for the right expressions after this .

The blond haired man was walking towards me , accessing me with every step he took .

I watched him walk towards me , gauging how much I could cut out of him before he realized .

He reached me .

" Who are you ? "

I smiled softly at this .

" You know who I am ".

He smiled too , his gray eyes lighting up .

" You are the reincarnation of the pantheon that the goddesses have sent as an answer to our darkness , the light of ......"

" I'm just Juno " , I interrupted him .

I held out my hand .

" And who are you ?"

He held out his hand too , we shook hands .

All the while , he was smiling widely .

" I'm Apollo ".

He declared , his eyes wide with joy .

I understood why he was on the verge of insanity now .

In ancient texts , the goddess Juno had married her brother Jupiter , also known as Zeus by his Greek worshippers .

They had a couple of children after which Jupiter had gone on to have a consort , Latona or Leto , to the Greeks .

She had bore Jupiter's favourite children Apollo and Diana or Artemis as she was commonly called .

Apollo was sometimes called Phoebus , but that name had not stuck .

It seemed some people still followed and worshipped the old texts , if the intense admiration in Apollo's eyes were anything to go by .

" And your sister ?"

If he was this obsessed , he definitely also had a twin sister like the real ones .

His smile brightened , as if I had asked him of a long seen love .

" Healthy . She has been out hunting for months ".

Goddesses , she was also a hunter like the real Diana ?

I nodded towards the man behind him .

" Your friend , who is he ?"

He did not spare the man a look .

" That is Gabe , a friend of the camp ".

Great , someone normal .

I took my hand out of his , there was no point in this .

" My name is Juno , but I am not who you seek .I am just a petty thief with an inclination for justice ".

He blinked and turned to the men that held Vita .

" Release him ".

They did as he instructed , he turned back to me , the insanity in his eyes had greatly calmed .

" I have instructed some others to drag the rest of your party here ".

I looked around , Vita and Ali also looked slightly shocked , I had definitely heard what I heard .

" Drag ?" , I asked .

He smiled , an almost shy smile .

" Asking them nicely would have surely gotten us nowhere ".

I found myself agreeing with him , but I did not show it .

" It is almost time for the camp to have breakfast . Let us all eat together and when we are done , we'll discuss ".

I nodded in agreement , a little food never hurt anyone .

He turned to leave , the man with the eye patch followed him .

Just as he was about to turn the corner , he turned one last time .

" We will also discuss who you really think you are ".

I sighed , couldn't we drop that discussion?

Vita was on his feet already .

He and Ali were staring at me .

" What was that about ?"

I shook my head .

I did not know and I honestly did not want to know .

It was like with each step I took , the universe tried to rearrange my life .

Now , I had involuntarily created a revolution that I had to be responsible for .

I was not great at anything that had to do with responsibility .

Food first .

I would eat first and determine just how much responsibility I could lift .

Till then......