Middle Realm

2

“You didn’t sleep?” Thrax asked when he saw me in the kitchen, waiting for Eleena to finish cooking.

“Yeah. But I already ask for Freya’s help.” I smiled at him and he nodded.

Napatitig pa ako ng saglit kay Thrax na nakaupo na ngayon sa harapan ko. I can’t deny that this man is handsome kahit ang payat nya. I once asked him why is he so thin, and he answered me, “Books are heavier than barbells.”

May brown syang buhok na sakto lang ang haba, maputi din sya masyado. I think our complexion is just the same.

“Don’t look at me like that, Sapphire.” He glared at me so I looked at him innocently.

“What did I do?” Inosenteng tanong ko na nagpa buntong hininga sa kanya.

“For God’s sake, you’re looking at me like you want to eat me.” Kalmado nya pa ding sabi na nakakunot na ang noo ngayon.

I giggled, “How do you want me to eat you—.”

“Sapphire!” Hindi nya na ako pinatapos at agad na syang tumayo at lumabas. Siguro sa cafeteria na iyon kakain.

I heard Freya laughed that made me look at her.

“Your eyes are the most tempting thing I’ve ever seen, Sapphire. So I know that that’s also what Thrax is thinking.” She explained that made me smirked.

“I know right.”

Freya’s the type of person that so honest and soft. Sobrang hinhin nyang babae, at ang lambing pa. I envy her future boyfriend.

There’s this time that I can’t fall asleep because God knows why. Pinuntahan nya pa ako sa kaharian namin para lang patulugin at kantahan dahil naghahasik daw ako ng lagim.

Is it my fault that a storm came?

“Let’s eat. Where’s the two?” Eleena suddenly came and put down her dishes. I feel like my eyes turned into hearts.

“I’ll call Thanara. I bet Thrax won’t eat with us.” Tumango naman si Eleena at tumabi na sa akin.

“Don’t look at me.” Mataray nitong sabi habang nagsasandok ng pagkain nya.

I pouted a little. Eleena’s the type who’d rather shut up if she don’t have anything to say. Madaldal naman sya kapag kami kami lang pero kapag may ibang hindi nya kilala, she won’t talk unless you ask her something that has a sense. Same sila ni Thrax.

And Thanara, she’s kind. But her mood swings are—nevermind.

Nang dumating ang dalawa ay kumain na kami at naghanda sa pagpasok.

Nagbibihis na ako ng mapatingin sa sarili sa salamin. Ang buong dingding ko ay mirror, so yeah. Hanggang itaas ng tuhod ang palda ng uniform namin, while the inner shirt is a white button down polo, it has blazer and necktie. Imbes na black shoes ang suotin ko ay nag high shoes ako because why not?

I almost rolled my eyes because of the color of the uniform. It’s royal blue. And my eyes are red. What am I? Tss.

“Pwede ko naman sigurong papalitan tong uniform.” I said to myself while turning around. It’s pretty but—nevermind.

I didn’t walk and just teleport to our room. I smile when I saw Thrax sitting on his chair. I waved my hand and sat beside him. He just glance at me boredly and read again. Seriously?

“Where’s the three?” He asked while reading.

“I left them.” He rolled his eyes at me that made me giggle. Tumingin ako sa paligid at nakitang kumpleto na ang Romans na mababait. Ang Greeks naman ay dalawa palang ang andito, Uno and Haze. Haze is just looking somewhere else while Uno’s sleeping.

Oh, let me introduce the Roman royalties since our prof isn’t here yet.

Aidan, Janus’ son. The Roman God of Time, passages, doorways, gates and whatever. I don’t know how he’s using his power but I’m sure he’s strong enough.

Eira Ilaria, Nyx’s daughter. The Goddess of the night. I saw her use her power once, she can make everything dark or something. I don’t know, I’m not interested.

Noah, son of Veritas. This man is undeniably gorgeous. His father is the God of truth so I must say the truth—I think I like him a bit.

Yesenia, daughter of Mercury. Like Thrax, her mother is also a trickster. And like me, she can also teleport. She also has wings because her mother was the messenger of the Roman Gods, she adopt it. I don’t know what power does she have.

Napalingon ako sa pinto ng maraming pumasok. Oh, magkasabay ang Greeks and Norse sa pagpasok. I saw how Thanara glared at them. Wala namang pake si Eleena while Freya smiled a little.

Dumiretso dito ang tatlo at halos irapan na ako ni Thanara dahil iniwan ko sila. Badtrip sya today so I mentally noted to not messed with her. Like bro, she can raised hell.

I saw Noah looked at me because they’re sitting in front. I smirked. Tumingin din ako pabalik. I felt someone cover my eyes. Base sa lambot ng kamay nya ay alam kong si Freya yon.

“I know that they’re not familiar for you, but don’t play them.” Malambing pa din ang boses nya kahit seryoso. I laughed and removed her hand.

“I’m not doing anything!” I defended myself but she just glared at me.

“I know you enough.” She said softly that made Thrax chuckle.

Hindi na ako tumingin sa kahit na sino kahit na nararamdaman ko ang tingin nila. Why are they looking? I mean, they should. But who are them?

Despite my curiosity, hindi pa din ako lumingon at tumingin lang sa harapan. We’re just silent, except from the Greeks, of course.

“Bakit hindi kayo naniniwala sa akin?” I heard Marius said. Tumawa naman si Blade.

“Kasi bobo ka.” He said and laughed again. Nakitawa naman si Atlas.

“Don’t bully him. Parehas lang kayong bobo.” Atlas commented.

“Look who’s talking, have you forgotten that you was trapped in the underworld because you—.”

“Shut up!” Atlas cutted Cloud that made them laughed. Natahimik lang sila ng pumasok ang teacher namin.

“Our topic for today is about Runes.” She said that made us gasped.

"That's forbidden." Eira said that made us nodded. Our teacher just smiled and started writing on the board.

Precision

Resolve

Domination

Currency

Revolution

Combustion

Sorcery

Contribution

Inspiration

"Miss, with all due respect. This topic is forbidden to all of us." Noah said and stood up. Natutuwa ko syang tinignan dahil ang gwapo nya sa part na yon.

"This is a direct order from the Roman Goddess Juno and the Titan God of time, Kronos." She said that made my attention go to her.

"My father's not saying anything." I heard Aidan whispered.

"So may you please sit down, Noah. So I can continue my discussion?" Magalang na tanong ng babae na agad namang sinunod ni Noah. See? They're mabait.

"I know that you are familiar with this words, but don't really have an idea about it." She started. Umayos ako ng upo at kumuha ng lollipop sa bulsa. Napatingin pa sa akin ang teacher pero nagpatuloy din naman.

"This is the runes of every power that's existing. It's just not about your worlds. It's about all of us." She added and pointed the each words on the board.

"Precision, it is the purest of the purest. No one will be able to defeat it's power because it's always right and never been wrong."

"Resolve, this is the most complicated rune. No one knows what power will be able to stand out, is it darkness, or is it light?"

"Domination, the power that can dominate every being—living or non-living things. This is the second most dangerous rune because it can literally wipe out the whole upper world."

"Currency, no one can control 'its' currency. To be able to control it, they should be the currency's home first."

"Revolution, the strongest and the front. It's power is to protect and destroy."

"Combustion, the hardest to control but once you fully had a grasped. It will be easy."

"Sorcery, the wisest among the wisest. The brain, the controller, the manipulator."

"Contribution, the life and the air."

"And the last one. Inspiration, it contains all of the runes and other powers. It is the mother of the runes, the most dangerous because it can control all of us."

She discussed and we're just quietly listening. It's rare to see the Greeks silent so I bet the topic really got their attention.

"I have a question, miss." Cloud stood up. Tumango naman ang teacher namin na parang sinasabi na magpatuloy sya.

"Where can we found the runes?" He seriously said that made me raised my brows. Gulat din ang iba dahil sa tanong nya.

Our teacher chuckled, "No one knows hijo. But they are saying that it's hiding somewhere else. Somewhere far, and somewhere safe."

Kumunot naman ang noo ni Cloud, "Then how can we be sure that what you're saying is true?"

"My, my. I already expected this to happened." Napatayo ang iba sa gulat ng biglang nagbago ang itsura ng aming guro.

Nakalutang na sya ngayon sa ere at nagliliwanag. But it's not the kind of light that's blinding. It's a light that's warm and feels like home.

"Who are you?" Tanong ni Atlas sa babae sa harap. We can't see her face but I know that she's using our teacher's body to freely talk with us.

"It is I." Confidence is on her tone. I smirked because I think I liked this Goddess.

"I'm asking you!" Atlas' voice raised a little bit. Tumaas ang kilay ko ng bigla syang manigas at bigla nalang napaupo. Suddenly, a dark smoke envelope his body.

"Don't talk to our Goddess in that way." Eira said. I saw how Cloud smirked at the sight. Hinawakan nya si Atlas at agad na nawala ang itim na usok na nakapalibot dito.

Atlas angrily stood up and just suddenly throw water balls on Eira's direction. I suddenly miss Zandria, she's also a friend of ours.

"This reminds me of Zandria." I heard Eleena whispered.

"Same thoughts." Sabay naming sabi ni Thanara.

Zandria's also our childhood friend. She's Thanara's close friend among all of us. She's the daughter of Njord, Norse God of the sea and wealth. Hindi namin sya kasama ngayon dahil binigyan sya ng mission ng ama nya. But I know her, hindi sya papayag na maiwan. Maybe tomorrow or the next day she's already here.

"I didn't know that you're the type who'll hurt a woman, Son of Poseidon." Yesenia said that made the waters vanished. Tumigil naman sa kakailag si Eira.

Nasa pinto na si Yesenia ngayon, nakasandal habang nakapikit. I didn't saw her walked though.

"Calm down, bro." Marius said and tapped Atlas's shoulders. Inalis naman iyon ng huli at galit pa ding lumabas ng room. But before he got out isang liwanag na ang pumalupot sa katawan nya at tinali sya sa upuan nya.

"f**k you, Cloud." Galit na sabi nito sa anak ni Apollo. Cloud's eyes widened and immediately shooked his head.

"That's not me!"

"That's me." The light in front said. We heard a clapped but we can't see how did she do it.

"Okay, kids. Listen." She said and tried to get out attention. But the Greeks don't mind because they're still shouting at each other.

"Stop it, you two." Haze coldly said.

"Tell that to him!" Atlas said and looked at Cloud.

"They're irritating." Thanara said and almost cover her ears.

"Hindi nga ako yon! Sabi nung liwanag sa harap, sya daw yon! Why are you blaming me?" Naiinis ng sabi ni Cloud.

"I SAID LISTEN!" We all looked in front because of the shout. I suddenly felt afraid in my entire life.

Biglang uminit ang liwanag na nanggagaling sa babae. I used my power to protect us from the heat. Napahawak naman sa akin si Freya.

Kung kanina ay sobrang kalmado pero may pagka taray ang boses nya, ngayon ay malamig at malakas. My head hurts because of her shout. Umeko kasi sa loob ng classroom at parang pati sa utak ko.

"I'm just going to say it once, so you must listen. You need to find the Runes and activate it. That is the only way to save this realm from danger."