Moon of The Afterlife

Chapter 7: Why He Left

"I'll be waiting for my pasta in the living room," Louise said and ran towards the sofa. She let herself fall to its soft covers like a hyper kid and it made Arche stare at her with so much concern. So, he followed her to the living room and stood in front of the sofa where Louise was lying. 

"What? I thought you'll be cooking pasta?"

"I ran out of grocery supplies. You said you'll get discharged tomorrow?" Arche asked, sounding exhausted and cold. 

Louise sat up and scratched her head, hesitating to tell the truth or not. Arche had a bad feeling, knowing his sister would do anything to get what she wanted. 

"You sneaked out, didn't you?"

Arche could only facepalm while trying to stop his blood from going all the way up to his head when Louise smiled awkwardly and nodded. And when Arche slowly heaves a deep breath, Louise quickly runs towards Arche's room to save herself from her enraged brother. 

"You brat!" Arche yelled frustratedly and angrily. 

"Arche, I'm fine! I swear I don't need to stay there for another night!" Louise said while rushing to Arche's room and locking her brother out. 

"I don't care! Come out, you kid!" he shouted while knocking nonstop, which only cracked Louise up. 

"Sorry, Arche! I just got too excited about the pasta! I'll come out after they're ready and when you've calmed down. Thank you, bro!"

THE COLD night breeze blew over the balcony of Dante's unit. He's been standing there for a while, trying to analyze what Arche told him and the unpleasant event that he could sense to happen. 

"He's dead. He killed himself not long ago,"

Arche's voice echoed in his head and ears. His fingers curled tightly into hard fists, and his jaw clenched as he stared at nowhere. 

"Is something bothering you?" 

A gentle voice caught Dante's attention. His hard fists loosened when he saw Louise standing at Arche's balcony while holding two cans of beer in both hands. 

"You seem mad," she added. 

Dante chuckled and shook his head before saying, "I'm just a little stressed about my life. There are just some things that don't seem right, and there are things I couldn't understand,"

"Like?" Louise trailed, and Dante smiled when he realized how curious she was. 

"Like how I still hadn't found the person destined to be my partner," he answered. 

"A girlfriend?"

"Yeah," Dante nodded and laughed. "Like a... girlfriend."

"Uhm," Louise nodded as she walked closer to the railing and leaned her waist against it, facing Dante. "What about some beer?" she offered, extending her hand to hand him a can. 

Dante accepted the beer and looked at Louise. "Are you even allowed to drink?" Dante asked, which made Louise roll her eyes. 

"Of course, I am! I'm already an adult. You're the same as my brother." Louise replied before drinking from her can. 

Dante didn't say anything after that. He just laughed while opening the can of beer to savor the bitter taste. Living with humans taught him so many things. One of them is how to live like a human. Food, sleep, alcohol, money, and love, are human's greatest desires. Living with them for two thousand years made him adapt their lowly desires. But among all of those human desires, love is the strongest. 

"So, how's life so far?" Louise asked after a moment of silence. She looked at Dante and saw him still looking at the beautiful city lights flickering in the middle of the vast darkness. 

"Cruel," Dante replied in a hiss. "Life's been so cruel. Living is torture."

Dante's voice sounded sad, and the look on his face shows how much he distastes life. Louise stared at him, admiring his perfectly sculpted face. She's mesmerized that even with the sadness, his god-like features still stand out. 

"Indeed," Louise agreed, so Dante turned his head to look at her, only to see her staring at him. Louise smiled at him bitterly before looking away and said, "I hate my life... and the fact that I only exist to bring hardships to people. I hate that I had to be a bad person,"

"You exist to bring joy to your parents. No one existed only to bring burden or hardship to anyone." Dante contradicted in an attempt to brighten Louise's mood, but Louise didn't believe him. 

"That's a lie. No one wants me,"

The bitterness was evident when Louise smiled and looked down. Dante just watched her, bewildered by her words. Her parents and brother love her deeply. How could she say that no one wants her?

"If only they knew who I am, they'll probably hate me."

"What do you mean?" Dante asked. 

Louise lifted her head and looked at Dante's face before pressing her lips together in an attempt to suppress her smile, but still ended up bursting out with laughter. 

"I was just kidding!" she exclaimed as she continued laughing. "You're so serious, so I tried to prank you," Louise explained while wiping off the tears in her eyes because of laughter. 

Dante doesn't seem to find it funny, but he decided to fake a laugh for her. Louise stood properly and drank the remaining beer on her can at once. 

"Ah! I didn't know this awful taste could be this addictive," she said while looking at the empty can in her hand like she was talking to it. She then looked at Dante and walked towards the edge of the balcony to reach for him and give him a pat on the back before saying. "The person you're looking for could be somewhere near. Sometimes you only need to look around. I'll head inside now, Dante. Good night." Then she smiled one more time before heading inside the room. 

Dante was left there, standing while laughing with Louise's weirdness. However, the thought that he still couldn't see Louise's death made him stop. He doesn't have any idea what is happening. Arche's death remained visible, but Louise's didn't. It's like her life got extended but feels like it is not. 

"What's wrong with me?" Dante asked himself before letting out a loud sigh. He dragged his eyes back to the flickering lights of the city before taking a sip from his beer. Dante thought that he wasn't supposed to think about a single death that couldn't get envisioned. He should be alarmed that Arche's end is coming, which means he only has that much time to find Libulan with his help. It doesn't matter if what Arche said is true or a lie. He'll search for Libulan no matter what. He won't stop until he finds him, or, at least, proof that he's dead. 

The next day started like usual. Dante got up and went to the bathroom. And then he went to scan his closet for a decent outfit because he's planning to look for a job to keep himself busy. Dante also has monthly bills to pay, plus the maintenance fee and rent for his unit. If he wants to keep living like a human until he finds the person he's been looking for, Dante needs to keep working his ass off. 

Dressed with a simple white V-neck tee tacked in black pants and black leather shoes, Dante fixed his hair on a simple, neat brush-up hairstyle. Though he likes working as a mechanic and everything about repairs, he knew that he needed a high-paying job to cover his rental debt, which was caused by being jobless for a few months. 

After stuffing his bag with all of his necessary documents, Dante clung its strap on his left shoulder before heading out of his apartment, where he happened to see Louise and Arche. 

"Dante!" Louise greeted happily and moved to his side before clinging her hand to Dante's arm. "Seems like you're off to work. Well, guess what? I'm staying over at the cafe today to help Arche. You work there, right, Dante? How about a free ride?"

Arche and Dante exchanged glances. "Didn't I tell you lost the job?" Dante said, a little embarrassed. "I no longer work there."

"Huh? Already?" Louise looked at Dante with a wrinkled face. 

"Let's go, Louise," Arche interrupted and took his sister's hand to drag her, but Louise pulled her hand away from her brother. 

"Wait, why?"

Arche placed his hands on his waist and gave her sister an annoyed and frustrated look before saying, "He resigned already,"

Dante rose an eyebrow. "I didn't. You fired me." He clarified. 

"What?" Louise looked at her brother. "You fired him?" 

Arche pressed his lips together and massaged his temples using his right hand's thumb and ring finder. He thought Dante would play along, but he seems dumb not to get the situation. 

"Look, Louise. Let's go," Arche said in defeat and tried to drag his sister away from Dante again, but Louise hid behind Dante. 

"No," she firmly objected. "You need to hire Dante again, Arche."

THE SOUND of the chime ringed as one mid-aged lady arrived. 

"Good morning, Ma'am! Welcome to Light Cafe!" Louise enthusiastically greeted and assisted the newly-arrived customer in finding a seat.

Dante glanced at Arche, who was standing behind the counter, preparing drinks. Louise takes charge in greeting every customer, while Dante takes care of collecting and serving every order. 

"One cappuccino and an egg tart," the customer said and smiled. 

"One cappuccino and an egg tart. Is there anything else, ma'am?" Dante repeated as he wrote down the customer's order. The customer then shook her head, so Dante smiled at her and left to get her order. 

Dante went straight behind the counter to prepare the order, but Arche stopped him. 

"Serve them," he said coldly and without looking about the two cups of black coffee he had prepared, but Dante didn't move. Instead, he kept staring at Arche. "How long are you planning to stay like that?" Arche asked with hints of annoyance. 

"It depends..." Dante replied seriously before walking past Arche to take the orders and serve them. 

The cafe stayed busy until three in the afternoon. Arche's busy cleaning up the mess on the counter while Louise and Dante are busy cleaning up the tables. While Dante was busy wiping off the coffee spills on an empty table, Louise sat on the vacant seat. 

"I forgot to tell you, but you look dazzling today," Louise said as she placed her elbows above the table and rested her chin above her palms. "Actually, you look good every day. Even wearing a rug won't lessen your appeal."

"I know," Dante joked and laughed. 

"So, what is your ideal type? Sexy? Fit? Curvy? What about the personality? Childish? Mature? Kind? Or a baddie?" 

Dante stopped and looked at Louise. As much as it pleases him to see her bubbly side, Dante finds her a little tiring to entertain. 

"I don't care about those. What's important is that I like the person," he answered. 

"Hmm, do you even like girls?" she asked again while looking directly at Dante's eyes. 

Dante stopped and thought for a moment. He's not sure about how he should answer her question. 

"Yeah," he replied and nodded. "Everyone does."

Louise pouted and leaned back to her seat as she crossed her arms. She watched Dante as he was cleaning the table.  She's too curious that it made Dante a little uncomfortable. He likes Louise's jolliness, but he's never been with a person as talkative as her. 

"Whatever!" Louise said after a moment and stood up. "I gotta clean the other tables before taking a break. I'll prepare a glass of juice; is there anything you want?"

"No, I'm good. Thanks!"

"Okay," Louise shrugged and then walked towards the counter. 

THE DAY in the cafe ended at eight in the evening. Everyone is exhausted, and Louise has already passed out in the corner while the two are still cleaning up. Silence has settled since Louise decided to travel to dreamland a few minutes ago, and the two never talked to each other. 

Silence stayed when Arche drove home. Louise is already sleeping soundly at the passenger's seat, while Dante is silently sitting in the front seat while looking blankly ahead. 

"Why are you looking for him?" Arche broke the silence. 

Dante immediately looked at him and saw Arche's serious face. Eyes fixed on the road. They just made it out of the almost unmoving traffic, so they're still seven minutes away from home. 

Dante couldn't answer immediately. He, himself, didn't know why he's been looking for him. 

"I don't know," he admitted. "I just want to see him."

Arche felt his heart beating heavily. He couldn't understand why but he felt something strange within him. He feels excited and thrilled to know the reason why his past lover wanted to see him. His grip on the steering wheel tightened when he opened his mouth to ask again. 

"What if he doesn't want to see you?" his fist clenched harder. 

"Why would he?"

"I said, what if,"

Dante looked back in front and sighed. "I don't care. I still want to see him," he said in a soft murmur. "Even if the world forbids me, I'll look for him. I want to know why he chose to leave."

"It's the Bakunawa," Arche quickly said, which surprised Dante. He looked at Arche with eyes full of questions, and before he could even ask to clarify what he had heard, Arche spoke again, "She wants to kill him,"

Dante couldn't speak when he heard that. All those years he spent wondering why Libulan left and doubting his feelings, he never thought his reason could be something so out of his imagination. But Dante thought, how could he be sure that Arche was telling the truth?

"If he left the sky to run away from the Bakunawa, why would he kill himself? Does that mean that you lied to me yesterday? Where is he? Tell me at once." Dante demanded while clenching his fist that was resting above his lap. 

"I don't know where he is now. Perhaps, he went somewhere very far without the intention of coming back," Arche continued to lie. 

It's not that he doesn't want to go back. He finds the idea of going back nonsense since he'll be the only moon in the sky. His family got killed, and someone wanted to kill him. If he stayed in his shell for Sidapa, he would end up getting killed as well. He wants to forget that he's a deity and that he's left all alone. He went to forget all those traumatizing nights of his family's murder, as well as his lover— Sidapa. 

"Tell me the truth," 

"I lied yesterday. I'm not sure if Libulan's still alive. All I know is that he's not coming back,"

"How do you know him? You're a human; how did you know him?"

"I assume how I know him is no longer a part of your business. I already told you what I know, so I hope you'll stop here. Stop messing around with my family, and let's maintain our neighbor's relationship as it is. I don't want anything to do with you or anyone of your kind."

Arche stopped the car in front of their apartment complex. He looked at Dante, that's been staring at him throughout the whole ride, and said, "We're here,"

Dante glanced outside and saw the building of their apartment. He unwillingly opened the car's door, but before he could even step out, Arche spoke one last time. 

"If I were you, I wouldn't waste my time looking for him. He could be dead already or married to someone else. Try to live your life as if you never met him. You're just wasting your time," 

The side of Dante's lips curled upward like a soundless sneer. He looked Arche in the face and replied, "I'd rather waste my time looking for a dead or married deity than spend my life with someone else. I may sound foolish, but that's how I want to live my eternity. It's called deep love, not wasting time," then hopped out of Arche's car to head inside the building. 

Arche released the breath he was holding when Dante left. His heart throbbed, but unsure whether Dante's words moved him or scared him. It could be both, but one thing is for sure— that Sidapa's feelings remained intact throughout the centuries that had passed.  

Arche's tears fell as his lips automatically flashed a half-happy smile. He never thought his feeling could be that deep, that he's willing to spend his eternity searching for him. Arche bit his trembling lips to prevent himself from sobbing as he realized how cowardly he was for running away.

"Damn," he hissed with a smile while still crying before driving away to take Louise home to their parents.