Moon of The Afterlife

Chapter 4: Deity

TWO EYES opened as the loud sound of the thunder roared in the sky. The fluffy white clouds rapidly turned gray, and big drops of rain started pouring from the sky— the sunny day became a calamitous stormy day in just a blink of an eye. 

Louise stared at the reflection of herself on her window. And despite the catastrophic rain outside, she can't help but admire the beautiful sight in front of her. 

"I told you, I only bring hardships to people. Why did you let me stay?"  

"Because we're alike," Louise answered. 

THE RAIN poured outside the light cafe, soaking Sidapa and the two people on the road. However, Arche remained standing at the counter, watching everything outside as realizations hit him one by one. He stared at Dante's soaking blurry figure outside the cafe, and his hands balled into fists when Dante looked at him from the outside before vanishing with the ghost. 

As soon as Sidapa's figure vanished, everyone in the cafe magically forgot the almost accident that happened, and the two people on the road stood up bewildered about what happened. 

Sidapa brought the vengeful soul of Justin Lopez into the edge of the Cliff of the underworld, where vengeful souls get exiled after escaping from the afterlife. The Cliff of the underworld is the place of sorrow and endless grief for selfish souls who wants to harm the living by coming back to seek revenge. The world below is unceasing darkness. 

"You know what will happen if I end up pushing you down there, right?" Sidapa asked as he carefully held the vengeful soul in the neck. But instead of feeling scared, Justin Lopez sneered and mockingly smiled while glaring at him. 

"Do you think I care?" Justin replied as his mocking smile faded and got replaced by a bitter one. "He killed me and burned me to death. Do you expect me to feel relaxed in that darn afterlife when my sister just became an orphan? He killed me despite knowing I can still be alive."

Sidapa's grip on Justin's neck loosened as a drop of tear fell from Justin's eyes to his hand. The pain and resentment in Justin's heart are fueling his desire to make the person who wronged him suffer. 

"Throw me down there if you want; I don't care. But let me give that moron the same pain first. I won't harm those who are not involved," 

"No," Sidapa firmly rejected and tightened his grip on Justin's neck. "Trying to hurt them is unnecessary."

"Unnecessary?" Justin sneered again with annoyance. "When they're living their lives like I never existed. No one's even talking about my death, and now my sister's all by herself."

Sidapa couldn't say anything for a moment. He feels awful, but he knows he shouldn't let his emotions act before him. He must accept that some things are beyond his control and power, and he cannot do anything about them. 

"I can't rest in peace knowing that bastard is living his life with Cassie. It wasn't the part where I got played that hurts, but the fact that they don't even feel bad about what they did," Justin said with evident pain. "I wasn't a bad person. I only feel bad and angry because I had to leave my sister like this."

"But still, you shouldn't cross the line," Sidapa said. "Everything humans did will come back at them... unnoticed and unexpected."

"And when will that happen?" Justin challenged, which made Sidapa hesitant to answer. 

"Sometimes, it only takes a week or a month. Usually, it takes years. And rarely, never," the last word softened, almost turned into a hiss. But then, Sidapa inhaled deeply before looking straight into the poor soul's eyes and said, assuringly, "Let the Deities handle your concern. No one can tell His plans and how He'll turn the lives of those you have left behind around. Stay in peace, no matter how hard it is, so you won't miss the chance to meet your sister again when the time comes,"

SOMEWHERE in the slumps of Marikina, a little girl cries inside the dark, almost empty cabinet in a small room with a single comforter, a burnout candle, and a thin blanket to keep her warm during the night. The rain is still pouring hard outside, and the loud sound of thunder is scaring her. 

"Justin, please come home. I'm scared, Justin," the girl cried as she hugged her knees and squeezed herself hidden inside the cabinet. She's Mimi, and she's blind. 

The tiny room she calls home has been empty for two days now since her brother still wasn't home from school and work. She's getting worried and scared, but she keeps on waiting until someone opens the cabinet where's she's hiding. 

"Justin!" Mimi screamed and cried as she hugged the person who opened up the cabinet to find her. "Where have you been? I've been waiting for you. The thunder sounded so scary, and I made a mess in the bathroom. Justin, what took you so long?" the little girl cried as she tightened her hug to him. 

Justin is dead. Hence, the person who opened the cabinet can't be her brother. It was Sidapa. 

Sidapa wrapped his arms around the little girl's tiny body to calm her down. "Shh, I'm here. You don't have to feel scared anymore," he hissed while trying to prevent himself from crying. 

~~~~

"Then, will you take care of her? Will you cook for her? Will you calm her down whenever it rains? Can you do that?" Justin asked. "You don't know how it feels to be on my shoe! You don't understand how I felt because you're not a human! You don't know how cruel life is because you never had to put up with the world's bullshits because you're a f*****g god!" 

Justin's yell filled the air of emptiness as they stood at the edge of the Cliff of the underworld. He's in pain, even after dying. 

"It would be nice to die if I won't have to leave my sister behind. Do you even have a family?"

"No," Sidapa answered in a whisper. 

"You'll never understand,"

"I do understand," Sidapa's grip on Justin's neck loosened as he took a step back while dragging him a few steps to safety. "Watching tragic deaths pains me as much as it pains you."

"If you understand, do something," 

"I can only do two things: give life, and take it away. Which one would you like for your sister?" 

Justin hesitated. 

~~~~~

Mimi pulled herself away from Sidapa and wiped her face while still sobbing. 

"Justin, I'm hungry," she said. 

Sidapa looked at the little girl and wiped her wet face before saying, "Is there anything you like?" 

"I want some chicken, Justin," Mimi answered while nodding. 

SIDAPA silently watched Mimi as she ate in front of him in silence. 

Justin doesn't want to decide for her, so Sidapa has to get the answer from Mimi. Justin asked him to let her eat after calming her down because of the heavy rain. It's all because of his sister, after all. 

"I'm sleepy," Mimi said after she finished eating, so Sidapa helped her lie on the comforter that serves as her bed. 

"Are you Justin's friend?" 

That question made Sidapa stop fixing the thin blanket to cover Mimi's body and stare at the little girl's face. 

"You knew where to find me and you bought me food. I'm sure you're my brother's friend,"

"Since when did you realize I wasn't your brother?" he asked and continued covering her up. 

"I know my brother too much, Mr. I know the sound of his voice and his scent. I knew it wasn't my brother when you opened the cabinet to find me." Mimi smiled as if she could see him, and with her tiny hands, she reached for him. "My brother never asked me what I wanted to eat because he doesn't have money to buy my favorite chicken, but you bought them for me. Thank you for letting me taste my favorite food again."

Sidapa could only watch her as she spoke sluggishly. The only thing he could do was tap her forearm gently to help her sleep. And just as Sidapa thought Mimi's asleep, she spoke again, saying,

"Mr, I want to be with Justin. I know you know where he is. Could you please take me there? I can't stand being away from him," Mimi's voice is now a soft murmur. 

"Justin is in a place far from here, and he can't come back. The only way you could meet him is by going to that place. Will you be okay?"

Mimi nods her head. "It's fine, as long as I'm with Justin," 

That moment, Sidapa found the answer he needed. He shut his eyes close to prevent himself from crying as he squeezed Mimi's hand between his palms. He stayed beside her for a few more minutes before leaving the house. And right after he walked out of the door, he lifted his hand to look at the name written on his palm. He could only sigh and leave the poor girl to die within a few minutes.

LIGHT cafe closed thirty minutes ago, but Arche's been overstaying to wait for Dante. He's standing on the counter while patiently watching the front door, and after the long wait, the door burst open. 

Dante's eyes met with Arche's blank stare. He forgot about the cafe and his job, and he feels so ashamed of himself. 

"I-I'm sorry I had to leave," Dante started. "I promise this won't happen again."

Arche's eyes may be cold and calm, but deep inside, his heart is throbbing. His mind was blank, and he felt so scared that he didn't have enough chance to think about what to say. He's been trying to figure out what to say to him, but for some reason, he couldn't come up with anything, until the words, 

"You're fired," came out of his lips. 

Dante got caught off guard that he could only stare at Arche in shock. 

"W-what?" Dante asked, puzzled. "But I still have to work for everything I had destroyed,"

"You don't have to pay for that," Arche said and walked out of the counter. "You're pardoned. Look for another job already," he said before walking past Dante. 

Though confused and depressed about what happened, Dante stopped Arche from leaving the cafe by blocking his way towards the door. He stood there and looked him in the eyes, both with confusion and desperation.

"May I know why?" Dante asked with a furrowed eyebrow. "Can you tell me the reason why you're firing me?"

Arche fought the urge to look away and tried to think of a valid excuse to fire his only employee, and luckily, he found an alibi.

"You left work without a word and came back thirty minutes after it closed. Do you think that behavior is reasonable?" Arche tried to act mad, so Dante would accept his decision and leave, but Dante remembers every detail that had happened today. 

"Was it because you learned I wasn't human?" he bravely asked. "You saw me vanished, and you saw the ghost too. You knew I wasn't human, right?" 

Silence settled between the two of them. Dante stared at Arche's eyes as Arche's heart started beating even harder. But only to Dante's surprise, Arche laughed and shook his head. 

"Are you crazy? If you're not a human, then what are you?" 

But Dante doesn't seem convinced. The embarrassment he felt a while ago got replaced by irritation and annoyance. 

"Stop playing innocent,"

"I'm not playing innocent, and I wasn't in the mood for your jokes, Dante. Leave now because I'm going to close this business until I find a replacement for you," then Arche walked past him again. 

"You saw the ghost, don't you?" Dante shouted with evident suspicion that made Arche stop walking. He turned around and faced Dante and said, 

"I only saw you, running around and screaming like a mad man," 

DARKNESS welcomed Arche as he entered his empty apartment. He went straight into his room and took off his shirt before proceeding to the shower. And there, he stayed under the comfort of the cold water. Arche hardly clutched his chest while breathing heavily.

Dante is a Deity. And not only that— he's Sidapa, the god of death from his vague memory. 

"How did he end up here?"

LIGHTLESS, but still beautiful... Sidapa stared at the moon sitting above the unnoticeable vast sea. The lightless moon made every night feel like a tormenting and endless darkness. He remembers how Bulan's reflection appears in the massive mirror-like water, and he remembers how his heart flutters every time he sees his beauty. 

Dante touched his chest to feel his heart loudly beating as he stared at the empty moon and said,

"How is it possible that I still haven't found you when my heart says you're somewhere near? Where are you, Bulan? Why are you hiding so well?"

Meanwhile, without Sidapa noticing, the Bakunawa stared at him from a distance with a heart full of sorrow and jealousy. She used to be a beautiful yet destructive goddess of disaster and guardian of the gates of the afterlife. She decided to turn herself into a monstrous sea serpent, thinking she could be her beautiful self again after doing unpleasant deeds to her fellow Deities. She ate the six moons and tried to kill the seventh— which was Libulan— so Almighty made her stay as the ugly and frightening monster she'd chosen to be.

"Is he the one you're looking for?"

"No," Bakunawa answered as she stared  at Sidapa's figure. "I knew he'd been looking for him too, but I did not expect I would find him here too," she added. 

"Who is he?" 

"Who is whom? The Deity I'm looking for or the one that I found?" she asked. 

"The one you have found,"

Bakunawa softly looked at Sidapa for a moment before displaying a bitter smile and said, "He's the god of death. The one who never even glanced at me,"

FIREFLIES formed a long and beautiful path while the moons danced behind the clouds as mermaids sang Libulan's favorite melodies. The fragrances of the flowers in the meadow of Mt. Madjaas have reached the heavens and his heart. 

The god of death's been trying to court him, and he's always been hesitant to entertain his feelings even though he knew he likes him. Libulan's been so scared to love because he thinks that their love is too shallow that they, still, could both fall in love with female Deities. But Libulan's hesitation was erased when the cold wind blew his hair and said,

"Follow them, and they would lead you to me," the wind whispered into Libulan's ears by Sidapa's command, so Libulan glanced below to see him. 

Their hearts fluttered when Libulan started taking a step to follow the path formed by the fireflies. Each step that Libulan takes makes Sidapa's heart beats even faster, and the moment Libulan made it in front of him, he smiled. 

"Finally..." Sidapa breathed while taking a step closer to his beloved moon. "...You accepted my invitation," 

Their eyes met, and Libulan saw the love and sincerity in the eyes of Sidapa, which made him smile at him and say, 

"Because you finally told me to come,"

The flowers and trees in Mt. Madjaas danced with the wind when Sidapa took another step closer and held Libulan's hand. They looked into each other's eyes before Sidapa placed his other hand on Libulan's cheek. He leaned closer, and they both closed their eyes as their lips pressed against each other. 

Libulan's beauty captivated the god of death's heart since they first met— when Almighty ordered the sun to shine during the day and stars to accompany the moons as they shine one at a time during the night to please everyone below. Sidapa fell in love with the moon named Libulan. And since that moment, he never saw anyone that could overpower his beauty— not even Mayari, Almighty's daughter and the goddess of war and beauty.

But just as the moment became more and more romantic, the heavens were brought into chaos when thunder roared and filled the peaceful night, followed by the disappearance of one of the moons. 

Libulan pulled away and hastily looked above. One of his sisters suddenly went missing, and his heart that used to beat in happiness throbbed in fear. The mermaids stopped singing, and the fireflies flew away in fear, too. Libulan's hands trembled when they heard the crying voice of their missing sister echoing on the dark horizon. 

"No!" Arche sat up as soon as he opened his eyes. He clutched his chest while catching his breath. He's bathing in sweat, and his hands are ice-cold. 

"The message has been delivered," 

Arche looked up and saw a young man standing beside his bed, which surprised him. He's never seen him before, but the young man seems to know him. 

"W-who are you?"  Arche asked, still catching his breath. "What are you doing in my room?"

The young man just smiled and walked straight into the balcony of his room. He looked at Arche one more time and said, "I have delivered the message. My job ends here," then flew like a flash of lightning. 

"A message from who?" Arche asked, bewildered and puzzled.

However, his thoughts got diverted into the dream he had just now. The pain of losing a sister and the fear of getting killed haunted him again. Now that Sidapa is lingering near him, he knew that the Bakunawa would soon come to kill him.