The Spirit Martial

Spirit 57

We are currenlty riding in the train at habang papalapit kami sa destinsayon namin- pakapal ng pakapal ang mga kahoy. I even saw dry blood stains from leaves. When we left earlier, Gin and Tempest didn’t talk to us- not even once. We all have our rooms with our partners pero hindi talaga sila lumabas. As of now, nandito ako sa lounge area- nakatitig sa labas. It was a mess.

According to Lor, this part here if fine because of Gin and Tempest’s. Thye got rid of demons here right after they went out from the portal. They were too frustrated to the point na nalinig nila ang tatlong patay na towns but their magic depleted and they were not able to save their younger brother, Beathan.

For some reason, even if I cannot help them- I wanna find their brother’s body. Kahit katawan lang ang maiuwi nila. Possible naman iyon di ba? I clenched my fist and took a deep breath. I wonder if I’ll come out alive.

“Cygnus,” someone called from behind at lumingon ako. Hugo. “Right?” he asked and I nodded.

He walked towards me at umupo sa upuan na ansa harapan ko. He glanced outside and I can clearly see the sadness in his eyes as he glanced outside.

“This brings back memories,” he added with a sad smile. “You knew the connection of us and this place, right?” he asked at tumingin sa akin.

“Kind of,” sabi ko at suandal siya.

“I never expected that I’d see this place again,” he said and he looked outside again. “Living inside it was a nightmare and here I am, going back to the place where we almost died,” he added and he chuckled. He stopped and his smile vanished. He bit his lip maybe because of frustration at inilagay ang ulo niya sa mesa na nasa harapan naming dalawa. “I never wanted to go back,” I heard him whispered.

“D-Did you …grow up in this place?” I asked and he nodded.

“I live in a town close to the lake itself. That lake was holy but who would have thought that a demon would live there. How ironic,” he replied at inangat niya ang ulo niya ulit. “I’m the eldest son and my parents died of sickness. I have a little sister who was also dying but I kept on getting water from that lake because some said na hanggat may paniniwalaan ako, may mangyayaring maganda,” he added at tumingin siya sa ibaba and I noticed that his fingers were trembling.

“Did the Pandora’s Box opened in front of you by any chance?” I asked and he nodded.

“It did. I’m not sure what happened because the moment it opened, I was docking to catch some water. When I stood up, the people around me vanished- it turned out that they were cut into half at nailigtas lang ako kasi nag-igib ako ng tubig.I’m jsut a lucky man who got to live miraculously.” he replied with a sad tone and sad smile.

“What about your sister?” I asked.

“Well, when I came back- no one was alive. My sister’s body were cut into half as well. I can’t bear to watch her in that state so I ran away.” he replied at inilagay niya ulit ang ulo niya sa table. “For couple of months- I managed to survived on my own but I was prepared for death but everything changed when I met Hex. He was wounded and was about to die. He came from the next town close to where I live. I rescued him and treated him through herbal plants. I always wished I had healing magic like you,” he replied. “Hex was …Hex was the only reason why I wanted to live again. We both saw a new dead spirit caster and blew the flares and hid. Hindi namin alam kung anong consquences ang maidudulot namin but we only know one thing-we wanna live a normal life. I wanted to protect him. I want to cherish him. That single flare- it took one important life” he added.

“Why are you telling me all this?” I asked.

“We’ll represent the Mahika Tournament. We’ll return the favor to Gin and Tempest. We wanted to give them the dream that Beathan wanted- the dream that we took away,” he said in a serious tone. If that’s the case, I wouldn’t mind stepping down. 

“I see,” sagot ko at umiwas ako ng tingin kasi hindi ko na siya kayang tingnan. Hindi ko lubos maisip na kinaya nila lahat ng iyon. Habang ganoon ang pinagdadaanan nila, I was jsut in the island- cultivating my spirit. If I could only heal emotional damage- I will heal them all but unfortunately I can’t. Emotional damage can be healed by time and self only, not spells.

“How about you?” he suddenly asked at agad akong napatingin sa kanya.

“Me?” I asked.

“I’m sure you have some kind of experience like ours, you know- pain,” he replied. What? It doesn’t matter.

“Not me. I’m just an island boy with normal life that twisted because of Kailani,” I answered. Ito ba ang sinasabi nilang Dominant Swest?! It’s entirely different! They are not someone whom we could fear. In fact, they need everyone. I hate to say this but these people- they are just people with broken spiritual and emotional core.

“Kailani? Your partner?” he asked and I nodded.

“He-” I said and I stopped and calmed myself. Do not get emotional. “He’s the one who experienced pain,” I added. “He was abandoned when he was a kid- living in streets and asking food any money from everyone. He was lucky enough to have some loyal servants who served him when he was a kid. He got to live comfortably again but it did not made him happy because he felt like he was empty. Alam mo iyon, something like living in monotonous manner,” I added at tumingin ako sa labas. Am I even allowed to say these things?!

“I get that,” he replied and I felt awkward because he was looking at me seriously like he was studying me kaya hindi ako tumingin pa balik sa kanya ulit. I just kept on looking outside and I saw a barrier. We’re close already.

“H-He-” sagot ko pero hindi ko maisabi. I want to tell him how we met but my mouth won’t allow me. Is it because it’s too heavy? Yeah- it’s heavy because he was about to commit the sin that I did in my previous world.

“Cygnus,” he called and I subconsciously glanced at him kahit iniiwasan ko iyon. “Kailani doesn’t look like that now. He seemed happy,” he added and my heart skipped a beat. “I bet he was looking for his missing piece and he found it,” he added.

“Missing piece,” I mumbled.

“You completed the puzzle, you’re the missing piece,” he added and I bit my lip at yumuko ako. That’s not true, it’s the other way around.

“W-Who knows,” iyon lang ang nasagot ko.

“But-” he said and he lowered his head so our eyes met from below which surprised me. “Are you happy?” he asked. I am. The word happy is not even enough to describe it.

“Why are you asking?” I asked and I raised my head back and he did the same.

“I can’t read your emotions,” he said. “or Do you even know what happiness felt like?” he asked at parang binagsakan ako ng langit at lupa. It was a simple question but my brain couldn’t answer it.

Back in my world, I always recieved awards, compliments but all I did was giving some fake smile. At home, I always get hurt and all I did was giving myself a fake smile. I decided to end my life and I reincarnated. I had situations that made me smile but was everything fake? My eyes widened as I stared at him and the train stopped. Answer it, Cygnus. Why can’t you answer it?!

“I-I-I …” di ko matapos na sabi and he looked like he was waiting for me to answer. “I don’t know,” I said at yumuko ako. The doors of the train opened on its own and a strong gush of wind went in.

“I see,” he replied.

“Hugo! Nandito ka lang pala!?” Hex suddenly said at napatingin siya sa akin. He must be thinking why we’re together. Kumunot ang noo niya at hinablot si Hugo patayo. Hugo waved at me with a smile at naglakad sila palayo. In the end, I can’t answer his question. Hex glanced at me and he looked jealous. Come on, hindi ko aagawin iyan- I have mine.

Tumayo ako at biglang lumabas si Kailani mula sa isa sa mga pinto.

“I’ve been looking for you,” he said with a calm voice and he held my hand. He walked palabas kaya napasunod ako.

I stared at our hands at napahigpit ako ng hawak. Kailani suddenly stopped at lumingon siya sa akin.

“Cygnus, what’s wrong?” he asked.

Am I happy?

I raised my head to look at his face and he looked worried.

“Are you afraid?” he asked at umiling ako.

Am I happy??

We heard Gin’s voice from in front kaya umalis kaagad ulit kami but my mind is really blank. He stopped with the others habang ako ay nakatitig pa rin sa kamay namin ni Kailani.

Right.

I am happy.

“Cygnus?” he called and I glanced at him. Hugo, I am happy right now.