Castaway

FINDING A REASON

Calyx took his set of knives arranged and wrapped in a piece of fabric and slid it inside his knapsack. He took some of his clothes from his cabinet and a hoodie and put them on. He tried his best to be swift and unnoticed, but his older brothers knew what he’s trying to do.

“Where are you going, Calyx?” Amaron asked him while he entered his door without knocking.

“I’m not going to sit here and wait for her to come back. It’s been two days, Amaron,” he said and buckled his knapsack and put it on his back.

“You forgot what she told us, Calyx.” Baron appeared at the door.

Calyx sat on his bed. He looked at his shoes while thinking about what Devanna told them before she left.

“Treat me like how father is treating me. That would be beneficial for all of us.”

“Stupid. How can I?” He intertwined his hands and rested his head above them.

-0-0-0-

Limo was conscious for two days. He found out how everything turned out. His family was dead, and his love ran away. He asked himself if it’s still worth living the second life given to him. He found no reason to live, found no person to fight. He lost his will even to breathe.

“So I am dead.”

“Nearly.”

He remembered the conversation he had with a fox named Niveus. He can’t believe it was real and thought maybe it was just a dream. Seeing a girl right after he woke and told him about the curse, he thought it didn’t make any sense. He wished everything was really just a dream.

A nurse came in while he was deep in his thoughts, carrying a tray of medicines. He felt the surrounding became stuffy, and the atmosphere was heavy even though the window was wide open. The feeling isn’t new to him. It felt like it happened before every time an enemy is near.

“Your emotions are unstable,” he heard the nurse talked. He didn’t respond. His attention went back to his thoughts.

He heard someone chuckled, but it didn’t bother him anymore. He saw the nurse turned into a hideous monster. It might be its real form, but he didn’t care. All he wanted to do is end everything in an instant. Maybe the two-tailed white fox is right to bring him back to his consciousness. He can never offer himself to something he’s not worthy of.

He watched as the monster draws near him. Its pair of bloody eyes slowly sucked his soul. He felt his chest went even heavier as it closed the gap between them.

Suddenly, an arrow went through the window and nailed the demon against the wall. It squeaked as it tried to pick the arrow that hit it. Devanna immediately went in through the window, and before the demon escaped, she found its neck, slashed it, and poured a liquid from a bottle into its wound. The demon turned into ashes and vanished.

Limo couldn’t find the words he wanted to say. He couldn’t say his thanks, yet he couldn’t say he's sorry. Devanna looked at him and grabbed him by his shirt. She gritted her teeth, and her eyes clearly showed anger.

“If you want to do something stupid, don’t drag me along with you,” she said.

She loosened her grip and took her arrow that still on the wall. She put it on her arrow case and zipped it close. She faced him again and saw how his face was lost.

“Are you okay to die being pathetic like this? Your parents died fighting for their lives in order to see each other again, but unfortunately, they didn’t make it. Consider yourself lucky you lived,” Devanna told Limo.

“I’m not supposed to live. I don’t want to live.” Limo’s eyes are dead and cold, staring at the foot of his bed. She sighed. She’s been convincing him for two days while guarding him against the demon’s attack.

“If you don’t know what to do anymore, make me your reason to live.”

He stopped thinking too much. He lifted his head and met her gaze.

“We’re not related, and we don’t know each other, but I’m sorry if you became part of this curse,” she looked away.

“All I wanted is your help. I want it to end with me even if I die. Of course, if you still want to die, then die with me. At least we have served our purpose with no regrets.”

“I need to do something about this mess. Now find your resolve,” Devanna told him.

Limo felt something within his circled. His heart felt like it was squeezed hard. Her face made him feel pain and agony more than he felt before. ‘Is this what Niveus feel?’ he asked himself.

She put her bow and arrow case on her shoulder before decided to leave. Before she reached the door, Limo called her.

“Hey.”

Devanna turned around and faced him.

“What’s your name?” he asked.

-0-0-0-

Limo didn’t know what Niveus told him before but found himself back to a place he thought a paradise, Lost Forest, as Niveus told him. He thought it was just a dream, hoping everything was a dream. He walked on the big roots of tall trees following the sound of the waterfall. He doesn’t know how long he’s been there and felt like he was going around in circles. He heard the waterfall was near, but he kept coming back from the tracks he left behind.

“Find me in your deepest dreams…” he mumbled.

He looked around, trying to find clues or some secret passage that could lead him to that place, but all he found were tall trees with big branches and roots. He started to feel anxious. He heard soft giggles around, and the sound of a waterfall started to fade away. A shadow flew over his head. The giggles went louder, and the shadow's number multiplied. He grunted when suddenly someone pulled his hair.

-0-0-0-

Devanna stood in front of him while her back rested upon the wall. She watched as Limo fell into a deep sleep after he told her what the fox named Niveus told him about how he could meet him again. She stayed there to guard him as the demons knew about his awakening, and they tried to sabotage it.

Devanna heard a tone and realized it was her phone. She took it and saw Calyx calling. She was about to tap the end button when the door opened, and a man with a phone in his ear appeared.

“Devy!” he called her and immediately hugged Devanna.

“Why are you here, Calyx?” she asked.

“I’m worried about you. You didn’t pick up your phone even if how many times I called,” he said.

She looked at her phone and saw forty-eight missed calls from him. How come she only noticed the last one?

Calyx turned to his side and saw a man sleeping on his bed. He looked at Devanna, trying to ask a question, but she answered him without him asking.

“Yes, he’s the next Primo,” she told him.

“Next?” he asked.

“He refused at first, and I was here watching him the whole time trying to convince him so we won’t end up dead.” She tried to say it like a joke but realized it turned out to be a bad one.

“I’ll teach him a lesson,” Calyx tried to walk near him, but Devanna stopped him.

“What the hell are you trying to do? Can’t you see he can’t even move a muscle?” she told him.

They heard Limo grunted in his sleep. Devanna saw he was sweating a lot and his hands and legs are stiff and cold.

“What? What happened?” Calyx panicked.

“Limo?” Devanna called his name, but he didn’t wake up.

-0-0-0-

Limo tried to get away with the swamp of shadows that followed him. He has nowhere to hide.

“Come play with us,” he heard them say in a tiny and playful voice.

He turned around and realized he shouldn’t have done that. He tripped on a root and fell to the ground. The shadows flew over him when he heard a voice.

“Never doubt yourself, Limo.” It was inside of his head, trying to calm him. He threw his left hand in the air and felt something as he closed his eyes when the shadow suddenly attacked him.

He was waiting for them to feast over him when he realized he heard the sound of the waterfall. He opened his eyes and found himself lying to the place he was looking for. He got up and fixed himself when a familiar voice caught his attention.

“Have you come to a decision?” Niveus was sitting on a rock in front of him.

He nodded his head.

“Very well.”