Not like Us

Chapter 25

Lamang was about to follow her but the sirena stopped him.

“We could keep it a secret, Gat Lamang. We could keep it a secret to your kingdom but if you follow her right now. Everyone would definitely know about what we saw.”

Lamang looked at them. His hands clenched into fist.

“As an ally to your kingdom, it is part of our duty to stop you from doing things that are not right. You choose,” The sirena continued.

Lamang blankly stared at them but he did not move any muscle.

The sirena smiled and directed her men kind to Lamang. The men used their water to create a cage to caged Lamang.

“I heard the portal in your kingdom was still closed. You will be staying here under my watch until the portal opens.”

She looked at the men and signed them something. They brought a cloth and covered Lamang’s eyes.

Lamang did not resist or even say a word. He remained quiet even after four days.

“Yes, I received the message. Thank you for keeping my son.”

Lamang heard his father’s voice. He stood up. His eyes still covered with a cloth.

“What is that cloth for and why is he in a cage?”

“We have a lot of girls here, Gat. That would help him to resist the temptation of defying his destiny.”

The king nooded. “Thank you and thank you for thinking about the well being of our kingdom.”

The sirena bowed. “It is a pleasure, Gat.”

She looked at her men and signaled them. They absorbed the water cage to diminish it and they uncover Lamang’s eyes.  

His father walked towards him. He was still quiet. “Let us go home,” his father said.

Lamang just nodded in response. They faced the water and saw that a whirlpool occurred. It was the portal. They went towards it and it brought them back to their kingdom. The queen and Timpi waited for them. When the queen saw them arrived, she immediately ran towards them to hug her son.

She cupped both of his cheeks. “How are you?” The queen looked at him from head to toe and she noticed her son was wearing a human cloth. She looked at him in the eyes.

Lamang stepped back and removed her hands from his face. “I am fine, mom. I am not a child anymore for you to worry.”

He started walking ahead of them. Timpi followed him.

The queen looked at the king. The king shrugged. They all went inside their palace. Some of the helpers looked them. After a week, they only saw their prince for the first time. They were curious on where did he go? But they went back to what they were doing when the king or queen looked at them. They do not want to be punished for gossiping.

When they passed the throne room, the king called Lamang, “Lamang.”

Lamang stopped walking. Timpi was quietly following him.

“Let us talk inside, Lamang,” his father said.

Lamang faced the throne room’s door and opened it. He waited for his parents to be seated on their own throne.

Lamang was just looking down. He had not come up with an excuse for himself. His was just blank for the entire stay with the sirenas and the entire travel from the portal to the their kingdom. He could not just think of something. His mind was feeling empty.

“How did you end up in the human world?” The king asked. He knew his son could access the portal but he did not know why his son went there. Timpi did not give him any reason.

Lamang did not answer. He did not know what to say. He did not know that his parents already knew about his capability. He had been living for a hundred years but he had been using his own portal, rarely. He did not have any reason to use it before not until an overwhelming deadly emotion from a girl was drawing him to get back to the human world. Her emotions were deadly but he could not resist the call. It was a big risk for him.

The king and queen looked at each other. The queen faced him.

“We knew from Timpi about your ability to open a portal, son. Now, why?” The queen asked.

Lamang looked at Timpi. Timpi avoided his gazed. Lamang looked his parents and sighed. “I opened the portal to just check the forest. The black creature got inside my room. It went to the portal. So I followed it to catch it but I lost it. I am sorry and I could not access the portal so I was stuck there.”

“So are you saying the black creature got to the human world?” The king asked. Having the black creature stayed in the human world was good for their kingdom however, it would be bad for the humans. The king looked at his wife. The day she was infested with the black creature, she almost killed herself. It was before she married him. It was before when she was still a human.  

Lamang nodded in response. The king leaned on his chair and rested his chin on his hand. Should they do something about it? He would try to see if his guards would be able to look into it.

“Can I go now? I am tired.”

The king looked at Lamang and stared at him. “Not yet, I want you to justify your attitude earlier. Your mother was just worried. How could you act like that?”

Lamang sighed. “I did not mean to. I was just tired.” He looked at the queen, “I am sorry.”

The queen nodded. “It is all right. I understand. You could now go and take a rest in your room.”

He bowed and turned his back. Timpi opened the door and followed Lamang to his room. They were quiet. Timpi was not used to it. He was used to Lamang saying something even such little things. Was he angry at him by telling his parents about the portal?

“I am sorry,” he said in a whisper but Lamang did not looked at him or even bothered to nod.

“Gat Lamang, are you angry?” Timpi asked as he tried to drew Lamang’s attention by poking at him on the back.

As they arrived at Lamang’s room, Lamang opened the door and faced him. “I am tired, Timpi. I want to take a rest. You could go and spend time with your family right now,” Lamang suggested but even before Timpi could answer he already closed his door.

He removed his shirt and lay down on his bed. He covered his face with his arms. He sighed. He was tired of being controlled. Even as a prince from their kingdom, other groups of different kind still see him as weak and vulnerable. They always use his destiny as his weakness. Being an heir to the throne was also questioned because of his destiny. He was a useless crowned prince that could now continue his blood line in the future.Everything about him was always about his destiny. He was already so suffocated about it. When will it stop? He asked to himself.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

As Timpi was walking back and forth outside Lamang’s room he felt something was wrong. He could sense something coming out from his room. It was an overwhelming feeling that he could not explain. Timpi knocked on his door. “Gat Lamang,” he called. It was only half an hour since Lamang told him to go home but he could not. It was his duty to look after Lamang.

“Gat Lamang,” he called again but Lamang did not answer. Was he so tired to sleep at this time of the day? He knocked again again but nothing. He had a bad feeling about this.