Down System

Chapter 31

"The tale of Hufana leaf, do you know about it?"

I was at Namika's room, together with her, doing the potion for complete invisibility. The place was ruled with the darkness that only the spell was giving its light. It was also ghost-quiet, except for the clanking of the wooden spoon and bowl and the sound of stirring. I was deafened, so I tried breaking out the silence with that question that was running inside my mind.

"Did one of the Samaran tell you about it?" the old woman asked, still mixing the potion.

I nodded. "I just wonder why and how did it happen. It's somehow unbelievable. How did the baby girl Hufana went missing after applying the leaves to her? Is it just because Gandor taker her and made her a princess in paradise? What place is that?"

"Well, the tale they know about this leaf is not true; however, there is really a backstory of Hufana."

I raised my brow. "Do you know it?"

"The baby girl Hufana died because Gandor killed her."

My eyes grew bigger, but flamed right away. "I knew it. That red dragon is a life-taker. Why do people keep on believing that he's a god?"

"A god really does give and take life, young girl."

"So, you're telling me Gandor is a real god?"

Namika nodded. "He is the god of death."

My jaw dropped. If Gandor was the god of quietus, then there was also the god of life? Out of confusion, I asked the woman about this idea.

According to Namika, long years ago, during the time of Hufana, the war between the red and the white dragon had happened. Gandor knew that the baby would be the light of the world, so he did everything to take her life using the poisonous leaf they called today Hufana. During the night, while the baby was slowly losing her life, the red dragon entered the house and took her away from her family, and that explained why Hufana went missing after applying the leaf on her that they believed a cure to her sickness.

On the other side, the white dragon, which was the god of life, did everything to fight for Hufana. She had saved the baby through rebirth; nevertheless, when Hufana lived again, Gandor gave her suffering, until death was again given to her. The white dragon could not let the red dragon ruin her plan anymore, so she tried resurrecting the baby to continue being the hope of the dark land of Hades.

However, Gandor was a tough opponent. He continued to battle for his desire and didn't let the white dragon win over him; that was why the war that existed between the two was still occurring until today.

"That means Hades has two gods?" I asked the old woman after hearing the story from her.

She nodded. "But the other people are worshiping the wrong one. They aim for life, but little did they know that their god is the superior of death. No one of them had seen the two dragons, and that's why it would be hard for them to believe us."

I frowned as I walked towards the window and gaze at the brilliant stars from above. Nothing would change now, but I would show the Hadessian the truth they never knew in the future.

After some time, Namika was finally done mixing the potion. To test its ability, she tried applying it to me. After knowing that it was successful, she told me to drink the remaining, and she would be going to teach me how to make one. When done, she had already escorted me to sleep.

It was early in the morning when I, with the old woman, headed back to my house. It had been days of not seeing my room, my secret place, and of course, my family. I was missing them so much!

The moment we entered my cell, the first thing I saw was the annoying robot jumping off my bed. I immediately ran to it and stopped it from doing the crap; however, when it fell, it stood right away and continued hopping like a kangaroo.

How would I get rid of this robot? Even though it had the same face as me, it was irritating!

Namika abruptly took the robot from my bed and swiftly proceeded to the underground when she heard footsteps coming from the room.

When I turned my gaze there, my eyes caught Mommy and Daddy with their grinning faces. I didn't hesitate to run to them and hug them like never seeing them for a hundred years. What could I do? I badly missed them!

"She's being sweet again, Perseus," Mommy Morrigan told my father before she moved her stare at me. "Let's go now, baby girl?"

"Where are we going, Mommy?" I asked, still beaming at them.

"In school," she answered, "of course."

"Uh, how about Namika?"

"She's still sick, my dear. I'm so worried about her. It's almost a week since she doesn't show up. Wanna visit her after class?"

I bit my lip as I thought of the old woman's alibi; she couldn't be saying that excuse for months or years.

"I guess, I wouldn't be able to go," I mouthed. "I still got some works to do later. I'll just wait for her until she gets recovered."

Mommy and Daddy had nothing to do with my decision, so they just concurred, so we could already head to the academy. When we finally arrived there, they offered me first my lunchbox, saying it was full of sandwiches inspired by Namika.

After getting out of the car, I noticed my best friend Ferelith entering the gate. I ran immediately towards her and gave her a tight hug, telling her I missed her so much.

"I am also missing you every day," she said. "I'm so glad to be able to go nowhere. It's been weeks of being absent, I think?" she chuckled.

"I think so. But, anyway, how are you feeling now?" I asked while we were walking to the building.

Ferelith bowed her head a bit. "I don't think so that I'm completely fine now, especially that Dad is now sent to jail. Mom pursued the case."

I embraced her shoulder while looking at her worriedly. I didn't bother asking her if she wasn't okay with this because obviously, she wailed about it.

"No matter how bad he did to me, he's still my dad," Ferelith added while tears falling from her eyes. "But if that's the only way for him to change, then just be it."

I didn't let go of my best friend until we finally arrived in the room. While lending my ears to her, I was trying to understand every word that was coming out of her mouth.

As usual, it was only the two of us that were in the room. It was too early; the sun had just risen.

Ferelith kept on telling me things, not until some students started to enter the square one by one. Since that, she tried controlling her emotions, since she didn't want them to see her tears. She told me she didn't want them to think she was weak.

Personally, my best friend was not a coward— contradicting how she viewed herself. In fact, I found her brave for fighting this battle at this young age. I couldn't imagine how she tried comprehending things, despite how difficult it was to understand.

However, I somehow related to her, because I was also a child when I was first raped by a Hadessian man. At first, I thought as well, it was just normal since I could see lots of men doing the same thing to other young girls. But when I grew up, my intuition for such serious matters started going deep.

After some time of waiting, the teacher had finally arrived, causing me to stop thinking. Even when she started talking in front, Ferelith still seemed to be out of herself; however, when the recitation began, she had joined surprisingly.

When the morning class had ended, I, together with my friends, invited Ferelith for a game, just to make her happy. We spent almost have an hour playing around the field. There was a glimmer playing in every corner of my eyes, knowing that my best friend had fun with the simple game we had.

All the members of our circle took a seat on the Bermuda grasses after the tiring rounds of playing, running around the field, and catching the ball.

While telling stories with each other, we also shared food. While chewing, my friends could not stop themselves from questioning Ferelith about her condition. They were not foolish enough to not notice.

Ferelith bowed her head a bit and avoided her gaze at them. "I just missed Keevan," she said.

My eyes grew bigger with what she had mouthed. Was she freaking serious? Well, fine, I knew she was just trying to make this personality a facade to hide her real situation. I couldn't blame her for that— if she wasn't ready enough to tell them her burdens.

"Since Keevan left, there was no news again from him," one of my friends said. "Do you like him that much? To the point that you're already losing yourself because of his transferring out."

"Is it bad to admire someone?" Ferelith asked, looking badly at that friend. "I told you, guys, I just could not lose him. He's my ultimate crush!"

"He's a bully," another pal said. "We know you aren't unaware about the bad things he has done to our friend Aleera. He's not good for you."

Look at these eleven to twelve-year-old girls talking about a thirteen-year-old boy.

"But that was about months ago," Ferelith mouthed, trying to defend Keevan. "Who knows he has changed now?"

No one dared to talk again. My friends knew Ferelith wouldn't stop speaking good things about Keevan, so they just chose to mute their mouths.

I didn't know if she was really that serious of Keevan, but whatever the reason was making her like him, I would respect it. Well, I would just see in the future if she was really going to pursue that boy, or she would get sick remembering these days wherein she was too crazy over him

Ferelith was still young, I didn't think so if what she was speaking today would become real since she would still encounter more in the coming days.

"How about you, Aleera?" one of my friends asked, which stopped me from eating. "Do you miss Ferno?"

Wrinkles creased my brow as I moved my gaze to her. "What are you sayin'?" I asked. "If you mean something with your question, I'm not gonna answer it. But if that's as a friend, well, yes."

"It seems like you really have a crush on him," Aleera said. "You say it yourself, you see the question with double meaning."

My jaw dropped. Seriously?

My friends thought I liked Ferno. They just couldn't accept the fact that I only could see him as a friend. It was getting hard for me to explain things to them, especially that they would put the malicious act in every word I say about that boy.

"I don't like him, okay? Cut it off," I told them. "He's now dead. Give some respect."

"Of course, we respect him," one of my pals said. "But, seriously, what do you think was behind his death?"

All of them started discussing that matter after it was opened. Some said they believed it was a crime made by an outsider, but they could not give some proof. Others thought Ferno killed himself by jumping off the trunk, since that boy seemed all alone almost throughout the time.

I was just swallowing my saliva while listening to their conversation. I knew what had happened, but I didn't mind telling them. I was trying to control my mouth, so I just sat there and didn't talk, not until one of them asked for my idea.

"I don't think so that it was depression that killed him nor a person that did the crime," I said.

"Why?" Aleera puckered her brow.

"I don't know... just my thought."

It was almost there!

I clenched my fist, mocking myself quietly for nearly spilling the tea. Fortunately, I was able to back off, or else, they might not stop asking me to explain deeply about my point.

Aleera released a sigh. "I pity him for not getting the justice he deserved," she said.

"They can't give him that so if it was suicide; however, if it's a crime, they should've done something, but they didn't," one of my friends said. "Maybe that was really his desire— to kill himself."

"Stop talking like that," Aleera said. "We have no proof that it was all him that behind his quietus."

"I'm just saying my opinion. Besides, we all know that no investigation had happened."

"Did you know why the police didn't do something?" I asked them.

"I told you, maybe because it's a suicide," my friend answered.

I shook my head. "Ferno's family have told the police to just close the case because they don't care, after all."

Their eyes grew bigger.

"And if you're still thinking he killed himself because of a family problem, you're wrong. There's a deeper reason for this that does not reach our intuitions."

That friend who was believing it was suicide, drawn her face close to me and directly looked into my eyes. "Tell me, Aleera, how much do you know about Ferno's death?"

"Stop it!" Aleera said as she held my hands. "Let's go now. The class will be starting in just minutes."

"Are you trying to defend her, Ferelith? Do you think she's involved in Ferno's case?"

"Of course, not!" Ferelith shouted, staring badly at that friend. "You are talking nonsense. How would you ask that question to our pal?"

"Just wondering if you two know about this. Why don't you just tell us? In that matter, we will become famous in the academy once we solved this ourselves."

"Freak! You are just thinking about yourself. Do you even think of her feelings after asking her such a rude question?"

"I don't think so I am violating. Why are you being so defensive?"

Ferelith turned her glance at me. "Let's go, Aleera. I'm so done with her!" She pulled me away from the place, never minding our other friends who were stopping us.

When we finally arrived in the room, Ferelith became quiet again. Perhaps she was thinking of what she had done.

While waiting for the buzzer to buzz, I had taken time to talk sincerely with her. I moved my chair closer to her and held her hands. "It's okay," I whispered. "Stop overthinking about it. We'll be fixing this."

"I don't guess so that I'll still be able to talk to her. She's so selfish. When she asks, it's out of the boundary. I hate her for forcing you to answer her questions. And how would she dare think that you are involved with Ferno's death?"

I let out a sigh. "I don't know. Let's just stop worrying about it. I'll talk to her later."

Ferelith didn't say anything anymore when our friends entered the room, which was followed by our teacher's arrival. However, her thoughts seemed to be still into the fight, since she didn't stop clenching her fist and looking sharply at the friend who she rebuked.

The discussion went smoothly for hours, but it got interrupted by the random screaming coming from outside the building, probably. Because the shouts already turned into a cacophony, the lecturer had decided to have a glimpse of what was happening out there through the window.

Since some of my classmates were into gossiping, they also started going out of the room even without waiting for the permission of the teacher. Presently, they also started shouting a voice of fear.

"What's happening?" I asked one of my classmates, who had just gone back to the room, wearing worry on her face. "Why are you, guys, shouting?"

"H-he's back..." she stuttered with her body shaking terribly.

My eyes widened. I didn't mind asking her who because I knew already what did she mean; instead, I abruptly ran outside to meet him.

It was already happening.

The students and teachers were all gathered in the window, peeking over the boy who was standing at the main gate, wearing her uniform.

It had taken me a hard time pushing myself through the throng since it was thick. While walking down the building, I could smell the stench of dread on the people; their soft cries were ringing in my ears.

Who among them would believe a dead body would rise again from the grave, after all?

After some time, I finally exited the building. I was about to walk towards the one who was catching everyone's attention, but the school guards tried to stop me. I did my best to release from their arms that tightly held me, but they were too strong for me.

"Just let her go," a familiar voice said from nowhere.

When I turned around, my eyes caught my teacher smiling at me. Before proceeding, I thanked her first.

I stood firmly in front of the boy who shook everyone. I already expected this, yet it was still surprising me. Well, I didn't know he would show up like this, in the first place. I looked at him directly in the eyes and waited for his mouth to utter,

"We meet again, Aleera."