Hora's Punishment

04:00 - To Be Mortal

***

"Ysabelle!" Hora yelled from the kitchen.

Ysabelle was too occupied in making up an excuse for Hora that she almost forgot about the goddess herself.

"Wala ng kanin," reklamo nito habang bitbit ang kaldero ng rice cooker.

Nagpigil naman ng tawa si Ysabelle. Sinong mag-aakala na kayang umubos ng isang kalderong kanin ang balingkinitan na babaeng nasa harap niya.

"Why don't you try eating this? 'Wag puro kanin," she offered as she slides the plate of fried chicken to Hora.

"Ayaw ko n’yan," mabilis na sagot ng dalaga.

Hindi kasi siya sigurado kung magugustuhan niya ito. The gods of Caelestis only eat fruits they never have tried eating meat. No. It's not that they do not eat meat. They just lacked the means to cook meals. Besides, eating the food of the mortals just made Hora feel more like a mortal. She had known for the longest time that a mortal body needed more nutrients but she could not help to feel more helpless whenever she thought about how weak the mortal vessel she’s had been using. Perhaps as of now she can put up eating the white grains that tasted like the white wine she had back in Caelestis.

Hindi rin naman pinilit pa ni Ysabelle si Hora na kainin ang ulam. Imbis ay tumabi siya sa diyosa at dahan-dahang nagsalita.

"Miss Hora, patawarin niyo po sana ang naging asal ng kapatid ko kanina. Sana 'wag mo po siyang parusahan," nagmamakaawang sabi ni Ysabelle. Nakaharap siya sa diyosa habang magkadikit ang mga palad niya. Tila humihingi siya ng tawad sa harap mismo ng diyos na kanyang pinagdadasalan. But she was sincerely apologizing.

"Gustohin ko man na parusahan siya ay hindi ko na naman magagawa," ani Hora habang bumuntong-hininga.

"What's wrong?" alalang tanong ni Ysabelle.

"Sa ngayon, limitado ang paggamit ko ng aking kraftaz. Ang ibig sabihin nun ay hindi muna ako makakapunta sa ibang panahon. Hindi rin ako pwedeng gumamit ng sobra-sobrang kraftaz,” pahayag ni Hora.

Pilit niya mang itago ay pansin pa rin ni Ysabelle na may lungkot sa kanyang boses.

"Kaya sa ngayon, ito at ito na muna ang kaya kong gawin," she said while pointing to the floating plate in front her and lifting the 6' x 2'6" mahogany dining table.

“Wala na siyang kapangyarihan sa sitwasyon niyang 'yan,” sabi ni Ysabelle sa sarili.

Nang matapos silang kumain ay agad na nagtungo si Hora sa hardin. She picked few flower petals to decorate her bathtub. In Caelestis everything one can see is an elixir. The fruits, flowers, and even Hora's favorite white wine. All god's goods are elixirs. If an unworthy mortal eats them, he would die and will never be back to the cycle of reincarnation. Otherwise, a mortal could become a mesha. A god's assistant. The citizens of Caelestis.

In mortal’s society they would be the commoners. If one becomes a mesha, strength and immortality like the gods is bestowed upon them. They could live in the beautiful mountains and fields of Caelestis forever. Indeed, immortality as a prize is a fair gamble in exchange of not being reincarnated again.

Hora was aware that decorating her bath with mortal flower petals was useless. Nonetheless, she wanted to feel how she felt when she was inside her own bathtub. Surrounded by the rose petals her sister Hanadine, the goddess of flowers, especially made for the gods of Caelestis.

Ysabelle, on the other hand, was busy searching for her old clothes that she could give Hora. While carrying a tower of folded old clothes, Ysabelle reached the door knob of Hora's room. Kung nung unang araw ay nasa kwarto ni Ysabelle si Hora, kinabukasan naman ay lumipat siya sa dating kwarto ng babae.

Nasa first floor ang kwarto ni Hora katabi lang ng kwarto ni Yvan.

Kaagad naman na inilapag ni Ysabelle ang mga damit sa kama.

"Miss Hora. May damit ako na inihanda rito. Your change of clothes is on your side table,” Ysabelle muffled. Inilapit niya kasi ang bibig sa gilid ng pinto ng banyo. Saka siya lumabas ulit ng kwarto para kunin ang iba pang gamit.

"Sige," sagot naman ni Hora habang sinusubukang tumayo sa banyera. Naliliitan kasi siya rito, kung ihahambing sa mala kama na laki ng kanyang banyera sa Caelestis.

She left the bathroom without drying herself. The floor got wet from the water sliding down from her wet hair to her curvy body and legs. Of course, the clothes she was about to wear also got wet from the moist of her hands. But Hora did not care. When she was in Caelestis, the clothes would come floating to her and put themselves on her nice and clean.

Hindi maiwasan na maikumpara niya ang bawat galaw niya sa mundo ng mga mortal sa mga bagay na mayroon siya sa Caelestis. Gusto na niyang bumalik.

Sinuot ni Hora ang asul na damit na may Mr. Love na naka-print sa dibdib at ang puting shorts na tila may bilog na gintong sinturon sa gitna. The clothes moistened a little more when she put them on. She was supposed to use her kraftaz to dry them when Ysabelle entered the room carrying with her a black hand-sling bag.

"Oh. You're still dripping. Gumamit ka ng hair dryer nababasa yung damit mo." Inilapag muna ni Ysabelle ang mga dala-dala niya saka kinuha ang luma niyang hair dryer sa aparador. Pinaupo niya si Hora sa kama at sinimulan nang patuyuin ang kanyang buhok.

Just like Ysabelle's room, there's also a human-sized mirror wall in front of Hora's bed and a small cabinet beside it. It was also then when Hora discovered that the big door next to the cabinet was in fact not a transportation vehicle. To her dismay, it was the bathroom. At the right side of the bed was the window, and at the other side, just the first thing towards the door is the bedside table. The room was completely empty if Hora was not using it.

Ysabelle lift the clothes one by one, giving glances to Hora then to the clothes. Sinusuri niya kasi kung anu-ano ang babagay kay Hora.

“How unfair! Sa akin pangbahay lang ‘to pero pag sa kanya panglakad na.” she bawled in her thoughts.

"Yup. It's all yours," sambit ni Ysabelle habang inilagay ang mga damit sa loob ng kabinet.

"Ah. Oo nga pala, you can use that bag when the class starts," Ysabelle told Hora, pointing to the black bag she just brought.

Para kay Ysabelle handa na si Hora sa darating na pasukan sa lunes. Without a lie, it was convenient that Ysabelle was working in the record's office. It was so easy to slip Hora's fake records to the system.

Ysabelle was supposed to be the heiress of the university, but she refused to take the offer. She did not want to live her whole life taking care of the youngsters. Her brother and her future children would be enough for her.

The day was filled with Ysabelle teaching Hora how to live among humans. It was not that difficult since Hora only had to mimic a certain person, of course, it’s Ysabelle. However, Ysabelle was still worried that Hora might act the same way when she discovered the refrigerator.

She told Hora not to use her powers outside her own room. Importante na hindi malaman ng kapatid o ng kahit sino man ang kapangyarihan ni Hora.

Ngunit kani-kanina lang ay nagulat si Ysabelle nang nakita niya mula sa sala na pinapalutang ni Hora ang mga napitas niyang bulaklak sa hardin. Mataas naman ang bakod ng bahay nila Ysabelle, pero naisip niya na baka makita ito ng kapitbahay mula sa kanilang kwarto. May ikalawang palapag din kasi ang bahay ng kapitbahay nila kaya mabilis siyang kumuha ng basket sa kusina at ibinigay ito kay Hora para paglagyan ng mga bulaklak.

"Don't worry. I've seen different human technology while I was watching mortals in Caelestis,” sabi ni Hora sa salitang Ingles. Hindi naman talaga kailangan ni Hora na magsalita sa ibang wika. Ngunit dahil gusto niyang ipakita na maraming siya kayang gawin pinili niyang gayahin din ang pananalita ni Ysabelle.

Nagpunas ng kamay si Ysabelle matapos niyang hugasan ang pinagkainan nila ng hapunan. Habang nakasandig naman sa gilid ng pinto si Hora.

"By the way, how old are you?" Ysabelle asked, curious of Hora's true age.

"My appearance is of a youthful mortal."

Tumango-tango naman si Ysabelle habang kinukuha ang canned iced tea sa ref.

"But I'm actually 4.5 billion years old."

“Cough!” Marahas na pag-ubo ni Ysabelle nang aksidenteng dumiretso sa kanyang lalamunan ang malamig na inumin.

“Diyos ko! Ang gandang babae ang tanda na pala. Kasing edad na niya ang Earth.”

That moment Ysabelle once again remembered Hora's power when they first met. Indeed. She's a goddess.

Nagulat ulit si Ysabelle nang bumitaw sa kanyang pagkakahawak ang inumin na nasa kanyang kamay. It was Hora using kraftaz to bring the drink to her.

"Miss Hora!" suway niya sa diyosa.

"Oo. Huli na 'to, pangako," sagot nito.

Maya-maya lang ay may narinig silang katal ng sasakyan at pagbubukas ng tarangkahan sa labas. It was Yvan returning home earlier than expected.

"Looks like there's no party tonight," Ysabelle mumbled.

Hapunan kasi kung madalas umuwi si Yvan kung wala silang night out ng barkada, at halos umaga naman siyang umuuwi kung mayroon.

Of course, Ysabelle was worried to her brother's attitude, but she had also known that it was his way of giving off stress and seeking attention. She was all aware of his brother's need to be attended since she started working when their mother died. Their cousins, the sons of their uncle, were also in the working age that time. That's why young Yvan was always left alone in the huge mansion by himself comforted by any toys he wanted.

Moments later, Ysabelle went to her room upstairs and Yvan just locked himself to his room since he arrived earlier while Hora was watching television.

Hora thought that the TV was similar to her mirror in Caelestis. That she could also watch mortals through here, except that she needed to use a remote to control the images.

Hora kept on pressing the remote, she was looking for her favorite scene — death.

Her thumb stopped pressing the button when she found a wrestling fight. Clearly, it was the blood dripping from the nose of the fighters caught Hora's attention.

She was too focused to the fight that in every smashing, crashing, pounding, and beating of the fighters against each other with the various objects also made her eyebrows clashed together. She even failed to notice Yvan had left his room and went to their mini bar.

The mini bar was just next to the kitchen door and at the left side of the living room. Yvan sat on the stall with his back against Hora and took a glass of wine.

"Ano ba 'yan! Ang tagal naman mamatay,” Hora complained. She was bored of the nonsensical fight in front of her.

While Yvan could not stop but to smirk. It was almost trivial to know that wrestling fights are staged. He could not believe that there’s people like her who still did not know about it.

Hora started to move her thumb again. She kept on pressing the button to look for another suffering mortal. Hindi niya pa rin alam na kunwari at arte lang ang lahat ng kanyang nakikita. Later on, the TV displayed an endless loop of static. Mukhang naubos na ni Hora ang lahat ng channel sa TV. She did not know what to do, and only left the static on.

Halos isang minuto rin na nagpatuloy ang ingay ng static ng TV. Kunti na lang at maiinis na si Yvan. Good thing, he heard Ysabelle's steps going down from the stairs.

"Hora, nakalimutan ko palang ibigay 'to sayo," sabi niya habang humahakbang sa huling baitang ng hagdan.

Nalimutan niya kasing ibigay ang luma niyang itim na nightgown. Nasa kabilang kabinet niya ito nailagay kaya hindi niya agad nakita kaninang umaga.

Tumayo at pinatay ni Hora ang TV. Nakahinga naman ng maluwag si Yvan saka uminom ulit ng vino while thinking he could finally be at peace.

"Hora! Do it inside your room!" Ysabelle exclaimed in shock.

Yvan also flinched for the sudden shout and turned around to check what was going on.

"Naku! ‘Wag, Yvan!" Ysabelle panicked to warn her brother but it was too late. Yvan already saw the pair of ample bosoms of a half-naked woman in front of him. In surprise, he paused for a millisecond and quickly turned back while firmly closing his eyes.

"Hora," bulong ni Ysabelle habang isinusuot ang nightgown kay Hora.

The goddess wasn’t aware that nudity was not a common act in mortal society. Because the gods lacked lechery, unlike mortals they were not easily driven by lust through simply seeing a naked figure

Hinila ni Ysabelle si Hora papasok sa kanyang kwarto.

"Sorry," halos pabulong na wika ni Ysabelle kay Yvan.

After the loud thud of Hora’s closed bedroom door, the living room went silent. Awfully silent that Yvan could not stop thinking of Hora’s curves.

"Sh*t. That weirdo," he whispered to himself, grinding his teeth. He could feel his face turning red from the warmth he felt on it. He was aware it was not because of the wine. How he wished it was the wine.