Cross and Conflicts

CHAPTER XVI: Manica Diamond

He gazed at himself in the full-length mirror, but he wasn’t happy at what he was seeing. Before him is an ugly image which resulted as a product of old age. No matter how fancy the suit he wears, it cannot totally conceal the deterioration of his supposed youth. 

 His natural ash blue hair was no more, only replaced with the driest and palest white. His once so enamored face that both men and women coveted is now a portrait of displeasing wrinkles. And the only thing desirable that remained are his eyes, a beautiful pair of blue and gray, which longed to see his once comely face not only to fuel his vanity, but to rid him of the reminder of his arch weakness: aging abnormally fast.

 Manica Diamond looks thirty years older than his actual age. Wherefore, he considers this as a curse since he is a second-hand version of someone he loathes.

 Enraged, he slammed the big glass on the wall—hating his appearance and hating the fact that he isn’t powerful enough. He was once feared and loved by many, but someone took that spot from him—someone who came to this world before him. That someone is beautiful in all aspects, and the most powerful person he knows. Yet, most importantly, that someone is young and didn’t suffer from the same weakness. Because of this, he was forced to cower to that person, to be of service and to be inferior.

 It is utterly unacceptable for him who never desired to succumb to anyone but only rule. To him, he isn’t suited to be only in the second highest position in the walled City of Intramuros. He is no one’s pawn. That is why he will do everything to topple the person he loathes to death, and this now includes the involvement of a girl whom he thinks could be beneficial.

 Noumenon, the novice from a monastery in Nueva Ecija—someone he hasn’t seen for over a dozen of years—made a surprising return to the city. If it wasn’t for the information of his late friend, the late Monsignor Cabrera, he wouldn’t have noticed her on the city’s registry of visitors and would have slipped under his hawk nose.

 Intramuros has a comprehensive database that stores various registries which are divided into categories—its permanent residents, senior citizens, convicted criminals, visitors and others. And as a head of the local government, he has the privilege to access these; that’s how he found her.

 Hours before the bloody incident at the Saint Peter the Fisherman Parish, Monsignor Cabrera came to see him. It was, likewise, more than just courtesy call.

 “Vice,” the monsignor smirked at him, “You won’t believe who’s at my parish right now.”

 Initially disinterested, he replied, “Let me guess: another one of your little girls?”

 “No.” The priest chuckled. “She’s not a little girl anymore. She’s a beautiful young novice named ‘Noumenon’.” 

 This, then, piqued his interest because Monsignor Cabrera apparently meant the only person whom he knows with such a unique name. 

 Noumenon. She wasn’t even supposed to be born. She was but a posited idea not meant for the world to perceive; hence, what became of her name.

 Manica sensed that his friend hinted for him to get her once he confirmed her identity; on the contrary, Cross, the notorious vigilante committed a m******e at Saint Peter the Fisherman Parish, and he missed his chance. It was ironic, but he was glad that she lived through that and traced her at the hospital where she was admitted. And so, he sent an elite squad composed of three of his best employees. Then, here she was at one of his mansions, locked with an excess. 

 He instructed the men guarding his prisoners not to provide food for them. He really intended for them to starve the entire day and suffer. To him, it is rather amusing to deal with a weakened target; he enjoys the pain in his or her face. 

 He can’t wait to behold Noumenon’s tears again.