The Spirit Martial

Spirit 61

Pinili kong lumaban kaya pagtatyagaan ko ang mga sitwasyon dito. It’s night time at ako at si Argo ang bantay ngayon. The others are sleeping below us habang kami ay nakaupo lang sa tree branches. Inaantok na rin ako pero dapat kong pigilan ito. Any moment from now, Gin and Tempest will wake up para mag shift.

I glanced at Argo and he was looking down with such warm eyes nga ngayon ko lang nakita. I looked down para sundan ang tinitingnan nya. I can’t help but smile when I realized that he was staring down at Lor who was sleeping peacefully. I glanced back at him and he never looked into other direction- kay Lor lang talaga.

“You really care for him,” I said at napatingin siya sa akin. He is really the exact opposite of Wylie.

“Of course, he is my partner,” he replied at tumingin ulit kay Lor.

“What I mean is you care for him not only as a partner,” sabi ko at tumingin ulit siya sa akin. “You love, do you?” I asked and I was expecting for him to flinch because I caught him off guard but surprisngly, he didn’t. He just actually nodded casually.

“I do,” he replied. “As much as you love Kailani,” he added at muntik na akong nahulog. I wanted him to flinch but I was caught by my own net.

“W-Woah, what?” I asked.

“I said as much as you love Kailani, you love him, right?” he asked at ramdam ko ang pamumula ng mukha ko- bakit ba? Bakit ayaw umiling ang ulo ko!!!? “I’ve seen you the first time nang natalo mo ang Principal. I was mesmerized by your strength but that’s not why I’m watching you.” he added at napakunot ako sa noo ko.

“Anong ibig mong sabihin?” I asked.

“You know that the four of you have keen sense of smell but in my case, I can feel or see presence just like how I saw that small shadow with dark aura. When you had that fight, something inside you was burning- or should I say being burnt by Kailani.” he replied. “But hindi ko naman alam at first na si Kailani pala ang partner mo, doon ko lang nalaman when it was his turn to fight,” he added.

“What? How?” I asked.

“His veins is pumping an unknown blood- an unknown blood who got comfortable in another body. From what I see, it was yours- dugo mo lang ata ang kakaiba sa mga nakita ko. I guess you didn’t know what your blood actually look like,” he responded. Ano ba siya? Microscope?

“What my blood look like? Does it matter?” I asked.

“Of course, hindi mo ba napansin kung bakit hindi kayo hinawakan ni Gin when you collapsed? Kahit man lang pag change position ninyo, wala hindi ba?” he asked.

“W-Well, was it a big deal?” I asked.

“Your blood is poisonous, Cygnus.” he answered in a straight-forward way and this time napahigpit ang hawak ko sa puno kung saan ako nakaupo. “As well as the rest of your team, you gave them poison so they’re now poisonous,” he added. Hindi ko alam kung magiging masaya ba ako o hindi. Hindi ko alam kung tama ba ang ginawa ko o hindi. Ewan ko na.

“I-I-If by any chance, kapag nahawakan ba ni Gin ang dugo namin- will he die?” I asked.

“That depends on how strong is your poison is but knowing you, 3 minutes is long enough for him to live,” he replied at nanigas ako. I thought my spirit is dangerous but I didn’t know that my blood is dangerous too. “Also, I wanted to ask you something,” bigla niyang singit kaya mas kinabahan ako.

“W-What?” I asked.

“Something inside you is asleep,” he replied and my eyes widened. He is the third person who told me that. Gin also gave me a hint while Tempest told me that something is inside me too.

“A-A-Asleep?!” I asked. “W-W-What? Demon??” I panicked at nabigla ako nang nagising ang lahat at agad na nag actvate ng magic. They looked around and glanced up at me. Agad kong tinakpan ang bibig ko.

“U-Um,” I said at napatingin kay Argo na halatang disappointed. Umiling siya at umiwas ng tingin. “I’m s-sorry,” I added and Gin frowned.

“Jeez, Cygnus- stop scaring us like that,” reklamo niya.

“Right, I’m sorry,” sabi ko ulit.

Hindi na sila nagsalita muli at natulog. Napatingin ako kay Kailani na nakatitig sa amin.

“You had fun talking?” he asked and I frowned.

“What? No,” sagot ko.

“Really,” he said with a frown. “Argo, let’s switch,” he added at napatingin ako kay Argo.

“Sure,” he replied at agad na tumalon pababa.

Kailani jumped into Argo’s place at umupo sa tabi ko. I looked down and Argo lied beside Lor. I’m envious how open he is when it comes to loving Lor. Napatingin ako kay Kailani at nakatingin siya sa buwan. Argo asked me if I love Kailani pero hindi ako nakasagot. Is it because I never knew what love felt like? Hindi ko pa na-try magkaroon ng relasyon and I was not loved in my household- how the hell would I know if what I’m feeling is love? Also, from what I know, I’ve been in girls. Hindi pumasok sa isipan ko na makagusto sa lalaki. I find this world weird kasi halos lalaki sa lalaki but for some reason although it felt weird- it also felt like home at the same them. It felt like I belong here.

Kailani suddenly looked at me and my eyes widened.

“Kanina ka pa nakatitig, may gusto ka bang sabihin sa akin?” he asked.

“Have you ever loved someone?” I asked and I think I caught him off guard kasi muntik siyang nahulog.

“What? Why do you ask?” he asked.

“Just answer,” I replied.

“W-Well, technically yeah,” he replied and he gave me a smile, “or should I say I am,” he added at kumunot ang noo ko. My heart started beating fast at napahawak ako sa dibdib ko. Oh my god, don’t tell me I’m expecting something here.

Sasagot na sana ako kaso napatigil ako nang may naamoy akong kakaiba. This is a demon scent but not as strong as back then. Still, it doesn’t change the fact that it’s strong. Nagkatinginan kami ni Kailani, I’m sure he felt that too. Tumayo kaming dalawa at nabigla kami nang may nakatayo sa gilid namin. It was a thin demon with two heads. As it was standing between us, one of his head was watching Kailani while the other one was watching me. This demon was long tongue without eyes but it has large ears.

This demon is blind.

Napatakip ako ng bibig ko and I glanced at Kailani who was more surprised than I was. I signalled him to zip his mouth and he covered his mouth. I glanced down and as expected gising silang lahat. I signalled them to cover their mouths at sumunod naman sila. Dahan-sahan kaming umatras ni Kailani at tumalon kami paibaba. The demon was still standing there tilting its head as if he was waiting for a sound. I bet he stood there because he heard me and Kailani talking. This is creepeier than before. Anong klaseng demon pa ba ang nandito.

Walang nagsalita ni-isa sa amin habang kami ay dahan-dahang umatras para lumayo. We can’t deal with this now. We’re at disadvantage, baka may back -up ito because its night time. I bet this is an A Class too but stronger that we had encountered. Kung ganito na kapangit ang mga demonyong nakikita namin, paano na lang kaya ang boss? Diyos ko ewan ko na. Gustohin ko mang umuwi, hindi ako uuwi. Hindi ako aalis. I’ll stay here because I choose to fight with them- with my team, to save this fallen ground.

My eyes widened when I heard a c***k sound. It was a tree twig. I glanced at Nieve na nakatingin sa paa niya. He stepped on a tree twig. Napalunok ako and the next thing I knew, the demon suddenly disappeared. With my panic, kahit hindi ko alam kung nasaan ang demon, I hurriedly jumped into his side and summoned many vines to protect Nieve. Isang pikit lang at nagulat ako sa nangyayari.

The demon was right in front of Nieve. Kali was right there too, holding the demon’s thin and long hand. My vines on the other hand was stopping the demon’s wings made of bones. Napatingin ako sa kabilang gilid and I saw Kailani stopping the other pair of this demon wings. A red barrier suddenly appeared and the demon stepped back as his skin started melting but it regenerated right after.

I glanced behind us and I saw Lor extending his arm as he made another barrier. Aro, Hex, Hugo, Gin, and Tempest stepped forward and we deactivated our power.

“Leave this thing to us,” Hugo said.

Somehow, watching their backs is the most comforting view.