The Spirit Martial

Spirit 16

I slowly opened my eyes when I felt pain in every part of me. My vision was blurry but naging clear naman ito after a couple of minutes kaya agad akong naptingin sa paligid ko. This is not my room. This is not Kailani’s mansion. Where the hell am I?

The door suddenly opened and Nieve came in holding some wet and dry towels. Is this person really a guy? His beauty is too strong at sigurado kong mapapagkamalan ko itong babae kung hindi ko lang alam na lalaki siya. Napatigil siya nang makita akong gising and he put the things he carrried in the side table.

“Where am I?” I asked.

“In my room,” tipid niyang sagot pero the impact was strong too just like his beauty.

“Y-Your room?” I asked at napatingin muli ako sa paligid. I looked back and saw a huge picture frame. My jaw dropped when I saw him being naked while he was sitting on Kali’s lap. Kali was wearing a royal suit with a crown and cape. This picture is weird. Why is he naked?

“That’s the first time we met,” bigla niyang sabi at umupo siya sa higaan. “Human trafficking was a trend 20 years ago and I was being sold like some wild animal. 2 years ago, I was sold to this abusive Duke of the other country and he saw it. He took the courage to step up despite of the age gap he was dealing with. Prince Kali was 18 at that time and the Duke was 67,” he added at kumuha ng wet towel at pinahiran ang kamay ko.

“He saved you, didn’t he?” I asked and he nodded. I know what he felt like, I was saved by Kailani too so I bet he’s willing to risk his life for Kali as much as I’m willing to risk mine for Kailani.

“He did. He bought me from him. I thought I was going to be his servant only. I never thought I could wear fancy clothes because since before, wala talaga kaming pinasuot. When we arrived at the castle, he told me that we’ll took a picture and that’s it,” he said while glancing at the picture frame.

“And then you became partners?” I asked and he nodded.

“That night, pinaligo-an niya ako and he marked my back along the process. I knew magic existed pero hindi ko alam na may rules. That night, we knew we were compatible kaya ito na ngayon,” he answered.

Kali is a good guy after all.

“I see,” I replied at napatingin sa pinto. “Where’s Kailani by the way?” I asked. I’m hoping he will not say he’s dead.

“He’s on Prince Kali’s room. He’s fine. He’ll wake up soon,” he replied at napahinga ako ng malalim.

Tinapos niya ang pagpahid sa akin and he discarded in to the basket just beside the side table.

“Ilang oras ba kaming tulog?” I asked as I watch him prepare a school uniform.

“Three days. Tomorrow is actually the entrance exams,” he responded at agad akong napabanagon.

“Excuse me?!!” I exclaimed at napatingin siya sa akin.

“This is actually your uniform. You’ll be staying here with Prince Kailani as soon as he wakes up. Sabay tayong apat na pupunta doon. You can go home right after school though,” he responded calmly.

“O-Okay, what?! Things are going too fast!” reklamo ko and he sighed.

“The Queen asked me to treat you right maybe because he’s afraid that you might get the throne. Although she instructed me to treat Prince Kailani as a peasant, I cannot do that because Prince Kali will surely kill me. So we decided to let you rest here until you’re fine,” he responded at napahawak ako sa ulo ko. I can’t believe we wasted three days.

Bumukas muli ang pinto and this time, si Kali na ang pumasok. A maid was behind him holding a tray of food. Another maid was holding a mini table at nilagay ito sa harap ko at sinunod naman ang pagkain.

“I see that you didn’t die,” he said at umupo sa tabi ko. “Sayang naman,” he added at napangiti ako.

“Didn’t you know?” I asked and he looked confuse. “You’re not a good liar,” I added at kumunot ang noo niya. “Thanks for this anyway,” I added and I heard Nieve chuckled.

Kali stood up at nanatili siyang nakatayo mismo sa harap ng hinihigaan ko.

“Kailani’s awake. He’s looking for you,” he said.

“Why don’t you call him kuya?” I teased and his face turned red.

“Let’s keep that s**t between us,” he said coldly at napatawa ako.

“I didn’t know you have this soft side,” I replied at umiwas siya ng tingin.

I ate the food that he gave but it was kind of awkward too kasi nakaharap talaga silang dalawa sa akin habang kumakain ko. I kept watching them as I enjoyed my food kanina and I can tell that something is going on between them. I do see Nieve’s admiration towards Kali but I see something else from Kali. It’s not just a normal admiration that people tend to have but it’s a kind of affection that I don’t even have myself.

I admired Kailani for being a tough despite of what happened to him but Kali’s admiration is something else. People often call this admiration as love.

I don’t really have any negative judgement among boys love but I find them both cute. Nieve’s innocent looks and loyalty to Kali and Kali’s affection to Nieve. A literal definition of what compatible looks like.

Tumayo na ako sa higaan at naligo tsaka nagbihis sa inihanda nilang royal suit. I’m in the castle so I have to wear this. Well, as I look myself in the mirror, sa akin pala ito. Nilabhan lang ata nila.

After I prepared myself, lumabas na ako sa room ni Nieve at sinalubong ako ng butler. He led the way to Kali’s room and opened the door for me. Pagbukas pa lang ng pinto, bumungad sa aking harapan si Kailani na nakasuot rin ng royal suit. We were both surprised to see each other.

“Pupuntahan na sana kita,” he said with a smile.

“Too bad nauna ako,” I replied with a smile. He’s fine. He’s alive and healthy. Thank goodness.

Tuloyan na akong pumasok sa room at umupo kaming dalawa sa malaking upuan na nasa gilid ng higaan. The mini table had cookies already so I ate some. Kakatapos ko lang kumain pero kumain pa rin ako nito, I’m just glad that I survived that.

“You seem hungry,” he said and took a sip from his tea.

“No, not at all. I’m just making sure that I’m really alive,” sabi ko at kinuha ko na ang cup and I also took a sip. “Are you fine being here?” I asked.

“I am. The Queen is not here anyway. She’s on the other country with my father. An annual meeting perhaps,” he replied and I nodded.

“So you’re fine being here with Kali?” I asked.

“I don’t mind. He’s just a kid anyway,” he said at muntik ko nang maitapon yung cup sa kanya.

“Kid? Are you serious? He’s just a year younger,” sabi ko at hindi ko napigilang tumawa.

“That’s why he’s a kid. He’s younger,” he replied at kumain ng isang cookie.

“Stupid,” I teased at tumawa ulit ako.

We talked for a couple of minutes of what happened. Kailani told me that he was really about to die but Nieve, his spirit has an ice element, conctrolled his body temperature. We both arrived here freezing while Kali and Nieve was suffering from fatigue too. Surprisingly, only the four of us was able to bring the treasure but we suffered the most too.

“Still, hindi ako makapaniwala na naka-survive talaga tayo,” I said with a sigh of relief.

“That means hindi pa talaga tayo pwedeng mamatay,” he said and laughed.

“I guess that’s true,” I answered.

“Anyway, hindi lang iyon ang nangyari,” he added.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“I’m not sure if this is true but this is unlikely if it really happened.” he said and he looked serious. “When we were brought back by Kali and his partner, he was in rage. Hindi ko alam kung ano or paanong nangyari pero narinig ko mula sa isa sa mga maid nila na muntik mapatay ni Kali ang trainer natin.” he added.

“What? Why?!” I exclaimed.

“Because we almost died,” he answered. Normally, I’ll be shocked but I saw Kali’s soft side. He might think it’s unlikely but the truth is, it’s possible that it happened.

“Really,” I answered and took a sip from my tea to hide my smile. Well, I can’t believe he went that far. He must’ve been scared to lose his brother.

“Yeah. Sa ngayon, nandoon sa hospital yung trainer natin. Kali activated his resonating form by accident and he went on rampage. He chased our trainer at binugbug niya. Good thing that Nieve was able to calm him down and that’s when our trainer completely lost his consciousness.” he replied and I just nodded kasi alam kong possible talaga ang pangyayari na iyan.

“That’s shocking,” I replied.

“I see that you’re not even surprised.” he said with a frown, “Nice acting,” he added at napatawa ako.

“That’s actually possible,” sabi ko and he looked confused. “Kali is actually a softie,” I added with a smile at kumunot ang noo niya.

“Are you interested to him?” he asked. “Are you into boys love too?” he asked again.

“No, I am not interested to him and I am not against boys love too,” I replied with a calm voice.

“Ewan ko sa iyo pero bakit parang may nalalaman kang hindi ko alam. Ano ba talagang nangyari?” he asked. Patawad pero hindi ko pwedeng sabihin. You have to find out on your own- that you’re never alone. Everyone is watching you from behind.

“Naabutan lang talaga nila tayo kaya nagkataon na naligtas tayo.” I replied although hindi ko alam kung iyon ba talaga ang nangyari but if I’m gonna look into a wider perspective, they found us because they came looking for us. That was not a coincidence.

“I see,” he replied at tumango pa talaga siya. “But that’s weird. Kali is good at directions,” he added at napatigil ako. “It’s not like him pero hinanap niya ata tayo,” he added again.

It’s not like him but you’re right.