Chapter 5: Jackson

“Aren’t you going to take my hand?” I asked. Freya was about to speak when we were suddenly when a cloud of golden dust began to dance around us. My body started to stiffen. I saw how terror and fear began to filled Freya’s eyes as she looked at us.

The cloud of dust slowly became a glittering rope, abruptly tying the four of us. Savannah winced because of a sudden force that made us sat on the moisty pasture.

“Greetings, demigods,” We all looked and saw another majestic fairy. Her wings were blinding as it covers the moon in front. She was oozing with power and authority. Her eyes resemble the midnight blue sky filled with sparkling stars, she has this enchanting golden wings along with her perfect face. A suited for the title of a queen.

“Did you just defy a law?” The queen asked. All of us crooked. Hindi lang iyon ang ginawa namin, binalak din namin na itakas ang anak n’ya rito. “A group of troublemakers, I presume,”

“Naglalakad lang kami ro’n tapos nadapa po si Garet kaya—”

“What the hell are you saying, Alyssa?” Savannah whispered. Masama ang tingin ni Savannah dito, Alyssa rolled her eyes as she cleared her throat.

“Getting out of trouble. Bobo mo,” Alyssa answered. The queen cleared her throat and brooded at us.

“Come,” The queen said. She was holding the end of the dust, she started to pull us which made us float in the air.

It was amazing that our legs are across each other as we float and as our body follows the queen. Freya was looking at us with her apologetic eyes. Ngumiti lamang ako sa kanya upang ipahayag na hindi niya kasalanan.

“This is your fault, dude,” Glifford whispered at me. Hindi ko naman tinatanggi iyon, sumakit lang talaga ang tainga ko dahil sa sinabi ni Freya.

Because I believed that no matter how foolish your dream is. It is still a dream that you needed to fulfil.

We entered a peculiar room. The ceiling was just like her eyes, it was filled with the hue of midnight blue sky with the sparkling and shimmering stars. But the amazing part is, some of the stars are falling — they were losing their shine whenever they lose their attachment to the ceiling. And when they kiss the ground they receive new life, they shine below us.

In the middle of the room was a throne, it was made of crystal but it wasn’t shining like the stars. On our side, the fairies were divided into two groups; the left part was filled with green fairies, and the right part, the red fairies were aligned.

“Did they hurt you, Princess?” The queen asked while looking at Freya. Saglit akong minata ni Freya tila hindi niya alam kung ano ang sasabihin n’ya sa kaniyang ina.

Pakiramdam ko, oras na ipagtanggol niya kami ay maaaring sabihin na amin siyang minamanipula at sa oras naman na sabihin niyang sinaktan namin siya ay malalagot kami.

She stayed neutral. Hindi s’ya sumagot dahilan upang ituon ng reyna ang pansin niya sa amin.

The queen clapped her hands amusedly when her eyes landed on mine. She whispered something in the thin air, the surrounding slowly lost its color as my companions and fairies around us began to stop. She didn’t lose her color, so, do I.

“This is amusing… You are a king vessel,” The queen pointed out. I awkwardly laughed as she looked at me in the eyes.

“So?”

“Let me show you something,” The queen suddenly snapped her fingers. A silver string appeared on my wrist, it was tangled on my wrist without any knots or any end to untie it. “Why don’t you find the other end?” She asked amusedly.

At kahit naguguluhan ako ay sinundan ko ang sinulid hanggang sa napansin kong kay Freya nakatali ang dulong bahagi nito.

“You are my daughter’s king vessel,”

“What does supposed to mean?” I asked. She began to hum tila inaasar niya ako upang kulitin ko s’ya na muling itanong ang nais kong malaman. “What?”

“You are allowed to fall in love while she is not,” She languidly said.

“That’s unfair,”

“It is not. Especially that she is your serviteur. She is bound to protect and serve you,”

“Aren’t you her mother?”

She sadly smiled, “But I can’t rewrite her fate. Ang pagdating mo sa lugar na ito ay tanda na patuloy na mananaig ang tadhana kaysa sa nais kong hindi siya maging isang serviteur,” she suddenly turned her back and sat on her throne.

Her eyes were filled with undying sadness as stole a glance on her daughter. “Isama n’yo siya,”

“Pinamimigay mo ang anak mo?”

“I want her to fulfill her mission as a serviteur. And a simple reminder, Lockser, don’t let her fall in love with anyone.”

My eyes suddenly grew wide, “How did you know my name? At bakit ba ang unfair mo sa anak mo? Let her fall in love,”

She suddenly let out a sigh, “Hephaestus is destroying the lovely forest around the Alchemy Kingdom because his precious son runs away from him.” She slyly smiled and looked at Savannah, “But the funny part is you are with your fiancé,”

“She insisted. Ayaw niya raw makasal e,”

“Pero kayong dalawa ang ikakasal,” She pointed out.

I shrugged, “Ewan. Magulo ang mga babae e,”

She softly laughed at me pero mabilis din na naging seryoso ang mukha niya, “Promise me that you’ll prevent my daughter from falling in love with someone,”

“Bakit ba?”

“Because you’ll die,”

Napangiwi ako dahil sa sinabi niya, “’Di ka po funny,”

“The deeper her feelings— the bigger the consequence you’ll face,” She seriously said. A lilac orb appeared in my front, it was small and can fit as a pendant on a necklace or bracelet. “I know that you still don’t believe me, but use that when it happens na hinihiling ko’y sana hindi mangyari. It will summon me for a limited amount of time kahit nasaan man kayo.”

The lilac orb slowly became a necklace na kusang nilagay ang sarili sa aking leeg. The queen was looking at me when the surrounding began to filled with colors again. “Freya, what do you want?” The queen asked. Gulat s’yang nilingon ni Freya hanggang sa marahan niyang kinagat ang pang ibabang labi.

“I want… I want nothing, your highness,” She answered. Her lilac eyes avoided her mother’s gaze.

“I’m setting you free,”

“What?” Freya asked.

“Spread your wings and fly on the horizon, taste the freedom that you were longing for so long,”

I genuinely smiled while watching them. Freya’s eyes were slowly filled with tears which immediately gave in and stream down on her cheeks. “But…” Freya whispered.

Dahan-dahan na lumakad si Freya palapit sa kaniyang ina, hindi pa rin siya makapaniwala sa mga salitang binanggit nito. The queen began to stroke her hair, “But comeback to me. For now, prove your worth to hold the title of a queen,”

“You should stop crying, Freya,” Alyssa mumbled. The Fairy Queen gave us her blessing to travel with her daughter pero hindi ko pa rin talaga mapigilan ang hindi mapasapo sa mukha dahil dumarami ang sinusuway namin na batas.

“But… but…”

“It’s amazing na kaya mong itago ang pakpak mo,” Savannah pointed out.

“She’s lampa, I can tell,” Glifford muttered.

“You’re conyo, I can tell,” Alyssa smirked.

Napasimangot na lamang ako sa kanila dahil tila wala lamang sa kanila ang katangahan na ginawa naming bukod do’n ay mabigat ang ibabaw ng aking ulo dahil naroroon si Venyr, hindi ko alam kung bakit sa akin nasama ito gayong si Freya ang amo n’ya.

“Where are we going?” I asked. Naiba ang ruta namin dahil malalaman ng mga demigods sa Sacred Walls na nang galling kami sa lugar na ito, maaaring makwestyun kami dahil hindi kami nabitaw dahil sa kapahangasan naming.

“Tara sa Cerulean Kingdom! Nando’n ‘yung crush ko!” Savannah squealed. Ngumiwi kami sa kanya dahil napakabobo n’ya.

“But my mother teleported us in the Dim Forest…” Freya whispered.

“Dim Forest?” I asked.

Nagulat ako nang bigla akong niyugyog ni Glifford na parang isang tanga, “Ano ‘yon?”

“The blue flower! Nakita ko –”

“You have a Bluebell Flower?” Freya asked. Gulat ang mga mata nito hanggang sa ilabas ni Glifford ang bulaklak na pinakita n’ya sa akin bago kami tumakas. It was dim in this forest but it was all of sudden with majestic blue light coming from the flower, “Hide it – ”

“Move or you’ll die,”

Hindi ko alam kung paanong hindi namin naramdaman ang presensya n’ya. May isang matilos na sandata ang nasa harap ng aking leeg ngayon samantalang ang mga kasama ko’y naestatwa sa kanilang pwesto.

“A fairy, and a bunch of demigods… What a peculiar group, but I shall kill you because you stole that flower,”

“Wait!”

“Shut up, demigod! Hindi ako makikinig sa paliwanag ng isang demigod na tulad mo,”

Alyssa suddenly raised her which made me wryly smiled. Panibagong kabanata na naman ng bagong katangahan n’ya. “Maaaring kamukha ko sila pisikal na anyo pero magkaiba kami. I’m a human, and if you still don’t want to believe then… then talk to him!” Alyssa said. Tinuturo n’ya si Venyr na nakapatong pa rin sa aking ulo.

Mukha bang magsasalita ang hayop na ‘to?

“Human? What is that?” The satyr asked. He was still holding mightily at the dagger near my neck.

“Basta iba ako sa kanila,”

“No, I’d rather talk to him,” The satyr said. Hinarap n’ya si Venyr dahilan para mapangiwi ako sa kaniya. Isa pang bobo.

“What should I explain?” All of us except Alyssa was surprised. Nagsalita talaga ang sphinx na nasa aking ibabaw ngayon.

“The Bluebell Flower,”

“Well, basically, they did steal it, but not today,”

“Ah, okay,” The satyr suddenly released from his grasped dahilan upang lalo akong magtakha sa ginawa n’ya. “Kailan n’yo ba kinuha ‘yan?”

“A month ago,” Glifford answered.

“Okay,” The satyr mumbled. Okay? That’s it?

“I don’t get the male senses of humor,” Savannah whispered. Actually, hindi ko rin gets kung anong nangyari.

“The issue was already a month ago, lumipas na iyon kaya’t tapos na ang oras upang magalit ako.” The satyr explained. Hindi ko talaga mapigilan ang hindi mapangiwi sa kanya. Ang tanga ng kanyang utak. “By the way, I’m Jackson,”

“Hey, Jackson, do you know Pan?” Alyssa asked happily, tila excited siya sa topic na kanyang binuksan.

“Of course, he is the god that we are looking for so long,”

“Do you know that when I came here, meeting him is always been my dream,” Alyssa smiled. She suddenly offered her hand to Jackson, “Shall we both find the wildest god?”

Akala ko ang paghahanap ng cellphone n’ya ang pangarap niya…

But now that she’s with us, we must fulfill her dream.

#