Paige's POV

Minasdan ko ang mga daliri ni Reign na magkasunod-sunod na tumapik sa mesa, habang pinipresenta ng ibang student leaders ang mga plano nila para sa celebration of the lunar goddesses na gaganapin ilang araw mula ngayon.

"Reign," sambit ni Third. "Maybe you have something to say?"

Reign continued to stare in front of her while tapping her fingers on the table, obviously occupied.

"Reign," bulong ko dahilan na mapaangat siya ng tingin.

Tumikhim siya at tumigil sa paggalaw ang kamay niya. "I'm sorry, what?"

"Any suggestions for the celebration?" tanong ulit ni Third.

She looked at him emptily, before sighing and shaking her head.

Pinaningkitan ko si Reign na muli na namang napabagsak ng tingin sa mesa. Umangat-baba ang kanyang lalamunan, at hindi mapakali ang kanyang mga matang kumisap-kisap, tila may pinipigilan.

She took in a deep breath, before speaking. "Wait."

Naputol ang balak ni Third na magpatuloy sa discussion.

Reign's lips slowly parted to let in another breath.

"Masquerade..." She said, her voice fading on the last syllable. "Can we have the theme of the celebration a masquerade ball?"

She rarely stutters. But even more rare is when her voice fades almost into a whisper, like she's giving up her words, her sentences.

"That's a nice idea," sang-ayon ni Luke. "Let's do that."

Sa tabi niya ay si Sophia na nakakunot ang noo at pinadalhan ako ng nagtatanong na tingin.

Mukhang hindi lang ako ang nakakapansin na may nagbago sa representative ng class namin.

Binawalewala ko ang pagtataka niya at binalik ang aking atensyon kay Third na muling nagsalita.

"A masquerade ball then," anunsyo ni Third. "Let's divide the work to be done among us."

Nagpatuloy sila sa diskusyon, at patuloy lang din ang pagiging di-interesado ni Reign dito.

The meeting ended with an agreement that the theme of the celebration will be a masquerade ball, with Reign and I set to manage the flow of the program until the lighting of the lanterns.

Tumayo na kaming lahat.

Tahimik pa rin si Reign nang sundan ko siya papalabas ng conference room ng Academy, at tahimik pa rin nang sumakay kami sa elevating platform.

The clipboard I embraced on my chest served as a stress reliever when I squeezed it from the tension of her silence and constant deep thinking. I've been gently squeezing the edges of my clipboard ever since she ordered me to prioritize investigating Henri.

To be honest, I haven't found anything yet except his medical files and his records in school, and I'm going to go through it later again once we arrive at the dorm.

Nakasunod pa rin ako sa kanya hanggang sa makapasok kami ng bahay.

Dumiretso siya sa kanyang kwarto samantalang lumiko naman ako sa library at reading space namin kung saan nakaupo sa silyon si Grey nang naka-de kwatro ang mga paa at nakapatong ang magkabilang braso sa mga patungan nito, halatang inaasahan ang pagdating ko.

"What are you doing here?" tanong ko.

He was rested comfortably against the chair when he grinned. "You certainly took your time in catching up with the founders."

I squinted my eyes at him. "What do you mean?"

He chuckled. "They already found out who's the leader of the Orion, Paige."

"What-" Napalinga-linga ako upang tignan kung may makakarinig ba sa'min. "They do? Since when?"

"A few days after we destroyed one of their largest facilities," sagot niya. "A little birdie told me."

"You must have underestimated our parents if you believed everything they told us was all they know." Natawa na naman siya nang mahina. "Didn't expect that from you."

"I didn't underestimate them," giit ko. "I just never questioned them."

"Fair enough." He lowered his leg and gestured me to sit in front of him. "Let's talk about it while the others are occupied with training and Reign, worrying."

Umangat ang magkabilang kilay ko.

"What?" natatawa niyang sambit. "You didn't think I would notice when my own sister's acting strange for a day? Even only for a few hours?"

I stared at him and studied his confident posture, before letting out a defeated sigh.

"Fine." Lumapit ako sa kanya at umupo sa tapat niyang silyon. "You clearly know something."

Binaba ko ang clipboard sa mesang pumagitna sa'min, saka matuwid na umupo habang binabalikan ng seryosong tingin ang nananabik niyang ngiti.

I never liked that smile.

It meant problem.

"You literally spent a whole day gathering records, and forgot to ask the only one of us who has interacted with him the most," nadidismaya niyang puna. "Really, Paige?"

"I planned to ask you about him," sabi ko sa kanya. "But it's the last thing on my list."

It's true that I've considered asking Grey because I know that among all of us, he's the closest one to Henri. He's the only one who has seen him and was able to talk to him since we were all children.

He's the last on my list because it is never wrong to suspect him as one of Henri's allies.

Especially with that smug grin of his.

He just proved my point of suspecting him because all this time, he knows something and he's only telling me now. But he has also unproven my point by deciding to tell it to me himself.

"Go on," tugon ko. "Tell me everything."

He loudly sighed, as his eyes wandered around the reading room.

"Let's start with how I met him the first time. When Mom and I paid a visit to his mother's grave..."

"He was still the same, actually," aniya. "Serious, but a bit of fun."

"Our first meeting was undeniably short. He said he wanted to go home already. Not that I cared, but a part of me pitied him for spending most of his life and childhood in the realms of darkness," sabi niya. "I asked Mom once, why, and she said it was because it's what Kaye would have wanted. For him to be protected in the Underworld."

"The next year, we met again on the day of his mother's death, and spent longer time with each other." Grey slightly smiled, remembering his own memory. "That's when he told me he sneaked out of the Underworld and stayed in the mortal realms for a good few days."

I wasn't surprised. He was still just a child who wanted to wander more outside of his home.

"Wait." Napatigil ako. "A good few days? He was left alone?"

"Something in him changed that day," ani Grey. "And I still couldn't figure out what it was until the next year, the next time that I saw him."

"What changed?" usisa ko.

"The thing is, when he hung out alone in our realms, he came to witness evil in humans he never thought was that many. Street fights, a husband and wife arguing, a child pushing another child in the playground-"

"How did you come to know all this?" tanong ko sa kanya.

He laughed. "I can see memories, Paige," paalala niya sa'kin. "And during this time Henri hasn't developed an auraic barrier yet."

"It was a surprise to him, as to how cruel the world really was," sabi niya. "Even more cruel than the Underworld."

"And then..." Gumuhit ang isang nag-aalalang ngiti sa kanyang labi. "Henri realized who was in-charge of how the world works. Who was to blame in this... unforgivable world."

"Destiny," pagpapatuloy ko. "Henri resents his father, doesn't he?"

"He always had." His voice softened. "But the more he spent roaming our realms alone, it grew in him."

"And the next year we met, I found out that he learned how to make his own barrier," dagdag pa niya. "He said he was beginning to train, to prepare himself."

"I always thought he meant he was preparing for his enrollment in the Academy." Nagkasalubong ang kanyang kilay. "But now, I am not sure."

"I had a feeling that he's done something while he was still not enrolled," aniya. "Which is why it took him later to arrive."

Napabuntong-hininga ako.

"I wondered, for a short while, what took him so long to meet us, but I stopped wondering because I knew I would just be worrying the whole time." Regret almost spilled from his voice. "He was a friend."

"You know it's not your fault if he turned out to be someone we never thought he would be," malumanay kong sabi sa kanya.

"It's him, Paige," anunsyo niya. "From the little scraps of evil he picked from every corner of the world, he built facilities that he turned into an empire, recruited vulnerable people, and shared to them forbidden knowledge that should have stayed in the mythological realms."

"The founders are not doing anything because they know we will eventually find out," he added. "And they're giving him the chance to leave by himself."

"By then..." Napansin ko ang paghina ng kanyang boses. "He will be declared as an enemy, and the war of powers will start."

"Too late," sambit ko. "He has already declared himself an enemy to Reign."

Kumunot ang kanyang noo. "When?"

"A day ago," sagot ko. "Which is why she ordered me to investigate him."

"He initiated your suspicions about him?" nagtataka niyang tanong.

"I know," sang-ayon ko. "It could either be a show of power-"

"Or a moment of weakness," dugtong ni Grey.

Ilang segundo kaming nagpalitan ng nanghihinalang tingin.

Then, he chuckled bitterly. "Gods..."

A knowing smile curved on my lips. "In love and in war, Grey," sabi ko sa kanya. "In love and in war."

Tila nahawa siya sa aking kakaibang ngiti nang paningkitan ako. "Mom's going to flip out when I tell her this."

"Reign's going to crumble," I said. "But she will learn how to pick herself up. She's starting to."

"Good," puna niya. "And good luck to us in figuring out how to tell them."

"You're not going to cause any more chaos, will you?" I asked as I eyed him suspiciously. "That's why you told me everything you know?"

"Why would I?" kampante niyang sagot. "When I'm already having so much fun watching this war chaotically unfold."

"A war of powers..." tugon ko.

"No." Nginitian niya ako. "A war of hearts, Paige."