Chapter Seventeen: The Curtain in Between

Skyzzer's POV

KUNG MINSAN, napakahirap paniwalaan na sa isang iglap lang, libu-libo na ang puwedeng maganap. Sa pagmulat ng mga mata mo matapos ng isang iglap na 'yon, hihilingin mo na lang na sana'y hindi ka na pumikit pa. Baka sakaling kung hindi mo pinalagpas ang isang iglap na 'yon, babalik ang lahat sa naturang puwesto nito tulad ng nakasanayan mo. Sa naturang ayon dapat ng mundo.

I should've done that. I shouldn't have closed my eyes for a second. I shouldn't have even breathed. I should've known better than to think that the universe is capable of granting a happy ending. I should've known better than to think that this story only revolves around us.

Lumunok ako at tinitigan ang eksenang kahit kailan ay hindi sumagi sa isip o ni sa pinakamalisyosong imahinasyon ko patungkol sa pinsan ko. Rehistrado sa atensyon ko ang paglagpas sa 'kin nang sandamakmak na mga tao. Animo'y mga hagip na ilaw ng mga dumaraang kotse sa kalsada na 'di mo na namamalayan. Pero sa ilang minuto ko nang pagkakatayo 'di kalayuan sa pintuan ng silid ni Alexander, hindi ko pa rin ma-rehistro ang mga nangyari.

My eyes remained perfectly still on my older cousin's unconscious body. The oh-so-great-and-almighty Alexander Cromello is lying on the cold hard ground, almost without a sign of life if not for the persisting efforts of the medics around him. It was only due to their urgent moves and loud orders that I could somehow fathom that life still breathes through him, however faint it might be. Other than that, there was nothing that could tell me that he was alive.

All my life, the only blood I have witnessed with Alexander in the picture is one that he spilled himself. His sweat may stream; His tears could leak; but he would choose the silence and spotlessness offered by a poison any day to ensure he'll never shower the Earth of his blood. However, at this moment, not only is he bathing from his own blood, the blanket... the carpet... the canopy of his bed... the couch... almost every piece of his space was granted the honor of it.

He was quick to anger, but never did his pair of brows once creased like he does now. He was agile for his age. He was not immune to scars and injuries, but he made sure to hide them for years. He was the perfect heir, strong, resilient, and decisive. Yet, here he is. The Dela Vega Mafia leader adorns multiple stab marks on his torso, each varied in size. There were dark purple bruises which were most visible on his sides and arms. His neck had never experienced the feeling of a necklace yet the fresh crimson mark embedded around it led me to know it finally did tonight. But what did it for me was the great alarm on the medics' expressions as they assessed his legs.

Even with my ears muffling the voices around me, I could understand his legs were targeted, broken the same way assassins did to Uncle Johan when he was young and have yet to suffer the handicap he has lived most of his life. Then, it dawned on me, each realization hitting me like a brick.

Will he... Will he also...?

"You're not supposed to stare at it too much." Sa isa na namang iglap, lumapat ang dalawang palad upang takpan ang paningin ko. My breathing instantly caught a hitch as soon as I recognize the hint of lavender aroma.

"Fiacre..." I mumbled weakly. I wanted to punch myself as my voice did not hold as much elation as I usually do, and I can't have that. My wife deserves everything of me at its best, at its peak.

"Oh? Hindi ko matandaan na 'yan ang pangalan ko," palaro nitong sabi bago ko pa mabuksan ang bibig ko upang humingi ng tawad.

I was alarmed. "W-What? Did I say something wrong?" 

Ipinatong ko ang sariling kong mga kamay sa kaniya at ibinaba ito kasabay ng marahang pagbaling sa kaniya. Sa pagbaba ng mga kamay naming dalawa, pinisil niya ang akin at saka ginamit ang bawat hinlalaki niya upang masahihin ang mga ito. Paunti-unti, umatras siya habang inaalo ako. Ni sa isang yapak ay hindi naputol ang tingin niyang sa akin lang nakatuon. Sinundan ko ang bawat hakbang niya hanggang sa nasa isang sulok na kami ng silid, natatabingan ng kurtina't dilim.

Hindi inda ang mga nangayayari sa likod ng mga kurtina, pinanood ko kung paanong yumuko siya't pinagmamasdan ang mga kamay naming magkalingkis sa isa't isa. "Bebelabs. Iyon dapat ang tawagan natin 'di ba?" tila patampo nitong saad. "Nakalimutan mo na agad? You have been pestering me for a while and then, you'll just forget?" 

Pucha. Oo nga pala! "Ah, sor—"

"Ssshh," she hushed. Fiacre then lifted both our hands between us. Her gaze finally met mine. "Not being as cheery as you always do, not calling me with your silly names as you always do, not throwing jokes like you always do, and not looking at me as you always do... It's alright. You're not obligated to do those for me or anybody else. You don't have to apologize for being 'not the always you.'"

Napalunok ako sa sinabi niya't 'di makasagot. If there's one thing I learned very well to cope with anything, it is to never let silence or time slip into the process. Because those two sisters are vicious. When you let them in, they will spread the gates wider for other unnecessary elements to squeeze in. The overthinking... the panic... the what-ifs... even hope. I incorporated such a discipline into my core until I wore the façade like it was my own. A façade that held for so long, yet always breaks when she's knocking on the door.

"Do you remember? Noong na-kidnap si Alex..."

"The first one or the second or the third?" pabirong pangungumpirma ko na siyang sandaling sumira sa namumuong tensiyon.

Fiacre chuckled, her chest vibrating with humor and her eyes narrowing like she was in disbelief of my existence. Aysus, masyado na namang nai-in love 'to sa 'kin.

"Siraulo ka talaga," she sighed and shook her head. "Mababatukan ka no'n nang 'di oras. Kababalik lang niya at dino-dog show mo na naman siya tungkol diyan. In her defense, 'yung pangatlo is not exactly a kidnapping dahil nagconsent siya na kunin ang katawan niya sa mausoleum."

"It still counts!" I insisted, and we chuckled while we experienced the strangeness and relief of glossing over the dark past. A past that seems to be so far away now from where we stand.

Realizing how far we've come, I can't help but grin smugly at the woman who fervently claimed before that she would never ever dare fall in love with me. "Huwag ka masyadong matuwa," sita ko sa kanya at pinanliitan siya ng tingin.

"Hm?"

"Kapag mas na-in love ka pa sa 'kin ngayon, baka masira family planning natin."

Namilog naman ang mga mata niya sa banat ko. Ang akala ko nga sampal sa braso, pitik sa noo, kurot sa tagiliran ang kakaharapin ko, o kaya tutal hawak na niya ang mga kamay ko ay babalian niya 'ko. But none of that came. They all did during the past years of our marriage, though. Fiacre simply bursts into laughter that rung heavenly more than any piano piece I could play for her. However, it lasts way shorter than any of them.

Joy and amusement soon fade from her face, as both are against the truth that we're only borrowing this small dark space to forget momentarily that this room is a crime scene. "I wish that was our only problem, Bebelabs," she said with a curt smile.

Muling ibinalik ni Bebelabs ang tingin niya sa mga kamay ko. I swear she could have bore a hole on each of them until she flipped them open gently. My palms were laid open with the rough lines of fate and scars of old. All of a sudden, her staring at them made me squirm with embarrassment. Pakiramdam ko para akong isang batang nahuli na may tinatago sa likuran at inutusang ilantad ang sikreto.

"During the second one, you held an object too tight it crushed in your hand," aniya. Sunod na binagtas ng mga hinlalaki niya ang mga palad ko, tila ba hinahanap kung nasaan na ang mga hiwang naidulot ng pangyayaring binanggit niya ngayon. "Before that, I keep refusing your advances because I thought I have to protect you."

My brows met in a flash, confusion coated my image. "Protect me?" I asked.

"Hindi ko gusto na madawit ka sa gulong hindi naman namin ginustong pasukin, una pa lang. I was an ordinary student living her life peacefully until Morleen and Domzelle happened," she scoffed bitterly, clearly reminiscing what ultimately changed her fate in its entirety. "Lagi akong napapatanong kung hanggang saan mo kayang paulit-ulitin na sabihin na gusto mo ko. Hanggang kailan ka hindi magsasawa na habulin ako? Magiging biro ba 'yung mga pangako mo kapag hindi ako um-oo? I keep thinking of those."

"I am serious about you. Then and now, even in the future to come. Even if there's life after this, I will still be," I immediately filled those questions with definite and actual words. Kahit na ba tali na kami sa isa't isa, hinding-hindi ako mapapagod ipaalala sa kaniya na walang biro ni isa sa mga pinakita ko sa kaniya.

When a tinge of silence somehow stumbled upon our conversation, I anxiously added, "You know that, right? Y-You wouldn't have married me if you don't." Shet, nauutal pa nga.

My wife nodded. "Of course, I do." She raised her head and tilted it in wonder as her eyes roam on my figure with obvious awe. "I especially do when you broke that object. Napagtanto ko na gagawin mo ang lahat para sa taong malapit sa 'yo."

Something warm enveloped my heart with every word she spoke. When we got together, she never told me why and how she came to the decision to be mine. She just asked me if the offer is still available on the table like a customer checking if a dish is still available for an order and left with the whole bowl of that dish.

I mean, magtatanong pa ba ko at that point? Man, ayan na 'o. Nag-yes na siya. Payag na siya. That's why I never tried to ask again. Ayos na ko 'e. Ayos lang ako na mas mahal ko siya. Ayos lang kung ako 'yung mas magbibigay. What mattered was we're happy and she doesn't regret accepting me. So the fact that she's unveiling these after all this time... I can't start how to describe how overwhelmed I am.

"I realized that you don't need protection, and just because I am gifted with Escape does not mean you cannot protect me and I do not need protection." Bahagyang bumama ang tingin niya sa kawalan. "I realized that if you ever do need protection, I'd just protect you with all I have. And if I need protection, I would just ask. I would rely on you like you'd want me to. I failed one time because of Alexandria, but I promise you..."

Hinigpitan ni Fiacre ang hawak sa mga kamay ko. Imbes na hatakin ang mga ito, mas iniyuko niya ang ulo upang madampian ng mga labi ang mga palad ko. Hindi lang isa kundi ilang beses niyang hinalikan ang mga linya't peklat na hindi ko na mapagkaiba pa.

"Beb—" I tried to stop her. However, her breath being so close to my palms felt like I had her on my palms. With her words resembling the confession that's worth another wedding and honeymoon, my heart somersaulted, wrecking every vein, nerve, or artery it could knock onto.

The proud Fiacre Lei Sancuevas kept her head unmoving just like that, in the mercy of my callous skin and wretched history. I do not know what's the occasion, but catching a glimpse of people carrying a stretcher where my cousin was lying out of the door led me back into reality.

Kabado't nakukutuban na nang hindi maganda, nanginginig ang mga labi akong naglakas-loob na tapusin ang tensiyon. "Lei, what's happening?"

Napag-isip-isip ko, para akong mortal na nasa pagitan ng dalawang mundo at ang kurtinang nagkukubli sa 'min dito sa dilim ay siyang linya bumubukod sa 'kin para kaharapin ang katotohanang nauna nang malaman ng asawa ko sa labas ng solid.

"Skyzzer Yuan Cromello-Sanchez, I promise you..." Hot drops of tears landed on my palms and a quiet sob escaped from her lips that maintained intimate proximity with my skin. "I promise you that however grave what I am about to tell you and whatever happens from now on, you don't have to ask. I would rely on you and protect you, at the same time."

"I— What do you mean?" On a normal sunny day, I would be more than glad to grab the opportunity and respond with the cheesiest and most dramatic lines to earn the honor of her kiss or two, but when my mind highlighted the part where she has information that she herself identified as grave, my system basically screamed its need for answers.

"Sky..." muli nitong hikbi.

My wife is never a person to go around the bush. She is straightforward and frank. That's when I knew. That whatever the world has beyond the curtain would soon get the dice of fate rolling.

"The Clan of Light has been slaughtered... No one was left alive. They had been declared officially extinct," she revealed, and in all my senses, the curtains had plopped to the floor.

They were no more. They weren't pulled down. They were cut off. 

****

A/N: I know, I know. Na-late ng gawa at post huhu. Medyo busy na sa work. Since I am more than determined of finishing this third book as soon as possible, I got more realizations na naka-apekto sa kung ano ang magiging takbo ng story. It was now definitely different from my initial plans. Again, I advise anyone who wants a better context of the last book of the trilogy to re-read and refer to the sequel's book version from time to time instead of the Wattpad version. Thank you! Have a lovely week ahead! xoxo