Author's Note: Hi, guys! :) It's been a long verrrrry long time. Admittedly, I have really gone on a very long hiatus. I can't say I regret it din kasi ang dami nangyari once noong middle of my college years na. Time flies fast. As in. 2018, we got our MAOG Book 1 published then sa kalagitnaan ng pandemic, na-publish naman ang sequel. Then, everything just went up and down. But yes, given na I think sobrang enough na narinig kong encouragements and banta (lol HAHAHA) to finish this, tapusin na natin. 

I am not joking when I tell you na minsan napapanaginipan ko na ang story na 'to and their universe keep on squeezing in sa utak ko everytime na malutang ako sandali. At some point, feeling ko may something na sa story na 'to e HAHAHAHA. Iniisip ko na habaan din sana ito and wayyyy tragic. Not sure if iibahin ko ang intended kong ending pero to be fair, I have at least three options sa ending sa pagpipilian. But one thing's for sure, medyo iiksian ko siya kumpara sa plano kasi aside na naaawa na ko sa mga character na 'to, I kind of feel na I have to move on from them na. Hindi ko masasabi na na-outgrow ko na sila because MAOG will always be my first baby. It's just that... we have to move forward and I think I kind of hint that theme na rin dito sa third book. 

These characters we love so much, we have to move on from them to a certain extent. Saka parangawa, bigyan na natin sila ng kapayapaan jusq. Ako binubulabog e. So yep, this year is THE year. Ma-publish man din ito or hindi, I will end this this year. Am I leaving Wattpad afterward? No. I think I'll linger here for much longer pero I'm lying if I say na hindi ako magpopost ng other stories sa ibang platforms. Personally, ang Wattpad is no longer THE Wattpad I have come to love when I was 13 (13 ako nagstart magbasa, 14 sa sulat, iirc). Kahit preferences ng readers, iba na. Iba na rin ang stories. Of course, natural 'yon pero somehow, parang naging shallow na hindi malaman na dito. Idk what you guys think but ito is just my personal thought. It's up to you how you'll interpret it but never put words upon my mouth to create issues, oki? 

So yep, for now, let's just enjoy the beginning of the end. And if there's another beginning at the end of the tunnel, let's welcome it, as well. Na-miss ko tuloy malala ang mga reader na nandiyan na for me kahit noong 100 reads pa lang or noong 10 votes pa lang. All of you will be forever missed. Sana maka-chat ko ulit kayo like before. For the readers who had come along after that, thank you just as much. I still have a lot more to say but for now, let's see each other in the epilogue :))) 

Enjoy the 29th chapter of the last book of the MAOG trilogy. 

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Chapter 29: Distraction

WHEN I asked the guys last time who the real predator was, I swear I had just heard the most absurd thing in my life. And it's not every day you get to hear that compliment from me. Fairytales, legends, and myths, there were still some sense etched on them regardless of the passing of time, countless translations, and varying interpretations. They were mystifying but always preserved to be understood the way the speakers aimed them to be. May it be men of malicious intentions, old hags offering poisoned apples, or a cursed man who has anger issues born from a fucking rose. There was always a reason, and when there's a reason, it's easy to put things back in place.

But... it's not always the case.

I always pride myself on being fearless, but that doesn't mean nothing could faze me. And do you know what unnerves me the most? Do you know what the oh-so-famous last Judge of the Onyx Council finds so difficult to flesh out despite the composure he easily wears? Moral code. Why? No matter how formidable laws are, no matter how fierce justice is, no matter how much good there is to someone, no matter how much love they possess toward others, a human's personally crafted moral code would outweigh anything on the utmost crucial moment. 

I learned that the hard way because that is literally what the Judge of Onyx Council has to be. Flesh out everyone's code except yours. Make it undecipherable. Make it invisible. Only then you are untouchable, unshaken, and unbowed. 

'Yon din ang rason kung bakit nandito ang henerasyon namin ngayon sa posisyon na 'to. Spade, Alex, Skyzzer, Alexander, and every child the original Mhorfell Children involved in their problems, we all have to live with the consequences of their decisions, even if we like it or not.

Kaharap ko ang mga taong akala ko'y mga matatandang marangal lang na nagtitinda sa bayan upang may pagkakitaan. At sa panig ko ay mga taong muntik-muntikanan nang mabawian ng buhay nang dahil sa ambisyosong mga plano ko sa para sa babaeng hindi naman sa 'kin nakalaan. It is the unlikeliest arrangement yet here we are. 

Kaya ang marinig na ang taong nasa likod ng lahat ng 'to ay mas matagal nang ginagampanan ang pagkataong kamakailan lang ay hawak ko... Ang mapagtantong maging ako ay kasama sa mga napakaraming hibla na inaakay niya sa pagtirintas sa mga nangyayari sa Underground... I can't help but warmly welcome the itch to strangle them to death until they bleed out the last drop of life from their pathetic flesh.

Now on who it might be, Skyzzer Yuan Cromello-Sanchez did not tell. He seems adamant not to drop a single letter of the bearer of the name he has in mind, which in itself, is suspicious enough because Skyzzer Sanchez is the last person who would want to play hide and seek. Worse, the only person ever known to force him to do so is the one sleeping in the hospital right now, and is comatose. Alexander. 

If my guesses are right, we're kinda fucked. A person who knows each of us very well, who knows the narrative of every connection we have, who knows our motives and potential actions. Someone who is playing God. Someone who uses his definition of 'omnipotence' to his benefit. Someone who made Alexander Cromello resort to the most extreme methods and had Alexandra Dela Vega run instead of confronting the problem as she had always done in her two lives. 

Ayaw ko man aminin pero hindi umaayon ang mga nakalatag na elemento sa panig namin. The town I chose for my self-exile and the surrounding area of it were all well-thought of, pero nakuha man niya sa espiya ang impormasyon o hindi, ang magkaroon ng impluwensya para lumikha ng entablado gamit ang isang bayan at pabantayan ang bawat sulok ng lugar... it's daring and too meticulous.

What baffles me more is that his plans sound flawless, but something in them puts me off. Something we are overlooking has been keeping me on edge since I decided to set off to go back home—or even before that. 

I didn't actually leave the bubble, I thought. I was only led to think that I did. Or did I lead myself to think so? Sa kalagitnaan ng libu-libong mga palaisipang nag-uunahan at nagtatakbuhan sa isipan ko, matatas na umangat ang mga salitang nanggaling sa babaeng nawala na lang na parang kidlat matapos ng pananambang na naganap makailang araw lang. That conversation we have about this reality and that world where I originated from. Is this the conflict that she's hinting at? 

Sensing the irritation bubbling within my veins as soon as I reverted to thinking about her, I tried to shift my attention back to the awful ladies in front of me and the sweating men scattered behind me. 

Hindi magagara ang suot ngunit mas malinaw na kaysa sa kahit na anong lente na hindi pagtitinda ng mga sariwang isda at mainit-init na tinapay ang hanapbuhay ng dalawa. Maging ang postura nila'y lantad at hindi nagkukubli sa tiwala nila sa anumang kakayahan na mayroon sila at hindi pa namin nalalaman. Their eyes silently yet boldly sweep upon us as if daring us to challenge those abilites. 

Not adamant to answer the challenge, I took a few cautious steps forward. Careful movements rustled against the soft soil and green sprouts of grass atop it. The ones with me stirred ever so slightly, as well, but I guess torturing them for a good few years reminded them that they should know better than to think that I would even love the idea of being branded as stupid or reckless.

"My, alam ba ng mga anak at apo ninyong nandito kayo?" I asked, my signature sardonic tone dripping in every word despite the fabricated concern to fit the question. "O may hindi ako alam na biglaang meeting ng home owners' association? Oh, sorry, kakasabi niyo pa nga lang. Gawa-gawa lang ang lahat. Then, I gather, wala kayong pamilya? Home for the aged, it should be, then."

"Bastard." Sumilay ang inis ni Aling Tere sa mga panga nitong umigting sa tinuran ko. Aamba na sana ito sa unang pagkakataon na matapos akong magsalita kung hindi lang dahil sa kamay na iniharang ni Aling Maya.

"Don't mind the pup," I heard her murmur as she stared down at her accomplice with firmity and confidence molded in one. The latter spared me a glance with an underlying glaze of contempt, expressing how lucky I would have been if it weren't for her being warned.

Aling Maya, however, depicted an unsettling calm that easily cemented who'd be the easier prey to my provocations. But words... are curious little units. They're small blades that could unexpectedly penetrate any shield. Any shield. As long as you know where to sink it in. Words before swords. 

"Geez, mukhang hindi maganda ang bagsakan at presyuhan ng isda, harina, at karne?" dagdag na sabi ko, trying out where to poke the tip of the blade for the meantime. "Mukhang kuha rin 'yon ng kung sinumang Hudas na amo ninyo kaya kayong mga kaawa-awang dapat nagpapahinga na lang ang pinadala niya rito, hmm."

Two, four, six... If only Marc shared the same ability as his wife, it could have helped but no. I am literally with the husbands of the supposed "supers" in a story. This area is too large to assume that all the armed men behind them are the only ones they've brought to this visit. Even if all of them are visible, we cannot discount the risks of them possessing heavy artillery. And I am not hopeful enough to think that my brother's friends happen to bring something of the same caliber if they did depart from the mansion in a rush to find me after Edeline appeared out of the blue.

Sinubukan kong kuhain sa tingin ang mga kasama ko sa pamamagitan ng saglit na pag-iling-iling kaliwa-kanan habang inilalayo ng bibig ko ang atensyon ng matatanda mula sa internal na paghahanda namin sa nalalapit na ingkwentro. "You should have thought twice before burning your fake town, then. I enjoyed it, after all. Your master must be crazy rich to build all this nonsense and burn it like some spare scratch papers. I wonder if the same thing could be said about his lifespan," I scoffed and tilted my head arrogantly, as if I was playing a host in a gambling table that knew all the cards lying on it.

"Cheeky pup," a hiss slipped from the same woman again. "You don't even know who you are against." 

"Then tell me," I demanded without batting an eye, showing them I would welcome enlightenment should they grace me with one. That is the exact purpose of my talking here, anyway. To squeeze a bit of information before I lay my judgment upon their tainted souls. "Tell me who we are against and we can see if I would shiver to death out of fear." 

Tere was slightly taken aback, but instantly gained her ground back. "Your answer only made it clear you have much to learn from your families' history," she said condescendingly, clearly seeing through our thirst for information.

"Oh, we will learn," Dash replied, his teeth gritting as he kept his fists and weapons at bay. "Even without your help." 

This time, Maya interceded, not because she was caught off-guard by the response but rather to wrap the reaper's answer like a candy wrapper for trash. "You?" she scoffed. "You don't even know if you have parents at all, the last remnant of the Clan of Light. What could you possibly achieve if the only ones who truly know are the ones missing in the picture?"

Contrary to my expectations, Dash did not let himself get out of control the way he did when I taunted him with a similar jab about his origin. He only murmured a few curses before his ragged breathing tells us that he'd only need a word of signal and he won't hesitate to lose that control. 

"Hindi kayo ang may karapatang mangkanti rito kundi kami. Hindi kayo makaaalis sa lugar na 'to. Kung suwertihin man kayo, titiyakin namin na wala na kayong dadatnan sa mga pinakamamahal ninyong mga tirahan," mahinahong ani ni Aling Maya nang mabawi niya ang kamay mula sa pagkakaharang sa kasama.

One side of my mouth immediately perked. "Mawalang galang na po, ganiyan na rin ang sinabi sa Mhorfell Academy pero heto ako't kasama ang mga pruweba na hindi totoo ang mga panakot na ganiyan."

With that, I felt the sudden shift of the boys' gazes at the back of my head. The attention did not bother me, regardless if their attention meant to warn me or to mock me given that I never had the privilege to study there. Alas, I knew who ruled there. I am the very brother of the leader of the student government that supervised that school's peculiarities. Threatening me about not coming out alive from something is not a loud warning signal to me but a marketing spiel a customer service agent would spit on a usual Tuesday graveyard shift.

"Ahh, there it is," a satisfied smirk graced their lips, and an unsettling gleam ignited upon their eyes, almost predatory. A gleam they seem to have been waiting for all this time. "A glimpse of the man your father once was."

I did not expect hearing someone find a resemblance between me and my father would unsettle me like a flicked switch. Of all the memories I have with him, more than half only consisted of him exercising brutal efficiency to train me as a spare. The other half was a tumultuous bunch of him genuinely happy as a father, which reminds me of how excellent a father he had been once yet I was forced to live with his hollow shell for most of my life. 

"You speak as if you know him. I wish I could say the same." An unaccounted bitterness slipped as I spoke. The image of his back has once again resurfaced, the image I am more used to than his face. "It's quite refreshing, though. I was always said to be every inch my mother's son instead of my father's. My brother would always take that title."

The once bakery owner laughed in amusement, seemingly toward the transparent effect of mentioning my father in my face. "Oh, you are, indeed. You look every inch of her, yet in spirit, you are every inch Clyde Vantress' son," she shook her head contemplatingly as if she was reminiscing about the good old times. "It's funny how the two of you seem to follow the same path. Seeing you alive prevents me from actually acknowledging he's really dead dead."

"Then you might as well live a life of denial because I will not be dying any soon like him," I retorted, not letting them get to the small trembling boy underneath my layers of cynical and egoistic facade. "And I will not be siring children who I would offer to endless games of schemes and revenge."

Let them think they successfully break into your nerves. Play along, Sean.

"I do not doubt the latter," Aling Maya sighed as she smiled. She pressed both her aged and veiny hands together in front of her. Their acolytes remain still like statues on their backs. "But... both of you are innately gentle souls. Both of you never wanted blood but were never afraid of spilling it. Both of you fell in love with a Dela Vega, making their idealistic and naive dreams of peace even if it means cutting your own arms and limbs. Both of you never felt belonged to the family and society you were born into. Both of you craved the world outside the bubble, yet every fiber of your being screams for a field of bloodbath and war of strategies that can only be found there. Both of you shine there. Both of you selflessly let the woman you love for the greater good, for the bigger picture. Both of you have known sacrifice and duty all your life that a day of freedom feels like the grace of God."

Sa kabila ng ilang taong disiplina sa pagkontrol ng kompostura, tila ang buong paghahalintulad niya sa amin at kay Papa ay parang lubid na nakatali sa leeg ko na walang habas na humihigpit nang humihigpit sa bawat paghinga. It's gradually depriving me of air. It's trying to knock down doors long closed in the shadows. All these years, I hardly recognize the similarities we have, but when other people put it like this, I could only hope we have seen different people.

Pero hindi ito ang oras para maglamlam sa pagkakapareha naming dalawa. Patay na siya at ako, buhay. Think, Sean. Think. There's something about that gleam in their eyes. There's something about the smirk they have. There's something about Clyde Vantress that they saw in me, which prompted them to mention these similarities.

The reels at the back of my mind turn aggressively as it try to resist the registration of churning feelings in my chest and stomach. Clyde Vantress. Me. Same?

Then, it clicked.

They did not just know my father. They met him. Fought him. Talked to him. Knew him better than any of his children ever will. The arrangement the Mhorfell Children had. It's as if... It's as if they walked the same halls of the academy where the young Clyde died and was reborn as the Vantress sole master. 

Of course... it fits. Their age, their familiarity with my father, and their history. The vulgar and morbid death sentence they gave to the infamous Alexandra Dela Vega that reeks of grudges and accumulated hatred and insecurities. Then, is their master connected to their time in Mhorfell Academy, as well? 

Beyond my flow of consciousness and thoughts that felt like I had dragged for hours, Maya continued. Only half a minute has passed. My alertness stirred back to its peak as I summoned my entirety back to the present and when I came to, Maya's tongue answered the guesses with question marks in my head. Like gasoline to fire, a trigger to a gun, a spark on a gunpowder, the blanks were filled.

"...but most of all, both of you were blood traitors!"

Sa isang iglap, ang nagpapakiramdaman pang dalawang panig ay tumalon sa laban nang walang alinlangan. Pouring all unspent rage and untold resentments, the coined insult to my father and me called upon the hiding reinforcements of theirs from the protection of bushes and trees. One of them even managed to swoop in just a few inches away from my throat, a dagger ready in his hand to do that one ultimate slash. That is until my left hand acted ahead to grab his neck first and my right leg knocked his legs to wrestle him down to the dirt.

Muli pang iwawasiwas ng kalaban ang patalim sa 'kin ngunit agad kong hinablot ang pala-pulsuhan niya at doon idinirekta ang lakas ko. Bago pa dumaan ang kahit anong oportunidad sa kaniya, ginamit ko ang libreng kamay ko para itulak ang isa tungo sa dibdib nito. I swiftly knelt with my one leg and the other pushing my weight over his abdomen to stop him from further squirming. When he keeps on struggling to overpower his own dagger from piercing him, mabilis kong ipinukpok ang kanang kamay ko sa kaliwang nakahawak sa patalim hanggang sa bumaon na nang tuluyan sa kaniya ang dala-dala niyang armas. Hindi ko binitawan ang armas kahit na ba nagmumumog na siya sa sarili niyang dugo habang kaawa-awa niyang hinahabol ang hiningang mabilis na naglalaho. It was only when his motor functions faltered that I pulled the dagger and did what he was about to do to me earlier. A clean slit to the throat. The only song I heard from him is a struggling groan and whatever sound remains of him is the soft splattering of the crimson liquid that was once housed in his arteries and veins.

I did not spare the poor soul any attention any longer than I should, my hand decisively throwing the dagger in the direction of one of Axel's pool of attackers. It landed on the lackey's nape, rendering him dead as soon as it pierced through the front of his neck. Cromello grimaced at the unwelcome splatter of warm blood on his face, but it did not take us long to detach ourselves from any care about our appearance. 

Roars born from rage came from all directions with sharp and glinting weapons as accessories. And we answer it with our own. At some point, akma na akong dadayo para tumulong sa iba nang isa na namang mabilis at hindi inaasahang atake ang dumaan sa linya ng paningin ko. At 'di tulad ng nauna, nahagip nito nang kaunti ang pisngi ko. I staggered ever so slightly at the strength of the agent's sudden but firm pursuit, cursing under my breath as my mind registers the inflicted graze on my skin.

Suspicious. Some of these blokes... They're too swift. 

"Not so fast, Vantress," the once-fish vendor chuckled maniacally as she waved the small knife that she used to mark my cheek. "What? Helping another Cromello again?"

I pursed my lips in annoyance, getting irritated over the emphasis on how we Vantresses keep on screwing ourselves up because of women bearing a Dela Vega or Cromello lineage. It's a well-established fact throughout the Underground, yes. But I hated how they made it sound like our entire identity revolves around it.

"What do I say? They're quite a handful, they have to be looked after from time to time," I casually said as I used my left backhand to wipe the blood streaming from the graze. In my peripheral view, each of my ushers is fighting their pursuers, the rest attempting to ditch theirs to aid Axel who's being pressured from all sides.

Ako lang ba o tila sinasadyan nilang puntiryahin ang kambal ni Alex? 

Salamat sa napansin ko sa unang dalawang atake, braso lang ang nadaplisan sa 'kin nang walang pasabing sumulpot sa gilid ko si Aling Maya upang samahan si Aling Tere na pawang aliw na pinanonood kung paano ko takpan ngayon ang kanang braso ko. Unlike the graze on my left cheek, the hit on my arm was a little deeper, the blood gushing as soon as an opening was made. And what is human if not water made flesh. 

"Is that all you've got? Did that woman who you've been bedding for days take all the work that night?" Not even the sea's salt could have wound me except the fake vendor expertly proceeded with a taunting about Mihrimah. And I admit it stung.

I grunted, focusing on my breathing to keep myself restrained, not allowing another name to shake the ground I stood upon. "A stalker being acquainted with a set of stalkers. I can't say I'm surprised."

"Oh, except she's not with us. It would have been nice if she was. If she was, her sole order would be to kill you, not bed you, protect you, and feed you." Aling Maya tilted her head, bored as thousands of thoughts to end this party ran through her head.

Sa kabilang banda, ang dapat na simpleng mga salita at sarkastikong turan nila ay nagpamulat pa sa 'kin ng panibagong katotohanan. Katotohanang tumalo pa sa pagkakatanto ko na ang dalawang ale at ang mga kasamahan nila ay pawang mga enhanced ding indibidwal. Those swift brandishing of weapons that almost went unnoticed from my mundane sight and the hints of them being aware of this whole fiasco better than anyone else. The aching discomfort from grazes that I have come to dismiss now that another discovery has been uncovered. All of these paled against that one sarcastic response.

"Hindi ako nepo baby, so yes, I do have a job. Not a 9-5 but the pay is good," agad niyang bawi. "Because if it's 9-5, how the hell would I find time to visit you and this cutie?" Mihri turned to Bean and gave him multiple pats, which the latter happily barked at.

"I see. What kind of job is it?" I probed, gauging the conversation with pretentious interest. "If it's flexible, a writer? A freelance editor or something?"

Mabilis itong nagkibit-balikat. "Nah, just handling errands, mostly," she answered as she prepared Bean's portion. "Watching over my boss' relatives while he's out. Buying food on behalf of him. Delivering it at the earliest time possible. See that the food was eaten. Things like that. His work doesn't allow him much time for everything, so he hires me to do stuff."

Is Mihrimah's boss my brother?