LUNA: The Witching Hour

9: Mother

A little girl escorted me to my bedchamber decorated with ornate walls and ceiling. She was the same age as Day but smaller and thinner. She was so pale and skinny I thought I was looking at a living dead, but she had spoken to me with hoarseness in her tiny voice that I offered her a piece of bread I had taken from the table earlier. Hindi tinanggap ng bata kaya nainis ako. Stupid girl. I said to her. Wag mong tanggihan ang grasya.

And she told me, "Hindi ako kumakain niyan. Kung gusto mo akong pakainin, bigyan mo ako ng kaluluwa"

Courageous, I'll give her that but still an idiot. Nakalimutan kong kaluluwa nga lang pala ang kinakain nila. It was only Sage who didn't want to eat souls anymore. It was only him who had the heart of being merciful when he could have taken all the souls he wished to have— considering that he was a king and of royal blood. But he didn't, and I still don't know why he chose to leave his kingdom.

So many unanswered questions. So many to seek.

Seek. That word.

Hindi ko alam kung paano nangyare, pero simula ng gabing iyon, hindi na ako kinulit pa ng boses sa aking tulog. Seek, my wildrose. That was the phrase. But the voice, I couldn't remember the voice anymore.

Now, that voice is gone, replaced by the suffocating nightmares that hunts me every night.

Umupo ako sa duluhan ng kama at napatunga-nga sa kawalan. Sumagi nanaman sa isip ko si Zagreus at kung paano kami nagkasagutan. But I don't want to think about him anymore so I push my thoughts about him aside and remind myself that everything he does is calculated. Every movement of him has an agenda behind it. No one's dumb enough to think that a Midnight Zagreus only does things out of boredom. He does things because he has goals to achieve.

Huminga ako ng malalim. Nakapagpalit na ako ng damit at ngayon ay suot suot ko ang isang nightgown na abot hanggang sahig at kulay abo. Mamaya ay may kakatok sa pintuan para iabot ang aking hapunan.

The Emperor was nowhere to be seen and I couldn't be happier to be alone with my unborn child.

Or so I thought.

Dark streaks of smoke and shadows whirled in the air my immediate reaction was to snap my nails out and sharpened my canines, but when a tall and chiseled male with emerald eyes and dark hair in a tight bun emerged before me, I managed to calm myself down.

Hinablot ko kaagad ang unan na nasa aking gilid sabay bato ito sakanya. Walang kahirap hirap na sinalo ni Tartarus ang unan at binigyan ako ng matalim na tingin pagkatapos.

"You're welcoming me with a pillow thrown at my face?" Binato niya saakin pabalik ang unan at sinalo ko 'rin ito. "I'm still your High Ruler, you know"

He's in his battlesuit even though it's already night--- the battlesuit of the Pack.

Walang emosyon ko siyang tinignan. "Sabi ni Zagreus bukas ka pa dadating" I said, ignoring his statements. I don't really have the time to be in another argument with another demon. "At kung hindi ka pa sinasabihan, High Ruler, entering a female's room without her consent is very indecent and offending"

Tartarus waves at me dismissively while he walks his way to a chair. Plopping down after. "I had my permission from the Emperor already. Ako na ang bago mong escort, Hades" Kinuha niya ang mansanas na nasa katabing lamesa. Inamoy amoy niya muna ito bago kagatin. "Sabihin mo nga saakin kung bakit kayo nag away ni Zagreus"