The Alchemist

CHAPTER 31: Wrath

CHAPTER
THIRTY-ONE

Wrath

"Oh my god.."

Tumigil si Veronica sa paglalakad at tumingin sa ibaba. Hindi niya makita ang pinakailalim ng bangin na nasa ibaba nila dahil nilalamon ito ng kadiliman at makapal na hamog. Halos tatlong beses na rin siyang natapilok at muntik mahulog. They were supposed to at least save her son, not potentially kill themselves in the process of doing that.

She asked Feliciah several times if they could just do some magic in order to reach the castle, pero hindi ito sumasagot. Nagsisimula nang maubos ang pasensya niya pero inisip na lang niya na katulad niya ay nahihirapan din ang kapatid niya na umakyat sa matarik at mabatong bundok na ito. She was so sure that if there was something better than this route, Feliciah would surely choose the latter.

Then her mind wandered back to the times when she was with her son. When they first climbed a mountain together because she thought he would love it. He hated it. Sure, he loved walking but climbing was a different thing. Naalala niya kung paano ito tahimik lang at hindi nagreklamo nang umaakyat sila at kahit noong nasa tuktok na sila ng bundok. She was smiling of course, thinking that he was enjoying it. Dalawang linggo nang malaman niya ang totoo nang marinig niya ang anak at ang pamangkin niya na nag-uusap.

"How was mountain climbing? Was it good?" Ysabella asked expectantly. She went to a camp that summer and just found out about Veronica's and Simon's little outing.

"Mountains are great." Veronica smiled after hearing that. She knew that he would love it. "Climbing is dreadful."

Kumunot ang noo ni Veronica. Okay, maybe she just assumed that Simon was a fan of climbing since he loved taking long walks.

"Yeah.." He lazily played the only strawberry left on his plate. "But Mommy likes it, so I kinda like it too. She looked really happy when we were climbing."

She slipped and almost fell down when Feliciah caught her arm. She looked at her sister, feeling her vision getting blurry. She missed her son. Simula nang isilang niya ang anak, wala na siyang ginawa kundi ang protektahan ito. Takot na takot siyang pati ito ay kunin sa kanya. She did everything to protect him, at sa isang iglap ay hindi na niya iyon nagawa. Naging mahina na naman siya. She let her guard down which protected her heart and her son for years, just for Sinco.

Because of him, her life was getting shattered again.

"You look shit," Feliciah suddenly blurted out, and Veronica wasn't sure how to react.

It was not the time to worry how she looked like. But of course, she looked shit. She felt shit.

"Mamamatay na yata ako," she said kneeling. Her head was starting to spin.

Hinawakan ni Feliciah ang kanyang kamay kaya napatingin siya sa mukha ng kapatid. Napasinghap siya nang makita ang pagbabago ng kulay ng mga mata nito. Sa isang iglap ay nasa loob na sila ng palasyo.

Nanlaki ang mga mata niya at napatayo. Tinuro niya ang kapatid na tila pinagbinintangan ito. She couldn't scream. Hindi niya alam kung may maaaring nasa malapit sa kanilang kalaban.

"You can fucking teleport!" Pasigaw na bulong niya habang malapit ang mukha sa kapatid. Hindi naman ito sumagot kaya hindi siya makapaniwalang napailing-iling. Gusto na niyang saktan si Feliciah.