The Senses

Chapter 30

Xavier

It was one of the rare times in my life where I was utterly shocked. She was one of them. Circe was a part of Erebos. Worse, she was an assistant of the official named Dreamcatcher. Now I knew why my roommate had a bad feeling about her.

Circe sat on the edge of the stage, dangling her feet as if there was nothing wrong.

"Oh? Bakit parang nakatulala lang kayo? Masyado ba kayong nabigla?" tanong niya sa amin habang tumatawa.

"Pa-paano? Kaibigan ka ni Seine, dapat narinig niya ang mga iniisip mo at malalaman niya na bahagi ka ng Erebos," sabi ko.

Her mouth formed a silent 'oh'. "Iyan ba ang iniisip mo, Xav? Hindi nalaman ni Seine na bahagi ako ng Erebos kasi lumalapit lang ako sa kanya kapag maraming tao ang nakapaligid sa amin. Besides, I try not to think about Erebos."

"I told you she's an overgrown rat snake," Zero mumbled behind me.

"So," tumayo siya at nagpagpag ng damit, "ano ang gusto niyo sa akin?"

Walang nakasalita kaagad sa amin. Parang hindi ko pa rin matanggap na isa siyang bahagi ng Erebos.

"Wala ba kayong sasabihin? Makaalis na nga kung wala."

"Sa-sandali," sabi ko. "Gusto ka sana namin tanungin tungkol sa officials."

She raised her eyebrows. "What about them?"

"Uhh, we just want to know who they are and their situations."

She thought for a moment before she smiled at us. "I see... You want to know who can be persuaded to leave Erebos?"

We all looked at her in shock. When Azazel said she was smart, he wasn't exaggerating. How did she know what we want just by my question.

"Looks like I hit the jackpot." She thought for a moment. "Let me see... Hecate and Set are too loyal so they're crossed off the list. Necromancer has the same objective as Erebos and Ghost only follows him so they are crossed off as well. That leaves Dreamcatcher, Doppelganger and Shadow."

"Do you know them?" I asked.

She shook her head. "Doppelganger and Shadow are too secretive. Hindi mo naman malalaman ang mukha ni Doppelganger dahil nag-iiba siya palagi ng mukha at katawan. Si Shadow naman, palaging nakatago. Nararamdaman ko na may tinatago siya at ang boss mula sa amin."

"So the only choice is Dreamcatcher?" tanong ni Azazel.

"I shouldn't bother with him too. I would appreciate it if you won't involve my brother."

Oh, her brother... Hold up... HER BROTHER?!!!

"Kapatid mo si Dreamcatcher?"

She rolled her eyes at us. "Why do you think I'm in Erebos? Nasa Erebos lang naman kami dahil matagal nang nagsisilbi ang pamilya namin sa kanila."

"But you're helping us. That means you don't agree with them. We can help you escape, Circe."

Umiling siya ulit sa akin. "Hindi mo talaga kilala kung sino ang nasa tuktuk ng Erebos. Kaya niya kaming patayin ng hindi hinahawakan."

"That brings us back to square one," Zero commented. "The others are too loyal while Necromancer has his own desires. We don't know the identity of the other officials as well."

"Ano ba ang gusto ng Erebos? What's their endgame?"

Napatingin si Circe kay Azazel. "Hindi mo sinabi sa kanila?"

"Hindi ko naman alam kung totoo iyon o hindi," dahilan ni Azazel.

Serene held her hands in a stop sign. "Wait a minute lang ha, what are the two of you talking about ba?"