The Depths of Magus

Prologue

Prologue: Nature

Minerva

Run

I just ran. I never looked back. I just ran.

The numbness of my toes started reaching my legs as I run, but I kept stomping my feet off the wet mud. Sirens that inhabited my ears for God knows how long are slowly vanishing, and the footsteps of what I supposed his men are also off my radar.

Hindi ko na sila maramdaman.

Konti pa, Minerva.

Konti pa.

Even if all the adrenaline is running within, there was one organ inside of me that doesn't seem to feel any numbness. It's got unbearable pain.

Hinayaan kong damhin ng malamig kong balat ang malamig din na pagpatak ng bawat ulan na kalaunan ko lang napansin.

Was I too focused on running that I didn't notice the fall of rain?

The dome was slightly dim, but the rays are still visible, hiding behind the clouds waiting for it to let all the rain pour themselves, so they can move again.

The sky is once again, in tears.

My heart didn't want to rest, it was beating painfully. But I kept pacing fast, never minding the sharp thorns prickling the lower half of my body. I tried connecting my mind to the core of the forest, I felt my body release pressure as my pace starts getting slower.

Ipinikit ko ang pares ng aking mata, at dahan-dahang nakiusap sa mga kaluluwa ng kagubatan. Lumipas ang ilang segundo, ang tanging naririnig ko ay ang paghampas ng aking mga paa sa nagkalat na halaman sa lupa.

Wala.

Hindi ko kaya. I can't find any connection.

My body is too...tired, to try and even work any magic. I've used it all too much.

I just kept running.

With my damp cold hair blinding my eyes and shaking lips, I...I looked back. A wave of relief passed as the path behind seemed like an endless green forest.

And when the distance is finally enough for me, my knees automatically dropped; it's as if they are glued to the ground. The so-called numbness my body was full of, is beginning to wear off. My breath starts hitching, it felt like I was trapped in a room full of gas but I am not, I am not.

I've lost all strength to keep my intuitions stable. Hindi ko na alam kung saan ako dapat pumunta, basta...basta ang alam ko, hindi ko na nakikita pa ang laboratory niya.

Kusang bumigat ang mga talukap ng aking mga mata, sa likod ng pagod at panghihina, hindi nakatakas ang tila maliliit na boses na kaagad pinamahayan ang pandinig ko. My body quirked up, surprised.

Is this help?

Do you think someone's gonna be willing to help you, Minerva?

"Ha? Hindi tayo pinayagan ni Terra!"

"Hindi siya kilala ni Terra!"

"Sino siya para makilala ni Terra?"

"'Wag daw hawakan sabi ni Terra!"

Despite the will of my body to drift off, it's like something within my radius is giving me strength; and I've got a big feeling it's because of the small voices kept muttering words such as Terra.

Terra...

It's like I've heard it before.

"You pained my children, stranger." Just above my head where I am laying down, I felt it deepen. It was a woman's voice that I just heard. Her diction and tone were authoritative. No