Wisdom and War

Chapter Twenty

Day 1

I remember being alone.

It had been a day after the battle when I found myself walking through the door of Joaquin's room.

The previous twenty four hours was spent going through an endless amount of meetings and moving in between floors. Out of the eight hundred people we had on the field (five hundred from the omada and three hundred from the vice president), almost half of them were lost with most of them coming from the Furas. Along with Rosalind and Felix, the news was planned to be delivered to the respective loved ones within three days inclusive of support from the omada, just like what was done for Nadine's family. The remaining half were either residing in the medical bay or transferred to hospitals inside Manila so that the Soma could still keep an eye on them until they're released. Under those twenty four hours, two were dedicated to informing Crisanto of what happened, including how Eduardo had gone behind his back and was now proven incapable of taking care of himself due to Morana's manipulation. A private institution has agreed to admit him after his family was informed that he had almost overdosed and was now in the process of recovery. At least, that's what everyone else knows. When Crisanto had received the full story, a contract was signed for insurance, stating that the formula created by Morana would not be used by any government official in and out of the Philippines for any situation, even when done in good faith. I knew he wanted to fight on changes in the contract as he sat across from me holding a pen in one hand, but my silence when his new adviser asked questions was enough to send a message that negotiations were not welcome.

Maiko and Elias were busy fixing Banaue Rice Terraces after the battle with the help of Demeter who almost strangled Eduardo with the roots of a nearby pothos when she heard of what happened. Fortunately, the veil I placed around the area held and would last until tomorrow since Athena reinforced another protective veil of her own. She and Ares offered to help with the recovery but Demeter quickly dismissed them, saying how they knew nothing about plants and neither of them even have a green thumb. Athena only nodded in acceptance while the relieved look on Ares' face was enough to say that offering a helping hand was not his idea at all. They stayed here at the omada with me but kept hidden inside the green room with Orion, since the gods never really interacted with mortals and they didn't want to cause a ruckus when everybody was trying to pick up the pieces. Ares used his free time to strip Orion of his title as a descendant once again and was even threatening to permanently send him to Tartarus. Athena was convincing him that it was up to Themis to decide that when I walked in interrupted them. The god of war must've expected that I'd give my thoughts on the subject but I didn't speak a single word, ignoring Orion and informing the gods that everything concerning the omada had been settled and plans on searching for Morana are currently being drafted. They were free to go and I didn't give a damn whether they brought Orion with them or dropped him in the Pacific Ocean.

I found myself heading towards the elevators afterwards, Athena's voice calling for me but I didn't turn around. Word has already spread within the omada about Joaquin, confirming the questions they had when they realized that I came back alone and a certain passive, inked, descendant was nowhere to be seen. No one stepped into the elevator with me and I was thankful for not being approached to sign a document or approve a plan. My feet moved on their own accord, not being completely aware of my surroundings as I walked through the halls and went towards the direction of Joaquin's quarters.

I don't know what triggered me to fall apart right by his door, I didn't even manage to take another step inside when my knees buckled and I felt the adrenaline I've been using to fuel myself drop to zero. Maybe it was his unmade bed, the blankets pooling at the edge of the bed as if the both of us were leaving in haste. Maybe it was the black sweater hanging over his chair- the same one he had thrown at me when we were about to retire for the day after spending half of it preparing the Furas for the battle. We were having another argument since I wanted to head to the Anzani floor where a twenty-four hour surveillance was being done, but he threatened to step on one of the books I left inside his room. As usual, he won without a word coming from me, knowing that my books were one of the few things that I'd happily concede to. Maybe it was the new stack of novels he carried from the library so that I wouldn't need to keep going back and forth for another week just to pick a new book to read. Maybe it was the sketchpad sitting on his bedside table, the current page filled with rough sketches of tattoos that he planned on giving to me. It was a conversation that happened on our anniversary and as a gift, I allowed him to choose the design for my next tattoo.