Machiavellian

Chapter Two

Containment

CYRA

The Sun doesn't shine in a yellowish color anymore.

I used to read in old textbooks that's what it used to look like. They call it bright. It's original form. Now, we only have a dull sky. The clouds were always dark in the morning. And at night, there would be thunderstorms. Always thunderstorms that you barely get to sleep through it.

There's no animals anymore. Iyon ang palaging sinasabi ni Sage sa tuwing wala siyang huli pagkatapos ng buong araw na paglilibot sa gubat. It's true, of course. Even I rarely see birds fly. My eyes would only get lucky when it's a little bit colder. One or two birds would fortunately pass by our house.

My mother says there used to be plenty of them. She called it a flock of them. But now they don't get the chance to multiply. No animal does anymore.

I felt sorry for that squirrel when Sage killed it. It could've been a parent. It could've lived for years. It could've been the last of its kind...

Of course.

This is what happens when you tolerate climate change and abuse ecosystems. This is the reality now. What a shame I have to live through it. Hiding.

Simula pa noong mga bata pa kami ng kakambal ko ay sinumulan na kaming sanayin sa magiging buhay naming rito sa Xinthra. Kahit na nagmula ang mga magulang namin sa Levaerun ay hindi pa rin makakaligtas sa amin ang pagkilala na iyon. In fact, it will brought more danger to us. Because here at Xinthra, people kill just to stay alive for a few more weeks.

No one's lucky in Xinthra. Everyday... I hear screams. Dry bloods on every street. No electricity. No food. No water. No clothes. Nothing. No one is to be trusted as well.

No one survives in Xinthra. That's one of the rules of this torn into half nation.

The sick, the stupid, the poor, the useless must be thrown out here. Only the smartest survives in gets live in Levaerun.

Unfortunately for them, I made it my life mission to not live with the rules.

"Ceraena, you were born with a spectrum in your mind unlike anything this world has ever seen. You have a gift. You have intelligence that is threatening and dangerous... How I imagine what will you become one day, sweety."

Naniwala ako sa sinabi ng nanay ko. Matagal rin niyang paulit-ulit na pinaalala ang bagay na iyon sa akin hanggang sa kusa ko na itong naramdaman sa paglaki ko. I was never normal.

I was raised surrounded by advanced textbooks my parents brought from Levaerun that were certainly not suitable for a kid. Pero sa tuwing binubuksan ko ang mga iyon, hindi na ako nakakapagpigil pa. There has always been so much to learn... that I couldn't stop. My parents have been studying me. How I have been and all the things that I could do that were beyond normal for children. The inventions I have already made...

I was a mystery to them, until they came up with a name. The Eveires. An extremely rare and extraordinary syndrome.

Before, they called it a gift. Now, I've seen how they got ahead of themselves and call it power.

After that, they demanded I must be protected.

Doon na pumasok ang kakambal ko.

Sage, on the other hand, is nothing like me. Wala siyang interes sa kahit ano maliban nalang kung may gusto akong ipagawa sa kanya. I have a very obedient sister who's good at surviving. She has been playing an essential part to hide my identity. She's been risking herself everyday for me. Habang ako ay mananatiling nasa tenga niya at magsisilbing isipan niya na rin.