Night of Waterfalls (Venom Series #2)

Chapter 50

Chapter 50: Announcement

The storm had stopped. There was no lightning or thunder, but the green lights in the sky, like remains of fireworks, rains of shooting stars— still falling, seeping as if creating a thread in the sky.

There were gentle raindrops and a cold breeze— not meant to destroy but to soothe, telling me that I had finally opened my eyes again—that I could feel these emotions again with the thought of not running away.

"Babalikan . . . paulit-ulit na babalikan, Mahal . . ."

I bit my lower lip. I slowly turned around. I tilted my head up to meet his eyes—his emerald eyes, his tall frame illuminated by the green lights on his sides, the shadows on his cheeks, the small droplets of water gliding down his nose bridge to its tip and to his lips.

King Tobias Caesar Le'Vamueivos, a living silhouette against the glowing sky.

I trembled, my hands were about to pull away, but he took them and brought them to his chest. My knees buckled, and he allowed me to slump to the floor as he kneeled to follow me. One of his hands delicately cupped my cheek.

"I'm sorry . . . I'm sorry . . ." I uttered repeatedly with my tears streaming down my cheeks. My hands tightly gripped the fabric on his chest, my forehead leaned on him, and I closed my eyes, whispering my words over and over.

"I am so coward . . . I chose to run away. To forget . . . to leave and abandon you."

Tobias didn't reply. Instead, he just allowed me to hear his breathing as the rain continuously soaked us.

Then I gasped, my eyes widened, and looked around, I saw the cloaked woman behind Tobias, but as the wind blew, falling off the hood of her black cloak, I saw myself with a relieved expression. And then she disappeared in the thin air.

I shook my head, grasped Tobias's wet clothes, and looked at him again. "Y-you knew . . . you knew that I've been talking to myself. You knew that I am insane—" he cut me off.

This time, it was both of his hands that cupped my face. "I know that you're a fighter, and you'll soon realize everything. You're not insane. You just got tired. You just got weak. You needed rest."

I shook my head again, unable to process his words.

"B-but I could have killed you!"

Nahampas ko na siya sa dibdib. "I could have hurt you with that arrow! You knew that I was about to attack you! You didn't even move! You stayed waiting for that arrow!"

Nanghihina kong ibinaba ang dalawa akong kamay mula sa dibdib niya at mas itinuon ko ang noo ko roon. "I could have hurt you again." I whispered.

"Can you remember it all?"

Muli akong nag-angat ng tingin sa kanya at ilang beses akong umiling. "N-not all of it."

He sighed. "It's alright. It will come back eventually."

My brows creased. I frustratingly wiped the waterdrops on my face as I looked at him. "Why are you so calm after everything happened?"

"I am so happy, love. So much . . . now tell me, tell me what you remember the most . . ." he gently whispered as his fingertips pushed aside the strands of my wet hair that covered my eyes.

I couldn't utter a single word. All I did was stare at him as both of us were drenched by the continuous falling rain— and a mixture of darkness and green lights in the whole Parsua Deltora.

For the first time, after I opened my eyes without memory, I witnessed this expression from him—a feeling of genuine calm and serenity.

Tobias was no longer kneeling in front of me because he was already sitting, both hands pressed on the floor, behind his back, legs straightened, as he tilted his head to the sky with his eyes closed, there was a glint of a smile on his face as he allowed the raindrops traced him as if detailing his image in a painting. The dim green light overwhelmed him.