Team Alpha

Chapter 45

'The Depth of the Sea'

XIN

"Bakit ayaw mong pumunta? He's calling you—I mean, us." I was trying to convince Hoshi for almost an hour now pero hindi siya nakinig at nagpatuloy lang sa paglalaro ng monopoly kasama sina Duke at Xy. Sinabi niya kasing ayaw niyang pumunta sa Star Kingdom. And I'm not forcing him to go, I'm just trying to get a valid reason why he's not going.

The only things he says is that he's lazy and he doesn't want to go.

"He can wait." Tipid niyang sagot kaya tumingin nalang ako sa wall clock. It's six in the morning now. Napasapo nalang ako sa noo ko at hinayaan na sila dun. I can't force him anyway.

Lumabas nalang ako ng kwarto nila at nag-inat tsaka naglakad papunta sa living room at hindi na ako nabigla nung may umakbay sa akin habang pababa ako. Tiningnan ko lang si Jayden na tahimik na naglalakad sa tabi ko habang inaakbayan ako.

Tumingin rin ako sa kanan ko nung biglang sumulpot si Seth at inalis ang braso ni Jayden sa balikat ko tsaka pinalit dun 'yung braso niya. Jayden just hissed at him and pulled me away.

"You're too stingy with her. She's my sister too, you know." Sabi ni Jayden at inakbayan ako. Tumingin lang ako sa dalawa na nagbabatukan kaya umupo nalang ako sa sofa pero bigla nalang tumabi sina Baxter at Vernon sa akin tsaka pinisil-pisil ang pisngi ko.

Agad kong inalis ang mga kamay niya at hinawakan ang pisngi kong namumula na.

"What's wrong with all of you today?" Natatawa kong tanong sa kanila dahil hindi naman sila ganito. They're not into cuddles—well, sometimes they do pero naninibago lang talaga ako sa kanila. Walter just sat beside me looked at me.

"Can't we give love to our dear sister?" Walter said but I just pushed his annoying face away because he was grinning at me. "Stop being sarcastic, you demon." Natatawang sabi ko sa kanya pero napaawang lang ang bibig niya at tiningnan ako.

"I'm being serious here! We love you! So much! Like this!" Napapikit nalang ako nung nilagay niya ang mga palad niya sa pisngi ko at pinagpipisil ang mga 'to. I was helpless under his demonic touch that Jun had to pull him away from me at tsaka siya binatukan. Hinawakan ko nalang ang pisngi ko at tiningnan sila tsaka napatawa nalang.

I know that they're sensing that I'm getting sad and lonely again. And I think they're giving me this attention, so I'd cheer up. I just flicked my tongue and looked at the team. I'd never receive this kind of love from anyone else, just from them.

Team Alpha, thank you for the love.

✥✥

In the middle of the night, when the whole team is asleep, except for Jun who's probably reading a book again, gumawa na ako ng portal papunta sa Olympus. Agad akong pumasok at pasimpleng naglakad papasok sa throne room. The demigods greeted me as I made my way into the throne room.

Naabutan ko sila na parang may pinag-uusapang importante. But they all stopped when they saw me standing in front of them. Kumunot agad ang noo ni Zeus nung makita niya ako.

"What are you doing here, Syzygy? I thought I told you to stay in UHT." Napangiti nalang ako dahil sa sinabi niya. So, the letter was really from him. Pumunta lang naman ako dito para kumpirmahan 'yun. Because as bad as it may sound, I don't want to trust anyone right now, not even Luce. That's why I needed to confirm it myself.

"I just want to ask you why you sent Luce to give me the letter, not Zach." Kumunot agad ang noo nung iba dahil sa sinabi ko. Ares looked at Zeus and then looked at me.