Brother's Creed (Hiatus)

Prologue

Manila Bay, 1893

The strong scent of the sea that permeated the air, the loud sound of the waves hitting the shore, and the creaking of the ships made me realize how much I'd miss this place. The arid climate, plain lands, and the thousands of islands and the strong rushing waves of the rivers that took all my willpower to cross through would surely make me homesick while in Spain.

But then, all of these wasn't for me. It was for my brother. My brother who was so young and when all the fun of youth was taken away from him.

Ever since we were young, my brother and I loved taking a bath by the river. But ever since weird gashes started appearing his skin, it suddenly stopped being happy as before. He was terrifying, Ricardo. No one dared to look at him in the face, because as he grew older, the gashes multiplied and his face contorted into some weird manner. The doctor's diagnosis: leprosy.

We stayed away from the people and the world's most annoying people: priests, who said that Ricardo did something wrong to God. They were the craziest bunch of people as Ricardo was one of the world's kindest people I knew! Rumors floated around after the declaration of the priests, which caused the people to panic and to stay away from him. Some even told me to avoid him! But I can't since it's only us to look out for each other. He told me his crafty and unique love advice and his experiences before he got deeply ill, and I took care of him! But still, even if our parents left us a big amount of fortune, there wasn't still a serious cure for the sickness.

Good thing,  Tia* Teodora and Ate* Gregoria stayed with us. And with that, Ricardo never again attempted to kill himself, because he felt how it is to have a family again.

Now that I'm here, Ricardo's life will change. He'll be cured of his disease. And we'll soon take a bath by the waterfalls again! As long as he waited for me. As long as I would return here and he's still in a somewhat stable condition. As long as...

"Hey," Ate Gregoria said, patting my shoulder. My smooth camiso de chino's sleeves reached my sweating palms that held my suitcase. "No need to be afraid! This is your dream!"

I swallowed the lump that was forming in my throat and said, "I'll miss you, ate."

Ate smiled and touched my cheek. Her calloused hands worked up from working at the farm, "aww, that's okay! I'll be writing per month to see how you're doing! No need to be homesick!"

Smiling seemed to be the only answer to her statement, so I smiled.

"Remember to put the herbs on Ricardo's skin, alright?" Ate nodded. "And, the medicine for Tia Teodora's Arthritis?" She did the same action again, but this time, grunting. "And your le–"

"YES! The letters I know that!" Strong woman as ever. "Go on now, fulfill your promise to Ricardo!" she said that out loud that many people turned around to check the noise. I felt a surge of embarrassment at what she had done. Can I just sink to the ground now?

I chuckled and with one last pat on my shoulder from ate's hands, I wrapped my arms around her tightly! And there it went, tears started forming at the edge of my eyes and before I knew it, I was crying like a kid in front of her. She didn't seem to bother as she pushed me away from her.

"Paalam*, Illustrado*."

I looked at her one last time and with that, I started walking on the gangway.

Wait for me, Ricardo. Just you wait...