The Grimoire

Chapter 14: Portrait

"Vermillion!"

My eyes forcefully opened, and I saw Cairo holding my sternal area while I was laying down on the sand. I felt the warmth of his magic that helped me escaped that black room. Evie and Leo were standing beside him while looking at me with a worried expression. I don't see Sheena and her team anywhere though.

"Oh my god!" rinig kong sabi ni Evie. "You can't just stop your breathing and pulse like that!" reklamo niya. Did I ... die?  "What the hell were you thinking?!" reklamo niya ulit at napahawak siya sa ulo niya habang naglakad palayo ng kaunti. I didn't do that though, it was Night.

Hindi ako nagsalita at pilit kong hinabol ang paghinga ko. Bumitaw na si Cairo sa dibdib ko and he raised my body using his arms at sinandal niya ako kay Leo. This time, I gasped for air at napahawak ako sa dibdib ko. How can I explain what happened? Evie walked back towards our direction, and she bent down her knees to check on me. Before she could even talk, I saw how her mouth slightly opened as her eyes widened. She then glanced at Cairo na nakaluhod pa rin sa sand habang tinititigan ako. He looked calm but confused. 

"W-W-Wha-" hindi natapos na sabi ni Evie habang tinuturo ako.

"If you'll ask me what happened, hindi ko alam kung anong isasagot ko," reklamo ko. "Kasi ako mismo, hindi ko alam kung anong nangyari. I'm confused as you are," reklamo ko ulit.

Pinilit ko ang sarili ko sa pagtayo at humarap ako sa kanilang tatlo. This time, Leo's eyes widened too at napatayo siya. Evie and Cairo then stood up too at sabay nila akong tinitigan. Leo tilted his head as if he was studying me and I saw how confused he was. His mouth slightly opened as he glanced towards Cairo as if he was waiting for him to talk.

"What's the meaning of this?" he asked.

"What's the meaning of what?" I asked. Evie then took a ball of water from the sea, and she froze it midair, forming a mirror out of ice. The ice floated in front of me and just like their reaction, I got surprised as well. Evie's ice melted into the sand, and I had no choice but to look at them.

"Are you...." Evie paused at lumapit siya sa akin. Ngayon ko lang napansin- my vision is blue which means my left eye stayed blue this whole time. It took a couple of seconds until my original vision turned to normal. "Oh my god!" she panicked at napaatras siya. "She's a Babylonian!" she exclaimed. 

"Oh," Leo replied. "Oh, what the--" he paused at he took a deep breath as an act of accepting what he just heard. "Oh, what in the actual plot twist is this," he added at napatingin siya kay Cairo.

"Why aren't you surprised?!" reklamo ni Evie. "Oh, please don't tell me you knew all this time?" she asked.

"Wasn't it obvious?" he asked and both of them gasped out of disbelief. 

"It makes me want to break your tongue, seriously, Cairo," Evie replied. "Hindi mo dapat itinatago sa amin. This is an important matter! We're a team!" reklamo niya.

"She's right!" singit naman ni Leo. "Bakit parang wala kang tiwala sa amin?" tanong niya. "Come on! We guys have been in one team since we all enrolled few years ag--" hindi na natapos ni Leo ang sinabi niya nang biglang may sumabog sa gilid namin.

Napatingin kaming lahat and we saw a part of the asylum exploded.

"Oh no," Evie said. "Sheena and her time are there already," she added.

Hindi ko alam kung ano ba ang nangyari basta ang alam ko, the sand dispersed into the air when Cairo jumped towards the building. Napatingin kaming tatlo sa kaniya and he looked like he was about to panic. Is he scared to lose her? Like how he loses Farrah? His brows furrowed out of anger, and I saw how his magic began to surround him which formed a dangerous purple aura. He landed on one of the nereast trees sa building and he extended his arms, two long swords then appeared in front of him. He took them and he jumped again towards the part of the building where something exploded.