The Grimoire

Chapter 48: The Atlantis

KEL

Just like the others, the unexpected revelation was far beyond our comprehension.

Night? Brother of Vermillion?

Night? A Babylonian?

Night? Killed Kraken?

Hindi lang si Cairo maraming tanong dito, pati na rin kamo. Kraken was literally erased at kahit piraso lang, wala talagang natira. Hindi ko rin alam kung bakit bigla nalang siyang lumitaw. There must be a reason why he showed himself alone, and to guess it, kasi baka nalaman ni Kraken ang lahat at bago pa niya masabi kay Vermillion ay inunahan na niya ito. I mean, may ibang rason pa ba kung bakit siya biglang lumitaw after sending Uzma and two of his sins? Kraken's discovery must've been unexpected which led him to make a move.

It's been a couple of minutes at tumahan naman si Vermillion, but she is really down. Gusto ko man siya tanongin kung paano at kailan niya nalaman but I don't wanna ruin the momentum. Kung alam niya dati pa then it doesn't sound right pero alam kong may reason siya dito and hindi naman siguro siya tatalikod sa amin. Night is heavy enough to be one of our enemies, having her as enemy is suicide. Kahit na sasabihin natin na malalakas sina Leo at Cairo, it's not enough. We have to keep her on our side.

"Vermillion," biglang tawag ni Leo kaya napatingin kaming lahat sa kaniya. "I understand how you feel but-"

"I know," she interrupted. She took a deep breath at napatitig siya sa ilalim ng karagatan. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "We should finish this as soon as possible," she said at kumawala siya sa yakap ni Cairo. Napansin kong kumikinang ang crystal na nasa accessory na nakakabit sa braso niya. She closed her eyes in the hopes of composing herself. "We should--"

"The Atlantis is just below us. If Evie can take us down, we'll manage everything. Cairo can stay with you at kami ng bahala maghanap sa Grimoire. This is a serious and sad matter, Vermillion. It's not that I don't trust you, but you need a break, let us handle this," I interrupted at napatingin sila sakin. Um, I was just thinking about it at kusa nang nagsalita ang bibig ko.

"I agree," sagot naman ni Evie. "You need to rest, V. We'll handle this for now," she added.

"We're stronger than you think," singit naman ni Leo.

"No, I can-"

"Vermillion," Cairo interrupted. "Let them handle this," he added. Cairo gave us a nod at inilayo niya sa amin si Vermillion. He unleashed his wings at lumipad sila palayo habang kaming tatlo ay nanatiling nakatayo sa dagat.

"This is sudden, and this is a type of emergency. As much as I want to comfort her so bad, we just need to keep moving and grab the other things that we're supposed to grab to reach our goal. It must be hard but," Evie paused.

"But we have no choice," Leo added at tumango ako. Talaga bang nawala na si Kraken? This is too much to handle.

"Let's go," sambit ni Evie and she activated her magic, allowing us to breathe underwater. I don't know if this is a new typeof magic of hers o minsan niya lang ito ginagamit kasi kadalasan ay pinapapasok niya lang kami sa isang bubble at tsaka kami makakapunta sa ilalim ng dagat.

Before I swam under the ocean, lumingon muna ako to check on Cairo and Vermillion. They were sitting under the huge tree na malapit langsa dating templo na pinasukan namin ni Leo kanina. I took a deep breath at lumangoy na ako pailalim. The water was cold but comforting somehow. I managed to keep up with them and we saw remnants of broken infrastructures which was overgrown by nature. Napansin kong napatigil sila sa isang arc na mukhang dating entrance ng Atlantis kaya tumigil rin ako. Bumungad sa akin ibang parte ng Atlantis na walang sira. It was preserved perfectly and has adapted its new nature under this ocean.