Third Person POV
"Saan ka galing?" Bungad ni Lysander sa kababalik na si Lucien.
He left for two weeks, without any communication to any of them. Iyon ang routine ni Lucien simula nang mawala ulit si Astraea. Kung saan saan siya pumupunta para hanapin ito. He just finished looking at every corner of the country, pero gaya nga ng sabi nila, mahirap hanapin ang taong nagtatago. He is sure that Zeus is hiding Astraea, at mukhang magaling si Zeus sa pagtatago dahil hindi ito nahanap ni Lucien.
"Germany. Hinanap si Astraea. Nagsalita na si Hera?" Napahilot sa sentido si Lysander at tinignan ang monitor kung saan makikita doon si Hera na prenteng nakaupo sa kama niya.
Nawala na sila nang gana pang pahirapan ito dahil kahit anong gawin nila dito ay hindi nito sinasabi kung nasan si Zeus. When they first caught her, agad nitong sinabi na sinabihan niya si Zeus na itakas si Astraea. They tried torturing the information out of her, but six months of torture is not enough to make her speak, kaya nagsawa rin sila.
At kahit nakakulong na nila ito ay hawak pa rin sila ni Hera sa leeg; alam niya na hindi siya papatayin ni Lysander hangga't alam niya kung nasaan si Zeus at Astraea.
"No,"
"Why don't you just kill her?" Tanong ni Lucien.
Lysander stayed quiet, hindi dahil sa hindi niya alam ang isasagot pero dahil sa hindi niya alam kung magugustuhan ba ni Lucien ang isasagot niya.
Tortured people will do everything to seek revenge, he's keeping Hera alive to make sure that Astraea will come back. Si Hera ang magiging sagot nila para makabalik si Astraea, yun ay kung hindi pa ito nabaliw dahil sa dinanas niya sa kamay nito. But he highly doubt it. He checked for fingerprints sa baril na nakuha nila sa basement ng bahay ni Hera, Astraea's prints were there. An information he kept from Lucien.
Lucien lost it when he wasn't able to find Astraea in Hera's house, na nagresulta sa pagpatay nito kay Elara in which Lysander cover up by saying she died during the ambush. After that, Lucien took every surviving person in that scene and tortured them for months. After three months of acting like a rabid animal, he was able to take his composure back, at nagsimula na lang hanapin si Astraea.
But he was never the same after that. Hindi na ito katulad nang mapaglarong si Lucien, he became more like Lysander, na may isang matayog na pader na nakapalibot sa kanila, except that Lucien can easily be broken once he sees Astraea, dahil ang kay Lysander ay buong buhay nang nakapalibot sa kanya. No one can ever break it. Not even killing Hera for what she did to his wife will break that wall.
**After two years...
"Lucien, can we go watch a movie?" Napairap si Lucien nang kumapit pa ang babae sa braso niya.
If only not for his mission, he would have pushed her away. Pero ito ang misyon na binigay sa kanya ng kapatid. Ang makipaglapit kay Shanna Saavdera, because she might look dumb but she knows something important about the Saavedras that Lysander wanted to know para masiguradong masira ang pangalan ng pamilya nito na pilit kumakalaban kay Zepharos.
Nangmawla kasi si Astraea ay hindi lang kay Lucien nagkaron iyon ng epekto. It was worse for Zepharos dahil pakiramdam niya ay nangyari ulit ang nangyari sa aswa niya, hindi pa nakatulong na dalawang buwan simula nang mawala si Astraeaq ay nalaman niyang nagpakamatay ang asawa niya. It took a toll on him kaya nawala ang buong atensyon nito sa kompanya, and Shanna's father is taking that opportunity to take over the company. Bagay na hindi naman hahayaan ng mga Lardizabal.
"Sure, Shanna..." He answered nonchalantly.
"And then can we go to your condo again?" Makahulugan nitong saad at diniin pa ang dibdib sa braso ng lalaki.
"Sure, anything you want."
Good thing Shanna Saavedra took a liking to Lucien nang minsang makita niya ito sa kompanya ng mga Frias, so they used that to get to her. Kuhain ang loob nito at malaman ang kung anong nalalaman nito para masira ang pamilya nila. Pero kahit mukhang tatanga-tanga ay hindi ganon kadaling magsalita ang dalaga, it's been two months since he started dating her, pero wala pa rin siyang nakukuhang impormasyon. Naiirita lang siya dito.
"Ouch!" She whimper when she suddenly lose balance when she walked through a slight elevation on the floor. Lucien immediately caught her waist and help her stand up properly. "Thank you. HIndi ko na-notice yung maliit na elevation."
"Na-notice..." Pag-uulit niya at umiling.
"Why?" Muli siyang umiling sa dalaga.
"Let's go,"
Ginawa nila ang ni-request ng dalaga at kinagabihan ay nagising si Lucien na tumutunog ang telepono niya, iritableng inalis niya ang kamay at binti ng dalaga na nakalingkis sa kanya para makabangon. He didn't bother making himself decent at lumabas sa balcony ng condo niya nang walang saplot at sinagot ang tawag.
"What?"
"Where are you?" Bungad na tanong ni Lysander.
"With Shanna. Why?"
"Zepharos called, bumalik na si Astraea."
**End of Chapter**
