"Aray!" Napadaing ako nang maramdaman ko ang pagsalampak sa lupa.
"Cleschia?"
Agad akong napamulat ng mata at tumingin sa gawing kaliwa ko nang marinig ko ang boses na yun pero gulat na gulat din akong napaatras.
"Prince!"
"What are you doing...ah, no. How come you're here?" Naguguluhang tanong nito sa akin.
"Hindi ko alam!" I exclaimed. "I was just sitting on my bed nang bigla na lamang akong nakaramdam ng paghila. And here, makikita ko na lamang ang sarili kong nasa ibang lugar na?!" Saglit kong pinagmasdan ang lugar at napansin kong may ilog pala sa harapan namin at sa likod naman ay mga naglalakihang puno. Infairness, this place is somewhat relaxing.
"No way. Did I just..."
Napakunot-noo akong tumingin kay Vynth. "You just what, Prince?"
Naagaw ang pansin naming dalawa nang biglang tumunog ang relo niya, hudyat na may tumatawag. Pinindot niya iyon. "Yes?"
"Vynth, Cleschia suddenly disappeared," boses ni Lemery.
His eyes are still glued to me. "No, she's with me."
"Huh? How come?"
"Still figuring it out. I'll hang up now." He ended it.
He sighed as he took away his gaze in my direction. "I don't know if it is correct but I guess I was the one who pulled you here. It happened that I unconsciously mentioned your name and then, you suddenly appeared here."
Napaawang na lamang ako ng labi. "Huh?"
"Since our minor powers are seemingly connected and teleportation is one of my minor powers, then I guess, that is its effect on you."
"So you're saying that I teleported here, Prince?"
"Yeah."
Napabuntong hininga na lamang ako at napatitig din sa harapan. "So, what really is going on between us, Vynth?" mahinahon kong tanong sa kanya.
"I'm not sure also. I'll just ask Father regarding this matter when I meet him again."
Then silence embraced us for a moment.
"You know what, when I was still in the human world, I had been dreaming of this kingdom as well as you," I opened up to him as I think that it is better for him to know this...since he is involved with me. Naramdaman ko ang biglaang pagpukol ng mga tingin niya sa akin pero hindi ko iyon sinuklian. "Within those dreams that you happened to appear, you kept calling my name until such night, you told me there that...I need to be here in this kingdom for I belong here and...you need me." Saying those words, I can't help but smile.
"Dreaming of me, huh? Looks like I was the one who pushed you to be back here." He asked as his gaze is already in the front.
I nodded. "Parang ganun na nga. Those dreams feel like I was talking to you for real. That's why I couldn't avoid assuming that those dreams were made by someone who wanted to send me a message...someone who knows my existence as well as my connection to you." Sa oras na yun ay napadako na rin ang tingin ko sa kanya na naabutan ko ring nakatingin din pala siya sa akin.
"If there would be someone who is knowledgeable about this matter, probably that would be my father, the King."
"Oh, how I wish I could truly meet him." Iniwas ko na rin ang tingin sa kanya. Mahirap na at baka maulit na naman yung kakaibang naramdaman namin kanina.
"That's not impossible actually," he said. "Anyway, did you feel other abnormalities while you were there in the human world?" Inalis na rin niya ang tingin sa akin.
"Ah, yes. There were days that I had felt a sudden pain and even times that I would faint kahit na alam ko sa sariling wala namang problema sa katawan ko. And that time actually, my dreams are all about you being badly injured," I told him until I realized something. "So, were you really injured that time? And that incident could also cause an effect on me?" I asked him.
Hindi man ako nakatingin sa kanya, alam kong natigilan siya nang panandalian hanggang sa napansin ko na lamang ang pagkurba ng mga labi nito. "Now I know why." He said before he made himself lying down on the grass.
Napakunot noo ako sa naging reaksyon niya. Pero bago ko pa man siya tanungin ay muli siyang nagsalita. "You don't need the King to confim your dreams for I now already know." Hindi ko na naiwasang mapatingin sa kanya at naabutan ko nga siyang nakapikit.
"My appearance in your dreams..." he trailed off. "It is actually my soul."
And that last word he said made me awe. "What?!"
He then explained. "When I was injured, I was in a state of unconsciousness for a few days. Until one morning, I woke up with no wounds at all but my powers were not at their usual level. At that time, I felt like I had dreamed some scenarios but I cannot remember them clearly. My body was so tired as if I had traveled to a distant place. Everything was a question at that time, but right now, I am clearly hearing the answers. I might have no knowledge about your existence and connection to me before, but I guess my soul evidently knew what this body needed. My soul approached you in that world and in turn, you healed me through feeling your presence." He then opened his eyes as they met my gaze. "But your presence in this world...made me feel the completeness I've been searching for throughout my life."
"Vynth..."
He gasped and then covered his eyes with his arms.
"This place, Cleschia...this place had become the witness of how I felt so incomplete in my entire life, of how I felt like an insane searching and thinking for that unknown thing I had been missing. And this place also became the temporary replacement for that. I knew that this place holds a clue but I can't really figure it out. Until such day, I was here and I suddenly felt something different on me. The feeling of completeness, I had sensed that until I was able to know where it was coming from. I recognized it from you, on the very first day you stepped into this kingdom. And just at this moment, I realized that you're still the reason why I kept going to this place – for this restricted enchanted forest owns a connection from you, most likely because of the power you were handling. I tried to ignore our connections. I forced myself that it was nothing even though I already heard a hint about it before. I convinced myself that it is not "us" whom they have been waiting for, but I guess, I have to give up this time on escaping from it."
Ewan ko ba kung paano ko natiis na magawang ipako ang mga mata ko sa kanya habang nagsasalita siya at habang binabagabag na naman ako ng kakaibang pakiramdam na ito. Ramdam ko na rin ang pag-iiba ng kulay ng mga mata ko.
"Actually, I do not want to admit this feeling to you as long as I have not settled my relationship with Lemery, but I was caught off guard this time."
He removed his arms from covering his eyes and there, I witnessed again his golden eyes which are glowing like mine. Doon ko na napagtanto na kanina pa pala niya pinipigilan din ang sarili niya.
Para na lamang akong estatwang nakatingin sa kanya habang unti-unti siyang bumabangon hanggang sa nasilayan ko na lamang ang mukha nitong ilang pulgada na lamang ang lapit sa akin.
"Cleschia, we're the ultimate destined that this kingdom has been waiting to unite."