"And the Mighty Huntress just appeared." She sneered devilishly and folded her arms in front as Scyxia approaches me "Are you alright?" she asked with worries in her eyes as she sat down on her feet for us to be on the same level, I'm still shaking in fright so I didn't answer the question Scyxia asked.
"How's your training? Can't slay anyone? You know what, you shouldn't be called the "Mighty Huntress". You should be called hmm... "[3]CRAVEN" she sneered devilishly then laugh that made Scyxia clenched her fists in anger.
[3]having or showing a complete lack of courage : very cowardly.
Scyxia stood up and faced her with blazing eyes "How dare you" she spoke with stress on every word "Dare me what?" she replied then scoffed "You don't have the right to speak about my bloodline Maderia!" she angrily spoke "Ah, so you want me to say that you, are an [4]abomination to that bloodline of yours?" she sneered and give stress to the words 'you' that is said after the word 'that' while pointing at her and 'abomination' that made Scyxia dig her nails in her palms and grit her teeth.
[4]something regarded with disgust or hatred.
"You." she murmured angrily but she managed to control herself in this kind of situation by breathing slowly even though she's very pissed "And maybe that attitude of yours will take you down in a second." Scyxia grinned while staring straight to her and making orange and violet meet each other with great tense.
"There's no attitude could ever bring me down craven, and whatever evidence or habits you caught of me, it wouldn't affect my rank as the eight highest in terminating." she stated confidently that no issues of her can take her down.
"And in that case, it is proved that you are using your place to do such thing to other students who are in the process of improvement to remove their confidence and trust to themselves." a husky voice from nowhere broke the tension of the two girls standing in front of me.
"I've witnessed everything you've done since the very beginning of you being the Eighth rank and it seems like you gained your pride and so much confidence that nothing could ever drag you down." he added without us knowing who is the person speaking that made everyone froze at their places.
"You'll be punished for your actions that are against the oath and the rule of this Academy and so are your whole clique." he ended and I can sense that he's grinning sarcastically right now.
Kathleen is now shivering in fright as she's being hammered at her place "I thought nothing could ever drag you down?" Scyxia sneered devilishly that made Kathleen shiver even more.
A glacial hand landed on Kathleen's neck that made her gasp in shock "How's breaking your own troth? Is it fun? Now you're done, it's my turn to play." he huskily spoke while playing with some strands of her hair then smiled sarcastically.
In a blink of an eye, Kathleen and her whole clique are now dead in different ways. The three girls standing including Kathleen in the middle is being sliced in pieces by some sharp thing that I can't even recognize while the other two that is silently standing in the midst of the crowd, is slaughtered in a different way; the first one is the girl having a sharp needle-pointed nail with a thread tied to the head entrenched in the center of her throat and the other one is now headless and all of them were bathing in their own flesh.
"Now, all of you knew that once a rule is disobeyed. Your life will be played" a hoarse voice from nowhere spoke with devilish grin.
Alycione's breathing became difficult for her like something is squeezing one of her inner organs in her chest, she began hyperventilating placing her clenched fist in front of where her heart is placed; her eyelids became heavier than it already did in every blink of her eyes until she collapsed to the floor creating a loud thud that made Scyxia dashed towards her and tried to wake her up by shaking Alycione's shoulder but nothing happened, a guy with a curly wavy hair happened to suddenly occur from the midst of the frozen crowd and carry her placing his an arm under her legs and another under her back. Alycione felt nothing with a body getting numb in every second that she can no longer fight with.
Meanwhile, at the Esquivel's residence...
"Krys, what are you looking for?" Cleon asked to her lovely wife. She keeps on groping for something inside Alycione's drawer without even giving attention to her fully confused husband.
She found a sketchpad with the own designs of Alycione for the cover and flips every page searching for something; she stopped when she spotted a sketch of a door with some vines with just bloomed flowers surrounding the old wooden doorframe as well as the door with some dusts floating around it that exactly looked like they've seen it before.
She grabbed the sketchpad and showed her husband the door sketched by their daughter "Do you remember this?" she asked her husband as he handed over the sketchpad, he reached the sketchpad and began observing the drawing that their daughter made in the past "I... I do remember." he answered as he caressed the sketched enchanted door.
The sketch suddenly beamed that made Cleon drop the sketched due to being dazzled by the golden yellow light. Krystle ran towards her husband, checking if he's doing fine; they embraced each other as they gaze at the shining sketch.
A golden yellow figure of a woman wearing a sleeveless gown in the same color of her body rose up from the sketch and opened her eyes while she floats above the sketched door.
"Greetings, Cleon and Krystle." she greeted as she gazed at the couple hugging in front of her "H-how did you know our names?" Krystle asked her in confusion, "Nature knows." she answered in a tender tone "Why are you here?" Cleon asked "I'm here to deliver you a message. And its about my daughter who you raised." she answered that made Krystle's eyebrows narrowed "Daughter? What daughter?" she replied "She's the one gone missing for days since the day after her Elementary Graduation and her name is Alycione." she stated that made their eyes widened in shock "You may have forgotten about what happened in the past, but I know the hidden truth won't ever last." she added.
She waved her hand from left to right while some dusts go around her right hand, both of them gasped and closed their eyes shut in unison.
~~~
"Where are we?" Krystle asked Cleon the moment she opened her eyes. They were in front of a small waterfall with a medium sized plunge pool surrounded by some trees with flowers on the ground.
The woman they talked to earlier appeared in front of them "This place, is nature, the falls and the blooming of the plants shows the balance. Where the water flows down to give life to the plants. When the water began to ran out, Earth is in grave danger." she stated as they walk towards it.
"The living and the dead, will no longer be in their place where they need to be." she added "And what does it have to do with Alycione?" Krystle asked "She's the only one, who can keep the balance between the two worlds." she answered.
"I can no longer keep it. She needs you now. She's been taken by her father, and I need you to keep her away from him." she spoke "Why? He's her father, biologically" Cleon spoke with his cold tone of voice and said the word 'biologically' with pain in his heart but he managed to keep it on his own "She's in danger as long as she's with him. He'll use her due to his greed for power and his clan to survive." she informed "Please, save her. Keep her away from him... Please." she pleaded.
Cleon let out a deep sigh "Okay, I'll save her." he answered as he thinks of her missing beloved daughter. She closed her eyes and moved both arms in a circular opposite direction, after both hands meet again, a shining yellow butterfly occurred above her hands as she opened her eyes "Follow this butterfly, and you'll find the way to save her." she instructed.
Back, somewhere in the Sheol Academy...
"Dad, you called for me?" A tall guy enters the room as he asked his father. "Mm. There you are." he spoke as he glared at him after he turned around "The time has come, the real battle is just about to begin. As expected, this generation is the time where she'll be entering Sheol Academy." he stated "She?" he asked "I forgot to mention, she's the daughter of Kore. Better find her before it's too late." he instructed calmly. "Of course. I'll do my best to accomplish what you've told" the guy answered calmly with his hoarse voice, "Do what you've told and don't let distractions get in your way, now go and make sure that you're the only one who'll terminate her" he replied; he nodded, turned around and traipse out of the room.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As I opened my eyes, a bright light greeted me. To make sure that I wasn't in Heaven yet or should I say, dead already. I blink every second to make my blurry eyesight more clear.
I gazed around the room, I saw a dextrose injected at the back of my left hand and an oxygen tank beside the bed I'm laying in.
A doctor was vomited by the large door at the left corner of the room.
"Oh, hi Ms. Esquivel, you're awake" the doctor greeted with a smile.
"W-why am I here? W-what happened?" I asked while trying to remember everything happened before I located myself here laying in the bed.
"Ms. Esquivel, don't panic okay? Just be calm" he said as he raised his hands and moved it forward, signing her to be as calm as possible so nothing bad will happen.
"Okay" I answered calming myself 'Is there something wrong or worse for her to panic easily?' I thought in my mind.
"My name is Dr. Arcellious Undan, Doctor of the Academy." he introduced before answering my questions maybe to calm me down "You were brought here by someone, he said you lose consciousness when you were bullied by someone in your class. I already had a check up on your condition and..."the doctor sighed as he looked at the papers his holding onto.
"W-what is it? I-is it that bad?" I asked as my heart started pounding.
"You experienced heat exhaustion based on what your body performed earlier. Your condition is normal, every student in this Academy experienced this kind of reaction due to heat." he explained.
"And from now on, you need to avoid any stress and stay hydrated." he advised "Will you excuse me, I got some things to do" he grinned.
"Okay" I smiled at him. As he was about to walk out of the room when something popped up in my mind.
"Wait, Dr. Undan" I called that made him stop.
"Hmm?" he turned around to face me
"May I know who brought me here?" I asked
"He said you can call him C, he don't want to tell what's his name nor his information. And now will you excuse me Ms. Esquivel I've got a lot of things to do" he said as he continued to go out of the room.
"'C' so that's his name, a simple clue. I should give him a thank you note for saving my life. After I recover for some time" I thought then I placed my hand at the place where my heart is placed; I closed my eyes as I took a deep breath and listen to every beat of my heart.
My lips curled up as I feel that I'm recovering from my illness. Minutes later, it felt like an apple being slowly crushed by bare hands. My respiration rate drops as my eyesight were all turning around; I put my pointer and index finger at my left temple while my eyelids were getting heavy, at every close, I managed to reopen my eyes to keep me awake.
Every time I does it, it becomes more heavier than it was. Then some time later, I can't fight any longer, I let my eyes closed by itself without thinking of fighting to prevent it from closing.
~~~~~~~
"Make sure she's away from too much stress, this is gonna happen if she was in too much stress or lack of water"
"Understood Dr. Undan"
"Oh, she's awake" the nurse informed Dr. Undan as she gazed at me while pointing at me.
"How do you feel Ms. Esquivel?" he asked
I placed my hand in my heart and started to listen to my dear heartbeat. "I'm good, my heartbeat is in its normal pace and my respiration's okay now" I grinned
"I see" he smirked then nods "And in that case, you're lacking in H2O earlier, didn't you drink water after we talk?" he asked, I looked down while holding my hands "So you didn't?" he let out a sigh then spoke "About the footage being spread, I observed that you can't drink water for some instances... So we took some of your blood samples to examine how we'll give treatment whenever you feel something and replaced it with water that is injected into your body earlier and good thing your body didn't react that bad as result. This is the start and maybe little by little, you can drink water from now on so don't forget to drink water when you go back there okay? You may leave any minute, just remain calm" Dr. Undan reminded and leave the room.
I left the school clinic and went to my favorite spot in the University - the bridge in the midst of some trees where all you can hear was the howling winds and the chirping of birds.
I laid my arms on the railing of the bridge and feel the fresh air greeting me as I close my eyes.
I reopened my eyes and sat down at the wooden bridge. I get my bag and look for my pen and paper. As I found my pen and paper, I wrote a thank you note for 'C'.
Dear C,
Hi C. Thank you for what you did lately, if it wasn't for you I'm not even here anymore writing this for you. And whoever you are, I owe you my life. I'd like to meet you, if its okay?
Yours faithfully,
Alycione
I fold the paper into the size of ¼ and put it inside a gray envelope. I left the note pinned in one of the trees near the cafeteria in the University. 'I hope he replies' I whispered.
"Who is this C? I want to know him" I thought to myself as I wondered who is he.
"Maybe C is the initial of his name, hmm? Was it Cyd? His name starts with C. OH MY GOSH!" my heart started pounding as I imagine that it was Cyd who took me to the clinic after unexpected slaughtering happened in front of me.
I shook my head and took my tumbler as I drink some water to keep me hydrated and at the same time, to prevent dizziness or headache by the hot weather in this place.
I turned my wrist clockwise to see the time.
"Oh, it's already 4:30 p.m." I closed my eyes for a second, I suddenly reopen my eyes when I realized it's almost curfew hour.
"What? 4:30!? I have to go before anything happens" I thought as I immediately bring my bag and dashed to my condominium.
On my way to my condominium, a red envelope caught my eye; I stopped running and go near the tree where the red envelope was pinned by a thumbtack. And there, my name is written; I pulled the thumbtack carefully with my fingers and "Ow, it hurts" I whispered as the tip of my fingers turned red due to pain. I let out a sigh then try it again, this time, more patience and a bit slower.
A moment later, the envelope is now unpinned; I put the envelope in my bag and went to my condo.
When I reached my condo, I inserted the key to the keyhole, turned it clockwise to nine o'clock, pushed the door open and enter the room pushing the door shut. I dropped myself on my nice and cozy bed. I reached my bag and removed all the things inside. I glared at every piece one by one, then I saw the red envelope with my name on it.
I open it and read the letter inside.
Dear Alycione,
Hello Alycione, how are you? Are you feeling better now? if yes, that's great! and if no, I hope you feel better soon. The thing I did back there, uhmm don't mention it, it's okay. You've been bullied too much and no one stands for you, so I stood for you. About our meet up, well.... not for now okay? let's just wait for the right time. ;)
Yours truly,
C
"Who are you C?" I asked myself as I lay down the bed with a loose grip at the paper. As the electric fan goes to my direction the paper flew, I abruptly got out of bed and reached for the paper that the wind had blown away. When the paper touched the ground, it was flipped and a number was written.
+639********* - C
"So this is his number" I reached my phone on the bedside table and saved his number. Right after I saved his number, my phone rang; I almost let go of my cellphone in shock. My heart beats fast as I hold my phone shakily, I looked at the screen and there was an unknown number.
I'm about to tap the answer button but the call ended. I opened my contacts and dialed the unknown number to know who is this person.
I placed my phone near my ear, then suddenly...
"Sorry the number you have dialed is either unattended or unavailable" the voicemail said.
I dialed the number 10 times but still, it's the same message from the voicemail.
"Who are you?" I asked confused while looking at the unknown number.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Cleon's Point of View
I'm now following the shiny yellow butterfly given by the woman occurred above the sketch of my daughter. I rode my car as I keep an eye on the butterfly to find my daughter.
It lead me to somewhere in the midst of the forest leaving me no clue on what am I heading into, I took out my phone and dialed my daughter's number. It rang two times that made my heart bounce in joy then suddenly, the line was decapitated. "Oh no Aly, hang in there darling. Papa's coming" I whispered as my heart pounds as if there was something wrong about to happen.
3rd Person's Point of View
"Master, someone's trying to intrude the Academy." a soldier informed her master "The name is?" the master asked without even turning around to face the soldier "Cleon Esquivel" the soldier answered "Well, he's not a problem. Yellow, I must say." he spoke as he turns around to face the soldier "Master, are you————" the soldier is just about to finish her question due to what her ears just heard when the master cuts in "Yes soldier. It's your job after all and you all need something to boost up your energy for doing your tasks" he stated calmly with an expressionless face "Thank you, master" she replied while she bowed her head then left the room.