The shorthand of the grandfather's clock moved towards 11 while the long hand rested at 12. It was a clear indication that the night was already deep and yet Maia could not sleep nor close her eyes.
Every time she closes them, she remembers the faces of those that she killed. She could remember the children at the prison. The banshee-like screams of the failed experiments. The tortured faces of Maki and Damian. She could feel her blood boil and her stomach lurching forward like she wanted to puke every ounce of food she ate.
Old man Shizu was kind enough to lend them his home and give them food. As well as to keep their existence to the whole city. They couldn't give their position away, not yet at least.
Maia plans for them to return to the underground base of the SDC safely. Of course, she plans on returning along with them. She had been away from her loved ones for far too long.
Maki stirred as he turn around. He was sleeping soundly beside Damian. Maia decided that it would be best to just get up to not wake the two up.
She carefully got out of bed and went straight down. Old man Shizu who was busy organizing a shelf of books looked at her.
"I had thought that now you would sleep, but it seems like you still cannot"
Maia nodded at him, when she had lost her conscious self, she would go on days and months without food, water, and sleep.
Every time her body collapses and is on the verge of death, it would automatically heals itself.
"Gaia surely do bless you child"
"Gaia?"
"She is what you call mother Earth, Gaia bore the titans who would later give birth to the Olympian Gods."
Maia understood this immediately, this city does not only worship the seven lucky Gods but also considers the possibility of other Gods existing. So it was not a surprise that the old man knew Gaia and greek mythology.
"You are bothered?"
Maia smiled sheepishly and walked towards the small table where they had their talk earlier.
"Your aura is twisted right now Jurojin"
Maia twiddled with her thumbs. She knew why her aura turned out that why. A person's aura has a deep connection with their emotions. It doesn't change color but it could change forms. That was what she learned.
"Something happened…"
Truthfully she didn't know how to say it. She didn't know how to explain and she knew that the old man had so many questions for her.
Like what happened. Why could she speak now and why could she act like a normal person now?
Old man Shizu had met her and taught her how to fight when she could barely act like a human being. Maia remembered, that when she was still 616, she followed no orders other than Leticia but she still learned from old man Shizu.
He had beat her fair and square and her unconscious self made this a requirement to earn her respect. That was why she recognized the old man as her master even though she could barely remember anything.
"You do not need to force yourself to narrate what had transpired with you"
Maia looked up and saw old man Shizu placing a mythology book in front of her. He was smiling down at her before putting a hand on top of her head lightly.
"Even back then, I knew that you were just a special person. A child that's lost. Yes, you are a God incarnate but, you are just you. That I understood"
"I thought you just viewed me as a reincarnation and I'm conflicted on whether I am or I was just an experiment"
"Hmmm…"
Old man Shizu looked up and saw that Damian was eyeing them, listening to their conversation. He secretly smiled when he noticed that Maia didn't know that someone else was listening to them.
"You are still who you are. Whether you are an experiment, a reincarnation of a God, or just a lost child. You are still Maia, are you not?"
"Even though I have killed and oppressed so many innocent people? I don't know if I still deserve to live this life after remembering just how much blood is on my hands now."
"Then you should carry that burden"
Maia stared at the old man but he only kept his smiling face, like he was amused at the fact that she could now speak her mind.
"Carry their lives, their deaths, their names up to your grave. Remember them and carry them on your path to saving this damned nation"
She didn't know what to say. Truthfully she didn't want to fight anymore. She didn't want to go against the government anymore. She was being selfish, but all she wanted to do now is to live with her loved ones in a secluded area. Never did it occur to her that she wanted to fight for their freedom again.
"You carry our hopes Jurojin. You and now your brother."
Old man Shizu said as he slowly ascend the steps indicating that he was to retire. Maia was left all alone with the mythology book in front of her.
Then she suddenly remembered something.
The Gods.
The mythological Gods never accounted for their mistakes. They were always right and no one ever took responsibility for their mistakes.
If she wanted to be different from them, then should she take responsibility?
"You're thinking too much again"
Maia turned around and saw Damian standing behind her. How she didn't hear him come down meant she was too absorbed with her thoughts.
Damian smiled lightly at her before sitting right next to her. He grabbed the book in front of her and flipped the page. She saw that he stopped at the Japanese mythology section of the book.
A few more flipped pages and she saw the name Jurojin.
Damian scoffed before letting out a chuckle which made Maia stare at him. He turned to look at her.
"How in the world is this you? It says that Jurojin looked like an old man. Which part of you is an old man?"
Maia couldn't help but smile.
"You're thinking the God reincarnation topic too seriously don't you think?"
"Quite the opposite"
Damian admitted truthfully. He cared more that the woman in front of him is Maia. That after a long time of grieving her, she was now in front of him.
Maia noticed how Damian's facial features had changed since she last saw him. His eyes had sunken and he lost weight. He now has a mustache and a short beard. Maia lifted her hand to touch Damian's hair which made the latter look at her.
"You really shouldn't let your hair grow you know, you look like a caveman now…"
Maia endearingly stared him directly in the eyes.
"A handsome caveman"
Damian felt his eyes water and somehow he knew, things aren't the same anymore. He placed his right hand at the back of Maia's head while the other cupped her chin. He moved towards her until his lips are now on hers.
He slowly kissed her, eyes closed as he savor the sweet taste of her lips. Maia kissed him back and as she too closed her eyes, a tear fell from it.
She could feel Damian's loneliness, his pain, his despair, and his love. This man in front of her did nothing but give her all the love in the world. The one man who made her heart flutter and the person who was the reason why she first agreed to the mutiny. This was the same man who she had hurt.
As their kiss deepened, Damian's right hand slowly moved down to Maia's back, pulling her closer to his. Maia opened her mouth a little inch further and Damian could only grab this as an opportunity to savor her. To taste her after all of these years. To finally let her know how much he had missed her.
It was Damian who pulled away first when he felt Maia nearly gasping for air. He held Maia by her face and adorningly stared at her.
"I love you"
It was a short sweet confession but Maia felt its intensity. It was finally enough for her tears to burst out. This sent Damian into a panic.
"He…hey, don't cry"
He anxiously swept away the falling tears from Maia's eyes and cheeks.
"I'm sorry Damian. I never should've agreed to it. I never should've made that decision to leave and forget you. I'm so sorry"
Damian felt something grip his chest tightly. This strong woman in front of him was being bare and weak in front of him. Only him.
"I missed you, Maia. I grieved for you, I wanted to save you back then. I should've protected you, and not being able to do so only made the loneliness much worse."
Maia nodded, her eyes now closed from all the tears that weren't stopping from falling. Damian couldn't help but chuckle. He leaned forward and kissed Maia's eyes, tasting the tears that were uncontrollably falling from them.
"But what happened had already happened, and I will not lose you again. This time I'll protect you and I swear that I'll never leave your side ever again."
Maia stared at the man in front of him. How could a person just accept another so wholeheartedly without questions? Without so much as deliberation and doubt.
"So my love, it doesn't matter whether you are a reincarnation of an Old man slash God or whether you're 616…"
Maia chuckled, she should've known that he was listening since earlier. The reason why Old man Shizu decided to retire early was that he sensed Damian.
"It doesn't?"
She smilingly asked and Damian couldn't help but smile himself. He missed her smiles. He nodded at her.
"It doesn't, because, at the end of the day, you're still Maia. You're still that kid who asked me for marriage. You're still my first and last love. You are still my Maia. And whatever you decide to do now and in the future, I will always be by your side, forever and always"
It was that simple, she thought. How a simple sentence could reassure her. How such a person can promise her forever without a second thought or doubt?
Maia cupped Damian's face with her hands and planted a light kiss on his lips.
"I do love you too"
The first reason why she risked her life, memories, and happiness was because of this. Because of her love, not only for Damian but for everyone around her.
Old man Shizu was right, she thought. It didn't matter who she was right now. What will matter is what it was that she was fighting for. What burdens does she carry and what responsibilities she would take?
It was clear to her now. Back then she decided that she would risk her life for that freedom and give it to everyone she loves. But now, she would take that freedom and give it to the whole nation.
For all the deaths that are on her hands.
For her family and friends.
For the people who suffered unfair treatment and oppression.
For the mutants who were victims of disgusting experiments.
For the man in front of her.
She would become the God and hope they need.
She would fight back until her last breath.
While Maia learned the answers to some of her questions, Maki who was now turning and tossing in his sleep, dreamt a little dream.
A dream that will determine his and Maia's fate.
And how an invisible string connects him and Maia to five more people.
While in the now ruined front house, Leticia stood in front of a mutilated mutant. The old man with mantis arms and legs now laid dead in front of her.
Everything was on fire and dead bodies decorated every corner of the camp. The fields, the prison, and even the laboratory was now blazing with fire.
Leticia's inside seethed with anger. Behind her stood the remaining hundreds of soldiers who survived their predicament. She turned around and like a mad woman, with her usual proper hair now disheveled, she gave out a command that will determine our heroes' next predicament.
"Find them. Kill them.
I want 616's head."