EPISODE 5: THE THIRD RULE: 'SHE WILL LOVE HIM WHOSE FACE SHE HAS NEVER SEEN'
My heart was thumping loudly. In just one day, I had fulfilled two out of the Thirteen Rules I had tried to avoid.
"At this rate, in less than Thirteen Days...I could be hit with the family 'curse'!" I gulped.
I turned to look at Ciella. She was smiling radiantly at me. She stared at my desk and noticed the Tome.
"I didn't figure you out to be much of a reader" she said. "What are you reading?" she asked.
"This conversation pattern! It's already following Mom and Dad's first conversation from when they were in this school!" I thought in horror.
"San? You look a little pale. Are you alright?" Ciella asked.
"It's nothing. You can take a look if you want" I bluffed and passed the Tome to Ciella.
In my mind I thought.
"Please refuse my offer! Refuse it Ciella!"
"I'll take a look" Ciella said as she took the Tome and stared at the cover.
Then she opened it. After a while, she passed it back to me. She laughed.
"What's with that laugh?! Did she see the Rules?!" I thought in alarm.
The cover says 'Ancient Dagara Lore' and it seems to be written in a foreign language. I can't read this" Ciella said.
"What?" I thought. "My siblings couldn't read it too but its title remained 'The Tome Of Thirteen Rules! To them it was blank. Why did the cover title change for Ciella and why were there words she couldn't understand?" I wondered.
Then slowly, my Gramps' words rang within my mind.
"...Usually, when a powerful Dream Being or Nightmare wishes to manifest in the World Of Reality, they take on a form that humans are familiar with and can relate to" I recalled my Gramps' words.
"I see. This is what Gramps was talking about. To Ciella, this is just ancient Dagara lore" I thought.
"You're one funny guy. You must understand the language right?" Ciella asked.
I nodded.
"Mind telling me a bit of what it's about?" Ciella asked.
"Yikes! How do I evade this topic?" I thought to myself.
I looked at her. She had a really expectant look in her eyes. I sighed.
"Wing it San! You've got to wing it!" I tried to shock myself into action.
I laughed.
"Well...it's about a boy who met a girl weeping under the light of a full moon. Initially, he was tempted to avoid her but then, they kinda spent some time in a field of flowers, a rampaging rhino was defeated by a bloody caped guy and the two went to the same school together. At least that's where I've reached now" I panicked and began to talk hysterically.
Ciella laughed.
"The story is synonymous to how we met and keep bumping into each other. Are you sure you're not just making this up San?" Ciella asked with a raised eyebrow.
"And why would I do that?" I gulped.
"Well, there's no way I can verify your story. This may be wishful thinking but if your story is actually true...then this might be...fate" Ciella said with a nostalgic look on her face.
"Crap! She just used the one word I've been trying desperately to avoid!" I exclaimed in horror.
Suddenly, Ciella's eyes widened in surprise and she turned away.
"...or something like that! Don't mind me. That thought slipped out without my consent!" Ciella suddenly seemed panicky.
I smiled.
Classes began from then on and proceeded without any unusual interruptions. Then eventually, the bell rang for the noon break. I got up and took my satchel. I walked out of class and headed to the school's roof. I sat there and slowly ate lunch. I stared around. I smiled.
"Roughly twenty three years ago, Mom and Dad might have shared some moments on this very roof" I thought.
After eating, I placed my lunch box in my satchel and took out the Tome.
"I'd best find out what the Third Rule is. The earlier, the better" I said and opened the Tome.
It was initially blank as it usually was, then slowly, these words materialised on its page.
"THE THIRD RULE: 'SHE WILL LOVE HIM WHOSE FACE SHE HAS NEVER SEEN!'"
"What the heck kind of rule is this?!" I roared in anger. "No, wait a minute San. You need to think about this logically. The first two rules were fulfilled in unexpected ways. For the first two rules, the subject appeared to be masculine. The First Rule was fulfilled when I downed the armoured tank and fell into Bloody Cape. The Second Rule was fulfilled when Ciella transferred to our school so...if the subject of the Third Rule is now feminine...DON'T TELL ME IT'S FULFILLMENT IS DEPENDENT ON CIELLA!" I exclaimed in shock. "There's no way I could influence who Ciella chooses to fall for! This Rule is totally a farce! It's unfair!" I roared. "If this Rule hasn't been fulfilled yet...then at the present time Ciella is probably not in love with anyone. And if she is...she's probably already seen his face. So which is it? If it's the second scenario, then the family 'curse' can still be avoided" I thought. "For this Rule to be fulfilled, Ciella must fall for someone whose face she's never seen. In other words...a masked or mysterious figure. Could she have fallen for..." I wondered.
"No, I don't think so. Her note shows she considered my alter ego a weird guy. I doubt it's me and I've made sure not to make a positive impression so far" I thought to myself. "I could debate on this forever but in the end, there's only one way to find out. I must infiltrate the gossip zone!" I thought with determination.
I headed down the roof and looked around. Ciella was surrounded by girls from my class who wanted to befriend her. She looked happy. I looked around for some sort of structure that could serve as a source of obstruction. I noticed a tree in the distance, a few feet from Ciella's group. I snuck to it and hid behind it. I began to catch bits of the conversation occurring between Ciella and her friends.
"Seriously?! You were at the scene when the armoured tank went berserk?" one of the girls asked.
I recognised her. She was the reporter from our school's News Committee. Ciella nodded.
"Tell me more" she appeared interested.
"Fine, but you must promise not to tell anyone" Ciella said.
I slapped myself in the forehead.
"Ciella, should you really be spilling your secrets to the press?" I asked with a bored expression on my face.
"I met someone" Ciella said.
Suddenly, my ears entered antenna mode.
"Here it comes. Following the pattern of most superhero movies, though unlikely in Ciella's case, it could be my alter ego" I thought.
"Don't tell me it was the bloody caped guy who downed the tank. Do you know his identity?" the reporter girl asked.
Ciella shook her head.
"No" she said. "It was not the bloody caped guy. He was like a knight in shining armour" Ciella said.
My eyes widened in horror.
"Ciella, you couldn't possibly have...!" my eyes widened.
"...The armoured tank is how you and ordinary humans would perceive this entity. If a powerful Dream Knight were to look at it, they'd probably be seeing something completely different" I recalled my Gramps' words.
"...fallen in love with the ARMOURED TANK!" I thought in horror as images of Ciella standing beside an armoured tank in army camouflage and holding a rocket launcher formed in my mind.
"Don't tell me it's the armoured tank?" the News Reporter girl said.
I gulped and waited for Ciella's answer.
"Of course not...it's...San" Ciella said with a smile.
Her face had turned slightly red.
I gasped in surprise.
"Me?" I thought.
I felt slightly happy and then, I was hit by a sudden realisation.
"Ciella is in love with me...not my...! Wait a sec!" I thought and removed the Tome.
"THE THIRD RULE: SHE WILL LOVE HIM WHOSE FACE SHE HAS NEVER SEEN!" the Third Rule glared at me.
I smiled.
"I must have imagined it. Ciella has seen my face" I thought happily. "I guess that's it for the family 'curse'!" I thought happily.
Then slowly, the Third Rule disappeared and was replaced by the words.
"Congratulations Sanziri Nightbane (Junior). The Third Rule has on this day been fulfilled!"
"How?! Ciella has seen my face! She loves him whose face she has seen so how could this Rule be fulfilled?!" I thought in alarm.
Then slowly memories flashed within my mind. Memories of my Gramps and Granny. Of the time, my Granny had to leave the Castle Of Nightmares.
"You've done so much for me and I've never even seen your face" my Granny said sadly.
"I don't want you to see my face" my Gramps replied.
"Please let me see your face. At least...just this once because...I may never see you again" my Granny said sadly.
My Gramps sighed heavily.
"Very well" he said as the shadow lifted from his face.
Another memory flashed within my mind of the moment shortly after my Granny's tears resurrected my Gramps.
"You're marrying me though you don't know my real name? You must be really naive" I recalled my Gramps' words.
"Mom did not know Dad was the Dreamweaver until after she fell for him. By the words 'She Will Love Him Whose Face She Has Never Seen', I thought it would mean that Ciella would love a masked or mysterious figure like my alter ego or the armoured tank. However...reverse the logic and though she knows my face...she still has no idea that I am the Bloody Caped Guy! Three Rules in one day! What a tragedy! At this rate, I have only ten days to evade the family 'curse'!" I exclaimed in horror!