21 September 202X. It was a night of joy and unity. On that date, South Jaka City had gathered its people for a grand celebration under the stars. The music played, the lights twinkled, and the streets were filled with laughter. It was a celebration of survival, of coexistence with the other races that now shared our world. But in reality, given the city's population, it was more of a human gathering. We were celebrating more than just survival. We were celebrating hope. This is something that has helped us carry through the disasters that happened in the preceding years.
The drive to South Jaka City was around 30 minutes from my house. But I wouldn't miss this event since I, too, had suffered a lot. I wished to instill hope in all the remaining survivors of humanity. But maybe being present and just enjoying the event doesn't help that much, though.
Standing in the crowd, I held Amus close, her hand warm in mine. Meanwhile, our twins were safely nestled in their stroller. They coo softly, oblivious to the world around them. My parents were nearby, chatting animatedly with old friends, their faces lit with rare smiles. They're around 60 now, but given that their house is near here. I wouldn't mind if they also enjoyed this event. Raymed, my best friend, was with his family: his father, mother, two brothers, and his sister. He looked content, and it warmed my heart to see him like that.
"This is nice, isn't it?" Amus whispered, her voice soft in my ear. I shivered a bit since I was not paying attention. I swiftly turned my attention to her.
"Yeah," I nodded, squeezing her hand gently. "It's been too long. I am happy we made it."
Raymed caught my eye and grinned, raising his drink which had a white color tint in a mock toast. I chuckled, lifting my own glass, which was filled with calpis water. "HEY! DON'T GET TOO DRUNK!" I called out.
My voice was so loud that it alerted his family as they all turned their eyes to Raymed. I can see his mother and father began questioning if he was drinking alcohol or not.
It was really just a harmless prank. Hehe.
Raymed then walked towards me. "Hey! Don't say stuff like that! As if I would get drunk! This is Calpis Water!!!" he shot back, laughing. Besides, why would I get drunk when the event is this happy?" He began to look around the people among us, who were filled with serene and quiet happiness, as if they were grateful for their survival.
"You're right," I nodded.
"Hey, do you know what would be great? Maybe you and Amus should dance again like how it was in Prom!"
Amus and I widened our eyes as we exchanged looks.
"That was 4 years ago...Umm, I am not sure I can still dance.." I was sweating. In fact, remembering what happened, I felt really embarrassed about my stunt.
Amus nudged me playfully. "Maybe we should dance again tonight!"
"Hey! I know back in the day, it was my idea. But now. Now, I can't do it. It's too embarrassing!" I replied, hiding my face behind my palm.
"Back in the day, you would go to my house every day to convince me to participate in that stunt. Saying that it was my 'dream'. Stuff like that."
"Yeah, it was my dream. So, was dancing among the city crowd your dream then, darling?" I asked while scratching my head.
"Hm... Maybe," she replied, a mischievous glint in her eyes.
She was beautiful. So beautiful. I wanted to marry her. Wait... I am his husband. Hehe, I forgot.
"Hey, you two lovebirds. I feel left out." Raymed said as he crossed his arms.
The three of us then let out a laugh.
As the night seemed perfect, a sudden chill ran down my spine. The laughter around us died down, replaced by a tense, uneasy silence.
Raymed frowned, lowering his body as he put his hand on the ground. He felt the ground shaking. "You feel that?" he asked, his voice suddenly serious.
Before I could respond, the music stopped abruptly, and the lights flickered ominously. I scanned the crowd, my heart beginning to race. "Something's wrong…"
And then, they came. The elves descended on us with terrifying speed on their horses, their blades gleaming in the dim light. At the front, leading them with a twisted grin, was a woman I had seen in the news before. She was, in fact, the leader of the white elves—Zuatha Il Zikmel.
As she swarmed through the crowd, she stopped to look around. "Di Mans za Terrostista !!!" She shouted in a language incomprehensible to anyone there. But by the sound, she is extremely angry.
Then, one of her knights came to her side and gave her a pill. Upon eating it, Zuatha's voice suddenly became comprehensible to the humans.
"I ask again. Who among you is part of the terrorist group known as Humanista? We were pursuing them but it seems they managed to hide beside all of you!" Zuatha said.
The crowd began to murmur as they were all confused.
"If the terrorists don't come out. I will interrogate everyone here. Even if it would take until tomorrow morning. Knights! Began the interrogation!"
"Syliap!" The Knights said as they began taking people from the crowd and asking them questions.
If this goes on... I don't want Amus to be taken. I have to...
"Please stop! The people here were all just poor civilians. We don't have anything to do but enjoy this festival on the 21st night of September! We don't see why you would do this to us!" A man spoke to Zuatha with a demanding tone.
I couldn't yet see who that person was. Yet their voice sounded male and quite familiar.
I saw Zuatha's face turn into a devilish smile as he spoke. It was a clue that she was, in fact, not here to do diplomacy at all. Instead, she was maybe targeting someone. By this point, I had noticed who the man was. But maybe I was too late.
"Med! Stop! They won't-!" I screamed.
"I will hear what you have to say, human. Come forward!" Zuatha said as one of her soldiers escorted the first man forward. Walking to Zuatha, the man suddenly flinched, only to see that the soldier accidentally left a scar on his arm. Blood could be seen dripping from his hand. Ignoring it, he moved forward to Zuatha, who was raising her arms with a smile.
"Before I hear you out. Please answer me... Do you have a family?"
Raymed looked confused, "Yes. I do."
"Really? How big is your family? Tell me in detail."
Raymed hesitantly answered, "I have two brothers...one sister, and my parents are still around."
"Really? Is that them right there?" Zuatha pointed to the front of the man, revealing 5 people held by the elven soldiers.
"What? What are you doing?" Raymed asked, his eyes widening.
Zuatha smiled. "I will tell you the reason why I am doing this."
SHUSRT!
One of Raymed's brothers is stabbed through the gut.
"NOO!!!" As Raymed reflexively went forward, he was held back by Zuatha.
SLASH!
A head fell to the ground. It was his sister's.
Zuatha held him still, who frantically moved in retaliation. "AAARGJH!!!!" He screamed.
The parents were next. The soldiers butchered them limb from limb, starting from their feet to their arms, to their torso and bottom, until finally, a sword got thrust into their eyes.
Now, only his little brother remains. He was 7 years old at the time. Also, seeing the massacre, he could only cry.
I held Amus and said, "Amus this is getting dangerous when you have the chance..."
"Thalamik..."
I turn over to watch Raymed again to see what's happening now.
"Never spoke to me again with that kind of tone. You may live with your brother." Zuatha said as she let go of him.
Gasping loudly, Raymed's feet were unable to support him. He crawled desperately to his little brother, who was also released from the soldiers.
"Lil Bro...Huaa..." Tears overflow he gets closer to his brother.
FWOOSH
Then, an arrow flew beside him.
It stabbed his little brother's head.
"Big...Bro.."
The boy fell backward as his eyes turned white.
"Hehe...Puny Human"
"YOU FUCKER!!!!" The crowd was angry as some of them charged forward, attempting to fight against Zuatha. In response, the elven knight charged and began slashing the people in the crowd. Others began fleeing in panic.
"Get down!" I shouted, grabbing Amus and my parents while pushing my twin's stroller behind a pillar for cover. The screams began almost instantly. The once joyous crowd was now divided between a panicked mob trying to escape the carnage and an angry mob trying to fight back.
I caught sight of Raymed, who suddenly disappeared into the crowd of people.
"Shit Raymed!!" I yelled, but he was too far, too surrounded.
Amus clutched my arm, her eyes wide with fear. "Thalamik, what do we do?"
"We have to get out of here," I said, trying to keep my voice steady. "We need to find a way out.."
But then, someone appeared. It was the white elf leader. Zuatha has appeared before us, her eyes locking onto mine with a look of pure malice. "Thalamik," she said, almost purring. "I've been looking forward to this."
How did she know my name?
I positioned myself between her and Amus, my heart pounding. "Stay back," I warned, though I knew my words meant nothing to her.
"Oh, I don't think so," Zuatha sneered as she got off her horse. "You see, I'm curious. Let's see how strong your will is when I take everything from you."
She moved so fast that I barely saw her unsheathe her blade. I tried to fight to protect my family, but I was outnumbered and outmatched. I felt a sharp pain as a blade cut into my side, and I gasped, stumbling back.
"Thalamik!" Amus cried, but Zuatha's soldiers moved in before I could respond.
"Run, Amus!" I shouted, struggling to hold off the elves. But it was too late. They were too fast, too many. I watched in horror as they cut down my parents, their bodies collapsing beside the stroller.
"No, no, no!" I screamed, pushing forward, but my strength was failing. I could only watch as they turned on Amus and the twins.
"Please, don't!" Amus pleaded, shielding the babies with her body. But Zuatha only laughed a cold, heartless sound, and with a swift motion, she ended their lives.
I fell to my knees, the world spinning around me as I watched the light fade from Amus's eyes. Her hand reached out to me, trembling, before falling limp. Then her mouth moved. Until she finally closed her eyes.
"No!" I roared, my voice breaking as I crawled towards them, my vision blurring from the blood loss. But I couldn't reach them. My body was failing, and the last thing I saw was Zuatha's cold, satisfied smile before darkness claimed me.
***
"AMUSSS!!!!"
I awoke in a sterile white room, the beeping of machines filling my ears. Pain radiated through my body, but it was nothing compared to the hollow ache in my chest. I tried to sit up, but a sharp pain forced me back down.
"Easy, easy," a nurse said, rushing to my side. "You're safe now."
"Where… where are they?" I asked, my voice trembling.
The nurse hesitated, her eyes filled with pity. "I'm so sorry… other than a man named Raymed, there were no other survivors. But the important thing is, you are safe."
"Safe?" I whispered, the word foreign to me.
How could I be safe when my entire world had been destroyed?
I closed my eyes, the reality of everything crashing down on me. My parents, Amus, the twins… all gone. They had been ripped away from me, and I hadn't been able to do a damn thing to save them.
Amus... she was my world.
Now that it has been lost.
What more do I have...?
Zuatha had taken everything from me, and as I lay there in that hospital bed, my grief slowly gave way to something darker, something that burned deep in my chest.
***
As the days passed in the hospital, I was relocated from the ICU to the standard suite. I shared the room with Raymed. But we didn't talk much as I was haunted by the faces of my loved ones their final moments replaying over and over in my mind. The emptiness inside me was overwhelming and grew with each passing hour. But it was during one of those sleepless nights that the truth began to unravel. I had buried a memory, not knowing its significance at the time.
I vividly remember the experiments and how I volunteered to be a test subject when I contracted the second mana poisoning outbreak. Where I endured unimaginable pain to help create a cure for the mana poisoning virus. I believed that I was doing the right thing and helping humanity. But now, in the cold silence of the hospital, I realized that those experiments had led to something far darker.
Zuatha Il Zikmel. I remembered her face. She had been there.
It had been months before the humans discovered the truth that the virus was a biological weapon created by the elves to weaken us. Zuatha had visited the facility where I was being experimented on. I had assumed she was just another researcher, one of many who came and went. But now, the pieces began to fall into place.
I sat up in bed, ignoring the pain that shot through my body. The memory was more apparent now. Zuatha had been there, watching as the scientists drew my blood and injected me with various serums and antidotes. She had spoken to the head researcher in a language I didn't understand, her eyes cold and calculating.
But how can she track me...
!!!!
She had my blood...
When Raymed moved forward, the first thing the knights did was scratch his arm and take the dripping blood.
Only then were they able to find his family...
Then that means...
The realization hit me like a punch to the gut. She had my blood. That's how she knew where to find me and how she was able to track me to South Jaka City.
Heck. She could have followed my every move, and I had led her right to my family, Raymed's family, and everyone I cared about.
I felt my breath hitch, my chest tightening as a wave of panic washed over me. It was my fault. They were dead because of me. Because I had been so hellbent on surviving and eager to help everyone, so desperate to do protect them all. I unknowingly had handed Zuatha the key to my life and the lives of those I loved, and she had used it to destroy everything.
My heart pounded in my ears, the walls of the room closing in on me. I was suffocating, drowning in guilt and despair. I tried to take deep breaths, but they came out in ragged gasps.
"This… this is all my fault," I whispered, my voice trembling as I buried my face in my hands. "I led her right to them… I killed them."
I could see Amus's smile in my mind, how she had looked at me with so much love. The twins, their innocent eyes staring up at me as they cooed from their stroller. My parents, who had been so proud of me and believed in me. Raymed's family had welcomed me as one of their own. And now, they were all gone, and it was because of me.
I wanted to scream, to tear the room apart, to make the pain stop. But there was nothing I could do. No amount of rage, no amount of self-pity, would bring them back. I had failed them, and the weight of that failure was crushing me.
I curled up on the hospital bed, my body shaking uncontrollably.
How could I live with this?
How could I go on knowing that I had been the cause of their deaths?
The future I had dreamed of, the life I had wanted to build with Amus...
"What have I done?" I choked out, my voice breaking. "What have I done?"
The guilt was clawing at my insides, tearing me apart.
I had thought I was helping, that I was doing something good. But all I had done was pave the way for destruction. I was supposed to protect my family, to keep them safe. Instead, I had led a monster right to them.
Tears streamed down my face, but they did nothing to ease the pain. I couldn't escape the truth. No matter how much I wanted to. I had failed them, and now I was alone, left to carry the weight of their deaths on my shoulders.
"I'm sorry," I whispered into the empty room, my voice barely audible. "I'm so sorry…"
But no one was there to hear me. No one was left to forgive me. And I knew, deep down, that I would never forgive myself.
Then I can see an elf wearing a doctor's coat pass through the medical wing. Unknowingly I was smiling.
I reached for a knife that was plated for me to eat my breakfast.
As I left the empty room. Raymed saw and asked me. "Mik? What are you doing?"
"I have to settle a score, hahaha."
I ran towards the medical wing.
With a feeling of bloodlust.
What follows is not pleasant enough to be described. Yet the feeling is very exhilarating.