The next morning, in the outskirts of Turuk Village…
5 assassins cloaked in black stood on a rock, looking into the distance even as the golden glow of the rising sun slowly rose from the east, peeking into the world and announcing its majestic presence.
They looked disheveled.
"He escaped". One of them mumbled. "We failed the mission".
"No," another of them shook his head as he looked into the distance. "There was no deadline to the mission".
"We'll just have to stay longer outside till we complete the mission".
"How?" The first assassin asked, looking at the one at the center of the 5 who seemed to be their leader.
This assassin in a black cloak and gray mask kept his gaze in the distance. "Do you remember the words she said to her children when we first appeared?"
There was silence for a few seconds, then…
"Go to Aunty Ariel's farm?" Another of the assassins asked.
"Yes," this assassin nodded. "That's our hint to find the Cosmopolitan".
This assassin sheathed his dagger. "I don't know the identity of the intruder who ran off with the target, but he's a Heimdall like us".
"That is the only way that he managed to escape our pursuit, and his faction is also our only clue to him".
"We didn't plan for this since we didn't see it coming, but neither did we see it coming that the mother of the Cosmopolitan will be a combat Dionysus".
"We let our guard down".
"It's a mission after all, we should have been more prepared for the turbulence that comes with it, the ups and downs".
This assassin took a deep breath. "First thing, we'll find out who this Aunty Ariel is, and then we'll complete the mission".
With that, the 5 assassins turned around and finally paid attention to the 2 corpses that were behind them under the rock.
One of these corpses wore the same black cloak that they did. It was the unfortunate assassin who fell to the Dionysus' treachery in the night.
The other corpse belonged to Claire Arrakis.
The assassins climbed down the rock before lifting the 2 corpses into the wild. Sometime later, a fire started in the forest near Turuk Village.
The 2 corpses were burnt to ashes.
Later in the day, as the citizens of Turuk Village finally woke up from a long night, the village was thrown into a great commotion.
Afterall, just overnight, one of the most friendly and cherished families in the village was annihilated.
All that was left of the Arrakis family was the ruin of their mud house.
It was a tragic event.
…
Blink!
A pair of eyes blinked open groggily under dim lighting.
After what felt like forever, Paul finally woke up. While sleeping, he had a dream, he dreamt of demons like shadows that kept on chasing him relentlessly.
They chased him for majority of his time sleeping.
Opening his eyes under the dim lighting of this room, Paul saw only one person, a familiar lean figure in black.
Paul moved only to grimace and fall back in pain.
The man finally opened his eyes and turned round to look at him. "You're awake".
Paul was quiet, refusing to answer as he silently looked at him.
"Can you walk?" The man asked again.
Paul kept quiet some more. Despite the fact that he was knocked out, Paul still remembered the events of yesternight vividly in his head.
Looking at this man, he had mixed emotions.
He didn't know if he should be grateful to him or be angry. In one hand, he saved him from throwing his life away while on the other hand, this was the culprit responsible for holding him back from exerting revenge for his mom's death.
Paul grimaced before standing up. "I can walk".
He looked round this room, noting that it was a wooden apartment. "Where is my sister?" He asked.
The lean man finally stood up. "Follow me". He walked out of the room.
Following the man, Paul walked out into the open. In one glance, he immediately noted that he was on a farm.
There was grass and crops as far as he could see in this large field, including cows grazing at one side with sheep at other sides. There were farmers plowing the field in the distance, while others were planting seeds.
The atmosphere was serene.
"This is…," Paul's eyes widened. "Aunty Ariel's farm?"
Paul had never left Turuk Village all his life but his aunt, his mom's sister lived just 2 villages from Turuk Village, Lark Village.
Paul had only met Aunt Ariel once when he was still a baby. His mom always told him and his twin sister of their aunt's big commercial farm, this was why he recognized it and today, for the first time, he set his eyes on it.
"I obeyed your mom's wishes and brought you here". The lean man who still had a scarf tied round his face mumbled.
"What is happening over there?" Paul pointed.
Somewhere in the distance, even as farm activities commenced at other parts of this farm, there gathered about a dozen people there just standing.
In the backdrop of the busy farm, they seemed odd.
The lean man threw a glance at him. "Your mom's burial".
Paul's heart turned cold immediately on hearing that.
Without uttering a word, he took a step and walked closer to the people. Walking close, he finally saw his twin sister and Aunt Ariel.
Like his mom, Aunt Ariel was a beautiful middle-aged woman with blonde hair. All the people here at this moment seemed like relatives and 2 others looked especially striking to him, Paul was sure he had seen the 2 girls before.
'They're Tina and Gina, right? Aunt Ariel's daughters'.
Despite the fact that so many faces were here at this moment, there was no joy on Paul's face, only somberness as he stared down at the small mound made in this farm that all the people present faced.
They made the small mound to honor his mom's death, to serve as her burial.
No one spoke as he arrived, simply giving him space to integrate himself among the people here for the burial.
Paul inclined his head and looked only to see his slightly shaking sister. Sophia was silent but tears were flowing down her eyes uncontrollably.
Tina and Gina were with her, consoling her.
Paul looked away.
Looking at the mound on the ground, he felt haunted.
Tears threatened to fall from his eyes but he looked up, closing his eyes tightly instead to hold them back.
In this moment, Paul felt the crushing weight of death.
'I hate myself'. He thought. 'I hate weakness'.
'I hate the fact that I couldn't do anything!'
'I hate the fact that I'm always the one running!'
'I hate the fact that I'm always the survivor!'
'I hate the fact that I'm always losing against death!'
In that moment, Paul made a vow, his eyes suddenly as red as wine. 'I swear that from this day, I will never lose to death again!'