Golden Age: Semideus Specials

with the fear of letting go...

Cal's POV

I stopped in front of one of the empty cells in the dungeons.

'Cal... paano kung- paano kung patayin mo nalang kaya ako?'

Our wedding- no, our renewal of vows is set to happen the day after tomorrow, in Elysium, and Art and I were already asked to be here in the palace to accommodate the preparations.

'H-Hindi ko na kaya... Cal, wala si twinny ko...'

'I'm sorry, Art... I can't-'

'Please?'

Dahan-dahan akong napayuko.

She was desperate to leave this place, to the point that she begged me to kill her. She didn't want to spend the rest of her life in the Underworld.

I lifted my head and saw a little girl holding on the bars so tight, blood running from her nails to her elbows.

'Palayain mo na ako-'

'I will.'

'H-Hindi-' Umiling-iling siya. 'Pakawalan mo na ako, Cal, ayoko nang magdusa pa rito.'

Guilt and pain slowly crept across my face as I took a deep breath. "Artemia..."

"I can hear you from here, brother."

I closed my eyes for a few seconds.

Why the hell did I forget about him?

Iminulat ko ang aking mga mata. "Shut up, Hector."

From the other end of the hallway, his voice echoed towards me. "Now, what is someone like you doing here?"

I sighed and turned around. I was about to leave when I heard him speak again.

"Cairo."

I immediately stopped on my tracks.

"I loved her."

Bumaba ang aking tingin sa paanan ko, saka ko kinuyom ko ang aking mga palad.

"I did," he said. "But I loved her wrong."

Lumingon ako sa direksyon ng boses niya.

"I loved her, even after I realized that she was not meant for me," dagdag pa niya. "I am not the one for her, and it took me time to accept that."

Both my hands relaxed as I slowly turned towards him.

"I'm sorry," aniya. "I'm sorry if I blamed our mother's death on you. I'm sorry for taking away everything from you... I'm sorry, Cairo, because I failed to be a brother to you."

My brows furrowed.

"Remember when I used to hit you every time you'd look up to me?" His voice slightly faltered. "I didn't want you to look at me that way, Cal."

"Why are you saying all this to me now?" tanong ko.

"Because I know you're still suffering from what I did," sagot naman niya. "You're still suffering from my mistake."

My eyes drifted to the side.

"Believe me, Cal, when I tell you that it's all my fault," saad niya. "You don't have to carry the burden of your past, anymore."

Burden... of my past...

"Let me carry it for you, brother."

I started to walk closer to his cell. I stopped, and looked down on the man seated in the darkest corner, his hand lying on top of his raised knee.