Legends of Olympus (On Hold)

Annual Olympics II

"A G-Gamma!" nangangatal niyang sagot.

I chuckled at his stupidity. "You let a stranger feed the horses before the games?"

"V-Volunteers!" He gasped. "W-We have a lot of v-volunteers t-that help, t-that's why I-I let him-"

"Do you have the names of your..." I squinted my eyes at him. "Volunteers?"

"Y-yes- yes!" Ipiniling niya ang nanginginig niyang ulo sabay pikit. "Please- p-please, it's o-on the t-table..."

"The next time, don't accept volunteers," paalala ko sa kanya. "Especially during the games."

Binitawan ko na siya at saka tumayo. Lumapit ako sa mesa, kay Grey na kabubukas lang ng folder na nakapatong dito.

Hinayaan ko siyang hanapin sa listahan ng mga pangalan ang estudyanteng tinutukoy ng caretaker, at sinundan ng tingin si Raphael na pumalit sa pwesto ko sa tabi ng caretaker na nangangatog pa rin ang nakatukod na mga siko sa lupa, pati na ang nakatupi nitong tuhod.

As Grey continued to scan through the pages, I watched how the caretaker flinched once Raphael touched his jaw.

"Don't worry," he whispered to him with an assuring smile. "I'm here to heal you."

Raphael's hand started to glow with white light as it held the student caretaker's face. Slowly, the student let in a long and steady gasp, before Raphael gently lied him on his back.

"It was, a Gamma."

Sabay kaming napalingon kay Grey na nagsalita. Sinarado niya ang folder at mula rito, tinignan niya ako. "We're looking for a Gamma student named..."

• • •

"We were paid!" sigaw ng lalaking Gamma na bugbog ang buong mukha at nakagapos sa upuan gamit ang di-nakikitang tali.

"Tighten it," I asked Henri who tightened the invisible rope around the student whose shoulders stretched back behind the chair.

"More," I asked again.

Hinigpitan ito ni Henri, sa puntong napaiyak ang estudyante sa dahan-dahang pagkabali ng kanyang magkabilang balikat.

Tinaas ko ang aking kamay upang pigilan si Henri na itupi palikod ang katawan ng Gamma.

"Paid?" pag-uulit ko sa sinabi niya. "The three of you?"

I glanced at his right, where a student laid on his stomach, unconscious and continuously bleeding, from the long sharp glass that protruded from his back.

And on the other side of the floor was another student barely breathing with his back leaned against the wall. His head fell heavy on his chest, as well as his arms that draped on either side... and his worn out face still had its purplish hue, after being strangled until the verge of death.

"Who paid you?" seryoso kong tanong sa estudyanteng iniwan naming may malay pa.

His face was completely beaten up. His mouth and nose bleeding, and his right eye half-closed from the swelling that covered an entire cheek.

Because not only did I discover that he was the one who broke Don's foot.

He was also the one who fed the horses yesterday morning and skipped mine.

So, not only was Don in pain when I found him. He was also hungry.

I took a deep preparing breath, and firmly pressed the knuckles on my right hand to relieve it from the tension of hitting the right side of his face repeatedly.