A Happily Ever After

Chapter Eleven

"Thank you for saving us back there." Narinig kong sabi ni Liam sa magkapatid. I turned to look. "You have insane combat skills. If wala kayo kanina, malamang problema na namin kung paano makukuha siya mula sa palasyo."

The woman only nods sweetly while smiling. She waves her hand. "Nako, wala iyon. Nakita kasi namin kayo ni Kuya na mukhang napapaligiran at walang ka-laban laban. Something in our instincts pushed us to save the three of you. It's crazy."

Hindi ako gumalaw sa pwesto ko at pinagmasdan ang magkapatid. Magkapatid. Magkapatid. May kilala rin akong magkapatid...

"What's your name?" I ask. The siblings shoot their gazes at me, at the same moment. "Where are you from?"

Silence hung inside the house. The siblings looked at each other first, before the man took a very tired and deep sigh. "We're.. Uhm.. I'm Aurixy," she says. "And he's.. Ano nga ulit 'yon, Kuya?"

"Hyran."

"Yes. I am Aurixy and Hyran.. Atleast according to the people around us."

"People around you," Stefan repeated. "It means you have your own name and identity, right?"

"We're not from here," sagot agad ni Aurixy. Muli niyang tinignan ang kuya niya, who looks like who's still not ready to give emotional support. "This is not the body we are originally in, this is not the world and body we are born in."

"You have to be Jonal Salazar and Christopher Salazar," sinabi ko na agad. Aurixy looked at me with big wide eyes, before gasping slowly. Tears start to swell in her eyes as she covers her mouth with her hands.

"You know us," sabi niya. "Yes, kami 'nga po ang magkapatid na iyon. Paano mo—"

"I am Jessa Rosales," I said. Tinuro ko naman ang sila Stefan at Liam. "Stefan and Liam, we're here too."

Isang mangkok na puno ng sabaw ang biglang bumagsak. The lady with red bushy hair came back into the room without any of us noticing. She had dropped the bowl full of soup while she looked at us with big, glittering eyes.

"You're kidding me," sabi niya, habang tuluyang hindi pinapansin ang pagkalat lalo ng natapon na pagkain sa kanyang paanan. "All this time.. I wasn't alone.."

That's when Aurixy—Jonah's eyes had started to flow with tears. Before I could even process the fact that the lady with bushy red hair is probably our last sought out member, Selen Castillo, Jonah wrapped her cold and shivering arms around me.

"Selene Castillo," sabi na ni Stefan. "That's you?"

Jonah continues to sob her heart out, and I couldn't help but cry too. Nanginginig na siya at hindi ko lubusang maisip kung gaano na ba katagal na pinipigilan ni Jonah ang kanyang takot?

I am not fond of any physical contact, but this time, I let my arms find a place around Jonah's embrace. That's when everything started to go down on me, too. How much fear, confusion, and anxiety I have been this whole time. How lost I have been. And God knows how far we are in our own, original world?

Walang umimik sa aming magkakasama. Selene suddenly sat down on the floor, akala ko nung una ay lilinisin na niya ang natapong pagkain, ngunit nakita o ang ilang pagbagsak ng kanyang mga luha. All this time.. I wasn't alone. 'Yon ang sabi niya kanina. Iniisip niya ba na mag-isa lang siya dito?

"I just.. Need to know what the fuck is going on?" Sa wakas, Umimik na rin si Christopher.

Dahan dahang humilaway na sa akin si Jonah. Nanginginig pa rin siya.

Lahat sila ay sabay sabay na tumigin sa akin. Oh God. Libro ko 'nga pala ito. Librong pagmamay-ari ko 'nga pala ang nagdala sa amin dito.

Pero biglang sumagi naman sa isip ko ang panaginip ko kanina. Grabe, sa daming nangyari ay nakalimutan ko na agad iyon.