Ci and Rei (ON-GOING)

VII

Mastery

"Have you noticed anything weird about your surroundings these days?"

Mr. Hunter were unhurriedly pacing back and forth in front of Laurie and I, only the two of us. The others were called for their respective trainings at si Ms. Bella ang umasikaso sa iba. I couldn't help but to be in awe seeing her handle every unveil here even if we're probably almost twenty students.

May mga nasa judo, archery, shooting range, at sword fights. Hindi ko na makilala ang iba. Marahan lang na naglalakad si Ms. Bella at pinagmamasdan ang ginagawa ng mga estudyante.

Rei, anong gagawin ko?

Nabalik ang atensyon ko nang marinig si Laurie na magsalita sa isip ko. Sumusulat na ngayon si Mr. Hunter sa small board. A question.

What have you done that nobody else could do?

He quietly turned to face us, now with a serious expression.

I heard his mastery is air force.

It was Laurie. Ngayon lang nag-sink in sa utak ko ang ginawa niya kanina. Kaya pala sa simpleng galaw ng kamay ay naitapon niya palayo ang mga pana.

Air force. Unbelievable.

His brows furrowed on her and point somewhere. "Read the signboard."

Nilingon ko rin iyon at napakunot ang noo. A-ano daw? But there were no signboard.

I swear... It's just an empty wall with no strokes of words–

"Entraînez-vous pour gagner..." Train to win.

Natigilan ako. Dahan-dahan kong inilipat kay Laurie ang tingin na nagtataka pa rin sa pinabasa sa kaniya ni Mr. Hunter. Pinabasang... hindi ko naman nakikita!

The corner of his lips rose in amusement, "To see invisibility..." his smile widened. "Rare."

Huh?

Pabalik-balik ang tingin ko sa kanilang dalawa. Nanlalaki din ang mga mata ni Laurie nang mapagtanto ang sinabi ni Mr. Hunter. She abruptly pulled me to stand tsaka kami walang ano-ano'y tumakbo papalapit sa pader ng auditorium. It was nothing but a blank wall, what do they mean?

"R-rei." Hindi ko alam kung kinakabahan ba siya o nae-excite. "Please tell me you don't see any signboard here!" sigaw niya at napapikit pa habang nakaturo sa pader.

Mas lalo akong naguluhan. "What do you mean, Laurie? Wala namang signboard–"

"Oh my god! Oh my god!" Nagsisimula mula na siyang magtalon-talon kaya napatingin na rin ang ibang unveil sa'min. The way that they smiled, parang na gets na agad nila ang nangyayari. "There's something here! See..." dinuro-duro niya pa ang pader. "Entraînez-vous....pour...gagner!"

Napakurap-kurap ako. Hindi pa rin makapagsalita. Is this some freaking sort of joke?

"Definitely not!" sagot niya sa'kin. "Besh. Shocks." her eyes welled with tears. "It's my mastery!"

To see invisibility? A... mastery?

Para akong napipi bigla.

That explains those times where she would just laugh while pointing at something we couldn't see. I wonder if she could also see ghosts.

"Can you see something written here!?" Hindi pa rin talaga tumitigil si Laurie. Halos isa-isahin niya na ang mga unveil kakatanong at iisa lang ang sagot ng lahat, umiiling. "I swear, mayroon!"

Mr. Hunter walked towards us with Ms. Bella, smile plastered on their faces. "The last Agora who attained that kind of mastery was Mr. Roi." she uttered.