The Realm

CHAPTER 22: The Alignment

(Daniel's Point of View)

"What happened? I can't believe the things that happened to us?" Sabrina said while she was helping Tamara who was wounded to walk. We managed to survive; however, we always feel unsafe in every move that we make. It's a good thing that we released ourselves from being prisoners of that mansion, but, the outside world is more perilous. Until it seemed that we became immune to things that put our lives in vain.

Lumeria is the haven of the Fusions. This Division is surrounded by mountain ranges. We had two choices; to flee in the mountains or seek refuge to the Fusions. We chose the former because it's hard to trust in our situation.

We move away from Lumeria's interior to the mountains using our bare feet since we trusted no one.

"So, here we are, away from the inhabitants of Lumeria," I said as I feel the strong winds approaching our way.

"Perhaps, we should take a rest," Angelo suggested.

"That's a perfect suggestion, Angelo," Sabrina agreed. "My feet are already aching," she added.

"Let's take a rest with those trees," I recommended.

"It's too far," Sabrina complained, but when she looked at her weakened sister, she began to walk. Angelo helped her because the winds were too strong.

It was a good thing the sun hid behind the clouds. We rested under the shade of the big tree. Its leaves were falling from its great branches due to the wind. It danced gracefully and its crunchy sound helped us relaxed. I noticed that they took a long stare on the vast field that we walked on. At the end of that field were the tall mountain ranges that we planned to go to.

"The alignment," Tamara slightly opened her mouth.

"What?" Sabrina asked her sister and put her ear near her sister's lips because Tamara's voice was so low. As I looked at her, she wanted to speak but she passed out. "Tamara?" Sabrina tapped the face of her sister gently.

"She's exhausted, let her rest," Angelo said. "I'll find fresh water," he added.

"What did she say, Sabrina?" I asked.

"The alignment," she replied. "The regression is about to begin, right?"

"I scanned through that file."

"What file?"

"The file which reports about the planetary alignment that is soon to happen."

"That's the reason why the Seraphim showed in our dreams."

Our conversation stopped when raindrops began to fall. It drizzled. The grasses and the trees rejoiced as their thirst was quenched. "We can now drink," I said afterward I picked a fresh leaf, a wide leaf that I filled with rainwater. The tree was so big, so the rainwater did not reach us.

"Sabrina! Daniel!" we heard Angelo shouting as he ran towards us. "I was looking for a water source then it rained," he said while he catches his breath. "Yes, we know," I told him. "No!" he said when he pulled me to go distance myself a little from the tree. "Look!" he said while pointing at the sky. My eyes grew bigger. It's true! The report on the file that I happened to scan was true. "The beginning of the planetary alignment," was the only phrase I uttered.

"Wait! We have to let Tamara drink," Angelo hurriedly filled a leaf he got with rainwater. "Tamara," he woke her up. "Here, drink this, I know you're thirsty." He put Tamara on his lap and let Sabrina take a look at what we saw. "The legends are true!" she was awed by what she saw. "It seems it is not a legend no more," I told her.

The sky was open and we saw the scintillating stars of the universe without batting an eye. There were tiny particles which were slowly descending from above. It began to unite with the Realm.

Pioneer Merriah used to tell me how she feared the regression. She hadn't experienced one, but, she said she'll do everything she can to hinder the phenomenon. Well, it signifies that the Realm is moving backward, an intelligent punishment from above. It can be stopped she always told me, by doing things in line with the Heavenly Laws. So, what she did the day she died was what she thought was according to the laws. That day she dumped Cassandra, which was then one of the justices of the Magistrate. The former justice dropped by the office, and received the bad news from me. I extended Pioneer Merriah's decision about the endorsement. "There's no more endorsement," I told her while I gave her an envelope. She put it inside her clutch bag. She changed. "I'm sorry," I added to comfort her. It was her ultimate dream, to lead. The news that I delivered unleashed something dark, a horrible thing, from Cassandra. She silenced herself and gave me a raging look. "She'll regret her decision," she slowly uttered. She told me to tell the pioneer that she's coming in the evening.

"Daniel?" Angelo interrupted my daydream, a day nightmare rather.

"Do you fear the regression," I asked him.

"Of course, I do," I replied. "But, what I fear the most is when I forget when it comes."

"It's a curse," Tamara butted in while Sabrina was carrying her.

"Are you okay?" I was worried her condition. She was getting worse.

"I'm fine," she tried to stop us from worrying. "It's really happening, our reckoning."

"At least there's no flood anymore," Sabrina tried to make the conversation light, but it got deeper instead. Her delighted face became dim. "Perhaps Tamara is always right, we are no different from the nations outside," she sadly said. Tamara embraced her. "Hush my sister," she said.

"If the regression is all about cleansing, we don't really know the home we thought know by heart and mind," Angelo wondered. According to Tamara despite her idea opposing Angelo's that the Realm is a wasteland, he always believes that the land we are stepping on is a paradise. It's hard to break his ideals, but the alignment somehow bent it slightly.

"The Realm has secrets, dark secrets, darker, secrets, darkest secrets," I told them. "They don't want us to know that, or maybe we know it but don't pay much attention to it."

"What were you thinking earlier?" Angelo asked me.

"Nothing," I replied. "I was amazed at what is happening in our surrounding at the same time scared," I added. "Maybe, we should take a sit." So, we sat under the roots of the tree of our choice. The atmosphere became colder as the raindrops eventually turned into a hard rain. The clouds above began to rumble and finally gave its first strike. The clouds were roaring. After a while, it stopped and the hole in the sky closed.

"I think we should go back in the Capitol," I convinced them.

"Why? You want Tamara to suffer in a crime that she accidentally committed when the truth is that witch drove Chief Justice Dominic to go after my sister," she opposed my idea. "Look at what happened to her, I know she has something to do with it, all of what we are facing," she continued.

"We are hiding your sister because she's guilty," my mind went blank. "Sorry, I did not mean it, Tamara."

"You were there, Daniel," Tamara defended herself then stopped.

I was there. We were there the night the pioneer was poisoned. At least, she was not really poisoned, not by Miguel or Tamara. Someone shoot her, and definitely not Cassandra. But, I was there. My very eyes saw that she was shot by an anonymous assassin in the head right before the emotional Tamara. They were talking, and the topic was beyond my knowledge. They were emotional when someone pulled a trigger and put the pioneer down.

"Daniel!" Sabrina put me back to reality. "You are out again, Daniel."

"Sorry girls, I did not mean that. I was just confused and exhausted."

"We know. We are sorry too," she said and tapped my back.

I closed my eyes and sighed. "Let's rest for a while then," I said. 

We rested our feets, hearts, and minds. The surrounding helped us to relax given the fact that it just rained. We have secrets. As time goes by, we tend to bury it deeper below the ground. Perhaps, those secrets kept us intact with each other for the past weeks that we shared. No one had the gut to expose their own mess. The good thing about it is that it keeps us going. If time permits, I know that these secrets, light or dark, will soon be revealed. It will help us because I know it's our fate to be in the Capitol that night, or to be involved in the mystery, at least.