A Thousand-Year Old Prophecy

64: Southern Island

Atticus might not want Jin's group to leave but the day of departing had to happen.

Kailangan din kasi munang umuwi nila Jin sa Southern Island bago magpatuloy sa paglalakbay nila sa iba pang lugar.

It was a shame for the old man. Hindi pa din kasi niya napag-aaralan ng buo yung Caius' Technique. Kahit nga ayaw niya ay sinusuyo suyo niya na rin ng bahagya si Nyssa para lamang bigyan siya nito ng notes niya.

But the young lady simply couldn't get his intention.

He was a prideful man kaya naman kahit papaano ay ayaw niyang garapalan na hingiin dito yung technique. After all, he also knew how hard to get these secret techniques.

As a treasure hunter himself, he knew very well that the more valuable an object was, the harder it was to find. That's why usually, if they found a rare object, they already considered it as fate.

However, he was still hoping to know this secret technique himself. The thing is, how could he convince Nyssa to share it with him?

***

Several days later...

Jin and the rest set out to continue their travel. Well, halos isang buwan din sila na nuluyan kay Atticus. It was time for them to go home.

"Eh? Jin, malungkot ata ang master mo dahil sa pag-alis natin." Khalil commented.

Medyo nakalayo layo na sila sa lugar ni Atticus when he said that.

Anyway, true enough, Atticus was indeed sulking when they left. Mainly because, he failed to acquire all the information about Caius' Technique. Kahit yung mga experiment nila Jin at Nyssa, iilan lang ang nalaman niya. It was truely a loss for him.

"Pfft..." Nyssa could no longer kept her laughter. The face of Atticus while they were leaving was very funny for her. He had never shown that kind of frustration in the past life. Lahat kasi noon ay ibinabahagi ni Nyssa kay Atticus.

"You are very wicked." Napapailing pang sabi ni Jin kay Nyssa. They were riding their horses beside each other kaya naman kahit mahina ang pagkakasabi ni Jin noon ay narinig agad iyon ni Nyssa.

The latter just grinned at him.

"Luckily, Master is not ordinary or else he might end up dying in disappointment."

"Ordinary or not, that master of yours won't die easily. Masamang damo yun kaya tatagal pa yun ng libong taon."

"I really don't understand why the two of you likes to piss each other. Lalo ka na. You can just let him know na iniwan mo yung notes sa kanya. Kailangan mo pa talaga siyang inisin."

Nyssa was surprised about what had Jin said but she just shrugged and said, "That old man is really funny when angry. Yun na nga lang kapalit nung notes eh, pipigilan ko pa ba sarili ko? Aba! Wala ng libre ngayon no.

"Pano mo nga pala nalaman na iniwan ko yung notebook?"

Jin smiled. "What's your purpose for asking it back from me? Although na memorize ko na lahat ng nakasulat doon, but I know you are not the type of person who gives a gift and takes it afterwards without any reason."

Nyssa touched her nose at once.

"I am surprised though. When you gave it to me two years ago, I could tell you were a bit hesitant about it. After all, that technique had already bad history. But why did you give it to Master just like that? You even let him see every experiment we do. Though Master isn't a bad guy but isn't normal to be vigilant?"

She tilted her head as if thinking before answering Jin. "I believe he won't use it like how those bad people used the technique before. Otherwise, within that month of staying under his roof, he could have stolen that notebook for himself."

So it was just a test. Jin was stunned for a moment but eventually he smiled again. This young lady was really an interesting person.

***

It was the afternoon of the next day in which they reached the capital of Southern Island.

Jin's and Khalil's family were one of the first ranked official so they are naturally living within the capital. As for the family of Toby and Adam, they still needed to travel for at least 2 hours before reaching their hometown.

Though now, all of them were directly going towards the capital.

"Won't you be going home too?" Nyssa asked Toby.

"We will. Pero sa susunod na araw na lang. After all, we are still too tired from the long travel." Toby answered without looking at her.

Actually, Nyssa knew he wanted to make sure she would be comfortable first before they left. Tsundere kasi tong si Toby eh. Kunyari, he didn't care about her, even bullying to the extreme but in actuality, he really cared for her.

She smiled to herself. Pano kaya kung naging straight si Toby?

Just when the thought entered her mind, halos nangilabot agad siya. A shiver actually flowed down her system.

"Why are you shaking your head there?"

"Exercise..." She even grinned at him.

"Tch... weirdo."

Nyssa just pouted but didn't talk back anymore.

"We're here..." Jin announced.

The five of them stared at the red gate in front of them.

"Let's get inside." He excitedly said.

***

Nyssa could tell how happy the residence of Jin's family upon his return. Ilang taon din itong hindi umuwi kaya hindi na nakakapagtaka na naiyak pa ang nanay nito at halos gusto pang magpabanquet agad agad.

But Jin persuaded her, otherwise.

After all, he was the type of person who didn't like pretentious gathering.

"Mama, let me introduced you to Anastasia. She's from Eastern Island and went to Central Cloud with us."

Nyssa gave a courteous bow towards Jin's mother.

The latter smiled gently and courteously nodded at her. However, in Jin's mother's eyes, there was a sudden light. The rough actions of this young lady in front of her didn't escape her eyes. She made a judgment then that this lady didn't come from a noble family.

She was wrong though.

Meng and Ryder were both nobles from Eastern Island. It's just that, Nyssa had learned how to fight more than the etiquettes.

"How about you all rest first? I will have the maids call for you when dinner is ready."

"That's a good idea, Auntie." Khalil said happily which earned him a side hit from Toby. "Ouch..."

Toby just ignored him. "Auntie, thank you po."

Jin's mother waved her hand. "Don't mention it. You are after all like my sons already so you are welcome in my house."

There was an awkward ambiance among them. They might be dumb to the ways of females but for this one, they knew that Jin's mother isolated Nyssa.

Toby suddenly had a cautious heart. He knew Jin's mother well. Their family is benevolent, yes. Jin's father was a big person in the capital since he worked as Minister of War. However, this madam had a perk for picking out people who would be beside her only son.

It was normal. But for someone like him who experience her degrading looks and words before just because of his gender orientation, he got concerned about Nyssa's well being. After all, she might hide it to all of them but Toby was aware that after her failed assassination, she still had cold feet whenever she remembered that night.

However, Nyssa was obviously oblivious to it. It wasn't just her. Jin was also the same.

Toby shook his head. What was he going to do?

***