A Thousand-Year Old Prophecy

87: Southern-Central Boundary

The next day, Nyssa and the rest finally departed from the Capital City to set off towards the boundary of Southern and Central Island.

Their journey was smooth without any trouble along the way.

Kaya naman it just took them half a month to reach the boundary.

Sinalubong sila ng maingay at matao na lugar.

Actually, they were expecting na balot ng takot ang lugar na ito dahil na rin sa maraming mga kaso ng mga batang nawawala.

But seemed like the trading between two Islands were more important than their safety.

"Let's go and look for the house na inupahan ng Central Cloud para sa atin. Then we'll eat at one of these restaurants." Jin said.

"Sounds good. I am really famished now." Khalil muttered then he suddenly looked at Nyssa. "Oy, Ana, don't forget your promise. You'll treat us today."

"Fine, fine... This storage ring provided by Governor Max is kinda heavy. It's time to make it a little bit lighter. We should reserve the most fancy restaurant here today and eat to our heart's content."

Khalil celebrated because of Nyssa's words.

Napailing lang naman si Toby dahil sa dalawa.

Basta talaga pagkain nagkakasundo yang dalawa.

Well, pabor din naman sa kanya na kumain na lang sila sa labas ngayon. He was also tired and didn't want to cook at all.

***

Nyssa and Khalil really chose a fancy restaurant.

They even booked a VIP room for themselves. Way to go to spend all the money Nyssa scammed from Governor Max.

Pero mas okay na rin naman na nasa VIP room sila dahil hindi rin nila mapigilang mapag-usapan ang mga plano nila para sa mga susunod na araw.

"I, Adam and Khalil will visit the Authority Station tomorrow. If we can get the information of the children's missing, then it will be much better. Toby and Ana, you can ask around about it too. But just be discreet. We do not want to alert the rats." Jin laid out the initial plan for tomorrow.

Agad namang umayon ang apat sa kaniya.

***

Nyssa couldn't sleep.

Ilang oras na rin mula ng makabalik sila galing sa restaurant. The others were quick to fall asleep. Even Toby did.

It was just her who couldn't calm down so she went out at the balcony to think.

Mukha talagang tinatadhana siya na ulitin ang mga mapapait niyang karanasan noong huling buhay niya.

Same place... Same time of the year... Same event...

What she was dreading the most was to repeat the same mistakes she had done as before.

The children... The deaths...

If she experienced the same thing at second time, she might end up really crazy then. She almost did the last time.

Nyssa felt the night air around her. She hugged herself while her eyes became fiercer.

She swore. If she met those people again this time, she would really do her best to protect them.

That's the only thing she could do for them.

***

The next day, gaya ng napag-usapan nila, Toby and Nyssa went to a separate investigation of their own.

Maaga pa lang ay naglalakad lakad na sila sa market.

It was busy as usual but they quickly felt the lurking fear underneath these tradings around them.

They also happened to hear a conversation about a missing child.

Two store owners were talking about it. Mukhang may kakilala sila na nakuhaan ng anak.

"Oo... Yung anak nga din ni Carmen. Tatlong taong gulang at noong isang araw lang nangyari. Naglalaro laang daw sa tapat ng bahay nila. Nalingat lang siya sandali ay nawala na itong bigla. Ayun nga at kahapon pa nag-iiiyak Authority Station."

"Jusko, pabata na ng pabata ang mga nakikidnap ngayon ah. Baka bukas makalawa, pati mga sanggol ay di na nila palagpasin."

"Nako, Mare, wag ka sanang magdilang-anghel. Ang anak ko ay iilang buwan pa lamang mula ng ipanganak ko."

"Nako, oo nga no. Ay basta kayo ay laging mag-ingat. Dapat laging may nakabantay sa anak niyo."

"Oo naman, Mare."

Nagkatinginan sila Toby at Ana matapos nilang marinig ang kwentuhan ng dalawa.

They didn't ask them since sinabi rin naman nila na nasa Authority Station ang ina ng bata. Since that was the case, thr other three would surely have more detailed information about the situation.

Nagpatuloy na lang sila sa paglalakad at pag-oobserba sa paligid nila.

Until lunch came at niyaya na ni Toby si Nyssa na kumain sa pinakamalapit na restaurant.

They found one quickly, named as Grilled Hog.

Nang ituro ni Toby ang restaurant ay agad na nanlumo si Nyssa.

Then her eyes started to scan the crowd.

Her eyes landed on two children sa may eskinita at nagtitingin tingin sa mga tao na dumadaan sa harapan nila as if they were waiting for someone.

Then they suddenly joined the traffic of people.

Mabilis lang din ay muli silang tumakbo sa eskinita habang may ilang mga coin bags na hawak hawak sa magkabila nilang kamay.

"Ana?" Papasok na sa restaurant si Toby ng mapuna niyang hindi niya kasunod ang dalaga.

His quickly scanned the crowd.

Agad din naman niya itong nakita atsaka niya ito nilapitan at tinawag muli.

"Ana... Hoy!"

Nyssa was cut off from her reverie then she looked beside her kung nasan si Toby.

"Anong tinutulala tulala mo jan? Sabi ko ay kumain na tayo. Papasok na ako sa loob tapos nandito ka pa rin pala. Mabuti na lang at lumingon ako kundi ay nasilisihan mo na naman ako." Sermon sa kanya nito.

"I won't go anywhere. May nakita lang ako."

"Na ano?"

"Not really important. Tara na sa loob. Gutom ka na di ba?"

Naningkit ang mga mata ni Toby. He could feel na may nililihim si Nyssa sa kanya.

Pero hindi na siya nag-usisa pa. As if hindi pa siya sanay sa mga sikreto nito. Anyway, sasabihin naman ng dalaga yan sa kanya kapag handa na siya.

For now though, to prevent her from committing stupid things, he decided to keep his eyes on her thoroughly. Mahirap na. Though they were in a mission, her safety was still the most important right now.

***