Chapter 59
[TW: self-harm]
"What do you mean it happened all of a sudden?!" Tony questioned Lia angrily as tears are still in his eyes. "So you allowed that cousin of yours to bring her to the station?! Even though it's risky?!"
Nathalia is brought back to the Philippines for her family to arrange the burial. Lia took some time off TAPOPS to assist with the burial. Her whole family is devastated, especially her brothers. Lia is now talking to them privately, explaining how things happened. She started from the very start until the finish which brought anger to her two brothers. Ron is speechless, all he could do is cry while Tony is fuming.
"I-I didn't even know Kaizo will bring her there," Lia croaked out, a tear falling from her eye. "I swear, kuya, I wouldn't risk mom like that. Kaizo himself told us that mom wanted to see dad."
"Screw that Andres then!" The eldest brother roared. "He just... watched you both get attacked like that? Where is he? I want to put him in jail!" He stood up with his fists clenched.
"Kuya," She cried as she got up to soothe him. "As much as we want to put him in jail, it would be hard to. He wasn't the one who directly killed her, it was one of his minions. Even if we're going to put the minion in jail, it's a robot, and... it's more applicable in outer space."
"And how can you say that?" He glared at her. "This wouldn't have happened if you didn't join that TAPOPS! We have so many problems and now you just added another one to our plate that involves our mother's death!" His voice raised that scared Lia.
"Tony!" Ron scolded while he stood up for his little sister. "Don't put the blame on Lia. We know that she doesn't want this to happen. Now please, for the sake of everyone, we can't afford to fight with one another."
Tony chuckled, rolling his eyes at Ron, "Easy for you to say. We didn't just lose anyone, we lost our mother!" His voice ended up breaking due to sadness. "So it's not okay, it will never be okay!"
Lia and Ron could never blame Tony for his reaction. Aside from he's the eldest, they both know that Tony's closest person he has in his life is their mom.
"If mom didn't marry that Andres, she would still be alive!" Tony bawled, suddenly punching the wall. Lia widened his eyes at his statement, that if their mom didn't marry Andres, then she wouldn't be here in this world.
Ron got alarmed when he saw Lia's reaction which made him frustrated with his older brother, "Tony, that's enough. Your words are hurting Lia."
And true enough, it brought more tears to her eyes, yet she halted Ron. "It's okay."
The hardest part for them is her cremation. Witnessing someone be turned back to dust pains them a lot. Lia will never forget this day, the way she wailed before her mom was placed on the burner, the way her brothers did the same thing too.
She's really gone now.
It will take around three hours for the process to finish. The de Vera siblings all waited outside the room, just seated down on the seats along the corridor. Ron, being the prepared brother himself, brought out water bottles for them.
"Lia," A familiar masculine voice called her which made her turn in the direction of where the voice came from. Walking toward them are both Boboiboy and Fang, both are dressed in white which surprised Lia.
Well, not only her are surprised, but also his two siblings. But one of them has a sour expression at the sight of the two TAPOPS heroes. "I'm sorry but, what are you doing here?" Tony asked, furrowing his eyebrows.
His tone took them back, it was rude, to begin with, but Fang just shrugged it off. "We came here because of the cremation. We wanted to pay our respects." Tony tsked, "It's done. You can now leave."
"Look, I know this is hard for you, but-" Fang got cut off by Tony snarling at him, "But what?! Look spiked head, nothing will change anymore. If it wasn't for your family, our mom would still be alive!"
"Tony, they aren't claiming Andres to be part of their family. We're trying our best to catch him," Boboiboy calmly explained, not wanting to enrage him more. "And since when were you a part of this, huh, Boboiboy? Didn't you just leave my sister because of your dad too?! You don't have any right to be part of this, especially since you're not in the family anymore."
Hearing that broke Boboiboy's heart.
Lia goes to stand between her brother and the two heroes. She faced her brother, mouthing to him that she will handle them, then ushered the two heroes far away from her brothers.
"I'm sorry for the sudden visit, I just feel pity that-" Lia raised her hand to stop Fang from speaking, giving him a small smile, "It's alright. I know your intentions, Fang. But it would be better if you guys just give us our needed space."
Fang glanced over at Boboiboy, who is now looking at him with a pleading look. Fang sighed then faced Lia, "Well, uh, we also came here for another reason." Lia raised her eyebrow at them, only for Boboiboy to step forward.
Lia looked at him with disgust as Fang excused himself, walking away from the two. The two of them just stared at each other, awkwardness filling up the air. Boboiboy cleared his throat, motioning to Lia to sit down on the pack of chairs nearby.
As the two sat beside each other, Boboiboy glanced over her to see that she is just looking straight ahead with a blank expression. He cleared his throat, mustering up the courage to break the silence, "I want to talk to you about something."
"Aren't you already talking?" Lia coldly replied, maintaining her expression. "What brings you here?" He sighed, still looking at her, "I know things are hard for you right now. I want you to know that I'm here for you."
His message cracked a laugh from Lia that confused Boboiboy. After a minute of laughing, she looked at him with anger. Her duality scared Boboiboy, he has never seen her like this in the years of knowing and being with her.
"You were supposed to do that before," She started, glaring at him. "But what did you do? You blamed me for everything then you left which pained me a lot. Crap, the time I got drunk you didn't even help me! You called Fang when you were already nearby!"
Her voice rose but her voice broke, she was in the mix of being sad and angry. She felt her tears forming again yet she continues, "You told me it was us against the world, Boboiboy. You said it yourself! But why do I feel it's just me against the world? Not only you blame me for your dad but my brothers are blaming me too for my mom's death!"
That's where she broke it, she lowered her head to her knees and cried. It wasn't just a cry of pain but also anger. Boboiboy started to tear up at the sight of her state, he knew he was responsible for half of her pain. However, he didn't dare to touch her because he knows she will refuse his touch.
Rising her head revealed her face, she looked tired from all the crying. "If you still see me as your biggest mistake, then fine," She stood up, maintaining her cold stare at him. "Just so you know, my biggest mistake was trusting you."
Then she walked away, leaving a saddened and heartbroken Boboiboy.
Days later, Nathalia's wake happened. Every of her closest friends was there, even former colleagues- everyone who simply cared and appreciated her existence. While the two brothers assisted the guests, offering them food, and simply greeting them, the youngest child stood in front of her mother's urn.
She recalled how things ended for her; it happened all of a sudden. She's a heroine, a member of TAPOPS, a lance corporal, yet she couldn't save her own mom from death. Not only she is in grief but also in guilt. Tony's words stuck in her mind, "This wouldn't have happened if you didn't join that TAPOPS! We have so many problems and now you just added another one to our plate that involves our mother's death!"
Tears formed in her eyes again then she cried. She has been crying for days since her death happened, she couldn't stop; she doesn't know when will she ever stop crying. There were so many questions running in her head, so many uncertainties.
One thing's for sure... She will make Andres pay.
She felt a hand on her shoulder, turning around she saw Leizel. She got surprised because her and the rest stayed at the station at first but now they're here. "You're here."
"And so are they." She pointed to the rest of the gang who were seated nearby them. All of them were wearing dark clothing to pay respects at the funeral. Along with them are the power spheres- Ochobot and Sonobot, then Tok Aba.
"I think Boboiboy's right," She started as she broke off the eye contact and laid her eyes on her resting mom. "If I wasn't oblivious, none of this wouldn't happened. We would've stopped Andres."
She doesn't want to call him dad anymore. She will never refer to him as her dad.
Leizel shook her head, still upset at Boboiboy for telling her that. "No, it's not your fault. We did agree that it was hard for you to detect whether he was up to something. I understand why you trusted him at first."
"Well now I don't, and I will never do it again." She firmly said as tears are still falling from her eyes. All she could do was nod then wrap his one arm around her shoulder, pulling her friend close to her.
"Ang sakit," She cried, expressing how painful she feels at the moment. "It hurts so much, Zel. Losing a mom... in my hands... I could've done better." Leizel immediately cradled her in her arms as Lia cried against her frame. She then glanced at the others who are looking at them, probably asking if they should go to their area, but she shook her head.
All of a sudden, Andres arrived at the wake along with Aisha. Their arrival brought attention to the rest of the visitors, especially Lia's family and friends.
"Is that Iris?"
"Wait, it is her! Wait, I thought she was dead?"
The gang are alarmed by their arrival, they couldn't believe that those two have the guts to attend the wake. "What the hell is he doing here?!" Fang whisper and yelled to the others.
Yaya sighed in return, "Of course, he's going to go, he's the husband after all." Ying shook her head, "The husband who watched Probe kill his wife."
Tony became agitated at the sight of them, making him rush to them, "What are you doing here?!" He shouted at them. Ron, on the other hand, slowly approached Aisha with a shocked expression, "Iris... So what Lia said is true, you are alive..."
"Kuya?" Aisha's eyes softened at the sight of her brother. "I-I can explain."
"I don't care," Ron suddenly retorted. "You allied with him in his plans then what did it cost? Mom's life! Her freaking life! I don't need to know more about you joining him. You're a disappointment!"
Aisha sighed, looking away from him. An argument between Andres and Tony is eliciting at the moment.
"This is the wake of my wife so I have my very right to be here." Andres defended himself, annoyed at Tony. Tony scoffed, "What?! You're the reason why she died! Our very own mother died because of you!" His voice rose up, creating tension between them.
The guests didn't know what to do; well, they didn't have anything to do with this so all they could do is watch.
"You better watch your words," Andres warned Tony, leaning over him. "You're shameless. You're causing a scene in your mother's wake!" The two continued to bicker, much to the other guests being baffled.
Some of them were already whispering to each other, asking what in the world is going on. One of Nathalia's siblings tried to stop the bickering but they ignored her. The rest of the gang are speechless, even Tok Aba is.
But Lia didn't have it, she felt her blood boiling as the bickering continue. She went to the two men bickering to interrupt, "You know who else is shameless? The both of you! In front of other people, you decided to do this?!"
"Illana, let me-" Andres tried to speak but she was cut off by Lia. "Don't Illana me. I don't care what your explanation is! You watched her get attacked! You watched her die! I would've been glad if you did something to save her but me!"
Her remark silenced Andres, and even Tony. Her fiery glare is enough to pierce both of them.
"Do you know how much pain you caused?" Lia asked, her voice breaking a bit. "I feel like a part of myself is dead because of what happened. So if I were you, I would leave this place, please."
Andres sighed, walking toward Lia, trying to coo her. "I'll stop now, okay? We're in your mother's wake. Let's just... tone down things for a while." His remark made Lia scoff, "Her wake... Which wouldn't have happened if it weren't for you!"
Anger was evident by the way she spoke, it brought everyone else to astonishment, even Boboiboy. Between him and Lia, he's the one who usually gets angry because of some situations. Sure, she gets pissed off but today, her anger was different - way deep.
"I want you out," She pointed her finger to Andres then to Tony and Aisha. "And you!" Tony returned a puzzled look, "Uhm, excuse me? I'm her son too! The ones who should get kicked out are these two." He referred to Andres and Aisha.
"Well, I'm her child too." Aisha reasoned out which angered Lia even more. "You stopped being her child the moment you went to the dark side. Now go before I throw you all out!"
Boboiboy is in shock to see his girlfriend like this. He saw how her face went red when she yelled at them. Even the gang is in shock, Yaya then stood up to head for Lia but Leizel stopped her.
"Why aren't you guys moving?! Can't you understand?!" Out of anger, she outstretched her hand to them that has her power warmed up. In just one throw, the sound waves can blast the three of them. Her action alerted the rest who are watching them; gasps are heard everywhere.
"Aiyoyo... This isn't good." Gopal said, fearful of what Lia could do to them. Fang goes to the angry girl, trying to pull her back, "Lia, Lia... That's enough. Not here, please. You're too angry."
Boboiboy goes to her as well, helping Fang to pull her back, "Li... Stop... Not here... Not in the wake." He tried to lower down her hand but she firmly dodged it, not saying anything but glaring at Andres, Aisha, and Tony.
"Huy, why am I included here? I'm not even responsible for her death!" Tony panicked at the sight of Lia's power. Sure, he hasn't seen his sister attack but with her anger, he knows she can be destructive with it.
"Well, you're standing in the way. Unless you want to get blasted, move out." He immediately shifted away, leaving Aisha and Andres in front of Lia.
"So what? You're going to blast us out here? I guess we're not the only one who's shameful here." Aisha remarked with a sneering tone. Lia lowly grunted, "I'm threatening you guys, but that doesn't mean I don't have a conscience."
She lowered her hand; the glare was still there then she noticed how speechless Andres is. "What are you guys still doing here? I said GO!"
"Well, I guess we'll just go for the burial," Aisha remarked with a smirk. Then she and Andres went ahead. Lia exhaled heavily afterward - she felt tired like she battled another villain, but it was an emotional battle.
She turned to the others, who are looking at her with saddened faces. Suddenly, she felt lightheaded which made her lose her balance. Good thing Boboiboy is fast enough to catch her before she can hit the ground.
"Lia? Oh no... Can someone get water please?!" Boboiboy called out, indirectly announcing that Lia is down. He looked at her, spotting the dark bags under her eyes, her pale and dry lips, and her shortness of breath.
Tony went into action, panicked at his sister's state. He grasp the closest water bottle he can see on the table and then went back to Lia. Boboiboy sat her down on the chair, holding on to her while the rest of the gang went to help.
"It's okay, I'm here," Boboiboy assured her softly. He received the water bottle from Tony and then made Lia drink it. Leizel and Yaya borrowed hand fans from some of the guests to give her some air while Gopal and Ying just watched.
Fang, on the other hand, rushed outside the area to meet up with Andres and Aisha.
"Hey, both of you!" They both turned around to see Fang who was glaring at them. Aisha chuckled, "The shadow boy again."
"You don't have any shame, do you?" Fang angrily asked as he approached them. "And who are you to dictate that? Tsk, you are indeed Kaizo's brother." Andres mocked with a smirk.
Fang scoffed, "Whatever. I know that your plan isn't done yet, wait until we take you down. You'll pay for siding with Bora Ra when you attacked our home planet." Andres cackled, "I'd like to see you do that if I don't take you down first."
He suddenly encompassed him and Aisha in a black bubble that became his "soul-self" and then it departed the area where Fang was left. He watched them disappear with a frown on his face.
The gang accompanied Lia to her house. As soon as she entered her old house, she could feel her tears coming. The house where she grew up, it was full of memories of her and her mom.
The couch. She remembers vividly the way she and Nathalia used to watch cartoons there. Despite the cartoons being repetitive, Nathalia always makes it a point to watch them with Lia because it makes her happy.
The dining area. Despite having a housemaid, Nathalia does her best to prepare delicious snacks for them when they come home from school. Whether it be a yummy sandwich, homemade pizza, or even instant noodles, it completes the day.
She felt someone softly patting her back, she turned around to see Leizel with the others, giving her a sympathetic look. "You should take a rest now; we'll be here in case you need anything." Leizel softly told her.
"Yes. If you want, we can stay with you in your room." Yaya offered with a soft smile. Gopal nodded, "Dey, you said you haven't eaten yet, right? I can whip up something for you."
"When are we going back to the station?" Lia ignored the offers of her friends and asked that instead. "Oh, uhm... admiral said we'll stay here on Earth for a while. He knows you need time off." Ying replied, a bit scared of what her reply can be.
"Captain said he'll visit too. He wants to pay respects to aunty." Fang added on Lia who simply nodded. Lia sighed, "And to answer your offers, no need. Just make yourselves comfortable here."
She proceeded to her room, leaving the others saddened. "Aiya, what are we going to do? She needs to eat somehow." Yaya worriedly said. "Well, we can't force her right now. She's in grief. She might snap at us if we force something on her." Leizel replied with a sigh.
"Wait, where's atok and the power spheres?" Fang asked, noticing the absence of the old man and two power spheres. "They went back to Rintis," Ying answered while plopping down on the couch.
Boboiboy sat down on the other side of the couch, trying to come up with a plan. But his thinking is soon to be stopped when he heard a loud cry. That loud cry came from no other than Lia which panicked him.
"Oh no," He dashed off, leaving the worried others.
In her bedroom, Lia is crying again. This is the nth time she has ever cried; she knows it's not healthy for her but that's what all she could do. "W-Why did I let her save me? I-It should've been m-me..."
But what's done is done. They were able to save Ochobot and retrieve Sonobot from the hands of Orangpina, but it doesn't feel like a win with Nathalia's death. She was crying in the corner of her room, leaning on the wall.
"This..." She hits her head against the wall. "Is... All... My... Fault..." She choked at her own tears, giving her head some hits against the wall. She lets out a loud scream before she continues to cry again.
The door busted open, Boboiboy sped into the room to see Lia's state. "Hey," He rushed to her and checked her for any signs of bruises or wounds. "It's okay, I'm here... Just let it out..."
He then cradled her in his arms, allowing her to cry on him. The sudden body contact made him shiver a bit, as this is the first time since the breakup they have been physically closed. Setting those thoughts aside, he knows how much pain she is having right now. He then hushes her as he rocks her body, trying his best to ease the weeping girl.
"B-Boboiboy," She cried out then looked at him. Her eyes are bloodshot making his eyes soften. "I-I hate him... I hate dad... So much..." He nodded with a sympathetic look as he softly pats her back.
"All of them... will pay..."
"So, she wants to attack them?" Fang asked in confusion.
Boboiboy went back down to the living area to meet up with the rest after soothing Lia. She also fell asleep, much to Boboiboy's relief. He is glad that she can rest for a bit. He made sure she fell asleep first before leaving.
Yaya, who has a cup of coffee in her hands, let out a sigh as she placed her cup on the table, "I know she's angry but she should let herself grieve first. If she does this, she could do something bad or even hurt herself in the process."
Ying went to sit beside Yaya, "That's true. Have you seen her earlier at the wake? That's the type of Lia you shouldn't mess with."
Boboiboy nodded, remembering how Lia reacted earlier at the wake. She wasn't the type of person to yell with such anger. Even when she's mad, she manages to keep her voice down and talk sophisticatedly.
But things do change, especially when pain is present.
"I know, but she insisted that we should strike them since Andres' plan in about the quantum generator is still on the loose. That's what we have to stop," Boboiboy replied then he sat down between Gopal and Leizel. "At this point, we should prioritize the plan in stopping that generator."
"What about Andres looking for your dad? Isn't that your priority?" Leizel asked Boboiboy with a raised eyebrow. Boboiboy sighed, he knows how much of a jerk he has been with the fact of Andres looking for Amato.
But after talking to Lia, after hearing those words come out of her mouth, and after her words pierced his heart, things changed,
"I'm sure my father can manage, but I'll still do my best to prevent that from happening. Right now, we have to focus on stopping the generator." Boboiboy firmly replied to Leizel, looking at her with furrowed eyebrows.
The rest of the gang nodded, agreeing with him. "For Lia and for aunty."
---
The Orangpina Jahat Inc., station sets itself in a new place since the TAPOPS members were able to locate it previously. They are now located at Reverse' old home planet- Taman.
Andres is in his room, weeping about Nathalia's death. He looked at the framed pictures that are nearby his console- their wedding picture, a family picture that consists of him, Nathalia, and a baby Lia, and lastly, a portrait of Nathalia's herself.
He didn't mean any of this to happen- he just wanted to seek revenge on Kaizo and Amato and then destroy the TAPOPS members, but he didn't expect the death of his wife, it struck him hard.
He remembered the day he met her- he was seeking refuge since he didn't have a home at that time. Nathalia was already a widow with three kids, and despite struggling to make ends meet, she allowed him to stay in their house.
As time passed by, feelings were developed until they decided to tie the knot and settle down. He gave Nathalia and her three kids a better life, and when Lia came into the picture, he strived even harder to give his only daughter a great life.
"Master, may I have a word?" He turned to see Tristan who has already entered the room. He nodded and waited for him to speak.
"The quantum generator is almost done."