***
"THEY'RE here! They're here!"
Midas and I put down our toys as soon as we heard Mauris screaming from the door. Lady Callisto has come home from giving birth.
"Vera come on!"
Tawag sa akin ni Midas bago hinila ang mga kamay ko. He was so excited with seeing the baby and so am I kaya agad naming sinalubong ang mga dumating.
"Mama!"
Midas went to her mother and kissed her before looking at the baby.
"Wow," he exclaimed happily while watching her. I however just stayed on the corner.
Though I'm calling Lady Callisto 'Mama', she isn't really my mother. I am a descendant of a refugee who migrated to the Philippines due to the European Civil War decades ago.
"Isn't she pretty Vera?" Lady Callisto asked me, encouraging me to come to her.
I just nodded while staring at her daughter. The baby too, like her, has warm chocolate eyes, may suot siyang onesies na talagang bumagay rito.
"She's pretty Mama,"
I told her while smiling, she's making tiny sounds. I never looked at a baby before.
"She's your sister," Lady Callisto whispered as her lips met my forehead. I was dumbfounded by her words.
I turned my gaze at her as confusion shadowed my eyes.
"My sister?"
"Ahuh,"
My lips immediately stretched into a smile as I nodded at my mother.
It's not bad to have a sister, Mauris is also my sister, though she has blue eyes and I have green.
I stared at the baby again, she was still making little sounds like she was happy. Midas and I just clapped our hands. It just made my heart flutter even more seeing them being giddy.
"She has beautiful eyes," I told Lady Callisto.
"And so do you," and she kissed my forehead one more time.
"And I too Mama," singit ni Midas.
"Of course, Darling. We should get ready for dinner while she takes a nap," Wika niya bago tumayo at nilagay ang baby sa nakahandang tulugan nito.
"Will you read us a bedtime story?"
Midas asked her. She just once again, nodded.
"Of course"
I ended up smiling.
Despite not being her real daughter, Mama never made me feel that I was different. I just learned that I was when I saw their eye color and their similar faces after I learned my lessons in Genetics.
But that doesn't matter now. I love this family. I would protect it with my life.
This is my promise to my self, because, unlike my real family, these people chose to stay and accept me.
But then again, some people aren't really meant to stay with us...
***
"MAMA!"
I crawled toward Lady Callisto as she coughed some blood. A knife with engravings on its handle is pierced into her stomach. Like her mouth, that area too bathe in moist reddish brown liquid.
A smell of sulfur and iron is lingering around the area along with a thick smell of gasoline.
Tears welled in my eyes as memories of earlier dusk today flashed before my eyes. We were cooking dinner when an explosion from a bomb happened in our kitchen.
I watched closely as the humongous fire started by the bad men who fired bullets at us earlier ate our house as my sobs went louder.
Wala na kaming bahay, the mansion is going to vanish along with my father's life inside it.
"Love,"
She coughed again before she pointed at an area slightly far from her. Napatingin rin ako doon.
"Mama!"
My hands covered my mouth as tears kept rolling down my cheeks. The brown sandals that used to flatten our garden are now lying on the grass backyard, unmoving.
"Midas," I whispered.
Wala na akong kalaro
"My kuya is also dead Mama!"
I started crying as blood also flowed through my face and my shoulders. My whole body aches because of the injuries but my heart bleeds more for what has happened to my family today.
"I'm so-rry Ba-baby,"
I went to my mother and hugged her. I kept on drying her tears with my thumb. I do not know how to make her feel better.
"Mama,"
My baby sister made a faint sound from a distance. The tears in my eyes immediately halted when the sounds even grew louder. Nasa kabilang bahagi siya ng katawan ni Mama, kasalungat ni Midas.
"Ta-take your sister," Lady Callisto told me as she tried to breathe some air. I dried my tears, I do not know how to feed the baby her milk now.
"C-call for help...call for help Baby,"
"Mama, she's crying!" I told her as I tried to pull the baby's body from her area, my legs were hurt and my back was bleeding.
"I do not know how to make milk," I sobbed as I looked at the baby's face. She is crying out loud. Mauris and my other siblings are in Greece for school. I have no one here.
"You will soon, you're a big-big girl now,"
Blood went out of her mouth again. I wiped it. It smells and it stinks and I don't want it.
Lalo akong napaiyak.
"Vera, Vera ba-baby they injected some-thing to h-her. P-promise me,"
I looked at Mama pinapahid ko ang gilid ng bibig niya na puro dugo. My hands are already covered in blood.
"P-promise me, you'll...you'll help her. You'll help your sister,"
She coughed again as she tried to inhale some air. My hands automatically went to her shoulders. Hindi niya rin kami pwedeng iwan.
"Mama!"
"Vera look at me,"
Pinahid ko ang luha ko habang tumitingin kay Mama, she held my face with her hands kahit nanghihina na siya.
She's going to die now. I know, she's going to say goodbye already.
Humagulgol ko. I cannot lose my family again.
"Du hast wunderschöne Augen,"
She weakly said as more tears enveloped her eyes. She has beautiful eyes too but right now, those were full of longing and pain.
It mirrored mine except that blood was also welling on the side of my eyes. My vision is becoming blurry pero pilit kong nilalabanan ang sakit ng ulo ko.
"Wunderschöne Augen Ve-ra,"
She added as life started to depart from her body.
I was a bit shocked for a moment. A hollow formed inside my chest as I felt needles pierce it. It had not occurred to me that she was gone for good.
My silent sobs soon turned into wails.
The woman who gladly accepted me as her daughter is lying in my very eyes, lifeless with a knife on her stomach.
"Mama!"
"Mama! Gumising ka! I am still a little girl. I do not know how to make milk,"
I hugged her as I tried to shake her body. My sister is still crying, hindi ko talaga alam kung papaano ko siya aalagaan ngayon
I crawled closer to her.
I did not know how we survived that night, but we did anyway.
We survived the tragedy, as before the midnight strike, a group of people went to us to rescue us. They took care of the bodies and made sure that we would never remember the bad things that occurred that night.
They healed my wounds and erased the scars that flooded my back like strokes of mural. And they were good.
They really were, but they're late-too late that I've already made a new promise to my self.
I CARESSED the knife that I had stolen from the belongings of the police department long ago.
"Antares? Akilah is here, she's ready for the mission."
My lips curved to form a smile as I shifted my gaze towards one of the servants who reminded me to get to the conference room as soon as possible.
Being an assassin is hard but most of the time, it's worth it. You get to eliminate useless people, I could say, this is my dream job.
"Anta-Holy Sh-"
"Shh, relax Cassius, I'll be there in a minute, don't disturb me next time,"
Napatango na lamang si Cassius, bago umalis. I stared at him as he walked faster away from my room.
Oh, Akilah would kill me for scaring her best friend like that.
Hinugot ko ang patalim na tumusok sa pintuan, ilang dangkal ang layo nito sa mukha ni Cassius kanina. If my move wasn't calculated, his eyes would be needing a bandage right away.
I caressed the knife as I read the carvings on its handle mentally.
This knife ended my Mother's life, I'll use it as well to end theirs.
Pinulot ko ang folder na nasa paanan ng kama ko pati na ang isang blueprint, I left the map of a particular island however.
The people here don't need to know my agenda for entering Chronos Union.
They don't need to know that I'm out there hunting and killing the people of their very own Bellamorte.