Kaye's POV
I stayed near the window of the second floor, overlooking the huge army marching closer, led by Eris herself.
A shadow appeared in front of me. Though I wasn't startled dahil alam ko kung sino ito.
"Dad." bati ko sa kanya.
Tinanguan niya ako bilang sagot saka napatingin sa babaeng nakatayo malapit rin sa bintana.
Hmm.
Ako lang ba ang nakakapansin na may kakaibang kaganapan sa pagitan ng dalawang 'to?
Nakasingkit ang aking mga mata habang nakatutok kay Matilda.
"What?"
She must've sense my stare.
"Nothing." nagkibit-balikat ako. "Narealize ko lang na bagay pala kayo ng dad ko."
"A-ano?" nauutal siya.
Which means my daughter instincts are right. May namumuo ngang something sa kanila.
"I knew it." lumapit ako sa kanya. Samantalang siya naman, humakbang paatras. Namumula pa nga ang magkabilang pisngi niya habang nakatingin sa'kin.
"Kaye."
Napahinto lamang ako nang marinig ang boses ni dad. He was already standing behind Matilda and giving me a warning look.
"What? Hahaha!" I laughed my ass off. "You should see her face."
Lumapit siya sa'kin at ginulo ang buhok ko. "Stop it Kaye. Go down and help the others." utos niya.
"Yeah right." I rolled my eyes and followed his order. While on the staircase, I decided to eavesdrop just out of curiousity.
"I'm sorry about that."
"It's fine."
"What is it?"
"I wasn't expecting her to laugh about this kind of issue. She's your daughter and daughters usually get all protective when their parent gets to a new.... a new relationship."
"She's not like any other child, Matilda."
"Ang swerte mo sa anak mo."
"And you were talking about me getting a new relationship. What about that?"
"HOY!"
Pinipigilan ko ang sarili ko na matawa at dali-daling bumaba. Sinalubong ako ni Demeter na takang-taka nang makita akong nakangiti.
"Something happened?" tanong niya.
Umiling ako at dumiretso kina Hypnos. May mga spirits siyang kasama. As far as I know, my dad called all of the spirits of the Underworld to help him protect his palace.
While listening to them, I kept thinking about what Matilda said.
'I wasn't expecting her to laugh about this kind of issue. She's your daughter and daughters usually get all protective when their parent gets to a new.... a new relationship.'
I'm actually not mad about it. In fact, masaya nga ako para sa kanila kung magkakatuluyan nga sila. And besides, they are both immortals which means they can be happy with each other for the longest time. I can't deny my dad's happiness nor his choice of love.
He is a god afterall. I know he can take care of himself and Matilda.
And Matilda is an oracle. She knows what to do whenever something comes up.
So I see no problem with that.
"Kaye."
Nabalik ang aking diwa nang matantong kanina pa binabanggit ni Hypnos ang pangalan ko.
"Y-yes?" napailing ako. I shouldn't be distracted from now on. There's a huge army coming for us.
"You're a living ghost right? Which means you can fly?" tanong niya na tinanguan ko.
But a living ghost? Really?
"Good. Because you'll be leading the first batch of soldiers." tinuro niya ang direksyon ng dalawang spirits na nakatayo sa pintuan. "you'll be going with them."
"Nice." I sprinted my way towards the spirits. They were both wearing armors which meant they were soldiers who got killed during a battle.
"And you are?" tanong sakin ng isa sa kanila.
"I'll be in charge of the first defense." sagot ko.
They gave me a look that meant like they were not convinced with what I said. I just sighed and felt my eyes change in color. For a few seconds, they stood in awe while watching me turn into a spirit.
"General, I believe she's the daughter of Death." narinig kong bulong ng isa.
"Very well." tumango ang general. "Let's go."
•••
Lumutang ako sa harap ng isang gigantes dahilan na magulat siya at mawalan ng balanse. Mabilis rin naman siyang nakatayo pero bumagsak ulit siya na kalahati nalang ang katawan.
Tinignan ko ang espada na binigay sa'kin ni Ria at napamangha.
Her weapons are light but dangerous as hell. The blade just gets sharper and deadlier everytime I kill an enemy with it.
"I'll be heading back. Nice job general!" tinapik ko ang general sa balikat saka tumungo kina dad na naghihintay sa'kin sa malaking entrance ng palasyo.
"Nasa'n si Matilda?" tanong ko.
My question was answered when a huge ball of light fell on the battlefield. I traced where it came from and then I saw her standing at the highest peak of the palace.
"Isn't she gonna fall from there?" tanong ko.
"She won't." sagot niya. "I'm here to catch her."
Napangiti ako at ibinaling ang aking atensyon kay Hypnos na napasinghap pagkatapos marinig yon.
"Daaamn." he mouthed.
"Get all the men ready." pumunta si Thanatos sa harap namin. "Our objective is not to protect the palace... but escape. You understand?"
We all nodded.
Right.
We know we can't protect the palace. This is the rebels' realm and it's not best to stay here. We plan to go to Arcadia after this since Demeter talked to Persephone telepathically and they wanted to see each other so badly.
"Prepare yourselves." tumabi si dad sa'kin.
Prepare for what?
Napaatras ako nang bumagsak mula sa itaas ang dalawang babae. I certainly have no idea who they are but I know they're goddesses from the Underworld as well.
They were both wearing black chitons. As dark as a black hole since I noticed that not even light can escape from them.
"Are we late?" asked the woman with sparkling grey eyes.
"Perfect timing." sagot ni Pasithea.
"This is my daughter Kaye." Dad introduced me. I took a bow and smiled at them to show respect.
"This is Styx." pagpapakilala niya. I immediately noticed that she's indeed taller than the rest of us. Must be because she's a titaness.
I heard she's one of the titans who woke up when Gaia gave birth to her children.
Kaya siguro nandito siya ngayon.
"And this is Macaria, Goddess of Blessed Death."
Blessed death?
Tinignan ko ang isa pang goddess. Unlike Styx, her eyes are a gentle blue. She had a smaller frame and looked as young as me.
"Where's your children, Hypnos?" tanong ng goddess. Hindi ko alam kung ako lang ba ang nakakapansin na may lumalabas na puting mist mula sa bibig niya.
"They're on their way." si Pasithea ang sumagot.
"If you're wondering where we got our army of souls, that's from her." saad ni Hypnos habang nakatingin kay Macaria.
"We need to move now!" narinig naming sigaw ng general na tumatakbo papunta sa'min.
And then, we started drawing closer to the battlefield. Enemies were waiting for us. At the middle are Eris, Nyx and Hecate.
As we did, Eris opened her wings.
Nagulat ako dahil limang blades niya ang tumama sa'kin. Inaasahan kong matutumba ako pero hindi. Nasa normal state lang kasi ako and not my spirit state which meant that my body is vulnerable. I only felt slight pain.
Tinanggal ko ang limang blades na nakadikit sa'kin.
What the hell.
Am I Achilles or something?
"Maybe you have become like Achilles." Inangat ko ang aking tingin kay Styx na tinapik ang balikat ko. "But better."
I didn't have the time for everything to sink in because we were already on enemy territory. I was occupied with two giants and one hybrid.
"Need help?" Matilda became involved. Holding the same sword I'm holding, she managed to stick it into the hybrid.
"Are you doing this?" tanong ko sa kanya. "Are you using your abilities for me?"
Tumigil siya at matagal akong tinitigan. Sumingkit ang kanyang mga mata na para bang sinusuri ang buong pagkatao ko.
"Seems like di mo na kailangan ang abilities ko." aniya.
Magtatanong pa sana ako nang makaramdam ako ng kakaiba. I held my breath when I saw images starting to appear around us.
"Anong nangyayari?" palinga-linga si Matilda.
Slowly, the images became clearer revealing eight demigods.
"We're being summoned."
After hearing a girl's voice calling out for us, I quickly realized that we're all enclosed in a warp of time and space.
And deep inside, I was smiling.
Because she found us.