Angel's Point Of View
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A whip appeared on my right hand and I quickly lashed it on the guy but he dodged it. Pagkatapos kong umatake ay si Nath naman pero kahit anong bilis ng atake namin sa kaniya ay hindi pa rin namin siya natatamaan, it's like that they'd trained for this, they'd trained to fight.
"Shit!" I carefully landed on the ground and watched my brother attacked the Phantom.
I watched the Phantoms movements and observing it. He is indeed fast, faster than us which is impossible because me and my brother trained earlier than the others, so it's impossible to dodge our attacks. But what am I'm seeing right now is wrong, Nath is slowing down when he gets closer to the Phantom, so the Phantom is able to dodged it.
"Are you enjoying the show?" I strongly gripped my whip when the Old Man spoke.
Nath is still attacking him nonstop so it's impossible to speak when he is dodging the attacks, I'm confused. I trained my stamina and speed when I was thirteen, while Nath, he trained when he was fifteen, so it is impossible to dodge our attacks, and it even impossible now that we teamed up. Now I'm being boastful, tsk.
"You're hopeless..." I heard him said, still dodging Nath's attacks. "Even if you kill me, there's no way in hell that you'll stop Dia."
Napakunot ang nuo ko dahil sa sinabi niya. "What do you mean?"
I saw how he grinned, it's like the time has slowed down when he grinned. Kahit madilim ang paligid ay nakita ko pa rin kung paano niya ikinumpas ang kaniyang kamay dahilan para mapatigil si Nath sa pag-atake in mid-air.
Nakakuyom ang kamao niya sa ere at parang akma niyang susuntukin ang matandang lalaki ngunit natigil iyon. Halata ang inis sa mukha ni Nath habang pinipilit niyang gumalaw ngunit hindi niya magalaw ang katawan niya.
I looked at the Phantom, and gave him a glare. "What did you do?"
Mas humigpit pa ang pagkakahawak ko sa latigong dala ko, I bit my inner cheek to prevent myself from cussing, I don't want to cuss at him because my brother is in his hands. Ayokong mapahamak ang kapatid ko so I'm trying my best to calm myself down.
Even the cold breeze of the wind didn't helped me calm down. The sound of the crickets makes me angrier, they're noisy and I can't concentrate. Tinignan ko ang kuweba dahil hanggang ngayon ay hindi pa rin lumalabas ang mga kasama ko, what's taking them so long?
"Hindi mo pa nakikita kung ano ang kaya kong gawin." Ngumisi siya. "Attack me, and this boy might be rip into pieces."
My eyes widen of what he said, I gulped the lump on my throat, hoping that it'll ease my feeling, but no. sobra akong nag-aalala sa kapatid ko, baka mapano siya, although, hindi ko alam kung anong kayang gawin ng Phantom na 'to.
"P-Please..." I begged, I promised him that no matter what, I'll be protecting him. Marami na siyang napagdaanan, I don't want him to suffer anymore. "D-Don't hurt him."
A creepy smile carved on the Phantom's face as he tilted his head and looked at me from head to toe, as if he was observing me. "I see that there is a strong bond between you and this boy. I can see strings inside the two of you that is connected, and I sort of want it to be disconnected."
Tinignan ko muli si Nath na hindi pa rin gumagalaw sa ere, pinipilit niya pa ring igalaw ang katawan niya kaya nakikita ko na ang mga ugat niya sa leeg at kamay. I know him very well, once he's able to move his body around, he will definitely kill the Phantom because of anger, and I don't want that to happen. Bilin sa amin ni Headmistress na 'wag papatayin ang mga Phantoms dahil kailangan nila pang tanungin ang mga ito about their sudden move.
Knowing Nath, he let his emotion eat him and he'll just go with what his emotion want him to do, that's what I hate about him. We've been in a mission together, the last time he killed a Phantom is because it hurted me and almost killed me. And when the time he lets out his emotion drive him, he'll go savage.
"I can also see strings in your friends, you're all connected. I wonder, why?" He looked at me with a knitted brow, completely confused.
I shook my head and tried to calm and think carefully. "What are you planning to do?"
"Hmmm..." Tumango-tango siya at biglang ginalaw ang kamay na nakaharap kay Nath dahilan para kabahan ako, akala ko ay mapapahamak na ang kapatid ko pero hindi. Tumayo siya sa tabi ng matandang lalaki like he was being controlled, but I can still see anger in his eyes, meaning, only his body is being controlled not his brain.
"Smart question." He cleared his throat. "You see, we're planning to wake the spirit of Dia so that he can protect us..."
Kumunot ang nuo ko at mas lalo akong naguluhan. "Protect you from what?"
"Hear me first, bitch." I rolled my eyes at what he just called me, sanay naman akong tawaging ganiyan dahil may pagka-bitchy side rin ako, pero hindi ko matatanggap na mangagaling 'yon sa isang Phantom. I mean, hindi naman kami close, hindi ko siya kaibigan kaya nainis ako ako nung tawagin niya akong ganiyan.
"We betrayed our Queen," panimula niya. "I heard their plan, and I was against it because they're so selfish, claiming all the power to themselves!" inis na saad niya, his jaw is clenching when he said that. "Then, we left them and started planning about getting it from them, but they started attacking us so we planned to wake up Dia, for our protection."
Naguguluhan kong iniling ang ulo ko. "What do you mean by 'it'? What are they planning to do?"
He just grinned at me. "Do you think I'm going to tell you that?"
Sumingkit ang mata ko saka nagtagis ang bagang. Oo nga naman, why would he tell me anyways? I'm his enemy so fuck this shit! But they will be put in jail and the officials will ask them anything related to the Phantom so it is not my problem anymore. Right now, we Titans have still a problem, we gotta find that fucking child of Destiny!
"Now, where were we-ah yes," he said before he widen his grin. "I'll cut the strings between you two, means, one of you shall be killed, or maybe the two of you."
I started freaking out when he looked at Nath who is just silently standing beside him. The grin on his face tells me danger, kailangan kong gumalaw para mailigtas ang kapatid ko. Mabilis akong umatake sa kaniya, sa isang iglap lamang ay nasa harapan na ako ng matandang lalaki ngunit nang makalapit ako ay tila bumagal ang takbo ng oras dahilan para makita ko ang bagay na nakatali sa katawan ng kapatid ko.
Madilim man sa paligid ay hindi pa rin nakatakas sa paningin ko ang bagay na nakatali sa aking kapatid nang makalapit ako sa kanila. With the help of the moonlight I saw the strings that is tied to my brother's body. Maybe that is the reason why he can't move...
My senses went back when I felt a sting on my stomach when I passed through the Phantom that just dodged my attack. Sa bilis ng galaw namin ay mabilis rin na nagkalat ang dugo ko sa paligid. May ilang puno na natalsikan ng dugo ko, pero ang mas natalsikan ay ang damo at ang lupa.
Nandito kami sa isang gubat, malayo-layo sa bayan kaya imposibleng marinig ang mga ingay sa labanan. Noong pumunta kami rito ay hindi kami tumawag ng mga kawal dahil nagmamadali kami, baka kasi ano ng nangyari kay Rain.
Napaluhod ako at pabagsak na itinukod ang mga kamay ko sa lupa saka tinignan ang duguan kong tyan. Pinakiramdaman ko ang aking tyan, and I can tell that the wound is too deep for me to endure. Maybe he fucking used a sword to slash my stomach because only a sword can make this deep wound, but I didn't see him holding a sword when I attacked him.
"Tsk!" I bit my lower lip when I felt it stung again. Marami na ring nawawalang dugo sa akin kaya nakakaramdam na ako ng panghihina, kapag hindi ko ito matiis ay baka mahimatay ako habang nilalabanan ko siya.
This can't be good.
"You maybe have a blood of a demon running through your veins but it doesn't mean that you're truly a full demon..." I heard him laugh. "So there's no way to stop Dia when he wakes up, because only a full blooded demon can defeat the monster."
I tsked. "We will still gonna stop it."
Pinikit ko ng mariin ang mata ko at pinilit na tumayo at harapin ang Phantom. I need to be strong, I need to protect my brother no matter what. Kahit masakit ang sugat sa tyan ko ay hindi ko na lamang 'yon pinansin at masamang tinignan ang Phantom.
Ngumisi siya habang nakatingin sa akin. "Now that's the spirit."
Humugot ako ng malalim na hininga bago lumiwanag ang mga kuko ko. "Let go of my brother."
"Ah, brother..." Tumango-tango siya saka nilingon ang kapatid ko bago ako tinignan muli. "A sibling's love, that's why you have strings. Mas lalo pa akong ginanahang putulin 'yon."
Naguguluhan man ay pinilit kong hinakbang ang paa ko ngunit kapag ginagalaw ko ang katawan ko ay mas lalong humahapdi ang sugat, mas lalo iyong bumubukas at dumudugo. Dahil sa sakit ay naramdaman ko ang mga luhang gustong mahulog mula sa mata ko pero pinigilan ko lang.
"Hmmm... you're weak." Ikinumpas niya ang kamay niya at nataranta ako dahil tumalsik bigla si Nath at tumama ang likod sa malaking puno. "Let me help you."
With just a snap, I felt my body is being tied up. Pinilit kong igalaw ang katawan ko pero hindi ko magawa, but then suddenly, he compassed his hands making my both hands raised in the air. Mas lalong sumakit ang tyan ko dahil do'n, wala na akong nagawa kundi ang sumigaw dahil sa sakit.
Naramdaman kong nanghihina na 'ko at gusto ng pumikit ng talukap ko. I can't take it anymore, it hurts so much. I slowly closed my eyes but before I lost conscious I heard the Phantom's voice...
"Let me cut the strings that connects you two, a sibling's string."
I smiled.
No one can cut our string, it is strong because it is the string of our love...
A sibling's string of love.