Eternal Promise: Fragments Of Us

ROARK

“WHY did you do it, Sidapa?!” Leon asked his lover, sounding betrayed and hurt. “Did I oppose the judgement that was passed on us? If we were supposed to die right here before, why did you change our fates?!”

Sidapa let out a sigh before answering, “There is no point explaining myself, is there?” he said sarcastically. Then, a cloud of black smoke started to disperse around him, giving all of us chills down to our very spines. “You were not supposed to retrieve your memories. If this psychic here,” he threw a quick glare at me before talking back to Leon, “didn’t find the necklace, none of these would have happened. We could have spent our lives happily.”

Leon, Lisuga, and Likabutan took small steps back. Sidapa was brewing with danger. He was serious about taking us on. Even I could feel his menacing power. He was no doubt the God of Death that people feared nowadays!Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

[Seriously, am I going to get caught up in this mess? What am I now, some kind of eye witness?!] I panicked inside my head.

My feet told me to run and hide from these people, but my body was completely frozen. My guts were telling me that there was more to this trivial lovers’ quarrel. Whatever that was, I felt the urge to stay until the end.

Likabutan smirked in mixed emotions before slowly releasing his divine powers and did a fighting mode stance. “You disappoint me, God of Death! I didn’t mind dying for my brother back then, but I am utterly disturbed by the fact that you are this selfish. You saw what Libulan went through for your sake and you dare want to do exactly the same thing to him now?”

“You will never understand…” I heard Sidapa murmur to himself. The smoke around him grew larger and darker. The clouds above us turned gray and the skies rumbled. An all out war was brewing. And I felt a malicious killing intent from the man.

“You two, please don’t fight!” Lisuga pleaded, but she was ignored.

When I turned my gaze at Leon, he was stunned and just stared blankly at nowhere. He was lost in his own world.

“Leon! Snap out of it!” I screamed at him, to call his attention, but it didn’t even make him look my way.

[This won’t do! I must pull him back to reality by force, if necessary!] I thought and ran towards Leon’s direction. [This is the very time that I am finally seeing the world I was born in, but why do I have to experience something this intense right away?! I’d rather be blind again!]

I forgot the danger in front of me the moment I moved my legs. Sidapa and Likabutan clashed with each other. The impact of their unearthly strengths destroyed nearby plants and trees, sending them flying away in all directions. That made me instinctively crouch and cower in fear. I wouldn’t be able to tell what kind of debris might fall or hit me.

Both Gods were immersed in their anger and no longer cared what might happen around them. If anyone was to see all of us gathered here, they would definitely meet their end without ever knowing what was the reason behind this phenomenon.

On the other side, Lisuga kept persuading the two hot-headed Gods to halt, but nothing would stop them. It was a now or never gamble for the both of them. She was a Goddess but her own strength was no match to the raging urges of Sidapa and Likabutan to kill each other.

Likabutan found an opportunity to attack Sidapa in close range. He gave a good punch on Sidapa’s abdomen, pushing his opponent a few steps back. Sidapa’s back hit a huge rock, causing him to cough out some blood. Likabutan seemed fulfilled when his opponent showed signs of losing the battle. He didn’t stop there.

Unsatisfied, Likabutan attacked Sidapa once more by releasing a strong punch directly to the man’s face. It happened so fast, I couldn’t even tell if Sidapa was able to dodge it. All I saw was the heavy smokes that gushed out everywhere when Likabutan’s fist hit its target.

When I looked at Leon, he was hugged by Lisuga. He still didn’t show any relative reaction after seeing his brother and lover’s intense combat.

“Leon! I think only you can stop Sidapa! Don’t let him go berserk! Don’t make him repeat the same grave mistake!” I yelled at the petrified Leon.

I was utterly shocked at myself after saying those words. Why the hell did I know that Sidapa would go berserk? And what grave mistake? It felt like I knew what mistake it was but I just couldn’t find the right words to say.

As this mess was progressing, sorts of things started flooding my mind. They were in a hurdle, I couldn’t make out what I was seeing. Then, I suddenly felt a sharp pain on both sides of my temples, bringing me to my knees.

[What’s this?! My head feels like it’s gonna burst open!] I screamed inside my head. Flashes of memories that belonged to someone else forcefully invaded my thoughts.

(“Accept me,”) said a voice.

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“WHAT? Where exactly… am I?” Before I knew it, I was already lost in a different dimension. I was neither dead nor alive. I couldn’t tell if I was still with everyone on the mountain. Did time really stop?

I looked around. It looked like I was floating in space. It was a little bit warped, but my body felt totally normal. This was the first time I experienced something like this that was actually frightening. I had no idea if I could escape this place.

(“What are you waiting for? Accept me already. Stop running in circles, damn it.”) Again, that voice!

“Who are you?” I asked him. The voice sounded like a man.

I heard him click his tongue before answering me. (“You, damned mortals! Why are you so hard to persuade?! Do you have any idea how long I waited for you to remember who I really was?!”) he said with such disappointment in his tone. (“Just stop overthinking and accept me already!”) he demanded.

“Accept?” I raised an eyebrow. “I don’t understand a single thing you are babbling,” I said back.

(“Shut it!”) he exclaimed, which made me flinch. (“You should be delighted that you were chosen by me!”) he even bragged.

“Look, I don’t have time to deal with your nonsense right now. Leon needs my help,” I told him.

(“Then the more reason you should acknowledge me, mortal,”) he insisted. Such a pushover!

“Like I told you-!” He cut me off by saying something so intriguing.

(“Don’t you think your meeting with Leon was not a mere coincidence?”)

“What do you mean?” I asked, completely oblivious that I was still stuck in a dimension where I had no control.

(“If I told you that the two of you were destined to meet, will you believe me?”) he asked in a puzzling way.

“Can you even prove it?” I challenged him. His high and mighty attitude started to tick me off.

The voice then slowly took form right in front of me, shocking the hell out of me. Within seconds, he became a man with a tall and slightly built stance. His style of clothing looked like he was from the early era of our country. Around him were three golf-sized fireballs dancing in midair.