Chapter 73 - 74. His Name Is Rumpa
I went back to my own room with mixed up emotions. This gave me a headache. Soon, I needed to see Antonie. I chose some photos I needed to show him. I was not sure yet if it would help, but it worth trying
"Are you okay Miss?" Kerberos asked then he sat next to me.
"Hm, I cannot say it yet right now, " I said in response, then I stroked the top of his head, "I will finish it fist, collecting something I need. If I can do it all well, I will tell you all," Kerberos cleared his throat as the answer. I decided to get and make preparation for that.
This time I was accompanied by Kerberos. We stood by the edge of that big hole and faced the cages that were used to lock wizards who had problems. "No ,atter how often i come here, this place is still scary for me," I whispered.
Before Azalea took me into Antonie's cage, she said that I should have finished my job before she picked us up. I nodded to understand that request.
"Hello?," Antonie greeted us softly.
"Are you okay?" I was a bit worried, "you did not eat all those sweets, didn't you?" I inquired.
Antonie shook his head and showed us the jars of sweets on a small table that he used for reading. The sweets seemed to be untouched. "I don't eat it all, but more or less," he giggled.
I did not say anything but looked at him, irritated, "Such a hard headed boy!" I said as I handed him some cakes I got from Hana.
After he took the cakes, I gave him the photos that I had prepared. I arranged the photos neatly in front of him, "Can you show me if anything in this pictures are familiar to you?" I asked him.
Antonie took a look at them very carefully, he was trying hard to recall something out of it. I was thinking if it would be easier by exposing him to the place directly. But it was impossible. As Azalea said, this young man was actually much smarter than he showed up to us. He was hiding something so I needed to gain his trust first before he was open to me and told me all the truth that he knew.
Every movement of him and his facial expression came to my inspection until he finally picked up a photo again with his right hand and put another one with his left hand. He looked at those pictures alternately, Errr," he was thinking and wanted to say something, but then he just looked at me.
"It is okay. Take your time," I said to encourage him.
"I was once took here by someone, and I believed it was before the shooting tragedy. But I am not sure when and where. But I remembered very well the stained glass at the window was very beautiful. It attracted me a lot. And the place was very comfortable," he gave me one photo. It was my family's house in Sa'bah.
"I have ever been there. He took me there, and—"He paused for a second, "I forgot what happened after that. But I am telling you the truth that I ever visited that place," He was trying to convince me.
"And he," He continued while holding the photo, "Although I don't know who he is right now, I feel like I saw him very often. Or is it possible we used to have a close connection" Antonie was thinking hard?
"His name is Rumpa. He is the son of the former wizard leader from south," I explained to him. it made Antonie very shocked. it turned out that not only me got shocked seeing the facts presented in front of us...
"Did I use to be an important person so that I feel so much connected with him? Or perhaps kind of a family?" Antonie sounded hopeful.
I saw him with a level look, "I don't know," my voice rose to be a bit sharp, "I will leave all the photos here so that you can write down anything you can remember in that notebook. I will pick it up tomorrow," Right after I finished talking, I saw Azalea standing by the hole next to this room.
"Have you done?" Azalea asked from above, "You don't have much time, so I will go down now," As soon as I said goodbye to Antonie, she took away from that place.
"I got the feeling that it was not Antonie who did the shooting," I said to Azalea. We were walking in the hallways heading to the training room. "He keeps saying that he saw a man shot the children one by one. But as far as I remember, he was the doer," I looked at that woman in confusion.
"And you believe him?" She glared at me, looking for determination in me.
"I don't know," I doubted in myself, "Our eyes had been deceived," we looked at each other, "Is there any such a magic," I, who was just an ordinary human, did not know how wizard worked.
"There is," Azalea was thinking about something, "But if it has been so long, it is impossible to know if you are under such magic or not. Such an illusion is just known when you are in that incident."
I sighed. Disappointed, "I will just wait, then."
We walked to the training room. Yoru had been waiting for us with one of Anty's men. I explained to them what I got today from Antonie. I told them that he had visited a house near that park, although did not tell them it was my house. And I told them that he saw that man shoot those kids...
"I guess Antonie's memory is really messed up so that he felt somebody else did it,not he himself." Miss Aty's man said it.
"I thought so, too." Yoru agreed with him, his eyes looking at me, "There is a possibility of a big failure in that immortality spell. I heard that not all can be transferred into the new body so the level of failure is very big. It may be true that his memory was messed up so that he saw someone else did that shooting," From his stare, he wanted to warn me not to say the involvement of Rumpa.
The Nile. This meeting yielded no satisfactory decision. They were so doubtful to make another step for the next move to help Antonie. Azalea also looked so indecisive in the next plan that I myself had to make the initiative to decide what to do next. At this point, I felt they were hiding something.
I left the room first, feeling so disappointed. I was fed up with them who tried to hide and moved nowhere. They wanted that spell but none of them could figure out how to design the next move which was faster and more efficient.
I paced fast to reach my room. I would ask Antonie a lot of things in my head as soon as possible. I could no longer hold all this curiosity in my head, where we were stuck in the illusion, and how if he was not the criminal.
"Miss, You are looking so angry. Why?" Kerberos walked to me and sat on my side of the bed.
"I am so disappointed with them. They seem to be unable to make a decision for the next step for regaining Antonie's memory." I looked at Kerberos, hoping he would understand me. "I am part of their team. I really hope they are honest to me and share with me. But I feel that they are hiding things from me. I am sure of that," I threw my pillow to the wall in front of me, trying to keep my anger and disappointment.
…
I was really curious. I felt they were hiding something from me. If they wanted me to help them, they should have been more open to me so that I could be really contributing something. At least I knew what next step I could take to help Antonie out.
Without asking Azalea's permission, I decided to visit Antonie when many people were having some rest. I knew how to go in and out of that cage without the help of that woman. What I really needed was for no one to see me visit Antonie.
Sneaking, I made my way to meet Antonie. The skylight was at the top of the dome so I could see Falak inspecting each cage. It was his time to eat. I waited for him at the end of the prison hole watching that huge snake wriggle and hiss.
Falak seemed to be aware of my presence. He crept up and was about to approach me. With his stomach muscles, he moved slowly, "Don't miss me.. I won't be here for long," I told him when he was already in front of me.