Chapter 75 - 76. Zie
"Zarina made a pact with what or who, I don't know for sure. She will live one life in the expense of another life with some conditions to fulfill by the one who requests it, one of which is to hand in the fire lily flower," I felt I was really cheated now, and I promised I would kill him if he dared to do again to me, twice.
"Then, what is the difference with you?" I asked curiously, You did the same thing, you should be aware of that. You break the laws, you will also affect the balance!" I said angrily.
"Listen to my explanation first, okay?' I nodded in reply. "I just transferred without using other people's lives as victims. The bodies of the dead are unusable, so I need another place to transfer the spirits—".
"Into the marionette?!" I cut in, "You told Mickey to do it, didn't you"
He looked confused, while I was getting sick of waiting for him to explain to me, "How do I explain it to you?" He said in confusion, looking into me deeply.
"Now I know why your father wanted to kill you. He hated you so much." Antonie looked so confident in saying it, "Even for me and Azalea, you are very difficult humans to subdue." I was very surprised to hear that.
"You don't even master any magic at all, your body is weak too, but I don't know there is something in you that makes you so hard to break. Honestly, if I were your father, I would give up." I just looked at him in confusion. I understood nothing.
"What do you want to say?" I urged him urgently, "So it is true that my father killed Zie? Tell me!"
Antonie did not answer me right away. He smiled wickedly. To be honest, I saw another person in his body. He was not a juvenile boy who was noisy and friendly.
"Maybe,' he was ambiguous, later he burst into laughter as if something was really amusing him.
I took advantage when he was off guard. I drew my knife to his neck, "Tell me the truth, or I will cut your throat," I threatened him, trying to seem intimidating.
Antonie was silent in a while before he finally laughed more hysterically. I turned to be warier especially when he lifted his hand one hand, and suddenly my body bounced against the iron bars o the cage behind me.
"Tha, let me in!" Naar shouted from above the cage. I was struggling to get up with a numb back, "Tha!" My ears buzzed very loudly when I heard him scream mixed with Antonie's laughter.
My head felt so dizzy and my vision turned blurry. I pushed my consciousness back when I felt something covering my body. jet-black grain of sand swirled around me, while the others formed the shape of an old woman standing not far from me. I knew who they were, but I did not know why they always showed up on time when I was in danger.
Antonie kept laughing so hard that it echoed in the prison, while I was still trying to stand up and focus on myself as the grains of sand shaped into an old woman.
"Thief!" said the Manji in unison. One of them walked slowly towards Anthonie, "Thief!" they said again.
"Fine, I will tell you what really happened," He struggled to stop his laughter. "Your father was born without any magic, just like you," I just stared at him blankly, as the Manji walked closer to him, drawing a blade made of grains of sand.
"But you are very different. You have uniqueness that no other wizards have. You have beautiful eyes and strong instincts. It is even more frightening with your determined nature." I did not know if he meant to praise me or mock me, but I did not want to bother myself to respond to him.
"Your father already knew that one day you would be very dangerous to us, so he asked me to kill you," The Manji who by now was in front of him--directed the sword right after he finished his sentence. The man raised his hands signaling surrender.
"Thief!" Said the Manji.
Antonie just smiled in response to their word, "I am indeed a bad person since my childhood, a troublemaker and the most unruly among four my brothers, but believe me, I could not dare to kill any humans, His words sounded so calm, so much different from the current situation he was facing. "Tha, did you know that we could kill a person without separating the spirit from the body?"
"Thief!" The Manji was about to slash Antonie's neck, but I signaled her to stop.
"Someone named Zie never existed," He was assuring me, "He never lived in this world," Again Antonie spoke up like a wise guy.
'What does he mean? Is he tricking me again? What does it mean? My heart was confused. I tried to digest the words he said one by one, but I could not find any explanation for it. "Liar!" I shouted. My emotion grew more violent and the Manji responded to it very well.
I could not say anything. Too many questions loaded in my mind. 'What does he mean by saying Zie never existed? 'If he never lived in this world, who was he who always accompanied me? Helping me when I was in trouble and entertaining me' I shook my head when those words got pushier in my head against my logical sense.
'No! Antonie must be lying, trying to trick me at the moment!' My head was so painful when I could not absorb his words. Meanwhile, Naar, who was outside the age, asked me to allow him in.
I was like a body without any spirit when Antonie's laughter echoed harder, "The man named Zie never existed. I used my illusion to you, making you feel you have a saviour from any horrible things from your past by sending someone named Zie." He told me that proudly, feeling won over me.
"Tha, one of the cruelest ways of killing is not by taking his life , such as beheading him, but by killing his mind. Give him what he needs the most, then take it in the cruelest way, raise him to the sky, then drop him when he is at the top," Antonie looked at me intently with his sly smile.
"The wizards who did not take your grandmother's side—the old elder—had everything ready. Zie was just a doll that we made, brought to your life and then taken away in a very sad way," Then Antonie's laughter echoed through the room again.
I cried, wailing like someone who had lost her sense. Too many cruel realities that were too hard for me to believe but he forced me to take it. The sound of Antonie's laughter and Naar's screams coming from above the cage were unable to penetrate into my eardrums anymore. My head went blank and everything went dark of a sudden.
Manji who was not far from me instantly turned into black sand that slowly wrapped my body. Meanwhile, Manji, who was in front of Antonie now, formed her body into a 'Guard' carrying a sword and shield. She began to attack blindly, but so far Antonie was able to avoid it.
In between the attacks Antonie tried to avoid, he kept laughing terribly, "Now I know why your father wanted to get rid of you so badly," He repeated those words over and over again.
My tears could not stop rolling down although I was not wailing like before anymore. I tried to calm myself down until I could hear Naar keep calling my name, asking me to stop Manji's action right away and Kerberos barking. I chose to ignore them and focus on what was in front of me.
"Kill him!" The Manji looked at me with a stiff expression, then she moved faster to attack Antonie.
Their movement was so agile, attacking and dodging each other. The Manji threw her shield so that Antonie, who was trying to avoid the slash of her sword, fell to the bottom of the cage.
"Kill him!" I shouted, "Don't give him mercy! Don't forgive him!" I heard myself screaming, though I did not realize what I shouted at Manji.
The Manji who was previously in charge of protecting me now formed the body of another 'Guard'. She walked forward with her bow, aimed her arrow at Antonie's head. Antonie was still struggling to get up after being hit by the shield.
"A tooth is for a tooth," The Manji, who was holding a sword, drew it to Antonie's heart.
"Blood is for blood," The Manji with a bow and arrow, fired her arrow towards Antonie's head.
It happened again. Antonie stared at the two with his open-wide eyes when an arrow holed his forehead. The next second, his head rolled down as the sword of one of them swiftly slashed his neck mercilessly.
"A tooth is for a tooth, blood is for blood," I said before something inside me seemed to pull my consciousness back. It was like being pulled from a dark riverbed, then thrown onto dry land.
I caught a glimpse of Antonie's dead body before I went up with the Manji on my side. Naar looked at me in horror, so did azalea.. On the other hand, Kerberos was already at the entrance in his real form.