Chapter 87 - 88. The Ruins
Before all these things happened, I met my father just twice. The first meeting was when I was twelve years old, while the second was when I asked his help about the marionette that chased me.
At the first meeting, I met Antonie too. In my opinion, Antonie was like a man with abnormality in his brain, his mind was out of the box, not like ordinary people. He behaved strangely and was very changeable within a short period of time.
When I knew that Antonie was a master of illusion, it was hard to believe. The man who looked just like a useless man was categorized in the first class, even though he was just two levels below Azalea. That man was able to create an illusion and manipulate the minds. Besides that, he also had the ability to live immortally with the immortality spell.
I did not know where Zie would take me, I just followed him from behind. Meanwhile, we were getting so far away from home.
"Where are we going?" I was so tired, my soles started getting numb. "This is too far, I have never been here before." I complained.
When Zie did not even halt to answer me, I started getting irritated. "I am just asking, why don't you just reply to me?" I stopped and sat squatting. My legs were in pain.
"Stop complaining," Zie cut it. He turned back, extended his hand, and asked me to stand up.
"Answer me first, where are we going?" I had to take his hand. "I have never been here, it's very far from my home. Why don't we just take a bus or ride a bike?"
"There is no bus passing through this road, Tha. Look, there is no bus stop around here," Said Zie. It woke me up that I did not see any public vehicles on this road."
I took a deep breath for a while, "So, where are we heading to?" I asked again.
"We are going to River Mother, someone we want to meet is waiting for us there. Hurry up! He has been waiting for us for too long." He warned me, later he walked so fast and left me behind.
It was such a tiring walk, I simply had to push my feet to walk again to catch up with him. to be honest I was pretty upset when he just told me where to go. There was a certain route that was faster to reach instead of taking such a long and tiring route.
The ripple of that river was calm and the water was so clear that I could see the bottom of the river. From across the river, there was a man who was standing alone. He looked odd in my eyes, his clothes were very shabby and tattered, while on the other side, Zie was just silent but I believed they were communicating to each other even though I was not sure how they did it.
When my eyes were distracted to Zie, suddenly he stood in front of us. I wondered when he crossed the river. I almost fell from the shock. "When did you?" I asked fast.
"Youenha." My body got goosebumps listening to that voice, so deep like hissing as if it was not spoken by humans. "The last successor of Youenha who has the ability like Youenha," He said again.
I did not really understand what he meant but I chose to stay mute and waited for his next act. I could clearly see a pair of very dark eyes, as dark as the night at that time. Those eyes stared at me. Instantly my legs got paralyzed and I slid down on the ground.
"Although she has half of Youenha's power," He paused before continuing speaking. Meanwhile I was searching Zie's eyes in confusion. He gave his hand to help me stand up. "She can be a lot more dreadful than the true successor of Youenha herself."
"What does he mean?" I asked Zie. I did not know that strange looking very shabby man, and I never even told anyone that I was Youenha's descendant. So far I would rather use my mother's family name instead of my father's although I was compelled to do so since I still had a father.
"You simply have to take care of yourself. Don't do something carelessly and based on your selfishness. You are not for yourself, Miss. You love other people too." He continued.
"You should know that I don't sacrifice my life for any ordinary person." Zie distracted my attention. "You have to put off your agreement with the Manjis. If that man is destined to die, it is none of your business anymore to help him. I don't mean anything but to remind you that you don't live for yourself as the descendant of Youenha." He explained.
I stood still and froze until he handed me a deep black wooden box.
"What is this?" I was very hesitant, my hand was trembling but I took it anyway.
"I will bring you back to where you belong three days from now." That man said.
"Use the thing in the box when you really need it. Don't open it here because you are only allowed to open it when you are already in your own world," Sais Zie, "Three days from now you have to meet him before the sun sets, or when the clock strikes three, you have to be here already. You got it?" I nodded in agreement.
"Tha, you just have to know that you don't live for yourself. Don't take any rush decisions anymore, okay?" Zie added.
I realized I was very careless in making this decision by myself. But truly I did not want to be in this world alone, no one gave me reasons to stay in the world much longer. "Fine" I finally replied, "I'll be back."
…
We went home together, walking along the paved roads that seemed so long and endless. Residents' houses and several shopping buildings became a common sight along the way home. I was silent due to mixed up and confusing thoughts about Zie's very unusual nature which suddenly turned soft and gentle again as usual. He even took me to an ice cream parlor.
"What flavor do you want, Tha?"
My mind was wandering somewhere, not attached with my body. I was still wondering why I had to continue living just because I was Youenha's lineage. I was very sure I didn't inherit my grandmother's abilities, just like my father, the latter was just a trouble maker and a burden. I didn't want to be like him.
"Tha!" I was shocked. Zie's voice rose a bit. "What flavor do you prefer?"
I started looking at the menu available, "Matcha, the same for the topping." And then I continued thinking about Naar's current condition. If I am still lost here, how can I replace him in the spirit world?
Perhaps due to daydreaming constantly, I didn't realize when the ice cream in my hand melted and wetted my hand.
"Are you still thinking about him?" He asked sarcastically. "Not all the agreements were made with the Manjis work. If it is time for him, let him go," He added.
I took a moment to gather my mind so that I could compose words easily understood by him, "I have no reasons to live here much longer. In my opinion, he deserves much better to live and to help others. He is more useful than I am. That is why I want to give him a chance," I explained then ate my ice cream that had almost melted completely.
"You are selfish to say you have no reasons to live," Zie replied, staring at me, "While I have fight my best for you, so that you—"
"Thanks a lot," I cut him off. "But actually thirteen years from now, I am the one who killed Antonie," Finally I had to tell Zie the truth. Suddenly the atmosphere dropped to silence. We looked at each other for a moment, the air turned to suffocate me.
"Very funny, isn't it?" I asked, smiling sadly. "The person he really wanted to protect so badly turned out to be his killer." Zie looked at me in disbelief.
"I" Zie was confused. "At least he did not die in someone else's hand." Then he smiled at me. "I'm proud of you," He said, ruffling my hair, then ordered another cup of matcha to take home.
…
Red scratches on the clouds in the west part of the sky accompanied our silence. None of the topics seemed to suit the current situation.
"How good was Antonie's illusion skill?" I was very curious, breaking the ice between us that felt so long. "I learned from another wizard that he had the title Master of Illusion." I wanted to confirm.
"Azalea told me that Antonie's strata was just one level under Mr. Yon, and two levels above that woman.. Although I am not a wizard, I know it is not something to be underestimated right?" I stopped walking and saw that young man was smiling.