The Tale of Four Spirits

“Mom, I can’t sleep…can you tell me another bedtime story…?”

Cheska is sulking while looking at the back of her mother who’s about to leave her room. When Rowena turned to her, she’s not lying down on her bed anymore unlike before when she walked away from her bed.

Actually, she made sure her beloved daughter is already sleeping before she leaves but looks like she was just pretending to be asleep.

“Bedtime stories?”

“I heard it’s effective…”

Then she started to walk back to her bed. Cheska’s innocent eyes sparkled and moved an inch away to give her mother a space on her bed.

“Here…” Rowena tapped her side. Cheska obeyed with excitement and leaned to her. She loves stories. There’s no reason to not feel excited at all. “I still haven’t told you this tale, right? A Tale of Four Spirits? It’s my most favorite story of all time.”

She shook her head slowly. “You only tell me about prince and princess…”

Rowena put her arms at the back of Cheska’s head and started to caress it slowly hoping it would help her to get sleepy aside from the tale.

“Once upon a time, there are four spirits who decided to live in the world of mortals as human beings. The four had an agreement to restore the balance of goodness and evilness. The four spirits are the angels and the demons.”

The sparkles on Cheska’s eyes started to grow. She never heard stories about angels and demons from her mom. She’s already looking forward to the finale.

“As they arrived in the mortal world, they changed their appearances to human-like features. Later on, they did what they seek to do. They have successfully fixed the imbalance in the world of mortals.

“However, as the moons pass by, the two demons suddenly became bored and decided to spread more evil than they should be. This defiance instantly reached the angels and warned them to stop. Believing they’re finally stronger than them, the demons didn’t falter. Until—”

“Mom, it’s not like I’m judging the angels or what but why are they trusting the demons?” Cheska couldn’t help herself not to interrupt the story-telling.

Rowena slowly lowered her head. There she is thinking that her daughter is finally getting sleepy but it seems the opposite.

She doesn’t look sleepy at all. Contrary to that, she looks so intrigued about the angel’s questionable decisions.

“A deal with the demon is something that is unbreakable. No one can break it even the demons themselves. Breaking the deal will result in frightful consequences. The punishment is scary enough to scare the demons and act accordingly. The angels hold onto that but the demons are unstoppable.”

That’s a satisfying answer for Cheska so she returned to being quiet again. Rowena averted her gaze and continued what she’s doing to her hair.

“Until the angels were left with no choice but to remove their abilities and turned them into mortals. It's the same as giving them death. Angels are commonly stronger than demons that’s why they didn’t stood the chance. And so, the balance remained.”

And the room fell in deafening silence.

“Is that it?!” there’s a surprise in her voice. “That’s short! What an absurd ending!”

Rowena smiled. She actually said the same thing when she was still young and small.

Now that the memory of that tale has returned, she can’t help but wonder again how the story will end. Even she doesn’t know what is going to happen next.

“It’s still not the ending, lady…the story is still ongoing.” she slowly left her daughter’s side and covered her body with a thick comforter. “Sleep now. Even the story isn’t effective to you. You’re just fooling around.”

“It’s because the tale is boring,” she scowled. “That’s your favorite tale? It’s too short! No ending as well? I still prefer the prince and princess stories.”

Rowena flicked her tiny nose making her scowl even more. “We have different taste, lady. Besides, my parents originally created that story for me. They know how much I love stories about angels and demons and gods that’s why they decided to make one.”

The excitement that was inside her body vanished into thin air. She expected too much for that new tale and now…she’s really disappointed.

She loves her grandparents with all of her heart and she respects them deeply—she really does. But now, she can’t help to criticize their mind and their story on her mind.

Who makes a story as absurd as that? Who makes a story without an ending? What a cliffhanger.

She just kept all of it inside her mind—all those criticisms. She’s afraid to speak about it loudly. Her nose might get flicked again.

Rowena sighed. How is she going to leave her daughter now after seeing the big disappointment written all over her face? She almost had the same expression when she found out that the story has no end.

But now that she’s old and happily married with three kids, has the story finally ended?

“According to mama, the angels are really strong, smart, and powerful but even with that, they can’t keep the balance of goodness and evilness alone forever. They will eventually need help from a demon. There’s a big possibility that another demon will come to the mortal world and replace the two treacherous demons.” and she kissed her forehead. “Sleep now, lady. You still have training tomorrow. Don’t tire yourself too much before that.”

Cheska only blinked slowly. Rowena can tell she’s finally getting sleepy now. At long last.

She silently went to the door and as soon as she touches the knob, she heard her daughter speaking sleepily.

“What if…the new demon will do the same thing that the treacherous demons…did…?” her eyes slowly closed, still facing where her mother is.

Even if she’s already sleeping and can’t absolutely hear her, Rowena gave her the answer she got from her parents after asking the same question.

“Mom.”

Rowena came back to her senses when she heard the voice of her daughter.

Xeign is right at the doorway of the master’s bedroom. She smiled at her and invited her to come inside.

“You need to eat mom…you need your strength. Should I bring the food here instead?” she sat beside her.

Rowena’s fake smiles remained on her lips and started to caress the hair of her youngest. “I’ll go down later. Don’t worry about me.”

“Mom…” she stopped her from caressing her hair and held both of her hands. Her shoulders dropped. “Brother won’t like this? I’m sure even sister won’t like this. I miss you so much, mom…”

Rowena stopped for a while when Xeign suddenly wrapped her arms around her. She felt her heart sank after hearing her youngest’s silent sobs.

“I hate them for ruining you like this, mom…I hate them…”

“Oh, baby…” Rowena chuckled a bit and hugged her back. She hugged her back tightly hoping Xeign would feel how much she loves her. And how much she’s sorry for what is happening. “I love you so much…I’m so sorry…”

“Everything is going to be fine, alright? Sister is coming back. She is coming back to us. You need to look fine if that happens, alright?”

Rowena held her cheeks. A tear dropped from her eyes. The smile didn’t even fade for a split second.

Whenever she’s in front of her children, she tends not to show what she truly feels. She wants to remain strong. She wants to remain tough.

Even if it’s too hard. Even if she doesn’t know how. Even if she doesn't know if there's still a reason to be.

But she knows…she knows Cj and Xeign and her husband can see through her. They can see what’s behind her fake smiles.

They can perfectly see the truth behind her disguise.

“I will, baby…”