16. Terror in Spring

"Why me?" I felt like I'd just been released from the crocodile's mouth when I thought I'd escaped Antonie's illusion, but now I was trapped in the quicksand again. "This is very annoying!."

"Tha?." I glanced sarcastically at the man who called my name. "Relax, okay?!" Antonie tried to calm me down, his mouth full of chocolate cake.

I took a deep breath and then exhaled slowly. "I'm tired of everything." I was just feeling a little relieved that I had completed the task from Azalea, but now I've run into a problem like this. I really wanted to complain and cry.

"Problems come as they have no end. I feel like I'm not doing anything, and suddenly BOOM!!" I laughed sadly. However, I had to accept this fact, right? I was a mixed-blood human, and if that creature was going to kill all humans of my kind, what could I do? I couldn't change my status, nor choose what kind of parents to be born with. It's not me who decided.

"Nympha is now in the forest bordering the village," Antonie said after devouring the cake in front of me. Now, he looked serious. "I don't know what it's doing. I've been here for almost two weeks, and it's just been there, not moving a bit." He handed camellia a glass container filled with pitch black liquid.

"I took some," he said, pointing at the container with his chin. "I thought this was its body. It was shaped like a very wide lake, with pitch-black water. I think it can also create illusions when Tha said there were fish in the lake of his body."

A pair of camellia watched the liquid until a few seconds later, they both said in unison. "It's just water," They explained.

"I told you before, that he took a body in the form of water" the white camellia returned the container to Antonie. "If you really want to run away, better hurry, before it wakes up. If you want to hide from it by using Falak, I think it's a good idea. It's a snake that can eat anything, I'm sure the Nympha won't chase you or even venture there."

I never thought that Antonie's idea could actually be so good. "Be selfish, Tha," said the man. "We can't save all mixed blood. Also, Azalea, I'm sure if she had known of Nympha's arrival, she would have done the same as me" he said as if they both had the same thought; protect me.

Falak would help me to hide for a while, until the end of spring to be exact. Antonie said the possibility of Nympha appearing in early spring would leave at the end of April.

…

You could sometimes be selfish for yourself, that's what I had to plant right now, in my head. Antonie suggested that I used Falak to hide for a while. The snake was a creature that lived in the underworld. It was feared by all creatures on earth because it was able to eat anything, even this earth. With it, the man was sure that Nympha would not dare to approach me.

The main problem here was that I was not allowed to tell Azalea my problem. "Why can't I?!" I didn't understand Antonie's point. "What about them, the other half-bloods? What if they go through things like before again? Because Azalea didn't know about Nympha's appearance, and we didn't tell her about this either?!"

"Be selfish, can you?" Antonie rebuked. "Save yourself first, and don't think about anyone else. Pretend you don't know anything in front of Azalea, and tell her that you come because you really want to stay at her place." He looked at me intently, no more that silly face that was always present when he spoke. That meant, he was really worried about me.

…

The manji didn't come either. They had not given any news since that day. I knew they would know where I was even though I didn't have to say goodbye to them first. They would easily find me.

"Have you brought everything?" Antonie helped me get some suitcases and bags out of the house. After making sure nothing was left, I locked my door. This was the first time I felt sad to leave this place. I tucked a letter between the doors of the house, hoping that Erick would find it and read it. We didn't say goodbye properly yesterday.

"I have." I saw the two suitcases and the bag we were going to bring, I guessed that's all. Stepping away from the door, I entered the abandoned greenhouse in front of my house. I couldn't remember the last time I planted there, and could you guess what I saw right now? There were only empty pots with dried plants.

"Tha, hurry!" Mickey walked ahead of us.

Antonie asked me to follow him. He said that he knew the quick way to Azalea's place. We carried two large suitcases, including one bag, and on my back was still a duffel bag. We passed through a narrow alley in an empty settlement on the outskirts of the village, with some ruins of buildings. It was still very dark in the morning, so the empty spaces of the house with the doors open looked quite scary.

"We'll be there in a minute," Antonie said breathlessly. We repeatedly slipped on shattered tiles which were scattered and frozen because of the cold temperature.

Arriving in front of a house with a wooden rickety door, the man asked me to remember where Azalea was, "You can imagine the gate, or whatever is in that place," he said while turning the door knob. "Just don't imagine your confinement!," he added half-jokingly, I knew that.

I imagined a small room where I used to rest as well as my training ground. As I slowly opened the door, I saw my bed and the small table beside it were empty. Moving to the wall, my eyes found the iron bow and shield, including some books still scattered on the bed, as if they remained untouched.