Full of Promises

She stands up and pulls me into the bathroom. I close the door and that's when things started to become hotter. So aggressively, she wraps me around her arms and pulls me towards her lips. The taste is bloody. . . but sweet.

I glide my hand on her back and slowly further down. But before I could touch her there, she pulls out.

"What's the matter?" I ask.

"I'm. . . sorry." She turns around but I try enticing her again by kissing her neck. "Stop."

So I stop and she goes for the door knob. I stop her and ask, "Tell me. I won't get mad."

She looks at my eyes for a few seconds and then down to my chest. "It's just. . . I'm too nervous."

"Is that all?"

Swallowing, she says, "Yeah."

"Okay, if that's what you want."

Things are becoming increasingly awkward inside this small bathroom. I let her get out first but I grab her hand and she turns around so suddenly, returning to me. We kiss and close the door again.

"You still don't want to marry?" she asks.

Because of what we just did, I admit that I do have feelings for her. I think she's beautiful and gonna be a good wife but I doubt that it's gonna work between us. I'm gonna be leaving this world soon and I don't want to get overly attached to anything here.

She's still wrapping her arms around my waist and looks at me with a smug.

"It's hard to say," I tell her.

That's when her face turns into a frown. "Don't you love me?"

Love? That's a tough question. I don't even know what it is. Is it only a fluttering feeling you feel when you're with someone? Or is it the idea that both of you are sharing a dream? Well, a dream could be anything like raising a family or going to see a place that you both love. In our case, both of us want to get to the Edge of the Server and I do feel fluttery when she hugs me like this.

"Maybe, I do," I say.

She pouts her lips in discontent. "Just answer yes or no. There is no middle ground."

"Fine," I sigh. "yes."

"Say it," she demands.

I lean forward and whisper in her ear, "I love you."

"I love you too!" she giggles, hugging me tighter.

We leave the bathroom sweating and feeling relieved now that we're in cooler air. Helena is still sleeping. I hope she didn't hear that. I did all I can to control my breathing but Nisha was. . . Well, I covered her mouth because she was making too much noise.

*Swallow*

I can't believe I could be so aggressively dominant sometimes.

*Shakes head*

No, no, no stop thinking about it.

"What's wrong?" Nisha asks as we sit holding each other by the hand.

"Nothing."

She leans on me as we sit watching our little girl sleep on the bed sheet. Her grip on my hand is tight.

"So," I say. "why don't we marry?"

She chuckles a little bit. "You could've at least been romantic."

"Oh, sorry."I gotta kneel in front of her. "I'll—"

"It's fine, settle down." So, I stop moving. "Let's talk."

"About what?"

"About marriage, of course."

"Then let's do it now."

"No, not yet."

"Why? I thought you wanted to marry me."

"I said 'I would want to'."

She's not making any sense. It's clear that she wants to marry me why wouldn't she just do it? As I recall, she did say she would want to marry me if I fulfilled my promises to her. Maybe she's testing me. Oh, I see. She's so subtle about it but okay.

"Okay," I say. "let's marry when we get to the Edge of Shannia."

"No, that's too much. I'm not that overly demanding."

"Then you decide."

"When. . . you take me to the Tenth Ring."

It's still gonna be hard but acceptable. "Okay," I nod.

"Just promise that I'll be your number one wife."

"No, you're gonna be my 'only' wife."

"What? Why? You don't want a harem?"

"I already told you I don't like that idea, remember? I'd rather stick with one."

She smiles wider as she holds me right. "Really?"

"Yes, really."

"Do you think I'm special to you?"

"Of course, you are."

Giggling, she goes ahead kissing my cheek. "I love you."

"I love you too."

Still, something just doesn't sit right with me. I'm casually saying those words without fully realizing what they mean. Doubt—that is how regard what I'm feeling right now. It infuriates me. I wish I could just stand on one ground.

"I believe in you," she says. "You can take us there. Though, I feel guilty that I'm depending too much on you."

She's got it wrong. "It's actually the other way around," I argue. "Don't worry, you can depend on me because it'll help me get stronger."

"You really are so full of promises." She chuckles touching my lips. Then kisses them.

Later, Helena wakes up and it's time for us to leave this forsaken island. The streets are in chaos now. People steal, kill, and destroy. It's anarchy.

"What has happened?" Nisha asks.

"The leader of this island is no more," I figure. "Now, nobody knows who to listen to. Hold Helena close and stick with me." She nods while carrying Helena.

"I'm scared, Papa," says my daughter.

"Don't worry. You'll be safe as long as you're here with us."

I lead the way, holding Nisha by the arm. The street is dangerous. There are a lot of fights that are happening. Others are using Shadowclutch to get around while being chased by the police. One guy tries to mug us but I kick his crotch and throw him away to the other side of the street. Serves him right.

The port is in sight after hours of navigating through the chaotic city. Only one ship remains and the staff is already trying to prevent people from getting aboard as it is already full. This is bad!

"What do we do?" Nisha asks me.

"Just follow me."

Paying no respect to those who are before me, I cut in line. They complain and curse at us but I don't freaking care. If they want me to step aside, they have to fight me. The guard is too busy and stressed that he doesn't care about us cutting in line and lets us pass through. The others start to cut in line, ensuing more disarray. I may have been the one who started that but it doesn't matter.

A bellowing horn blast is unleashed by the ship. The crew starts to remove the boarding stairs while there are people on them. So some of them have fallen into the water. This is getting out of hand!

I think I can't just leave like nothing ever happened. There will be more people that will perish. There must be something I could do. I feel. . . guilty of this. After all, I caused this.

"Nisha," I say as we watch from the handrail. "We can't just leave like this. This is partly my fault. I have to fix it."

"Do whatever you want, I'll follow you."

With my Angelus Frame, I lift the three of us from the ship and then back to the city. Up here, we get the whole scale of the dissent. How could anyone fix this and who?

"People of the Island of Knowledge!" someone speaks with an amplified voice.

Above the place where the All-Seer's tower once stood, Zuriel's face is projected in the air. He looks proud, yet evil.

"Who's that?" Nisha asks.

"It's Zuriel!"

"It is I—the catalyst of this revolution! I overthrew the All-Seer whom you once worshipped and feared! You were powerless against him and his Seekers for a thousand years but not anymore! You are free! But that doesn't mean you can do anything you want. There must be an order. There must be a leader! I will take that responsibility to restore order to this island. However, I promise you shall know true freedom—the right freedom! I will give all of you an hour to stop stealing, breaking things, and causing harm. Those who won't listen will be jailed in an instant!"

Then his face is gone.