Chapter 41: Lies

"Dreaming is the poetry of Life, and we must be forgiven if we indulge in it a little".

—John Galsworthy, Five Speeches to P.E.N. Clubs and a Letter

"Everything is quantized except freedom."

—Mahdi Mansour

"I became quiet!

I used to think you got to express whatever you feel, but when life hits you hard, you go into your tranquility mode.

You stop telling people, build huge walls all around you, start hiding your true sentiments, and become heartless.

In the end, you become numb.

It's just a continuous cycle of your chord towards the deeds of people that have become a reason for your woe.

First things bother you & aftermath situations stop bugging you.

The "I'm used to it" phase comes, in which how much erroneous occurs you just take this as a normal event.

You don't realize but you become so weak that you don't care about yourself.

You just quit your life & become quiet."

—Hareem Ch, Another World

***

Wobbly and in pain, the triplets continued in the forest, jumping through small cracks in the ground while still sticking together.

"They're still following us, even after all that they went through just to get down here."

"It's not a surprise anymore. They have been more persistent ever since they failed to trap us."

"We gotta hurry towards Xenia's house. They must be there. I'm sure he already found Arlan."

***

It did not take Volcom that long to go back to his human form when

several minutes passed. While he was in his werewolf-like form, he displayed prowess far better than that of a human. His abilities skyrocketed and the amount of things he could do increased too.

Moreover, his senses were heightened and he could smell the atrocious pungent scent of blood looming on the whole island. Balmack Island has really become the grave for everyone.

"You've encountered a person controlling a bear?" Asked Volcom, completely surprised at the kid's story.

"Yeah, good thing the dude is no longer with us."

Xenia glanced at Thaniel and Arlan. He felt bad for forcing a traumatizing role on the two of them.

"Forgive me," he pleaded genuinely. "I should not have forced the job to the two of you. Instead, I should have done it myself. I made you..."

"Uh, eh, no, no! Xenia! You don't have to worry about us! We completely understand the situation. I-It had to be done."

Something was amiss, but Xenia did not pick up on it. He was really feeling bad for what he instructed the two kids when he could have killed the man himself.

"Still, let me properly apologize. I'm sorry and it won't happen again!"

He bowed his head like he always did when doing someone wrong. Unless they say they forgive him, Xenia won't lift his head back up.

"Then, we forgive you, Xenia. Now lift your head and let's keep moving forward. I understand that sometimes we have to rely on our friends. We can't always do certain things ourselves."

Xenia saw Arlan looking at Thaniel with a suspiciously worried look on his face.

"If the three of you still remember where you guys encountered the guy, tell me and we'll fetch the body."

Volcom's reason for saying so was as clear as the water on the river that was gently flowing, following the rules of nature and how it was supposed to go.

"Dad, you're mad for thinking something about having a kid eat human flesh and resorting to cannibalism!"

"But...!"

"If Mom was still..."

Xenia could not continue with his words when his mother was mentioned in their conversation. He just spoiled the fun and now the four of them went silent until Volcom became the icebreaker.

"Hey, just tell me where the body was and I'd go get it myself! None of you have to worry about tiring yourself."

They began to describe the place and just agreed on it since Volcom was so keen on attaining that "gift", which was a really useful one. Being able to control animals and using them as your pawns were clearly dominating. Xenia could only imagine an army of animals being led by a single person.

"Either stay here and wait for me, or find other Balmackians. But Arlan and Thaniel, stay away from the Sultenians! They will come and eat you for your gifts!"

For the second time, they watched Volcom grow hair all over his body, covering even his face and disappearing in the bloody night.

"And he's gone while we, kids, were left here standing in the middle of the night, surrounded by predators."

Sultenians will not let anyone slide. Their goal is to achieve the gifts that are supposed to be theirs. However, they were given nothing, so they are in hot pursuit and search of Balmackians acquiring "gifts" given by this superior being to whom every Sultenian prays.

Mercilessly, once they lay their eyes on you, they will chase you to the bottom of the earth just to have what you receive. They deemed the "gifts" as theirs meant to be their property.

In the midst of the storm, standing beneath the bright red light from the moon, the three kids were surprised at how big the moon was. It seemed like it had gotten closer to them every time they gawk at it and got lost in its enticing beauty.

And while staring at the moon, a silhouette of a man appeared in their eyes, stout and ridiculous. He soon revealed himself, which unveiled the lie told to Xenia earlier.

"Guhahahahaha! Surprised to see me, aye?! I'm still alive! Thanks to those two kids that did not put an end to my life!"

Uproariously, the bear from before growls at the kids. Its cry put Thaniel and Arlan to their feet, now realizing the mistake they made.

They felt Xenia glaring at them.

"You can't expect us to kill someone!"

Xenia sighed, "I know. I should have really done it myself. It's already done. No point arguing about it. The problem now is how are we gonna buy ourselves some time until Dad comes back?"

Being controlled by the guy, the bear began crawling on all fours, trotting through the bright night as the Volcom searched for the body that he would never find. His effort will be all for naught, but if he goes back now and realizes the stagnant danger, he might still be able to save the three kids from utter annihilation.

"Brace yourselves, kids! Kuma will be having all three of you for dinner!"

~