TIME TO SAY GOODBYE

When they came back, Madolika ran to Kakra and told her all about what had happened from a spectator's point to view. Kakra was overjoyed to hear it and hugged them both. After she came home, Isabelle heard about what had happened but she had a completely different reaction to the news. "Oh if only we had met this man a little earlier. I wouldn't be stuck in a slave contract then and my brother wouldn't have to join the army. How is this even good news when we're already in the worst situation one could be in" She said and retired to her room, exhausted from a long day of working.

After Isabelle left, the realization that Isauro would be going to join the military hit them. Isauro glanced at his mother, who turned around and left, thinking perhaps, she made a mistake by letting her children sign those contracts. She was thinking it was for their best, but it turned out to be more harmful than she imagined. If only she hadn't rushed into action. Isauro's eyes met Madolika's. She was sad but tried not to show it with a forced smile across her face. "Are you okay?" She asked him. Suddenly there was a sound of broken glass in Madolika and Isabelle's room, then Isabelle's scream out of frustration. Isauro turned around, clearly distressed. He nodded and turned around to leave when Madolika hugged him from behind. "Hugs always make me feel better" She said as she rested her head on his shoulder, her arms wrapped around his waist. He held onto her hands for a while. "Thanks" He said and turned around to face her. "Have a good night" She said and curtseyed, then left. Isauro let out a giggle at how lovely of a person she was.

When Madolika got to their room, Isabelle was on her mattress, still awake.  Madolika sat on Isabelle's mattress, which was less comfortable than hers. "Let me rest on your mattress for today" Isabelle said. "Was your day alright?" Madolika asked. "Of course not. I'm so tired and on top of that, I met some rude spoiled boy today" Isabelle said, raising her voice. "You want me to come and help you over there?" Madolika asked Isabelle, concerned. "No, if you do, who's going to help ma? There is one thing you could do with your magical powers though…Make that rude boy disappear for me" Isabelle said. "Oh? As in hurt him? But I can't hurt anyone" Madolika said. "What? Are you really such a good girl or are you pretending to? What do you mean you can't hurt anyone. What exactly do you use your powers for then?" Isabelle asked, sitting up. "Sorcery isn't supposed to be used to hurt others but to help them" Madolika said. "You disgust me with your innocence" Isabelle said and fell back on the mattress to sleep. Madolika laid on the other mattress to rest

The next few days were a bit more quiet as no one wanted to bring up Isauro's enlistment and just like that, a week went by. Kakra had already set up a shop with the help of the gold coins Madolika had given them and had bought items to weave fabrics for making clothes. She already began selling the few clothes they brought from the town, while Isauro and Madolika were at home, weaving fabric for her. Back at home, Kakra had taught Madolika how to weave fabric. Madolika was alone with Isauro in their backyard, weaving. Occasionally, she would stop and look at Isauro, blushing over his manly appearance, while she used sorcery to keep the weaving going. When Isauro was working, he was very focused because he wanted to weave as much fabric as he could before leaving. Madolika realized how exhausted he looked yet he kept weaving, not willing to accept her help. He got exhausted to an extent where he could barely feel his hands but he kept weaving. Madolika got up and took the fabric away from him. "Please stop it and take some rest" She said to him and held his hands, which felt tough. She brought some ointment and treated his hands after which he took a break.

The next day, when Isauro came to continue his work after his hands had healed, he saw on his table, a huge stack of woven fabric. "What did you do?" He asked Madolika. "I spent all night up to use sorcery to make these. I'm not that powerful yet so it took me longer to make" she said, leaning onto the wall. "This will cause trouble. How could you make it so much?" He said. "Well, no one said that's for today alone. This can make up for about a month of restless effort so please take some rest" She said, almost in a whisper. "Look at how exhausted you are" Isauro said and carried her on his back to her room. When he placed her on the mattress, he realized she had already fallen asleep. When he was about to rise to take his leave, she held his hand unconsciously. "I wish we could spend these days together" She said, smiling in her sleep. Isauro held onto her hands and promised to give her the best time to repay her for all that she had done for their family.

Isauro kept his word and spent his last days before enlistment with her. They went out on dates and went to parties. Anywhere fun, they were there. Madolika was having the time of her life. Isabelle and Kakra realized the two were in love with the way they had their eyes on each other all the time, ignoring the existence of others. It was too obvious because none of them even tried to hide it. Kakra was happy for Isauro because Madolika was more than a perfect daughter in law and Isabelle, she was just happy to see her brother spend his last days before the military happily. Although she acted cold towards Madolika, she truly admired her and knew she was a beautiful match for Isauro. They were both the kindest people she knew and she believed they deserved each other.

One night, Isauro sought permission from his mother to take Madolika out to a carnival. That day, Isabelle had finished her work earlier and decided to reward herself by going out so she joined the couple, just for her safety. When they got to the carnival, they parted ways, Isabelle and the couple, to reunite where they had separated. Isauro and Madolika had a lot of fun at the carnival. They saw beautiful lanterns and dance troupes. It was grand and it was beautiful.

Everything was, the starry night, the carnival, Madolika. Isauro stared at her as she kept running around, chasing after everything she saw. She came back and hugged him, looking up into his eyes. Suddenly, a group of people rushed past them, making a commotion. Admist the noise, Madolika heard "He's the legendary storyteller", "It's about the sorcerers". Madolika, hearing of sorcerers, went with them, pulling Isauro along. "It's about sorcerers" She said excitedly and went with them.

"This is the tale of how our great kingdom came into being" The long awaited storyteller began. "Long, long ago, this land was ruled by sorcerers. They were cruel and wicked creatures, with scary faces. They had claws for hands and knives for teeth. They were terrible looking creatures, disguised as humans. They ate children like you for their powers to grow and the people were always in terror. They ruled over the land with an iron fist and waged war against other kingdoms for no reason. They were terrible people" He said and the crowd gasped in surprise. Madolika laughed at the misconception they had about sorcerers. She wanted to see their faces when they found out how beautiful sorcerers actually were and how kind they were.

The story continued as Isauro stared at Madolika in awe of how optimistic and loving she was, even to those who said such horrible things about her people. "Hundreds of years ago, a hero came from the human empire and led a mighty army to fight against the sorcerers. It started when he was charmed by a sorcerer princess and had to get married to her. It was so sad as the human prince was thrown into despair but suddenly, the princess died but he was forced to marry the princess' corpse. The young prince did not have a choice but he was wise. On the day of the wedding, he assassinated the sorcerer king. The prince was strong and brave. He is the legendary…Prince Banda, the founder of our Bandaa empire, who tore down the Banki kingdom" He said as the people burst into applause and cheers. Madolika was left in shock. "Are you okay?" Isauro asked her but she couldn't say a word. A tear drop trickled down from her eye. Then another, then another but she hadn't said or done anything.

Isauro helped her up and led her away from the people into a desolate place because he understood how she must've felt, discovering how her people had been defeated. He didn't know it was much deeper than that.

Elsewhere at the carnival, Isabelle was roaming about, having fun when suddenly someone ran into her and pulled her into a narrow alley and palace guards came rushing past the alley. "Find him!" One shouted and the others saluted. Seeing them, Isabelle turned away from then, to hide her face and saw him, the one who had pulled her here and was hiding behind her. "You?" She shouted, realizing it was the guy from the stables. He covered her mouth but it was too late as one guard passing by's attention was drawn to the alley. They leaned against the side of the wall. The guard approached the alley and saw the opposite wall, with nothing there. Then he looked at the other side and saw them. The guy held her hand tightly and pulled her along as they ran past the guard. More guards began to chase them.

While they were running, they found another alley and it led to two roads. Isabelle aggressively pulled her hand out of his, causing them to come to a stop. "What're you doing? They're coming!" The guy whispered and took her hand but she pulled it out again. "What are you doing!" She said angrily and the guards saw them. "There they are!!" A guard shouted. "Run!" He shouted and ran away. Isabelle ran after him but couldn't ran as fast and the guards got closer and closer to her. "Wait for me!" She shouted to him and he turned around and came back to grab her hand.

They kept running and ran through a troupe of performers. The soldiers ran into them and caused the troupe to fall, blocking their path and the two were able to get them off their tracks and hid behind an empty shop stand in the dark and quiet part of the town. Isabelle sat to catch her breath, barely able to breathe anymore. She was about to use her bracelet when she remembered there was a human beside her. She fell to the ground to rest. "Are you okay?" The guy beside her asked, catching his breath too. She lifted her head and saw him staring at her. She punched him and went back to panting. "How dare you? I literally saved you" He said. "You got me into this in the first place…" She said, stopping to catch her breath again. He stared at her. "Aren't you going to say sorry?" She asked. "Sorry" He said, looking away from her. "Rubbish" Isabelle mumbled. "What did you say? Is that the way you talk to your prince?" He said. "Prince? If you're the prince then I guess I'm the queen. You're out here being chased by palace guards and you're calling yourself a prince. Wait, don't tell me you stole a horse! You're a thief" She said and covered her mouth. "Would you believe me if I told you I am a murderer?" He said and she gulped. He burst into laughter. "I'll kill you, you…" Isabelle threatened "Have you seen them?" A deep voice said and the guy placed his hand over her mouth. When the soldiers left, Isabelle raised her hand to hit the guy but he stopped her hand from hitting him. "Calm down" He said. She pulled back her hand and peaked outside the shop and saw no guards. She got up to leave and the guy got up too. "I'm Sky, what's your name?" He asked but she rolled her eyes and was about to leave when Madolika ran past them, crying, with Isauro chasing from behind.

Isabelle ran after Madolika immediately. "Ooh, drama" Sky said to himself as he went another way. They couldn't catch up to Madolika because she was using sorcery to get ahead of them so Isabelle used the bracelet to give her more energy and kept running. "Adolika, wait!" She said and ran to catch up to her. She used another emerald and then another and began to ran faster, finally catching up to Madolika. When she held her, Madolika's eyes were teary. There was no one around since everyone was at the carnival so Isabelle sent her to the doorstep of one house and helped her to sit. Madolika hugged her and continued crying. Isabelle stroked her back and kept consoling her, telling her that she was alright.

Isauro finally caught up to them but didn't say a word. He carried Madolika and they went home. When they got back, Isauro sent Madolika to her room and dropped her on her mattress. "Are you feeling better now?" He asked sitting by her. She hugged him. "My father, my mother…" She said and kept crying. "He killed them" She said, her lips quivering. "That's why father never woke me up. It's because he was killed. He did this to save my life" She said. "What happened?" Isauro asked, hoping to understand what she was saying but she broke down in tears again. "Father, mother" She said and kept crying. Isauro stayed with her as she cried. Isabelle stayed in Isauro's room, waiting for them to part ways but Isauro never came and she fell asleep.

Time had passed and it was finally the day of Isauro's departure. These days, Madolika had been less active, always wearing a sad smile, unlike the usual Madolika but Isauro and Isabelle understood. She was in a period of mourning. Kakra noticed the change in Madolika's behavior and asked her. "I'm mourning my family" Madolika responded. On Isauro's last day, he went out and bought a hairpin for Madolika. On the day of his departure, with the help of his mother and Isabelle, he set out before Madolika woke up. After Madolika woke up and realized Isauro wasn't at home, she asked Isabelle what had happened and Isabelle told her Isauro had already set out for his military training. Madolika ran out after him, unsure of which direction to go and Isabelle, once again, ran after Madolika. She asked random strangers for direction to the place where Isauro would be going to, to be taken to the barracks. She ended catching up to him before he left. "Isauro" She said and he smiled at her. They hugged for a while and Isabelle caught up to them but still gave them their moment. Madolika took out a gold chain and locked it around his neck. It glowed for a while. "My father gave me this as a good luck charm and today, I want you to keep this and be safe. Please come back to me" She said. "I promise I will come back" He said and left her with a kiss.

After Isauro had left, Isabelle approached Madolika, who was still blushing over their kiss. "Please don't ran away ever again. I've used up all your emeralds at this point" Isabelle said, frustrated. "There is a reason they are emeralds, you know. They don't ran out of energy. They're magical" Madolika said with a smile. This time, it was her graceful smile. The one she made when she was happy. "I see you're back to yourself. Why does this make me happy? Eww" Isabelle said and turned around to leave. "We have a long way to go to get back. And don't even think of using sorcery. One of these days, you're going to get us killed" Isabelle said and Madolika remembered her parents again. The last thing she'd want was to be trouble to another family.