"That's right, let's all listen to Gani, instead of looking at the two of us," Cecilia bumps into Chris as they try to go back to the conference room. Everyone had their brows furrowed as they watched the two march back to the meeting area like skittering mice.
On their way back to listen to Gani's predicament, Chris's once fast pace slowed down until he came to a standstill. "Are you alright, Chris?" Triple-A asked, deducing based on the captain's actions that he was feeling some sort of discomfort.
"Yes…just reeling from that wooden clog that hit me." He massaged the reddish area of his forehead. "You go in, I'll follow shortly," he told the archangel.
Triple-A smiled and nodded, tapping Chris on the shoulder before entering the room. The rest followed the archangel inside, but when Cecilia walked towards the room, time felt like it slowed down.
He watched her get closer and closer to him, her brown eyes staring at him. "Are you okay, Captain? Does it still hurt?" She stopped in front of him, her voice sounded like a melodious hymn that filled his heart.
"I'm fine…I'm just catching some fresh air." His words sounded like a lousy excuse used by children to skip school. "How about you? Are you okay?"
She nodded and flashed a shy and beautiful smile. "Thanks to you…What were those things anyway?" she asked, not out of curiosity but out of concern for him.
"They're nothing. Go in now, I'll follow in while." Chris desperately avoided the question, urging her to enter the room.
Cecilia pouted a bit. "Okay, I'll save you a seat," she offered, before turning around to enter the room.
He watched her skipping to her seat, then suddenly, out of nowhere, he saw Cecilia and himself dancing, giggling, and chasing one another on an open flower field. He saw himself pull Cecilia down on a bed of flowers, the two of them tumbled into each other's arms while staring into each other's eyes. He tilted his head to the left when the vision of the two of them leaning closer together for a kiss.
He then shook his head and looked around him. "Where the hell did that come from?" he then massaged his head. The hand that massaged his temple went down to his chest, and he rubbed the area where his heart is. "Why?" he asked himself, the irritation in his voice and his mind was almost too obvious to ignore. Rumbling thunder and the pitter-patter of rain cut through his confusion. After regaining his composure, he entered the room. The last time he felt something like this was two hundred years ago…when he first fell in love.
Tayabas, Quezon Province - 1827
It was twilight when the sound of muskets and the screams of men echoed from a clearing near Batong Amat. Soon, an eerie silence enveloped the clearing. Two Guardias Civiles dragged a bound man and threw him onto the ground in front of horse-mounted Spanish officers. "Andrea! Why did you betray me?! ANDREA!" It was Chris or Crisanto, as he was known during that time. He shouted, his face bloodied and bruised, tightly bound by thick ropes.
The Spanish Lieutenant turned towards the young mestiza, Andrea, as she was led away by her father. The captain set his glare back at the Indio in front of him: "I didn't know that an Indio would have the gall to reach for the stars."
The captain dismounted from his horse and walked towards the bound man, and pulled on his hair. "How dare a lowly Indio try to court the niece of the governor general? You need to think of your place."
The lieutenant gestured to his Guradias Civiles, "Punish this insolent animal, I want him to learn that Miss Andrea is mine!"
The ten Guardias Civiles took turns beating Crisanto. They kicked, stomped, and struck him with their rifle butts. They brutalized him so badly that he was within an inch of death. The lieutenant crouched, grinning as he heard Crisanto wheezing, "You want to know why Miss Andrea betrayed you? You are nothing but a lowly Indio, that's why!"
Crisanto's eyes widened in disbelief, and he forced himself to his knees. He looked around at the carnage; all of his brothers in arms lay dead in a pool of their own blood. The pain of torn muscles and broken bones vanished, replaced by an even greater form of pain…the pain from a broken heart. Tears began to silently fall from his eyes. Slowly, he stood up and bellowed from the top of his lungs. The pain of betrayal was too much for him to endure. "GAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!"
The Gurdias Civiles all pointed their rifles at the barely standing man. "Crisanto Flores, you have been found guilty of rebellion against King Ferdinand VII. I hereby sentence you to death! .... Fire." The sound of gunshots pierced through the afternoon air.
Andrea was about to board a black horse-drawn carriage when she heard the sound of muskets. She dropped to her knees and cried heavily. Her father and the servants quickly tended to her. She knew at that moment, Crisanto was no more. "Forgive me, my love, I had to save my father."
Binondo - 2025
In the land of the living, thunder crashed as blinding lightning raged through the skies. A shadowy figure enters a Binondo Buddhist temple. The figure's movements were purposeful as it knew where to go. It phased through a wall and emerged in a secret room behind the ten-thousand-Buddha pagoda hall. There, its yellowish eyes scanned the surroundings. Till it found what it was looking for, the Kamidana where Saori was imprisoned.
The figure took the item and crushed it, releasing the evil spirit. From the broken relic, red fiery smoke came out. From that smoke, Saori emerged cackling in laughter, "Free!" She then noticed the black, shadowy figure. "I don't know who you are, but fear not, I will reward your efforts if you bow and serve me."
Instead of replying or doing as told, the figure pulled out an hourglass. Saori's eyes widened, knowing what the item was. She tried to escape, but it was too late; she was turned into sand that was sucked up by the hourglass. The figure looked at the amount of sand added to the hourglass and, despite the hood covering its face, a sinister smile formed on its face.