THE CURSE

The surroundings suddenly changed when light burst from the deep waters. Tinanong ko kay Zero kung anong nangyayari, ngunit ang sinagot niya lang sa'kin ay ang pangalan ni Serpahin. Kaya't sa tingin ko si Seraphin ang may kagagawan nito.

I find myself standing on top of a cloud, staring down into the most beautiful scenery I've seen. An expanse of lush fields and a crystal-blue lagoon, surrounded by towering cliffs and smooth, steep rocks. Waterfalls cascade down the sides.

"Where are we?" mahinang sambit ko.

Nanliit ang mata ko nang may mapansing kakaiba sa mga rocks. Napasinghap ako nang makita ang sarili kong mukha, and along the familiar faces of others. Binilang ko kung ilan lahat, at napagtantong sampu 'yon.

Rays of sunlight dance through the lagoon, painting a hint of color orange. Farther the horizon, majestic ocean mantarays and eels glide in the air. There, the sky is black, and lightning ignites between the clouds. Nanginig ako dahil halos maramdaman ko ang electricity. It looks like even the sky and land is part of water.

May mga lumilipad pa ngang isda sa paligid namin.

"This is Seraphin's mind," sagot ni Zero. Napa-huh naman kaming lima.

"Like the virtual Orphic dimension, this place is almost the same, only that Seraphin was the one who created. He has complete control in the place, but don't worry, he has no control over us— or any real people."

I jolted when a loud scream thundered all over the place. Napatingin ako sa taas nang makakita ako ng malaking shadow. My eyes almost popped out when I saw a gigantic sea serpent.

Si Callista naman ay patalon-talon lang sa kung s'an. She glided in the air and gracefully waved her hand, creating an ice serpent-dragon.

I thought this is Seraphin's mind, how can she create something inside his mind? Tila naman narinig ni Zero ang tanong sa utak ko, at sumagot na naman siya.

"You can still do anything inside his mind, though it will have no effect to him, or to anyone since it only exists in the mind." Zero paused for a moment and looked at his own hands. I also realized that his hands— no, his whole form was clearly visible, like he's really here and not just a holographic reason.

Ngumisi siya, "I guess parehas kami ng naisip ni Pa. In this way, mas mapapaniwala si Callista na totoong narito ako."

I shievered when a glint of green flashed in his eyes, then in his hands, water balled around it. Like a lightning, he flashed in between of the two gigantic creatures. In just one swirl, the two creatures were knocked back.
Tiningnan ko ang reaksyon ni Callista, at kaagad siyang napaatras. Her eyes searched for Zero, but he was nowhere to be found— but I could still sense his presence.

Napalingon naman ako nang marinig kong tinugtog ni Lein ang kaniyang lira. Why did she suddenly play it? Her bluish gray eyes turned neon blue, or maybe because it emitted blue light. Her hands softly played along.

"Anong nangyayari?" tanong ko. "Anong ginagawa niya?"

"Malamang nagpapatugtog," sarkastikong sagot ni Nicolas. Inirapan ko siya.

"Bakit nga?!"

"She plays it if she feels danger. She's trying to calm herself," sagot ni Chastille habang naglilinga sa paligid.

"Danger?" napatingin din naman ako, pero wala namang danger, ah.

Napatalon naman ako nang biglang malakas na pinatugtog ni Lein ang lahat ng strings sa lyre. I even felt the vibrations through the air, and it echoed through the place. She became afloat in the air. Her music suddenly became dark and mystical.

"What is it, Lein?" tanong ni Iris habang hinahawakan na rin ang kaniyang bow. She got multiple arrows from her quiver.

Nicolas sharply turned to a particular direction. Napatingin din naman ako roon at nagulat nang makakita ng isang black hole sa kalangitan. It twirled around until gigantic black manta rays appeared out of it.

I swished my hand and then the air vibrated along. The manta ray showed to the cloud we're on top of. Napatalon naman kaming lahat. I didn't know how I knew to fly, but I surprisingly did!

Napatingin ako kay Iris na nahulog mula sa cloud. Pero hindi nagtagal, umikot siya sa ere at nag-land siya sa isang cliff. She immediately aimed her arrow at the direction of the manta ray.

Natauhan naman ako at napatingin sa manta ray, but then I was too late for it's huge pectoral fin shoved me off. I defensively put my hand against my body, but then I felt someone pull me away. Napatingin naman ako at nakita si Zero, he winked at me.

"Just in time, mi amore."

He raised his hand, then icy mists appeared around it. Napatingin naman ako sa mantaray, at nagulat nang bigla 'yong mafreeze. Hindi nagtagal ay biglang napaulanan ng atake ng apat ang manta ray, and it slowly vanished to icy mists.

"What's that?" tanong ko kay Zero na hawak-hawak pa rin ang likod ko. My body was pressed into his, so I pushed him away. Pinakawalan naman niya ako, at nagbuntong-hininga.

"Seraphin's creatures in his mind," he chuckled. "He has no control over it at the moment since he's immersed fighting with Callista."

"Akala ko ba panakot ka r'on. Bakit hindi mo pa pinapakita ang sarili mo sa kaniya?" tanong ko. "Para matapos na."

He laughed again, "Chill. Dito nga lang kita nahahawakan." Napairap naman ako, pero bigla na naman niya akong hinawakan at inikot sa gilid niya.

Again, he raised his hand to something and I heard the manta ray wailing. Something screeched and I looked up to it. My eyes widened when I noticed that the numbers of mantarays, stingrays, and eels skyrocketed.

I saw the other four tiring themselves by fighting the creatures. Ako lang ang walang ginagawa dahil ni Zero.

Dumilim naman sa side namin dahil sa shadow ng malaking sea serpent na dumaan sa taas namin. I saw Seraphin encircling his serpent and launching and attack towards Callista. His hand became water and even his movements and form was alike to water. Fluid and flowy.

On the other hand, Callista moved like snow, subtle at first, but then unpredictable. Halos hindi ko masundan ang bawat galaw nila.

"It's time for me to make a move," Zero mumbled before the two could even clash again. Hindi niya ako tinapunan ng tingin at parang meteor na nagcrash sa gitna ng dalawa. One of his fists was across Seraphin, while the other was across Callista. They were immediately thrown back with such invisible force.

Napansin ko agad ang gulat sa mga mata ni Callista, ngunit hindi na nagulat si Seraphin. He even smirked like what Zero always does.

Nagtaka naman ako nang mula sa daliri ni Zero ay tila may lumabas na tattoo— no, those looked like veins but in a neon blue color, and it looked like a tattoo. He looked down at it and sighed.
Nagulat naman ako nang marinig ang boses niya sa utak ko, or maybe I heard his thoughts. "It's still shows even when I am just an illusion."

Napataas-kilay ako. Ano ba 'yon? Is it a bad thing?

"The zero curse," nauutal na wika ni Lein. Napalingon agad ako sa kaniya. She looked at Zero's hand with so much confusion.

"What's the zero curse?" tanong ko kay Lein.

"It's a curse where overuse of power eventually freezes the holder. Not dead, but frozen in time."

Napaawang naman ang bibig ko… so that means Zero was frozen not because of Callista's powers.

"Hindi ko alam na totoo pala 'yon, but this just proves the zero curse. His body can't handle the power he holds within, thus resulting to freezing."

He was frozen because of his own power?

But how did he get that curse anyway? What made him so powerful? And what caused him to use so much power?

The Orphic Secret
By lostmortals
Plagiarism is a crime.

Luh malapit na pala matapos ang July hahaha. Lapit na rin 'to matapos.

Thank you for reading!