Chapter 7: The end of life

I was one of the few who was able to see Him shine before He became the God in everyone’s heart. At that time, I am no one but a son of a humble farmer tending to our farm. One day, a big typhoon came and almost took my life, as it did to my great nation. It was a scary and devastating part watching your life passes by your eyes. It was an unforgettable memory etched in my being that even when I became so powerful, it was still there and so vivid as if it had just happened yesterday. During those moments of brushing with death, I had plenty of thoughts and aspirations left in me to achieve. Farming was never meant for me. I wanted to see the world instead. Meet countless people, roam every crook and cranny of this world, and be the sailor of my own fate.

After all of those years, I never knew I had all those dreams in me. As my body was lifted and paralyzed by the strong gust of winds, tears of regret seeped out of my soul. It was the regret of not being able to achieve something which I could’ve. Pain and discomfort were the only things that reminded me that I was barely alive, aside from my slowly blurring thoughts. When I felt the moment of stepping into the other side, gushes of warmth held me back from the smirking face of that damnable Death. Hope had filled me up, and when I weakly opened my eyes, I saw His shine. He was sparkling brighter than the sun. At that moment, I saw my dreams through His eyes, reflecting a mirror of myself, and I knew what to do then. 

I realized that I would not be the farmer I was told to be but the man I wanted to be. And thus, my journey following his path began.

First page from Cysmere in His Diary of the Travelling Writer, the sole survivor and wanderer from the Great Valley of Igor.

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Oh. Hello Beth. Just in time. Few more rats to go, then we can have our party, right Raul?" Councilor Bing smiled beautifully and answered Beth's question with delight.

"All dead?" Beth said coldly. She feels disgusted looking around the room. For more than seventeen years, this has been Luke and Therese’s room.

She frequently went to this house. She shared a meal with the Alma family, but she knew she was not truly part of them. 

Luke always tells her that she is a family, a younger sister Luke never had.

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All these years, the unrequited love remained unrequited. The affection that once sprang in the heart of the reporter blossomed with hate and jealousy.

Beth did not realize when it all started. Maybe when Luke introduced Theresa to her as his girlfriend. Or when Luke chose to be with Theresa for their anniversary rather than her birthday, which usually only has Luke as her guest due to being an orphan at an early age.

Or that wedding that tore her heart to pieces when she heard the exchanges of vows of the man she loved and the woman who stole away her happiness but still smiled to show Luke how 'happy' she was.

Or maybe that period, after seeing the happy family celebrating the first birthday of their dear Martin. Perhaps that happy moment for the couple crushed her happy dreams instead.

While other people were singing Happy Birthday, Beth realized that the possible 'union' with the man of her daydreams would never be a reality. Perhaps, just being with him is enough for Beth, she thought.

Until one day, Luke has no time at all to spend with his childhood friend, Beth. While waiting for their usual spot behind the acacia tree beside the park, drops of rain suddenly fell on the well-groomed hair of the prepared Beth.

Her picnic basket was started to be drenched wet by the rain, so she opened the pink picnic blanket that was gifted to him by Luke and tried to keep the favorite food her only guest always craved about.

She thought that for her birthday, maybe she could own him for a while. Even just for a bit.

She kept waiting and waiting, thinking that Luke could not possibly forget her birthday without leaving their preferred spot, afraid that she would not be easily noticed. How could anyone forget someone's birthday if they have celebrated it for more than 20 years?

That her childhood friend, she calls Skywalker, will come, bringing her under his umbrella, as they celebrated her birthday under the warm gaze of the sky.

But on this year's birthday, the sky wept to pity her. She kept waiting, minutes turned to hours, and the breezy air turned icy as her heart succumbed deeper in coldness. For some unknown cliche reasons, the sky and a human once again had a mutual understanding.

"My poor wretched life," she muttered under her breath. Her completely soaked body shivered under every surge of the wind. She looked at herself, and a distant memory returned.

A crying girl under the rainy clouds wept alone, seeing her loving mother lying in front of her, frozen cold, as blood came out of her body. 

Beth looked at that poor girl. That same girl was just like her, alone and cold. As time went by, her hot blood turned frozen stiff as hypothermia struck her body. Her dazed thoughts produced another blurry image of a person she wanted at that very moment. 

Beth tried to extend her hand to feel the warmth she was used to feeling, but all she touched was the numb feeling of the void as sleepiness crept into her and mumbled before she fainted, "My Skywalker."

After that incident, Luke just said sorry and could not even bother to visit her in the hospital, saying that Martin was not feeling well and needed to take care of him. Then, everything went back to normal as if nothing had happened. As if her heart was not heavily shattered into pieces.

Every once so happy meal became a torture, and every holiday that she once looked forward to became a hassle. Beth was present on every occasion, smiling and laughing along, but no one realized her loneliness and anguish were eating her inside. Not even the man she knew for the past twenty years—not even him.

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Councilor Bing was not frustrated by the cold question, "Not yet. But soon. However, I think they escaped. The window is open when we entered, and we found no one here."

"Nonsense, that small window was just for the dog to escape. Look at the size of the gap. In short, it is a diversion. If your men are halfway as smart as a child, they could have known what to do. If not for Congressman Lazaro, I would not help you and your dimwitted goons. As I thought, you are just for governing small city, not fit enough to climb the ladder of fame and power." Councilor Bing's smiling face soured.

Then, Beth pointed at the thick curtain beside the bed and the ample wardrobe. "That curtain is where Martin and young Luther usually hide, and that big wardrobe has a secret compartment, possibly that wh*re Theresa and Annie. Now that you know where they are, I want you to wrap things up. I have something important to do,” she said plainly. “Something I dreamt for a very long time," she continued with a tone full of longing. 

Just before Beth could turn around and leave, the cabinet was opened by a trembling, pale hand.

"How could you do this? To us! We let you into our family. We fed you when you were hungry, gave you a warm place to stay, and we treated you as one of us. Huh! After all these years, together, you never treated us as one of yours." Theresa could not help but outburst her long-suppressed emotion. 

Tears run down her pale cheeks, her knees too weak to support her grieving body, as she continues, "If only Luke is here. He will see how ingrate you are, biting the hands of the people who took care of you." 

Theresa wailed. The death of his husband cracked her previous calm attitude.

Beth looked spookily to Theresa and sharply said, "Look who chose to show herself. It's The Businesswoman of the Year. Hump! Before you entered Luke's life, I was his ONLY other woman. I was his world, and he was mine. But, when you intruded into our relationship, those happy moments changed.”

"How dare you speak his name as if you were there when he graduated, or when he failed his subjects, and when he fought with his father? But I was there. I was always there helping him. You just intervened and got lucky, your wretched woman." Her eyes were so bloody red that it would not be a surprise if real blood oozed out from them. Beth's body was trembling with suppressed anger and envy for who knows how long. If words could kill, then Theresa might be a lump of meat full of holes already.

Repressed emotions found a tunnel and exploded.

The evil men speedily captured the crying mother and dragged the poor Annie viciously out of the hidden compartment of the wardrobe. The innocent one looked puzzled, but the dried tears on her cheeks signified how bad she felt.

The toddler wanted to run to her mommy. However, when she saw her aunt, she wailed resembling a child befitting her age, like finding someone she knew who could help her, "Auntie! They killed daddy. That woman... huhuhu, she killed daddy," cried the poor sweet Annie as she pointed Councilor Bing.

Upon hearing the voice of their youngest sister, both Martin and Luther ran out of their hiding spot without a second thought and immediately went to the side of their princess, protecting her from danger.

"No, Annie. Please do not go to her! She killed daddy," Theresa got hysterical and lost the gripping hands on her as she abruptly held her children's hands and told them what she knew of the truth. Her motherly instinct kept them in her warm embrace.

Beth looked at the crying children and their mother. Her icy-cold face twitched a little.