*Season's P.O.V.*
"Hindi na tayo ligtas sa ating pinagtataguan ngayon kaya magsipaghanda kayo pagkat, bago pa sumikat ang araw bukas ay atin itong lilisanin." Kaloy announced at the course of dinner. Murmurs scattered here and there before one soldier stood up and spoke up loud enough for everyone to hear.
"Saan naman tayo tutungo mahal na prinsipe? Halos nasakop na ng mga Dalaketnon ang buong Lumayan." He asked. I don't fully understand what they are saying but from what I can grasp is that, Kaloy wanted us to leave this place because the enemy already knows that we're here, hence it's not anymore safe for us but of course his people are asking where we would go because there's literally no safe place for us to take refuge on right now. Which is pretty much understandable, so everyone's eyes are fixed on the prince, awaiting his answer.
"Kaya lalabas tayo ng Lumayan." He simply answered, sipping water from his glass. We'll go out of Lumayan? But aren't the borders guarded? Murmurs scattered here and there once again. How the hell can he move this many people out of Lumayan unnoticed by the Dalaketnons who are probably patrolling the borders? "Sumunod lang kayo sa plano at magiging maayos ang lahat." He reassured dismissively, as he stood up and went on his way.
I finished my dinner along with Kalista and the others and after that, retired to my room too. I don't have much stuff with me so I just packed about five outfits which are easy to wear and placed them in a native looking bag which I found in the bottom shelf. After that, I laid on the bed, counting sheeps until the mechanical clock reads 9 and I stood up, making my way to the bath chambers as usual. If we're leaving tomorrow, I'd have to say goodbye to my favorite place in this underground lair. Right. Plus, I have to clear my mind off after the events that took place this morning. And I really need the coolness of the water.
As soon as I arrived, I closed the door and stripped out all of my clothings, walked my way down the dugged earth filled with water and descended its levels until I'm into it waist deep. I lowered myself down and submerged into it, swimming around as if I'm in a swimming pool, heh who cares? When I had enough, I surfaced my head up to get some air and I noticed that I'm already in the deeper part of the huge tub. A gentle splashing sound caught my attention and I turned towards the shallow part of the tub which is also in the direction of the door and...
"WAH! GET OUT OF HERE! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!?" I screamed, not caring if the whole covern heard me, as I tried to cover myself.
"I'm taking a dip too." The idiot simply answered, as he sat down on one of the shallow levels, his topless body very much displayed as the water barely covered his lower parts. To hell with him!
"Hello? Are you really taking a dip with the opposite sex on the same tub!?" I retorted.
"If I don't, I'd have to wait for like an hour and a half for you to finish, which is what I usually do but, not now. There are a lot of things that I have to take care of so, no I can't waste my time, waiting for you to be done." He answered, getting the scrub and started scrubbing his body. WTF!
"You're unbelievable! Pervert!" I sued. Wait... He always waits for me to be done? Ugh! To hell with him.
"If you're so uncomfortable, you can leave." What? The audacity of this...
"I was here first." I firmly said, narrowing my eyes at him.
"So? It's spacious enough for the both of us."
"Kaloy!" I snarled, wanting to throw something his way but of course, I can't find anything. The cheekiness in his facial expressions reminded me of the time that he would just appear in my room, claiming that he was there most of the time and how I took refuge on the bathroom for him to not see me... You know. But now, ugh! He's so frustrating!
"Relax Season, I won't take long." Won't take long my face! What is the matter with this engkanto, had he lost all his manners and he's now sharing a bath with a woman? "What?" He had the nerve to ask.
"I hate you!"
"I know alright. That's fine. I'd be done in a bit, move aside." I didn't quite understand what he's talking about and suddenly froze when he dived towards the deeper part of the huge tub or also known as the part where I am currently hiding my very naked body, to somehow rinse himself off.
"AHHH! PERVERT! HOW DARE YOU! AHHH!" I screamed as I scampered to the side, kicking him off as I went along.
"Aray! I told you to move aside didn't I?"
"And I told you to get out!"
"Just so you remember, you're in my territory." Oh, so that's it? He thinks he has the right to harass me because I am in his territory?
"Ugh! Turn around!" I commanded and he just raised his brow at that. "Turn around cause I'm leaving." I firmly stated.
"Leaving? You haven't even scrubbed yourself yet, and you're leaving?" He pointed out. Damn it! I want to scoop his eyes off his face with a spoon! "You turn around, cause I'm leaving."
And because there isn't much that I can do, I followed his orders and turned away from his hunk of a body and waited until I heard the door close before slowly turning around and screaming in frustration. What the hell just happened? I just saved his butt big time and this is how he repays me? Maybe seeing Quinglong made him lost his mind. I could only pout as I swam back to the shallower part, grabbing a different scrub and started scrubbing. Why do they don't have any soap here anyways? But they do have some sort of organic liquid soaps which I use too. So yeah.
Within no time at all, I am done with my routine and eventually went out of the chambers, the initial plan of meditating upon the events of the morning thrown to the side after that perverted invasion. I almost shrieked when I bumped into someone while I was absentmindedly walking along the hallways.
"What is the matter with you!?" We said at the same time. Wow, mental synchronization eh?
"Oh hello Season. Glad to see that you're done." Of course it has to be Lumayan's prince charming, pervert!
I narrowed my eyes at him. "Kaloy." I coldly greeted. I don't understand my connection with him. One minute we are saving each other's backs during battles, the next we're discussing serious matters as if we're business partners, and then suddenly we are like this. Like lovers on the preliminary stage of their relationship. But of course as soon that thought came into my mind, I immediately dismissed it. We can't be.
"Anyway Season, I talked to my grandfather's sister who is fortunately still alive and with us about you and I guess it would help if you'd talk to her once we arrive to the cave of the mermaids." He said in a serious tone. You see what I mean now?
"We're going to the mermaids?" I asked.
"It's the only place that I can think of right now. Plus, I already talked to their leader through Kalista and he agreed, just as long as I can manage to get everyone out there safely." He sighed.
"You're going to use your power to get everyone there?" I inquired. Cause I have a feeling that he would actually do it, I mean, it's the most reasonable thing to do.
"Yes, but I can't bring everyone at the same time plus my energy lowers every after use so, I devised a plan with a few of my soldiers to make things work. Curse the fact that I'm the only one who can use teleportation." He muttered. Stress is literally written on his face right now. I guess great power always comes with great responsibility.
With a mind of its own, my hand landed on one of his shoulders comfortably. He looked at it, then my face, confused and I just smiled, even if I myself am puzzled with my own actions. "It will work out. Don't worry too much." I heard myself saying in a mellow, soothing voice. Wow, as if I didn't scream at him just minutes ago.
He graced me with that dazzling smile of his as his hand went to cup my chin. "Thank you." Our eyes met as sparks exploded everywhere our skins touch and the heat that our proximity brought about reflected on my cheeks but a certain clearing of someone's throat made us let go so quickly, as if lightning struck the both of us.
"Kanahalan." I only lowered my head, biting my lips when I heard and saw Alisya walk towards Kaloy. Gosh! Why do I feel this certain kind of guilt, pinching my heart?
"Alisya, narito ka na pala." Ah, so he was expecting her. I raised my head and smiled at the both of them politely before I sped walk my way towards my own chambers. A hurricane of mixed emotions rumbling inside me. I mean, I know I didn't deny the fact that I'm attracted to Kaloy and that I still have feelings for him but, I also know that he only sees me as a friend, like he stated, and that he has a girlfriend now, however, he still have this effect on me which I really want to eradicate! Perhaps these engkantos knows of a spell for me to fall out of love with their prince. Or at least not be affected by his charms! They practice witchcraft right? Damn!
Maybe I fell asleep for how many hours because I was suddenly woken up by a chiming sound right outside my door. What's going on? I asked in my mind but a thought sank in on my brain and I hurriedly went out of bed, and grabbing my readily packed bag, I opened my door. An array of engkantos clogged the corridor along with their own bags and everyone went inside the main hall where Kaloy and the others are already present. His soldiers looked at us one by one and guided us into our respective places. When everyone is settled in their assigned places, I noticed that we are all divided into four groups. The first comprised by the elders and some of the mothers with their infant or toddler kids. The second is a group of women with some teenagers. The third almost the same as the second but with some men along. And the forth, where I stood are comprised of mostly men and some soldiers. The array of soldiers that stood with Kaloy distributed themselves to the four troops and the prince nodded in approval.
"Makinig kayo, lilisanin natin ang lugar ayon sa inyong pagpapangkat. Alisya, ikaw nang bahalang maggiya sa lahat patungo sa likurang lagusan ng minahan at pangkat-pangkat ko kayong ihahatid sa ating destinasyon. At dahil humihina ang kapangyarihan ko sa bawat paggamit nito, kailangan munang maglakad ng iba para..." I wasn't able to listen more to Kaloy's instructions, not that I'd fully understand it because Kalista spoke beside me.
"Are your nose still not bleeding?" She asked and I just checked.
"It kind of am." I admitted.
"Just so you know, he said he's going to teleport us to our destination by group. Since the first group over there are the most vulnerable ones, he's going to take them first. And because his power is declining in every use, he's asking us to sneak our way towards some pick up points while he's teleporting them. The soldiers would take care of us so, just follow along." She explained.
"Understood." I said. She nodded and walked her way towards the second group where she's ought to be as I noticed Alisya and Kaloy already making their way towards the back exit of this mine, I believe, and the engkantos in the first group followed them as if there's a procession. Everyone followed in until it was our turn to go. After 10 minutes of walking down the winding tunnel, I saw the light of the outside at its edge, which isn't that bright because the sun hasn't risen just yet. Thick vegetation greeted us once outside and I noticed that the first group are already nowhere to be found, which means Kaloy has already teleported them. I briefly looked behind me when I heard the bang of the very last door being closed by the two soldiers who had been closing doors behind since we started walking our way out. The cool dawn breeze kissed my face and I just took a deep breath before I followed everyone to a path that's clearly not usually used. Vines, long grasses, tall weeds and an array of other plants were on our way but we just stepped on them as we went along.
So far, only the sounds coming from nature can be heard along with our faint footsteps. Nobody dared to speak louder than a whisper and within five minutes, Kaloy suddenly appeared in a distance and the second group hurriedly held on to him and they disappeared. So cool right? Anyways, we walked faster and within another five minutes or more, Kaloy appeared again and took the third group with him. It's like everything is falling to plan smoothly. That was until a rustle from a distance that couldn't be from our group so the soldier that led our troop signalled for us to get down and take cover in the long grass. As I mentioned earlier, the track that we are taking is somehow forested, and the vegetation is dense, that's why it's not hard for us to duck down and hide. From the little gaps between the leaves, I spotted a bunch of Dalaketnons looking our way. Oh gosh.
"Walang aatake hangga't hindi nila tayo inaatake. Utos yan ng prinsipe." One soldier whisper-yelled. Okay, so nobody should attack. Right, breathe in, breathe out Season. No matter how motionless we are, it seems like the Dalaketnons are now certain that we are here and I saw how they produced multiple copies of themselves. Woah...
"Parang aatake na sila." Another soldier stated.
"Pabilog, para madali nating madepensahan ang isa't-isa ng hindi naghihiwalay." Our well, maybe leader commanded. We listened and did a circle formation. Good thing I understand what bilog means. Somebody placed a dagger in my hand and I gratefully smiled at the soldier. It was smart of Kaloy to do this actually. There's a big possibility that by the time that the last group would set off, the enemy would already notice what we are doing since we're kind of close to the borders too, that's why he made sure that our group is composed of individuals who knows how to fight, incase something like this would happen. "Wag tumayo hangga't hindi ko sinasabi." Tayo means stand right?
"Tapusin sila!" Someone from the enemy's side signalled and I was momentarily shocked when I realized that the running footsteps are coming from every direction, apparently they were able to surround us but we didn't move. When they were significantly close...
"Ngayon na!" That was our leader and we all stood up together with our weapons, surprising the upcoming enemy and they weren't able to dodge our defensive attack. With just a dagger, I relied on my martial arts know how to fight off. In a situation like this, it is important for us to stay solid together so, instead of hurdling off as many enemies as we can, we'll just have to stick to accepting how many enemies would come our way. Block attack, as what Master Cheng puts it.
The first one that attacked me was a copycat, that's why it was a bit easy for me to make him disappear. Then there came another, I punched, kicked, and stabbed with the dagger and he disappeared too. There are more and more of them coming our way. It's as if they reported our movement to their leaders that's why more of their reinforcements came and it's not helping that they can duplicate themselves. I was busy punching and kicking when a certain someone suddenly appeared at the middle of the circle we created. Kaloy.
"Bilis! Humawak kayo!" He commanded, extending his arms and I whacked another copycat out of existence before I did an aerial flip and managed to flatten my palm in his soft hair before we disappeared, leaving our enemies frustrated.