Chapter 43 Chapter 43

Chapter 43 Chapter 43
"Sit down here for a moment." Her friend assisted her and helped her sit. "Here, drink this first." She handed her the lemon water. "What on earth happened to you?"
Aurora glanced toward Arnold. She's skeptical about telling him what she saw because it'll pour vinegar into a fresh wound for the man.
"It’s about me, right?" the man asked her. Maybe she was just being too obvious, which is why he asked. He turned to Leora. "Is that hybrid a Seer?" Her friend nodded hesitantly. He then turned back to Aurora. "Did you see me die? Well, that’s great news because then I won’t have to kill myself."
"N-no. It wasn't that. I—hmm, I—"
"Spill it out, Hybrid. I’m listening..."
"Wait, Aurora. Do you know where the map is now? That is more important than anything else."
She looked at Leora sadly. "Go back home to the mountains for now, Leora," she pleaded. If all she needed to do was lie to her, she would. Leora had been acting heartless since their adventure began.
"What? Are you crazy? What about you?"
"I’ll wait for you at the mansion. You just need to watch over Yfraim because what happened in my dream will occur tonight."
Her friend's previously worried face turned serious. She clenched both her hands and said, "Make sure you don't take any steps that will put you in danger, Aurora..." Aurora nodded. Leora stood up and took the birdcage. "Sorry, but I have to leave you here. You might just die in a forbidden travel. I’m leaving now. I’ll be at the mansion tomorrow," she bid her farewell before vanishing.
Only after her friend disappeared did Aurora stand up.
"You lied to your friend, Hybrid..."
"Stop calling me hybrid. I have a name, and that’s Aurora. And I’m so sorry for the things my friend said to you." She took her bag and slung it over her back.
"I understand her. Are you leaving alone?"
"Yes."
"To me, that’s not bravery, Hybrid; it’s stupidity."
"Well, I don’t need your opinion."
"Oh! That’s rude..." He stood up and approached her. "What did you see earlier, Aurora, that made you so sad?"
"You really want to know?"
"Yes..."
She pointed to the spot where Aliyah had breathed her last. "That’s where you’ll find Aliyah lifeless, isn't it?"
Anger flashed across the man’s face, causing his rust-colored eyes to glow even brighter. Arnold stepped closer to her and violently grabbed her arm, but she didn't even blink. If she were still the person she used to be, she would have likely been terrified, especially as the veins on his neck and face began to bulge. His rusty eyes turned pitch black. His hair stood on end, becoming as stiff as wire. He grew a few inches taller, and his body bulked up.
"How did you know?!" The man let out a feral growl. Arnold was now like a hungry monster ready to make her his dinner.
"I saw everything—or rather, she showed me everything. From the time you were together an hour before she disappeared, until you left and Morgana's group arrived just minutes after you departed. You’re right about those uninvited guests. They wanted the map, but she didn't give it to them."
He released her and returned to his normal form as he calmed down. "Aliyah isn't a fool to give them what they want." She heard him grit his teeth.
"I know. She was a fighter, and I proved that because I witnessed firsthand how she fought despite being outnumbered—and needless to say, Morgana was there too. But Morgana has her own ways of getting the information she wants from a being, just like what she did to your girlfriend. She has the ability to enter her enemy's mind using black vines. That’s what she did to your girlfriend..."
The man punched a nearby large tree repeatedly until it toppled over.
"That means they got the map!"
"You're wrong about that because she didn't know where the map was either..."
"What do you mean?"
"Morgana obtained no information, and her vampire minions found nothing in this place."
"Then where is the map?!"
"That’s what I don't know. But I know one thing: with or without a map, I will find the others!" She started heading toward the cave exit when he called her name.
"Aurora!"
"What?" She looked back and saw his necklace.
"Yes, Aurora. Only Arnold knows where the map is..." the familiar voice whispered again.
"I don't know how I can ever surpass your kindness, Wicca... I don't know how to repay you."
"I am helping you of my own free will, so you don't need to pay me... But if you would be so kind, could you tell Arnold that I love him very much?"
Her eyes clouded with tears when she heard Aliyah's undying love for Arnold. "I'll tell him, Aliyah. And thank you so much..."
"Are you alright?"
"I think you know where the map is, Arnold." Instead of answering him, that was what the young woman said.
"I'm telling you the truth, Hybrid. I don't know where the map is, and the truth is, I’ve never even seen that damn map you’re looking for."
"It's inside the box she gave you. Before you left, Aliyah had you hide a box..."
"How did—" He closed his eyes and tugged at his own hair. "Right, she showed you everything..." The man stepped into the river, so she walked back and followed him. He began removing precious stones from a part of the river until a silver box was revealed. Arnold turned the box over, and they saw it had a keyhole. "Now our only problem is where the key to this box is."
"The answer is on your chest, Arnold."
The man looked down and saw what was near his chest. The pendant of the necklace!
"When you want to find the answer, look down and see what's in your heart..." the man muttered as if remembering something.
"What did you say?"
"When you want to find the answer, look down and see what's in your heart... that's what Aliyah told me. When she gave me this necklace, she said something about the key to her chest. I thought she was just using a metaphor, but it’s a literal key for this box. She made sure the enemy wouldn't get their hands on the map, so she had me hide it." Sadly, the man removed the pendant and opened the chest. "She knew what was going to happen all along, which is why she sent me away. She knew I wouldn't be able to fight because—"
"Stop it, okay?" she interrupted him. "It’s not like that. I don't think she believed you couldn't fight. Look at this paradise. If you both were gone, no one would look after this place that became Aliyah's home. If you were gone too, no one could point out where the map was hidden. She loves you so much, so you don't have to think that you're weak."
"How did you know she loves me?"
"Because that’s what she wanted me to tell you. She wants you to continue living just as you did before you met her."
The man handed her a blank scroll. "This is your goal, so you should be the one to possess this thing. So, what's your plan?"
"I need to leave before Leora comes back and tries to join me." She tucked the map inside her bag.
"Wait a moment..."
"What now?"
"If you had loved ones who were suddenly stolen from you, what would you do to the people involved in their disappearance?"
"I’ll find them and give them the same pain they caused me, or even more, until I am satisfied... Come with me, Arnold..." Why she offered this to the young man, she didn't know.
"Why? You want me to take revenge?"
"The decision is yours, but as for me? I want to avenge what they did to all the beings they killed, and that includes your beautiful Wiccan."
"Are you sure you don't want someone you know with you?"
"I’m sure. I also want many people guarding the mountain because my daddy is there."
"In that case, I’ll go with you. I’ll help as much as I can. I also want to give justice to Aliyah’s death because maybe that way, my heart will find peace. Stay here; I’m going to get something."
Arnold went inside a tree, leaving her thinking if it was really right to leave Leora behind and travel with a stranger who was an aswang. She also worried about what Fiel would think when he found out she chose to travel with an aswang rather than Leora, who had been her companion for months. She also worried about how Yfraim would escape the danger that was yet to come.
"I need to know what's the exact date of that incoming incident..." she whispered to herself, recalling the events of her dream—from when she was at the river and saw the black figures, until she saw the clock on the wall...
Yes! The clock tells the time, but she needs a calendar to know the day of the attack!
"Psst! Is Aliyah here?" Arnold had returned carrying some papers.
"Nope. I don't see her; I only hear her."
"Is that so? Where should I put this?" He lifted the paper, and she realized they were tattoos that you just stick to the body and fade after a few months.
"What's that?"
"Tracking protection tattoo. You need to stick this on a part of your body so they won't know where you are."
"You made this?"
"Nope. I have no talent for magic. Aliyah did that, along with other things that would help an immortal fight on equal footing."
"That was very noble of her."
"Of course, and we will use everything she made when necessary." He turned around and showed his own large bag. "It’s all here. So, what now? Where shall we put your tattoo?"
She fisted her left hand. "Just here."