17: Initiation Day 1

The next day, balita na sa buong Grey City ang gagawing execution sa pitong pamilya sa mismong araw na iyon.

Cancelled ang klase dahil dito at karamihan ng mga taong bayan ay nasa harap ng Royal Palace upang masaksihan ang pagbitay sa pamilya ng mga namatay na miyembro ng Black Council.

The Hans residence was not one of them. Though they heard about the matter pero hindi sila para makiusiyoso doon. Isa pa, they were thinking about Emy. Halos magtatatlong buwan pa lamang ang dalaga dito sa Grey City ay nangyari na agad ang ganitong pangyayari.

What they didn’t know was siya mismo ang may gawa nito.

But that was just her first step. She was not making her first blow yet.

And now it was the time to start.

All day, nasa labas na naman ng residence sila Lia at Veronica to run errands for her. After all, she couldn’t waste time.

Her first blow to signal the resume of the game was almost there.

***

Grey Academy was cold and weary because of that happening. Ilang araw din na maingat ang lahat sa galaw nila sa loob ng campus, as if they were afraid na may bigla na lang silang mabalitaan ulit na namatay na miyembro ng Black Council.

Kasunod din ng pagbitay sa mga kaanak ng mga namatay na miyembro ng Black Council ay mga balita tungkol sa mga nawawalang mga estudyante.

There were rumors na miyembro sila ng Black Council na mga natakot at nagsipagtakas na. But they only got the half-truth of it.

Emy somehow knew that these missing people were indeed Black Council members. However, they did not escape. They were dispatched by Diana.

Kung iniisip niyong schemer si Samantha, then you don't know Diana yet.

Anyway, the school board could no longer take the atmosphere of the school. Lucky for them, may nakaabang ng event that they could use to drift the attention of the students.

As soon as they spread the news about the Initiation Day, the atmosphere of the school heightened up. The spirits of the students were lifted because of this.

The said event are for Freshmen and Transferees. It was literaly an initiation rites for them. The seniors would test the freshmen's skills. Ang mga transferree naman ay haharapin ang mga top students sa Level nila.

Everyone was practicing hard for it. Anyone could be chosen by the Freshmen and Transferees after all. At syempre, sino ba namang gustong maungusan ng mga baguhan? Because of this, the competitive sense of the students were piqued.

***

Busy din si Emy. Pero hindi para sa pagpapractice.

She was busy in putting her plans into action.

This morning, Calix wrote a letter to her na nagsasabing nakakuha na ito ng tagong lugar gaya ng utos niya dito.

She smiled at saka sumakay na sa carriage papunta ng Grey Academy.

There was another piece that she needed to get involved in this move. And she planned to approach that person today.

***

Lucy was walking palabas ng campus. Lunch break kaya uuwi muna siya. Lately, hindi siya makapunta kung saan saan.

Her every move was being observed by Diana's people. Alam niya yun. Alam niyang pinasusundan siya ni Diana. Naikuyom na lang niya ang kamao niya. The pretend Queen was really trying her patience.

"Lucy!"

Agad siyang napatigil sa paglalakad and looked behind her. She saw Emy walking rapidly towards her. Medyo hinihingal pa ito.

Hinayaan muna niyang makabawi ng paghinga niya ang dalaga. She looked around hoping to see Franco pero wala ito doon. Somehow, she was disappointed.

"What is it, Emy?"

"Lucy..." Alanganing tumingin sa kanya si Emy. "I have a favor to ask."

Lucy was startled. Did she hear it right?

Emy immediatly spoke."I-i know hindi pa tayong masayodong close. Dadalawang beses pa nga lang tayong nagkakausap eh. But amongst the people here in Grey City, ikaw pa lang ang kakilala ko bukod sa pamilya ko. I will understand kung tatanggi ka but... but I am hoping you listen to me first."

She tried to say something pero wala siyang maisip kaya isinara na lang niya ulit ang bibig niya.

Huminga naman ng malalim si Emy bago nagsalita ulit.

"Please let me tell my cousin na magkikita tayo today after dismissal. Pupunta kasi ako ng bayan eh kaso gusto niya lagi kaming sabay umuwi."

"Pupunta ka lang pala ng bayan eh. Sakto, I am free today. Sasamahan na lang kita."

"Ahm, ano kasi..." Emy seemed to be uncomfortable.

"Ayaw mo ba akong kasama?"

Mabilis na umiling si Emy. "No, that's not it. I just have... I just have someone important to meet today." Napayuko pa ang dalaga.

Lucy was surprised on the other hand. She had to meet someone important? Gaano ba kaimportante ang taong iyon at kailangan pa niyang masinungaling sa pinsan niya?

Then a thought occurred to her. Hindi kaya...

"Is it a lad?"

Emy didn’t have to answer. Agad na nag-akyatan ang dugo niya sa mukha and Lucy found it cute.

She laughed out loud saka inakbayan si Emy. Mas bata sa kanya ito but her courage was undeniably better than her.

"Go on and tell your cousin that I will meet you later."

Tumingin ang dalaga sa kanya. "Really?"

She nodded. "Pero one hour lang ha. Baka mamaya mapahamak ka eh."

"I have my maidservants kaya you don't have to worry. But please be rest assured. You said one hour so an hour it is."

"Good. I am curious though. Who is this guy?"

Emy avoided her eyes. "As much as I want to tell you but I can't at the moment. But I swear na if he agrees, you will be the first one to know."

"No problem, Emy. Just make sure that he is a good lad."

Emy smiled at her gratefully saka tumango.

"If you will meet the guy again, just tell your cousin that we will see each other. You don't have to come at me like this."

"Thank you, Lucy." Mukha namang may naisip si Emy. "Though, my cousin might inconvenient you and approach you suddenly. Paano yun?"

The thought that she would be approached by Franco made her excited. She had very small opportunities talking with him and she would definitely grab one if she could.

Emy secretly smiled as Lucy suddenly blushed. Then she coughed.

"Don't worry. Ako ng bahala sa kanya."

"Really thank you..."

"Don't mention it."

***

Dahil sa consent ni Lucy, nakakatakas si Emy sa pinsan niya kada tapos ng klase niya.

Of course, it was just a bluff na may kikitain siyang tao sa bayan. It was just her excuse to make Lucy agreed. Lucky for her, she took her bait.

Emy spent an hour after class doon sa secret cabin na hinanap para sa kanya ni Calix.

It was perfect. She asked several of his people na magbantay doon araw araw lalo na kapag wala siya. At na huwag magpapapasok ng kung sino doon.

Lia and Veronica were also able to provide the materials she asked them to look. And they were continuously looking for then.

She stayed alone inside the cabin and started doing what she had to do. Luckily, she brought Emy's journals from Royal City. There were quite few treasures written in there. At ngayon niya mapapakanibangan ang isa sa mga iyon.

She started working. Even she was surprised dahil parang saulong ulo ng katawan niya kung anong gagawin sa mga chemical na nasa harapan niya. It seemed like Emy's forte was all of these.

She couldn’t control her body properly noong gabing kinuha niya ang maskara sa Grey Academy. It was very evident with her injuries and wounds. But now it was different.

She continued working hanggang sa makatapos siya ng isang tube ng bright green chemical mixture. Then she carefully transferred the liquid in a sphere bottle. Nagmistulang glow in the dark liquid ang laman ng bote. Napangiti na lang si Samantha. Hindi niya inaasahang napakagandang tingnan ng finish product ng ginawa niya.

Beautiful but destructive...

Maingat niyang itinago ang bilog na bote sa cabinet na napapatungan ng malambot na tela. This was the first. She had more days to create her full collection of this green liquid.

***

That night, nagpunta si Sebastian sa cabin na prinovide ni Calix para kay Emy. He was curious kung anong pinagkakaabalahan ng dalaga.

He knew na walang inaksayang panahon si Emy after nang nangyari sa pitong miyembro ng Black Council at agad na nag-utos sa mga maidservants niya pati na rin kay Calix.

But even they had no idea kung anong balak gawin ni Emy.

Kaya naman parehas nilang binisita ngayong gabi ang cabin.

They found chemistry materials sa nag-iisang malaking mesa na nasa gitna ng cabin. This must have been brought by her maidservants because Calix had no idea about those too.

She only trusted him with the cabin. But the most important things were done by her maidservants.

They carefully inspected ang mga gamit na naroroon. Obvious naman na Emy was doing some kind of chemical mixtures. Sebastian intened to know what it was.

"No way..." Mahinang sabi ni Calix. His face was pale habang nakatingin sa loob ng isang cabinet.

Lumapit siya dito upang tingnan ang tinitingnan nito. Inside the cabinet was a sphere bottle na naglalaman ng berdeng likido. It was somehow glowing.

"What is it?"

"It's a green fire."

"A green fire?"

"It is an ancient chemical explosive. Mahirap siyang gawin kaya wala ng matatagpuan na ganyan sa public market. But with proper materials and chemistry skills, you can make your own of that."

Napansin ni Sebastian na pinagpapawisan si Calix habang sinasabi iyon. Para bang natatakot ito.

"You seem scared of it." He was about to lean down and get the green orbs pero pinigilan siya ni Calix.

"Don't. It is an explosive. One of that is enough to blow this whole cabin into dusts.”

Agad na nabawi ni Sebastian ang kamay niya and looked at the object in front of him.

So... it was an explosive. He wondered kung ano ba ang balak na pasabugin ni Emy ngayon?

***