8. He's already marked

"Hm, Hm, it turns out to be that old and chatty geezer?" I wondered when Mickey went out of the house when I just realized he was now standing beside me. "Don't open it, Tha! I don't want to be in the same room with this fussy old man. My ears hurt when I have to hear all the babbling. Let him be a block of ice outside!" he wagged his tail and turned away, about to walk back inside.

"My Mickey?" Shouted the man who was still standing in front of my fence. "Mike? Mickey? don't you miss me? Come on, open the door for me," He pleaded to the chubby cat, half teasing.

I saw Mickey just walking straight, ignoring the man. After listening and watching their interactions, it seemed like he really was Antonie. "Mike?! Come on!" At this point, I didn't know if I was right or not, but I finally opened the door for him and invited him in.

…

Antonie thanked me for killing Mr. Yon. "I was tired of working under him, and so was of your father. Sorry if this offends you." He looked at me.

"I don't like working for them, and I'm grateful that you finally killed them. I thought that after he died, I would be free. Once again, thank you very much for everything you have done" He laughed again. A laugh with a relieved and free expression.

I nodded in response, and I asked again after realizing his sudden presence. "Why are you pacing in front of my door? I was thinking you were a thief or a criminal."

…

He looked at me. His expression turned to be serious. "You're not mad at me?!," He asked, "I killed Zie."

I looked at him with a level expression. "I have lready known everything. You don't need to pretend anymore," I said.

Antonie was silent, that's why I said again, "I know that you are a good person. I killed you because I didn't know what really happened. After everything I've been through, accepting the real thing takes a lot of courage for me," He smiled after hearing my words. "Zie has told me everything."

Antonie told me that several Scriptures told about humans who came to the valley of Heron and were able to calm Aras. The horned creature went on a rampage, killing anyone near it, but they said it was the human who managed to win it. "After I was placed in the Alpha camp, I didn't really know many things. Whatever's going on outside. However, as far as I know, Aras is not a type who would hurt people for no reason. They are known to be gentle, even the melody emanating from their horns can heal."

Finally, I also told Antonie what had happened and the reason why the creature had gone berserk. He seemed surprised by my story. "Aras crossed over to find out who had killed his friend, but that is not the real reason. As I already said; he is a good being. He just wanted to remind the wandering spirit that his body is not immortal," I explained.

"So, he's here now?" Apparently, he was still confused about comprehending my words.

I nodded, saying that every day Aras came to play a melody in front of Summer, to calm her down.

Again, he looked very surprised. His expression was truly one of confusion. "How is it possible for that creature to even cross every day, to see and appease the wandering spirit?" Apparently, it was something hard to believe by him.

"I can take you there if you want to meet him." Antonie still didn't seem to believe it, but then his surprised and confused expression turned into a smile.

"Do you know? Zie was my best student. When I selected him for the task, I asked him to think about it many times before agreeing to it, but he said there was no need to think about it anymore. He said he fell in love with you the first time I asked him to see you. At that time I was confused, what reason did he have to like a human like you, and now I understand. " I didn't like this chat. I didn't like it when people talked about Zie's stupidity in his mission.

"You never told him that he was going to be killed in front of me?" This is the question I've always wanted to ask him.

Antonie laughed again. I could not recall how many times I had heard his laughter so far. "I told him maybe a thousand times that I was going to punch a hole in his head. However, he still wanted to do it" It was really sucked to hear that, but we couldn't turn back time.

Now, Antonnie looked at me seriously. There were no traces of laughter on his face. "Tha, I will ask you, but please answer me honestly" After I nodded, he continued his sentence.

"What have you done? You know, that you are being targeted, and what is targeting you is not something I would say is harmless" His gaze now turned suspicious to me. "Did you steal something from him?."

I was confused. I didn't even understand what he meant by 'steal'. I had never felt like I was stealing from anyone—other than the gold coins, and I was absolutely sure of this. "Really, I've never stolen anything. I've only ever taken gold coins."

For a moment, Antonie was silent to hear my explanation. "Do you know the one who's after you is a dangerous creature?! We probably won't be able to run away from it," He said.

"I keep waiting in front of your house every night after hearing this, and I'm even more convinced of it after seeing his palm print on the door earlier." At this point, the feeling of worry and fear came back. I didn't know how to describe it because it was beyond that, as a matter of fact. "He's already marked this spot and that means, sooner or later, he's coming," he warned.

I glared at him. "What if I just run?" I thought of going to my house in the city.

He shook his head. "He's already tagged you. It's not that easy to run away from him" apart from fear, I was curious as to what kind of creature Antonie meant. "He's not written in any book. We only know that the creature exists. He's not bad, but that doesn't mean he's good."

Antonie explained to me that the creature was a bit of a geek. He could be said to exist but also not exist. It exists only because of energy. If the energy weakens, then it will disappear. Honestly, I didn't really understand what he meant.

"He's impermanent, but it's impossible to kill him." Antonie described this creature as a spring breeze, but sometimes he was like death. "He is not bound by time" His words reminded me of what the Manjis said, that the creature they were looking for was a creature that seemed to be able to manipulate time.

"That means he can't die?" I asked, looking at him in confusion.

"Nothing lasts forever, Tha. Everything that lives will have a time to perish. It's just, their way is different," He explained.

"This creature was never written down because it was thought to be non-existent, but then it appeared by itself. Its appearance and existence are sometimes considered rumors, but everyone believes that it existed for a long time." Antonie also described this creature as a dirty liquid. He gave off the smell of death every time he came. He would appear in the middle of spring with a gentle breeze and the smell of flowers. He was basically harmless, but there was a time when the gust of wind that came with him would kill anyone in its path.

From the beginning of April to the middle of the month was a time that was always awaited. Those days were the peak of the spring. Antonnie said, beyond the Heron valley, there was a village on the slopes of a mountain. The place was mostly inhabited by mixed blood like me. Some of them had magical abilities, while the rest inherited the human blood of their parents. They lived by raising livestock, hunting in the forest, and farming.

"Most of the food needs were supplied by mixed blood. They were hard workers, and we provided them with the various tools they needed," explained Atonnie. "Although April was the month that I liked the most, because of the yellow mustard flowers that were blooming, that season was also the time we feared the most, especially mixed-bloods."

"What was scary about that time?" I asked, curious. I seemed to have been to the place Antonnie meant. I thought it was Winnter's residence at the time.

"There are many nameless graves if you keep walking on the path from the forest to the village square. The nameless tombs belonged to the victims of this creature. He's not really that bad, but I can't say he's harmless either," he said seriously, half warning me. "The first incident happened forty years ago when I was still working for your grandmother. So many people suddenly got sick, and my abilities couldn't heal them.