TIK TIK TIK

I watched the young ones gather in one straight line. They waited for their turn to get their bowls poured with hot porridge. Slade's eyebrows were scrunched into a frown while he served them one by one.

"Be careful, the porridge will spill if you hold your bowl like that," he nagged.

Slade's mood worsened when Sevor and Wye Fye walked past the line of starving kids.

"Hurry up, the line is getting longer!" he huffed.

Wye Fye shot me a look and rolled her eyes. She pulled Sevor close to her, leaning her head against her lover's shoulder.

I did not know why she was so exasperated with me. Was it something she ate? Have I reminded her of how much she was inferior to the ground we stood upon?

"Get in line," Slade firmly said.

She scoffed. "You want a pregnant woman to stand in line?"

"I much rather have you fall in line," was his response. Shall I create a hole to satisfy Slade's desires?

"Slade, now is not the time..." Sevor warned.

Slade leaned forward, his nostrils flared.

"Adults are served last. The children will be fed first."

Wye Fye lost her patience. She tried to snatch the wooden ladle from Slade who held strongly on the dipper.

"Can't you see that there's a child in me?"

This time, it was Slade's turn to scoff.

"I see no child in you, woman. Even if there was, I wouldn't even bother to lift a finger for it if an orc tries to step on it."

Wye Fye was on the verge of exploding but Sevor stopped her.

"That's enough!" he yelled.

"You—I'll kill you!" she screamed.

"Stop it Wye Fye!" Sevor shouted.

Wye Fye broke free from his hold, glaring at him.

"Why aren't you doing anything to defend me? I thought you loved me? How can you let him insult me like this?! How can you let him insult your child?!"

"Simple, because that isn't his to begin with," Slade drawled, enraging her even further.

Sevor dragged the hysterical Wye Fye away. Once she was out of sight with her screams slowly fading, the children regained their appetite. Who wouldn't lose their appetite after seeing an unsavory creature waltz in?

My eyes rose to the castle that was floating magnificently among these disastrous ruins. I would like to go there, bring Wye Fye with me, and leave her there for good. That land was high enough to match her ego.

Buck sat beside me, slurping the steaming hot soup. There were some bits of meat in his soup which he enjoyed very much judging from the euphoric sways of his torso as he chewed.

These creatures really do find pleasure in killing the living just to feast on their corpse.

Buck put the rim of the bowl between his lips, slurping the food all the way. He licked the dish clean and burped.

"I'm so full that I can die now without complaints."

Maru held on his sleeve with concern.

"He is scared for you," I commented.

The older boy blushed, scratching the back of his neck. "Oops! Sorry 'bout that Maru."

I continued to munch on my celery, making crunching noises while I watched the children play. Today was a day filled with inactivity for me. Wye Fye's inflated head would bump with whomever she may catch lazing around.

Slade headed out along with Buck to collect ingredients for dinner. Sevor was assigned to restore some houses back into their livable state, having some older kids help him with it.

Once in a while, I would catch Sevor sparing me a glance. When our eyes meet, he would look away and talk to someone in pretense.

Wye Fye would pass by and give him a kiss. In every kiss, she would glance at me with a leer as if she was trying to elicit some kind of response from me.

Did she want me to give them a standing ovation? The world did not care. The soil would spit her out. She did not even qualify to be a fertilizer.

"Onii, you're an ancient right?" Buck asked.

"How did you know?"

"Rui, my friend, told me about your race," he answered.

His cheery face was replaced with a glum one.

"It's the reason why he went out. He wanted to look for ancients and ask them for help. It's so that we wouldn't have to starve anymore."

"He hasn't come back?" I asked.

"No, I had hoped that big brother Slade would find him but..." Buck's statement trailed off.

His melancholic expression changed back into a beaming smile. He wiped his glistening eyes and stared at me with optimism.

"Please purify the land! Big sister Wye Fye plans to make this our home since she's searching for something."

"Is she searching for a smaller head since her current one is too big?"

Buck alarmingly looked from left to right. "Shhh onii! If you let her hear you, you'll be in big trouble!"

I really didn't mind if I got in any more trouble. I get this certain satisfaction whenever I see that woman enraged.

"I am already contained in a big problem but I am quite pleased with the results of my kidnapping."

"You were kidnapped?"

I nodded.

"Yes, I was kidnapped by my brother and I am now being held captive by the only three adults in this area."

He cleared his throat and laughed awkwardly.

"Ohh...well, Wye Fye and our two brothers aren't that bad. When our homes were destroyed and our families were killed by the catastrophes, the three of them came and took us under their care."

How thoughtful of them to have saved these children from their ruined homes just to take them into an even more ruined home.

Impressive.

Although I was taken away against my will, that didn't mean that I wouldn't listen to this child's request. There were still good and innocent hearts here despite Wye Fye's overpowering beauty.

I placed a hand on top of Buck's head and patted him softly.

"Tomorrow, you will see the world in a different color," I told him.

I cannot purify the land with Wye Fye eyeing my every movement. It would be better if I hid my good deeds and left immediately.

Slade was finally done with serving the line of kids and scooped the leftovers into his own bowl

"I'm happy that you're here to cook again onii!" Buck cheered.

Slade hummed in a bored manner and ate his food.

"Slade, what is Wye Fye searching for here?" I asked.

The man finished chewing his food before answering me.

"She's searching for the portal where Ancient souls rest. This is ancient territory but it has been abandoned for 24 years now."

That meant that they were the trespassers and this made me the legal owner of where Wye Fye was demanding respect. Then again, the world must be considering her as a trespasser. She must be kicked out.

"Why is she searching for it?"

Slade grunted.

"She thinks that if she releases those souls, that would purify this land and this will become our new home."

After he said that, Slade laughed as if it was the stupidest idea he had ever heard.

"I don't think that portal has anything now though."

"Why's that?"

Slade gave me a puzzled expression. "You're an Ancient, you should know that."

"I apologize, I wasn't educated that much because they fear that I would rebel like my brother."

The man sighed, eating more before continuing.

"An incident occurred that made Queen Titia, Queen of Cael, kill herself. She is now the current Queen of the Catastrophes."

"What incident?" Buck questioned.

Slade shrugged. "I don't know. This was just hearsay from travelers who had Ancient friends."

"Hey Ancient!" Wye Fye called.

Flies must be ignored.

But she kept calling and demanding my attention.

I was left with no choice but to acknowledge her when she was finally standing in front of me.

"I'm talking to you, Ancient!" She spoke demandingly.

"I am not the only Ancient in my kind. Please specify the Ancient who you desire to talk to," I blankly told her.

Buck was making weird motions with his hands. He was panicking by my reply. Slade was looking at me with amusement.

Her eyebrows scrunched further.

"You're the only ancient here, glupyy (stupid.) I do not need to specify."

She had a valid point.

"Very well then, what can I do for you, tik (bitch)?"

Buck fainted. Slade's mouth hung open.

"Qu-as tu dit?! (What did you say?!) Who do you think you're talking to?"

She fisted my hair along with my flower crown, hauling me forward.

"You are the only tik here so I do not need to specify."

"Why you-"

"Enough Wye Fye!" Sevor shouted.

A crowd of worried and scared children had already formed around us.

"He disrespected me! I am a princess of the Vosredal Empire! How can he say such repulsive things to royalty?!"

Vosredal?

I am also a prince but do you see me demanding respect from a tree?

Slade rose, grabbing her by the arm. He shoved her to the side before gently hoisting me up.

"You are not in your precious kingdom. You're the one who decided to latch on to my brother's leg. You left your title the day you ran away."

Sevor stood beside Wye Fye, holding her. He glared at Slade and Wye Fye glared at me.

"You...I don't know what an Ancient is doing here but if you want to stay, you have to work under our rules!"

"Why do I have to work under your rules in our territory? They say that this is Ancient territory and you are clearly trespassers."

Wye Fye was struggling hard in Sevor's restraining arms to get free so that she could hurt me.

"Why don't you all just die?!" She snarled at me. "You left us to die anyway so what's your purpose in living? Just become one of them!"

"I said enough Wye Fye!" Sevor boomed.

His red eye glowed and intimidated the woman.

What she said just dirtied her reputation. The older kids looked at her with disbelief and the younger ones looked at her with fear. Asking an Ancient to become a catastrophe was asking death to take over.

Wye Fye sobbed. She broke away from Sevor's hold and ran away. Buck jolted into a standing position.

"What did I miss?"

"Breakfast," Slade replied.

"Wait, Lucian," Sevor called out.

"Yes?"

He seemed hesitant to ask me but he swallowed his shame in the name of love.

I could feel the puke rising up my throat.

"We will release you if you do us one favor."

"And what is that?"

"Help us open the doors of the castle. Wye Fye thinks that the portal is in there."

Slade folded his arms.

"You do know that it's empty right?"

Sevor narrowed his gaze at his twin.

"We don't know that. No one really saw what happened here."

"This just proves that the portal is empty. Titia Rosaryth would have destroyed the portal."

"We will still look into it. We need to find a way to stop her, remember? We need information."

Slade scoffed. "No, you mean you want to make your lover happy. You don't need the information, you just need more reasons for her to worship you more. You gave up on this Titia hunting. Stop pretending."

"What are you talking about? We swore in front of our father's grave that we would avenge him!" Sevor pointed out.

"You made me promise that. I didn't care about our father. You're the one who ruined your goal."

Slade turned his back away. He pushed me gently to walk and I went with the flow of his mood. I was feeling equally tired.

We entered the small room and he slammed the door shut. He wasn't angry but he wasn't calm either. He was a volcano waiting to erupt.

I climbed over the mushy mattress, not caring if it smelled, and lied down. I felt the bed dip beside me and let the body occupy the empty space.

"I'm not alone anymore," he whispered.

"Were you looking for someone who would annoy Wye Fye and Sevor besides yourself?"

Slade snorted and huffed.

"Yes...and Sevor won't be able to resist any longer. I know that there's still a huge part of him that desires you. Wye Fye can't fill that emptiness."

Slade fell asleep. I closed my strained eyes. I need to wake up early so that I can free this area from death's venom and go back to Caleb.

When I was sure that he was in deep sleep, I carefully removed myself from the bed and sneaked out. A few children were sleeping outside around the fire. I walked to where Buck was resting. I observed his calm face and brushed away his brown locks.

"I will pay our long term debt. You deserve the taste of our power."

My hands removed the belt around my waist, carefully placing it down. I slipped my gloves off and threw them into the pyram. The fire consumed the gloves in its blazing destruction.

I fell to my knees, clawing dirt into my hold. Light slowly seeped out from my hands like wavy rays of the sun. Bright green grass spread across the field of the dead land. Trees rose proudly in their stands and flowers bloomed freshly with their stunning colors. The soiled water was decontaminated. The clear waters sparkled and fishes jumped with life. The sweet scent of life defeated the conquering odor of death. I was filled with mirth.

The children woke up from the laughter I was producing. They were awed by the beauty of purification.

Some of them scooped clean water from the lake and drank from there. Others plucked fruits from the trees while a few, including Buck, watched me as I brought life to the dead. I stopped laughing and smiled at the children watching me.

"This is my gift to all of you."

I knelt in front of Buck, taking his hand.

"You may live here for as long as you want to..."

Before Buck could reply, he gasped when an arrow pierced through the air and penetrated my ankle.

"Brother!" The children gasped.

"Your power didn't reach the castle so I'll personally escort you there," Wye Fye declared.

I sat and assessed the arrow piercing through my joint.

The kids younger than Buck wept for me. The young werewolf clenched his fists in anger. I continued to stare at my wound. Wye Fye pushed Buck aside.

"Sevor is a fool to think that we will let you go. You will stay here with us and sustain our needs. You will come with me to the castle."

"Why are you so desperate to get there? I already revived most of this place." The castle wasn't a necessity.

"You'll know when we get there," she replied.

There is no permanent permanency in life but a tik will always be a tik even when you have done them good.