Promise
2261 Words
My wounds healed enough after three days in this jungle. They're still open but I can stand on my own now. I don't understand how this “healing” thing works. Yanmei—the girl who's been with me all this time taught me this. That and other things. She always answers my questions as we traverse the dense jungle.
“This is it,” she says, pushing the bush to the side to make way.
I'm behind her as I lean to the side, taking a peek at what's ahead. It's land without very tall trees. Instead, shiny big grey rocks scatter all over the place. They surround the huge lake—that looks like the other lake we came across.
“What is this place?” I ask.
“It's called a city... or at least it was. Well, anyway, let's get there, and maybe we could find someone who could help us.” So, I follow her running in the field. “Let's hurry up,” she says as we run. “This field is too open. We could get discovered.”
Because of that urgency, we arrived at the first rock in no time. Wait, I think I have an idea what this thing is. This could be a thing called, “building”. I'm not sure.
“There are people here,” she whispers. “Mostly demigods. We gotta be careful. Don't make a sound okay?” She turns, looking at me so I nod.
We go inside this building, careful not to make too much sound with our feet. It's hard to be silent since the pebbles are making a screeching sound against this floor made out of shiny stone. Not expecting it, she pulls me down and we lean against the wall under the square box-like hole on it. It's... uh... called a window, maybe?
“Get him there!” shouts someone. His voice is deep and large. “He will tell the factions about us if we let him go.”
“Please, spare me!” another one begs. “I'll do what you want! I'll become your servant!”
What are they doing?
“Even if we spare you, we won't have enough food. It's better if we kill you here now.”
Kill? They're gonna... but that's wrong... killing him is wrong! I don't know why but I feel that I need to stop them.
“Stop,” Yanmei whispers, pulling me down by the arm. “We can't expose ourselves or the goddess who's after us will find out.”
“Heard that?” another one asks. “We're gonna kill you. I can't wait to try this knife if it works on a demigod's skull.” He chortles and the helpless man begs for mercy.
“But I gotta help him,” I reason, pulling my arm from her grip.
There is a glass in this window so I punch it. It breaks and I jump over it. There are three men surrounding the helpless man. They look at me, lowering their stances.
“Who are you?!” asks the man grabbing the hair of the helpless man.
“I don't know,” I answer. Indeed, I don't know who I am.
He roars, “Don't fool with me, you-”
“Well, it can't be helped now,” says Yanmei, jumping over the window. “Just don't push yourself, Leo. Your wounds are still healing.”
“Okay,” I nod.
“You kids seriously think that you can take us on?” the thin man mocks. “Now that you discovered us, we must kill you too.”
“Slit their throats!” the other man cries.
They come charging at me with their knives and fists aimed to hurt me. Something inside me tells me that they're easy to avoid. I follow that feeling and it goes like this: Slide to kick the thin man's legs, collapsing him then grab both of his legs to use him against his friend. They go flying to the distance, crashing into a building. It collapses onto them.
The remaining one has his eyes wide open as I am. I never thought I could do that! And what was that thrill I feel?
He stammers, saying, “B... but... you're just a human and...” He lets go of the helpless man and charges at me.
His punch is gonna be weak, obvious from his poor speed and form. So, I just use my palm to stop him. *Boom* The air explodes upon impact, shaking the ground and disturbing the dust around us. I feel nothing but a slight touch in my palm. Something tells me that someone I know has the strongest punch. This man's punch is nothing compared to his.
I squeeze his fist slightly and he screams in pain. Then push him against the chest, letting him join his friends in the collapsed building. They're still alive—based on my senses but they're not a threat anymore.
“You still have your fighting instinct,” says Yanmei as she goes to tend to the helpless man sitting on the ground. “Are you okay, sir?”
The man looks thinner and younger than the men I fought. His face is dirty and his skin is dark brown. He's wearing older clothes than mine.
“I'm okay, my lady,” he says as he stands up with Yanmei's help. “Thank you for saving me,” he bows at us.
“We don't mind,” she answers. “Just don't tell anyone that you found us. It's best if you leave this place and head north where there's probably a rebuilt city protected by a faction. It may not be that far.”
“I was planning to go there but I came across this ruined city and those thugs.” He frowns at them—who are limping, running away from our sight. “I'm forever grateful for both of you!” he cries. Water comes out from his eyes. Those are tears. “My brother sacrificed himself to save me but got killed by them!”
“I'm sorry to hear that,” she says, holding him by the shoulder as he faces the ground letting his tears drip. “Let us take you to the city before we go on our separate journey. We won't let your brother's sacrifice be in vain. Where is his body? Do we need to bury him?”
“They burned him alive and tossed his bones into the lake!” he cries even more.
“That's horrible!” she gasps dreadfully.
We head north—that I think is in the left direction when facing the sun as it rises in the sky in the morning. Yanmei taught me this. The man talks to Yanmei a lot and sometimes to me but I can't tell him anything. I don't know anything other than what Yanmei told me. At last, we're on a field of grasses once more and the city they were talking about there at the distance. It's afternoon when we arrived here. The sun is at the left of us now, and slowly descending.
“Thank you, again,” bows the man. “Someday, I'll be able to repay your kindness.”
“Don't worry about that,” says Yanmei. “We're just glad to help. Don't tell anyone about us, okay?”
“As you wish, my lady, my lord. Goodbye.” He bows, smiling and turning.
Then I follow Yanmei to the east. She looks tired and worried. “We wasted too much time,” she mutters. “Right now, we should've been on the coast.”
“Where are we going?” I ask.
“It's about time that I tell you that. We agreed about this before you lost your memories.”
“We?”
“Yes, we have been together all this time. I'm your girlfriend.” She holds my hand as she turns around to look at me over her shoulder. The thing that she's doing with her face, that"s called a smile, right?
“What's ‘girlfriend’?” I ask.
“We love each other. That simply means that we take care of each other, keep each other safe, and enjoy each other's touch.”
“Like holding hands?”
“Yes, exactly. Soon, it'll be more than that.” Then she presses her lips on my forehead before we run faster, still holding hands.
The word, love... I think I know a little bit of this. This is a kind of feeling. It feels good—as my mind tells me. Also, it tells me that I feel this way to someone. I feel... towards more than one person. They're many like five people or more. Maybe Yanmei is one of them. Yes, she is—at least that's what I know. She even took care of me when I couldn't move. As far as I can remember, she's the only one by my side.
In a building, she starts a fire using wood she got from chairs and tables. She reasons that this is a good place since it is hidden well enough. There are a lot of “cars” in this place. She said that cars move people around faster than running and walking. They're lifeless machines that humans made to make their lives easier. I'm curious to see a working one. Other gods and demigods, however, see this as an attempt of the humans to match their power. Nonetheless, she says those gods and demigods are just jealous of what humans can do even though they're not powerful as them.
We sit on the ground, facing the fire, and our backs against the huge box-shaped pillar that supports the ground above us. She's close to me with her arms around my body and her head on my shoulder.
“Do you remember your birthday?” she asks.
“No,” I answer. “I have an idea what a birthday is but since I can't remember it, I think it's not that important.”
“No, it is. It's the day you were born to be here with me. It's important that you remember.”
I try to dig deep into my mind, scouring the deepest trenches to find it. My eyes could not look at one place. It's as if I'm hoping that a mere pebble on the ground, the broken glass, the crackling fire, and the cars could make me remember.
Then something occurs to me, something familiar yet oblivious. The smiling face of a little girl, holding a small cake with a candle on it. In this memory, I was happy. However, it's only a memory, I don't feel it like I remember.
“Seventeenth of May,” I answer. “2022.”
“Seventeenth of May...,” she says, thinking hard. “I think that's today.” She looks at me, smiling. “You're sixteen now.”
“I am?”
“If what you said to me is right, then yes.”
“How old are you, then?”
“That's rude to ask a lady.”
“Oh, sorry.”
“But I'll tell you. You see, I'm older than you for nearly three years. I'll be turning nineteen on the second of July. Don't forget to greet me happy birthday on that day, okay?”
“Okay.”
We just then stare at the fire. The warmth it gives is making me feel cozy along with her embrace. My eyes are getting tired but I still want to stay awake because I might remember another thing about my past.
“You're a human, Leo,” she says to me as we look at the fire. “but you're the most powerful man in this Realm. You are destined to change it, changing it for the better. And I'm here to help you. I want to see you become the man that will go down in history forever, unforgotten.”
“So, what are we going to do?”
Her voice is soothing and her words are slow as she says, “First, my dear,” Her soft hand is against my cheek, making me turn to look at her eyes. “we're going to the Underworld.” She touches my lower lip with her finger. “There is a relic in that realm that can take us far from here. We cannot stay here on Earth. We need the protection of someone I know—who, right now, is on Mars.”
“Okay, let's go there.”
“Just promise me something.”
“What's a promise?”
“It is something that you cannot disobey no matter what. If you do, I will be sad.”
“I don't want you to be sad.”
“Then promise me,” She looks me in the eye and I couldn't look away. It's as if she's chaining me. “don't ever listen to anyone except me.”
“Okay.”
“Say, ‘I promise’.”
“I promise.”
“Now, you made a promise. Don't make me sad, okay?”
“Okay.”
Then she slowly nears her face to me. She closes her eyes so I think I should do the same. This feeling as she touches her lips against mine is something familiar. It feels good. Warm... wet... soft... and sweet.
- Writer
