KEEPER OF THE DESERTED ISLAND

FAMILY REUNION

Lady Carolyn left the island the second day after bidding Gaia goodbye and promised to be back with her parents as soon as possible. As soon as she left, Gaia picked up her sword and left for the bush where she usually trained and although Aurelia saw her, he didn’t stop her because she understood that she needed time for herself to come to terms with what the woman whom she thought was her mother for years came to reveal.

Many things were running through Gaia’s mind as she head for her training ground, she thought about how everything might have been a dream but no matter how she tried to lie to herself, the truth was always coming back to slap her

“How far do I even know about myself? What do I even know about my existence? To what extent of my life is a lie and what is the real truth?” she said to herself with a sigh as she dropped her bag at the tree’s trunk and began to practice without holding back

She was training vigorously for hours while covered with sweat but she didn’t have the intention of stopping even when she was staggering with the sword because she was tired, she felt like that was the only thing she could do to take it off her mind because she felt like she was going crazy and if she doesn’t do anything, she might actually go crazy.

She stopped to rest for a while when she fell down as she was practicing, reached for her bag to take out the water she brought along and gulped almost half of the bottle down before heaving up and down trying to catch her breathe

“Don’t you think you should take it easy before you wound yourself? You are overworking your body right now” the voice cut through her thoughts unexpectedly and she turned to see Hector coming out of the bush next to her

“What are you doing here? I think I told you never to follow me so why are you here?” she yelled at him

He had seen her when she was packing her bag this morning and offered to follow her because he was afraid she might hurt herself but she turned it down and told him to go to school if he has the time to worry about her. Little did she know that he actually followed her to the training ground and has been watching her practice since.

“Do you think I will be able to learn anything if I leave you alone knowing that you might hurt yourself while practicing?” he said with a pout as he came to settle beside her

“I never asked you to protect me, why are you being so nosy in my affairs? Who gave you the permission to be worried about me? Why are you worried about me? Just leave me alone!” she screamed at him but he was not fazed, he could understand all her emotions

“How can your precious friend not worry about you? Then I will be a bad friend” he slowly remarked but she scoffed

“Who told you that you are my precious friend? Why will you be precious to me? You must really think high of yourself, I have never considered anyone precious except my mother so don’t fool yourself over a statement I made while I was not in my right mind” she snapped at him and stood up to continue her practice

“I understand how hard it is to accept such a sudden fact, do you know how I felt when I was told that the lady of the house was not my mother? I was forced to accept the reality that I was a concubine’s son at a very early age of my life and since then my life changed, my brother would look at me like filth and the wife of my father would beat the hell out of me if I ever made any mistake, I was working on egg shells and didn’t even get to enjoy anything good even though my father was the prime minister of this land, do you know what it feels like to live like a slave in your father’s house? I would have been so grateful if I had someone who could take care of me like a child then but I had to suffer with it for ten years before I was taken forcefully by my mother who could not withstand all I was going through anymore. She almost lost her life while trying to take me away thanks to the wicked woman married to my father who ordered for our death as we were going away from the house” he calmly explained to her but instead of sympathizing with him, she turned the sword to him and raised it against him, he was swift enough to block it with the stick that was in his hand

“So are you trying to tell me that you are more pitiful than I?” she growled at him as she pushed the sword deeper into the sword

“No! I am not even through” he groaned as he staggered trying to contain the force

“I was taken again by my father and was made to live in the s*****y that I had thought I escaped with my mother when she mysteriously went missing, I have been forced to live with my older brother who doesn’t like me for anything and also my father who never showed me love, the only relief was that the evil woman who was my father’s wife was dead by then” he said blocking all her attacks that was coming with full force

“I was forced to train against my will because my father kept hammering it in my ears that I will be my brother’s shield instead of competitor, do you understand what that means? I will be the one to get my hands dirty for him anytime he has a need for someone like that, it even means that I might be killed anytime” he added swirling as he dodged the sword coming for his shoulder

“I still don’t understand why you are telling me all these and I don’t think I am ready to understand” she replied flinging the sword towards him

“So that you will know how lucky you are to have both a mother who adopted you and another who left behind everything to preserve your life because you are a gift she cherished so much” he said to her and sopped to hold his breathe but her sword landed on his right hand slashing it even though it wasn’t her intention, she had thought he would dodge it like always but he didn’t

“Why didn’t you dodge it? Are you insane? How can you just stay there and let it cut you?” she gasped as she threw the sword away and ran to his side

“So you do worry about me” he said with a smile as he held his bleeding hand but he received a smack on his back from her

“What is going on in that crayfish head of yours? Are you trying to get yourself killed?” she scolded him but he was just smiling

She brought out a piece of cloth from her bag and helped him tie the wound properly to suppress the bleeding before telling him to stand up

“let’s go home, you have to treat this before it gets bad” she said motioning for him to take her hand which he gladly took and they set to walk back home

Aurelia helped him treat the wound as soon as they got home but Gaia just left him there and went inside to do other things because she was still angry at him for turning her down the previous day while he was acting as if nothing happened between them. She also understand that he likes her but he cannot fight for her love because he was afraid of his father

“that coward! How does he plan to live if he always listen to his father?” she muttered to herself as she prepared to have her bath

****

Lady Carolyn finally showed up with her parents on the third day and Shirley couldn’t contain her joy as she saw her daughter who was now grown into a beautiful girl stare at her even though the look on her face was scary, she was still glad that she at least reunited with her daughter whom she had parted ways with for years

“Are you really Gaia?” she slowly asked she moved closer to her little by little before stopping in front of her to touch her cheeks

“Are you my precious daughter whom I have stayed alive through all those humiliations and hardships for? You really grew up well and beautifully at that” she added as she crouched down and pulled her into a warm hug before bursting into tears

She cried so hard as she cuddled her into her arms in happiness without hesitation while Gaia just stood there awkwardly not knowing what to do or say until she felt that the hug was too tight for her

“I can’t breathe” she managed to mutter and Shirley quickly disengaged the hug with a quick apology

“I am sorry, I was carried away because I was just too happy” Shirley remarked with a faint smile as she looked into her eyes

Convel also walked closer to her and slowly took her hand in his and rubbed it gently while looking at her with a small smile in his lips

“You were so beautiful as a baby but you are much more beautiful as an adult, you have really grown well my baby” he said and patted her shoulder

She was crying in front of them as she tried to register in her brain that her parents were in front of her, she realized how much she had wanted a dad because everyone at school would always boast about what they did with their dad during the weekends or holidays and the first thought that flashed through her mid was how she will also be able to tell them about her own experience now

Aurelia ushered them inside while Hector slipped out of the house to give them privacy but Gaia saw him even though she kept quiet.

“it’s been so long my princess, forgive me because I can’t bend with my stiff back” Aurelia said with a small bow while resting on her stick

“You don’t need to bow, I am not a princess anymore, I am just like you” she said with a smile

“Do you remember ever meeting me?” Aurelia asked and she shook her head

“You were taking a stroll in the mountains one evening when you were pregnant with Gaia and I came to you in a cat form, you were so warm and stroke my back and I touched your belly as I was playing with you, you probably felt a surge in you that day but you didn’t notice, it was a spell to protect her from the attack of that was to befall you. That was the reason why Lady Carolyn made it, she was the one with the baby, the spell protected her too” Aurelia explained

“You were the cat? How come I never knew? My powers have not been stripped off then” she exclaimed

“You were in pregnancy so it was understandable, you are the child in you were sharing your energy so it will be surely low” Aurelia said and Shirley nodded in agreement

“so are you saying you are no longer powerful? Your power has been taken away?” Gaia asked slowly and she nodded

“Thanks to the evil one who scattered the royal house, he carried out a stripping ritual on I and my husband so we are nothing like our peers now” Shirley replied

Gaia excused herself from their midst so they can discuss the more and went to meet Hector who was feeding his eyes with the view of the fishes by the sea

“Are you enjoying the view alone without calling me?” she said settling down beside him

“Why are you out here so fast? You should be catching up with your parents instead of coming out here” he said looking at her

“there are still much time for us to catch up at a steady pace, it feels awkward for now and also it seems like the adults have so much to talk about for now” she answered

“Are you sad? That my parents came to find me?” she added and he scoffed

“Why will I be sad? I was only worried that you might not welcome them but I am glad that you received them well” he replied picking up a stone and threw it in the sea

“Then are you jealous?” she asked nudging his shoulder with a smile

“I would be lying if I say I am not but over all I am happy for you, you will have more reason to smile now” he responded throwing another stone in the sea and it skipped a lot this time

“Wow, how did you do that? Can you teach me?” she exclaimed with admiration in her eyes

They both stood up and picked up pebbles before he put her through the process and skills for making them skip in water which she tried and got the hang of it after so much attempt making her jump up in joy

“I did it! I made it! Did you see how it skipped?!” she shouted pointing to it while jumping in happiness making him smile back at her joy in skipping pebbles successfully

“Are you that happy?” he asked and she smiled while nodding continuously

“Yes I am so happy, very happy” she replied giggling like a kid and he stood to watch her express her joy in skipping the pebbles over and over but they both were carried away and failed to see someone spy on them for a while before leaving through the thick bush