Game of Destiny [English]

Chapter 2: Nambwana to Racama

I look at them with sad eyes from a far distance as they exited the vast forest. I quickly entered the cave when they are getting far away from my sight. I grabbed my jacket, my hat, and my leather shoes before I was slowly following them.

“I saw him, Mom.”

The young Gee looked around behind her as if she was looking for something or someone. And every time she does that, I will quickly hide my body behind the trees. She looks cute!

“His pair of sad eyes were beautiful, and he looks as old as Dad.” she continued to convince more her mother, “I think I’ve seen him before.”

“Gee, maybe you just imagine it.” her mother replied to her while shaking her head, “In this kind of hot weather, who will try to enter this forest other than us?”

“But Mom--”

“And maybe it just your illusion too.”

“He looks like a butterfly that lost his way, Mom.” she continues, “He looks like wildflowers too and plants that seeking for the selfish and stingy raindrops.”

“How do you think of things like that, Gee?” her mother suddenly stopped walking, “You are still young, but if you compare things, it seems like your older than your age.”

“I saw him,” she said as she started to sob. I, even more, became homesick for her presence. “I also touched his soft and cold palm. And it feels like I was touching the ice.”

Her mother did not reply; they continued to walk. I followed them carefully.

“And maybe it because of the movies you’ve to watch about those impossible wonders.” her mother said, still not believing what her daughter was saying.

“I saw him, Mom, with my two lovely eyes.” again, she urged her mother to believe, “He is so tall like this.” she gestured with one hand upwards, “He was not wearing shoes or even slippers. He seemed lost inside the vast forest.”

She held her mother one hand tightly. I smiled a bit at the concern she was showing over me. She still has her temperament.

“His pair of black eyes looked so sad, Mom.” she continued, “Maybe he still did not eat anything, and now he is starving.”

“Don’t worry about the old man, Gee.” her mother said, while turning at her, “They’ll make a way to eat when they feel hungry.”

“But Mom, there is no food in this forest.”

Her long black shiny hair tied into two pigtails were dance in the gentle breeze in every step they make. As if it was a dance competition, they competed in the leaves and twigs of the trees up above their head.

“If you already touched him, why did you let go of his hand?”

“Because you called me, I looked at where you were.” she blames her mother, her regrets so obvious in her eyes, “You shouted that’s why maybe he needs to disappear in front of me.”

Her mother shook her head while staring at her daughter with a lovely face. Gently, she stroked her hair.

“Or maybe the man you’re talking about is just a butterfly, Gee.” she said with her low sweet voice, “You caught it, and after a while, it had a chance to fly away.”

“No, Mom.” she stomped her feet on the ground. I smiled when she does that with her pouted red and thin lips. “I saw a man; he is a man. He is tall, and his name is...” she paused a bit and was stunned for a moment; she frowned. “A? His name is starting with the letter A.”

She’s cute. I laughed softly that she slightly heard. Quick as lightning, I hid behind the large chunk of rock near me. I could feel her eyes turning around to my side. I felt nervous for nothing.

“What are you looking at there, Gee?”

“I feel like he’s watching us right now, Mom.”

Her mother laughed out loud that went deep into the vast forest.

“Don’t scare yourself. If you say that once more, I won’t take you here again to take some herbs.”

I peeked at their side. Gee’s curious eyes were still staring at the rock where I was hiding. A thin line drew into her lips. Her small forehead and nose we’re wrinkled.

“Asamael...” finally she remembered my name, it made my eyes wide open. My throat went dry when she mentioned it again. “Asamael...” she repeated. “That!” she looked at her mother’s face, stunned. “That’s the name he was told me, Mom, I remember now! He is Asa!”

Her eyes were shining like stars in the starry night. Like the scorching sun, up in the blue sky. Her smile that left her lips earlier returned. It likes the warm breath and breeze of the wind.

“Huh?” her mother looks confused, “Isn’t Asamael is the name of our neighbor? Who is your favorite playmate?”

She shook her head firmly.

“He is not that, Mom. They just have the same name, but they are different people.”

Her mother did not answer. She is just staring at her smiling daughter.

Slowly, the strong wind blew. The three of us looked up at the sky who’s turning dark now. In a few moments, the tiny drops of rain began to fall.

“The wildflowers and plants are sure to delight right now!” Gee jumped to her feet while clapping her two little hands, “The raindrops are no longer stingy on them, Mom!”

Her mother hurriedly scooped her with her two arms. She runs as fast as she could and carelessly get out of the forest. I still followed them with my careful and slow footsteps on the ground.

I made a promise inside the vast forest while following them to protect her anytime at all cost. Something that I had never done before to her when she is still alive in my kingdom.

I was stunned when we reach the exit of the forest. Where our ruined and collapsed kingdom once stood is not be seen there. I remembered it clearly. Even the traces of the war that caused its destruction is nowhere to found. Instead, the house of the human mortals replaced our vast abandoned habitat.

“See you again soon, Asa!” Gee, shouted.

I turned my gaze to her and saw a trace of fear on the face of her scared mother.

She jumped again to the ground with a happy eye, and she seems excited. The mud that gets sticky because of the raindrops slightly hugged the pair of her slippers. She laughed and chuckled aloud.

“Come on, Gee, let’s go home.” her mother hurriedly holds her hand, “We are getting sick if we didn’t go home now because of the rain.” her mother pulls her body away.

She slowly nods at her before she runs towards their distant home.

“Dad, I’ve met someone inside the forest!” she said with her excited small voice, “His name is Asamael. He looks tired and hungry, and it feels like he lost inside the forest.”

I smiled a bit. But it suddenly disappeared when I roam around again with my confused eyes. This place is similar even it looks unfamiliar.

“This is not my home,” I said with a low tone of voice. “I am not from here either. Right now, I lost in a different universe.”

Gee that seems right. I lost in this place like a poor butterfly, and I do not know how to go back to our universe.

Or is it I wanted to go back?

“Our world is mysterious, isn’t it, Asa?” I heard the deep voice of a man beside me. I looked at him, a bit surprised. “Time takes us to a similar place, but it is not the familiar place in our past.”

My eyes changed their color as I stared at him.

He was just standing by my side. He looks fantastic and clean on his get-up. His eyes are also looking and roaming around at the place in front of us. He was wearing white pants and a white polo shirt. His two hands are behind his back. The color of his skin is white, and it is not pale, just like mine.

“Who are you? How do you know my name?”

He laughed softly.

He put his white hat to his head that he is holding behind his back.

“Let’s just say that we are both lost,” he said with a harsh and sad voice. He started to walk backward. “Our only difference is that I know the reason for me being lost, and I also know the place where I am going.”

“Wait--”

“I’m Cassian, the... never mind.”

He suddenly disappeared from my sight. He was leaving me therein with a confused face and mind.

I roam again at the quiet plain where our kingdom once found. There are no traces here that once we inhabited and ruled this place. There is also no smell of our royal and pure blood that is scattered all over.

After a while, I ran back to the cave. I clean my face with the clear water flowing on the stream. I went back, ran to the forest exit, and sauntered there like before, way back in Nambwana.

The raindrops that kissed the whole land now is gone. It was almost night that day. Half the body of the sun is already sinking behind the forest. His hot beam still kissed the small town. Children play happily on the plains, outside their homes. The wives hurriedly back to their home to cook their delicious dinner. Their husbands, who are also tired the whole day to the farm, will go home one by one dragging their animals like buffaloes, horses, goats, and cows.

“It’s still like the home of the mortals in my kingdom,” I said in my voice that full of amazement.

I’m still trying to swallow the truth that I get lost in this kind of world. Where everything seems similar, but it’s not quite familiar.

This town named Racama is not different from the town of Nambwana. Their habitat is surrounded by extensive rice, corn, and vegetable fields. Their village is also the center of the town’s market. The only difference is that they are the only ones who go shopping here. There are no vampires like before who are scattered, and they’ve met secretly; it’s only me, and that is hidden from them.

Silently, I continued to walk on the asphalt road. I was watching the new whole place of the mortals once again.

I adjusted the hat on my head and the cane that I was holding. While I am walking, I remember Ulysses and the sound of our feet kissing the asphalt road every time we went to the community together.

“Native chicken for sale! It’s good for making the chicken soup or any dishes related to their meat.” shouts an old man who is selling alive chickens near the roadside.

While looking at him, suddenly I remembered my late best friend, Ulysses. Next to him was the iron cage of the chickens that he was selling. There were a hundred rooster and hens who have not yet laid eggs. I continue to walk around.

“Father, two alive chickens for Auntie Selma!” a ten-year-old boy suddenly appeared and whispered, “I’ll take it to their home.”

For a moment, I was stunned and stopped walking. I knew the voice of that boy. I turned to them. He was wearing faded blue shorts, has a hole at the edge of his shirt. His messy hair is a bit long.

“Has Selma already paid for her ordered chicken?” the old man asked the boy.

“Not yet, Father. When Uncle Heavier arrives, she will give the payment.”

“And where is Heavier?”

“She said he went to the other town to sold their cattle.”

The older man silently picked up the two chickens. The chickens made a noise asking for help in their imminent death. He tied their legs tightly and handed them to the boy who was patiently waiting for him. He accepted the chickens with a wide smile.

“Hold they’re tight.” the old man reminded him, “Never let them go if you don’t want me to spunk and hit you on your butt Ulysses!”

He nodded repeatedly and quickly ran away while holding the four chickens’ legs tightly.

“Ulysses...” I whispered his name in a weak and soft voice, “B-Buddy... is that you?”

I watched him run fast. His slippers look dirty. He was on his way to the foot of the vast forest.

“Excuse me, do you want to buy chicken?” his father spoke and asked me, “You will not regret it, they are healthy, and the flesh is delicious.”

I turned my head to him and shook it slightly before I start to walk again.

The name of their village back then is Nambwana, and now it has been changed to the named Racama. It is written on their high arch at the entrance foot of the forest.

“His counterpart is here in this world. And he looks like really him. Is it possible that my counterpart in human form was here too?” I asked myself unconsciously.

I followed the young Ulysses, whom I could still see with my own eyes. He stopped in front of a house with a thatched roof and a bamboo wall. I hid in a tree far away on the side of that.

“Hello! Auntie Selma, you ordered alive chicken is already here.”

Its door is made of bamboo, made a little noise. A woman came out wearing a loose blouse and a long faded red skirt. She is rubbing her wet hands on the apron that she was wearing. Her lips and eyes smiled at the visitor when she saw him. Something I did not often see before, even though it was free and there was no charge.

“Uh, Ulysses, you’re so quick!” she said with broad smiling lips, “You got the chicken already?”

Unconsciously, I grabbed with my one hand the trunk of the tree when I heard her voice. A variety of emotions quickly rose in my dry throat.

Mother is here. Her counterpart is also here!

“I only joked to my father.” he laughed as he gave her the chicken he’d bring. “And he is a good man too.”

“Will you wait for your Uncle Heavier?” she kindly asked him, “He has the money to pay for it.”

My head repeatedly shook.

In our world, Mother does not behave like this; she is always in a posture. Her face is constantly severe and with authority. Her nails and lips always have red paint.

“Yes, Auntie Selma, where is Asamael?”

I held my breath when I heard his question. Suddenly I grab my chest, and pain immediately rose in my chest even though it doesn’t have a single beat.

“He is in the backyard Ulysses,” she answered, “He is hauling some firewood.”

I immediately followed him when he quickly ran to the backyard. There, I saw a boy who was almost his age. A bullet of sweat is all over his face. He was carrying on his shoulder the bundle of the firewood. He was wearing a black shirt that the color was fading like my own clothes. And he looks just like me when I was around their age, it’s unbelievable!

“Oh, what are you doing here, Ulysses?” even his voice sounds mine.

“To help you, of course.” the unwavering response, and he began to lift some firewood.

I laughed weakly in a hysterical tone.

In this world, he is still a slave of my human form. Our relationship here is not different from our relationship in the past.

What is happening?

Why I came here? Maybe it because of Gee.

Our every counterpart in our past was here.

“Your Father may rebuke you again.”

“No.” he said as sweat slowly appeared on his face, “I am also waiting for the p*****t of the chicken your mother ordered.”

“Aah, don’t worry, Father will be here in a little while.”

I kept watching them. It was as if I was watching my other personality as if it were a movie. I look back and forth at the mother and his son. It was getting dark, but I could not leave them. I am waiting for my father to come and appear in this world. Although what happened in our past is not fair, they still look like my beloved parents.

“Mael, our chicken soup is already cooked. Bring some of them to the house of your Auntie Isla!”

“Yes mother, coming,” he answered and started to walk near his mother.

He accepted the bowl with a lid plate on the top. And slowly, he walked towards the house that is familiar to my eyes.

“Hello? Auntie Isla! Gee?”

The quiet door opened; the unfamiliar man came out. Behind him was the young Gee who had just finished taking a bath. Her thin and small red lips are pouting while looking at their unexpected visitor.

“What is this, Mael?” the man asked him while accepting the bowl.

“It’s the chicken soup made from fresh meat of chicken; my Mother wants me to give it to Auntie Isla.”

“Gee, Asamael is here.” the man that probably her father looked at her, pointing Mael to her. “Isn’t he is--”

“He is not Dad; Asa is his nickname and not Mael.” her steady response made me smile a bit until now she still remembers.

“But Asamael is also his name, Geselle.”

“They just have the same name.” she clarified to her father while she was brushing her hair with her small tiny little fingers.

She repeated her description about me once again, who she said I was tall and like the lost butterfly on the vast forest. The young boy Mael looked at her with his earnest eyes, and he was already confused by her. Before he could ask anything, Gee’s familiar mother came out.

“Thanks for the chicken soup Mael.” she said as she handed the small bowl to his palm, “It’s the grilled octopus with leafy vegetable. Please tell your mother that I was thankful.”

“All right, Auntie Isla, I’m going home.”

When he turned his back, I quickly followed him again. If in my world I am Asa, in this world, most of the people called him Mael. However, we still have the same face, with the same name.

“Who is that?” he asked in disbelief as he continued walking, “Maybe she was dreaming again, and she insisted that what happened in her dream was real and true.”

We were greeted by the loud sound of a car when we arrived at their home. Suddenly his sad face cleared, and he ran fast as he could.

“Father, your home!”

He greeted his father, who had just arrived, and got out of the car.

I had never done something before with my father to greet him on his way home and hug him tightly as he does now. Something’s that I regret the most on the day of their deaths.

“Did you miss me that much, Mael?” he asked while laughing.

He gave him a big hug; he continuously strokes his head which I was longing too.

“Yes Father!” he replied while looking at his face.

My father’s personality in our past is very different from his personality in this world. If there he was always serious, here he was always smiling.

“I bought this on my way back home just for you,” he said and gave him the food that is wrapped around the brown paper. “I know it was your favorite, Mael.”

He accepted it with his twinkling eyes.

“Wow! Strawberries!”

His mother came out, and a few moments later, she hugged them as well. Envy is written all over my face while looking at them. I want to do that too, hug them once again. Gradually I felt the onset of my longing and sadness. I took a deep breath and turned my back on their side. Slowly I began to walk away from their happy home.

“I wish I had lived too in this world.” I whispered in a raspy voice, “Not in our world with parents that are hindering my happiness.”

My tears welled up. I am very jealous of my human form in this world, living like an average person. Even if there is a death later for him, I know he is still happy because of his loving parents.

“Ulysses, this is the p*****t for the chicken.” it’s mother’s voice.

“Thank you very much, Auntie Selma.”

“Do you want to eat dinner with us, Ulysses?” my father’s voice asked him.

“Thank you, Uncle Heavier, but I’m leaving.” he answered with a polite voice, “I have to go because my father is waiting.”

“Ulysses, do you like strawberries?” it’s Mael’s voice.

“No, Mael--”

“Accept it; I know you like strawberries too.” he cut him off.

I heard their loud laughter.

“All right, thank you very much, Asamael.”

“What are you doing?” he asked his friend. “Suddenly, you called me by my real name.”

Their laughter grew louder, which made me sadder. I was envious. I am jealous too. I ran fast, back to the cave where I was living.

Sometimes, you can’t let go of what’s making you sad because it was one of the things that made you happy in the past. And that is my family, even they are wrong. I missed them a million and a hundred times.