We walked along the dusty footpaths once we got off the bus. I had never imagined that the place we visited was in Euron. It was like they were neglected by civilization.
Houses were built crammed to each other, the walls were made of thin wooden slats or cardboard. The roofs looked sloping at the front. Bad smell from poor sanitation was wafted once you arrived at that place. In every house you could see mounted of charcoals or the burning coals which were just left by whoever burnt it.
Mickey walked at the front and Kerberos was behind me. That night was cloudy with some drizzles on and off. We walked slowly and stayed on guard. Some people we came across looked at us with unfriendly look. I tried to ignore it and kept walking
Until a moment, indistinctly I heard footsteps approaching us. In reflect, I walked faster, and I was not aware that I walked past Mickey.
Kerberos ran after me when he realized I fastened my steps, "What is happening?" He asked.
"Someone is after us. They are behind us." I replied fast.
And in no time, Kerberos turned around to pick up Mickey. That white dog bit the back neck of Mickey that was far behind, in this running. While running, Mickey directed us to choose the roads we needed to take.
Outside this settlement there was an abandoned rail track. Mickey instructed us to follow the rail until we finally saw a bridge. We accelerated our footsteps.
When we reached the bridge, we saw we were not only three. My father was standing there with the woman that I saw last night when I took my bag from my father's house before I went back to Euron.
"Where are you hiding that doll? Why do you always put me in trouble since you were young?" he yelled to me like a lunatic man.
This was the real him. I always hoped he could control his emotion, change his behavior, and care for his family more, instead of chasing trust the pack of black wizard he was proud of
My father hated my grandfather to his bones. Until his death, father refused to come to the funeral.
" never put you into any troubles, but your own ego does!" the woman next to him was standing in alert. Kerberos had changed his shape into his real one, while Mickey stepped back. I saw the stone birds were waiting behind the thickness of the leaves. They were holding something burning in their feet.
I ran to lunge myself to my father, but suddenly something exploded in front of me, I flung back and tumbled on the ground. I got bruises all over my body
Not wanting something worse happened to me, Mickey sent signals to the birds, Kerberos was busy distracting that old woman anytime she was to utter the magic spells.
One of the birds threw a red gravel sized a corn seed toward that woman. The gravel hit her foot. That very instant, her foot was smashed into ashes.
That woman was screaming in pain while bending down. I saw the chance to attack my father, but he hit me hard and made me fell into a river next to the rail tract
I struggled to reach up the bank of the river, and there I saw Kerberos front leg was injured and my father was still with a knife on his hand. That woman was still screaming painfully.
There was quite far gap between my father and that woman, and I used that chance. One explosion was heard in the middle of the night. A bullet shot through that woman on her head, the next second she fell down helplessly, like what happened to Zie long ago.
I pointed my pistol right in front of my father face, "I respect you more than anyone else in this world. Even after you abandoned me and my father, I still respect you. Do not ruin my respect with your disgraceful behavior I will never follow. Keep following your ego, and stay away from us." I am fed up and got tired with him. For me, this was a farewell. "Go now before I blast your head. Tooth is for tooth and blood is for blood. Antonie could do that to Zie, I could do that, too!" I threatened him even though my hand was shaking. "I took after human body from my mother, but I took after my evil soul from you,"
My father laughed out loud as if I was joking to him.
"Bang!!" The second gunshot was heard. This time I did not hit the target but I just hit his arm, "Go! I forgave you," as I said I put my pistol in my backpack, "Do not meet my mother or my brother, or I will kill you." I walked toward Kerberos and Mickey. They both were looking at me with the unexplainable sights, while their eyes kept watching me who was packing my scattered stuffs while I was flung.
…
Ayahku terlahir dari seorang ibu yang mampu menguasai sihir dan seorang ayah manusia biasa. Saat beliau berumur 10 tahun, beliau tidak kunjung mampu menaklukkan mantra satupun. Hal itu terjadi hingga beliau dewasa.
My father who was the only child of my grandmother was unable to keep the position as the leader of elite wizard from the south. It was considered a disgrace, not only for my grandmother's family but also for the whole group of black magic.
His presence in the group was just a proof or a sign that they still looked up to my grandmother, but it was later changed after the death of my grandfather.
My father position that was actually very low grew even worse as if he never existed. But he had strong belief that someday he would be able to replace my grandmother.
Father did everything possible to gain their trust back. He left us when I was only 7 months old.
At that time, they found zero zone where magic power did not work or changed to neutral. My father who was the only one had no magic power was assigned to watch only. Their reason was that no one could do that but my father who had no magic power at all.
My mother loved my father very much. She still visited him when he built up his house and gave him many things.
My first visit and my first time to see his face was I was in kindergarten. My mother took me to visit him.