It's been years since Agi last heard that name; Sacha. Deep inside, it made her happy just hearing it, but she couldn't show it physically. She rather looked troubled. She can remember how her brother looked like when she last saw him. He was eleven years old, a bit skinny---but very handsome--- green eyes and blonde hair. He looked like an angel. Meggie turned to john and asked, "Who is Sacha?"
"You mean Agi never mentioned him to the both of you?" john asked dustfinger and Meggie, surprised.
The two didn't answer and just smiled. Honestly, they're all practically strangers to one another who, by accident, met. From the moment john mentioned the name, Agi remained silent and still.
"He's my older brother" she finally said.
Meggie looked surprised, but dustfinger isn't. He remembered Agi telling him earlier at the piazza that she has a brother who saved her from their father.
"H-how's he?" Agi asked.
John nodded in contentment, "He's doing great. I mean, he writes all the way from England telling me about his college stuff"
"He's in college?"
"Yes, in his last year with the course of medicine. Sacha misses you a lot"
"He does?"
"Every time he writes, calls, or visits, he'd ask me if I'd seen you. He feels awful that he couldn't protect you"
Agi is taken aback at the last sentence. Other than her grandfather, Sacha stands as her protector. She doesn't understand how he could've said that. John looked at his watch and decided to leave and Agi accompanied him to the door. Dustfinger finished his coffee and noticed how sullen the young silver tongue is.
"What's wrong?" he whispered.
Meggie came back to her senses and felt shy. She doesn't really feel quite comfortable talking to him after everything that had happened.
"Well, I feel terrible about Agi's life" Meggie confessed.
Dustfinger knows how she feels, he also heard Agi's story after all. At the door, john is already out and smiled back at his long lost friend.
"I'm glad to see you again" he said shyly.
"Me too" she replied.
"So, can I come tomorrow?"
"Sure, bye"
"Bye"
That night, Agi never felt so at home for a long time. Sleeping on her soft bed and in her own room, it all felt so wonderful. But Agi suddenly woke up with cold sweats and realized that there's a typhoon outside. She leaned back on her headboard and breathed slowly.
"Agi?" a voice whispered.
From the street lamp outside, it gave Agi's room a little light and she saw Meggie. She's sitting on a mattress on the floor, rubbing her eyes.
"Sorry, did I wake you up?" Agi asked.
Meggie shook her head, "Did you have a nightmare?"
"Uh, sort of. It's been bugging me for a long time"
"What's it about?"
"I was in the woods and there's a beautiful lake. Across the lake, was my mom. She was calling me. Without thinking, I passed through the lake and drowned"
"Where's really your mum?" Meggie asked
Agi twirled her long locks and shrugged her shoulders, "I don't know. She just left us and she didn't even bother to take me and Sacha with her. I heard your mum is a prisoner of Capricorn and you want to save her"
"Yes, I want to see her badly"
"Don't worry, you will. I'll just get some water and you go back to bed"
"Okay"
Meggie lied back down again and pulled the blanket over her shoulders. The thunder and lightning started to run after each other causing some disturbing loud noises and flashes of lights. Agi is coming down the stairs, in her white silk night gown, when she saw a figure sitting on the sofa.
"Who's there?"
The table lamp beside the sofa turned on, revealing that it's dustfinger. Agi felt relieved and made her way to the kitchen. She grabbed a glass and filled it with water from the faucet. Agi turned off the faucet and gulped the cold water and feels much refreshed. She's going back upstairs to sleep when she noticed dustfinger taking shots of brandy.
"Are you drinking alcohol?" she reassured.
Dustfinger just finished his third shot and poured another though he's drunk already, "I'm sure your old man wouldn't mind"
Agi sat beside him and watch him drown himself in alcohol with his fourth shot. He starts to laugh on his own and is losing his balance already.
"Why are you even drinking this?" Agi asked again.
Dustfinger faced Agi too close that she could already smell the brandy from his face, "It helps me forget about my problems"
"Let me try one" Agi said.
Dustfinger looked amused and snickered, "You're just a kid"
"I'm nineteen. I can do anything I want"
"Suit yourself"
Dustfinger poured the brandy on the small glass and handed it to Agi. He watched her take it straight while he now drinks directly from the bottle. Agi began to cough and gave the glass back to her companion. It tasted awful, so bitter and hot in the throat.
"You're weak, it's just your first shot" dustfinger taunted with a grin.
"Shut up" Agi hoarsely said and wiped off her sweat.
The whole place is spinning around in Agi's head and she can't fully open her eyes. For a first timer, Agi got drunk easily. Dustfinger chuckled and leaned on her. Slowly, he kissed her on the neck, cheeks and the lips until he fully reclined on her. They were both out of their mind and couldn't control theirselves.
"You better stop" Agi muttered.
"I don't want to" he whispered back.
"You're a married man"
"Tonight I'm not"
The next morning, dustfinger woke up with a terrible headache. He got up and slowly went to the kitchen where mo, Meggie, and Farid are having breakfast. Mo was reading the newspaper when he saw him and tossed an apple.
"Good morning, dustfinger" he said.
"Good morning" the juggler moaned in reply as he takes a seat, "Where's the two old ones?"
"They're out at the supermarket"
Farid pinched a small portion of his croissant and gave it to Gwinn.
"By the way, where's Agi?" Farid asked.
Meggie puts her spoon over her half empty plate with scrambled egg and bacon then faced Farid, 'She's still upstairs, complaining about a terrible headache. I just hope she's okay"
The three of them got distracted with dustfinger's coughing. Mo helped him out by patting him on the back.
"Are you alright?" Farid asked while Meggie gave him a glass of water.
"Yeah, yeah" dustfinger coughs again and takes the glass of water, "I'm fine"
But the truth is, he isn't. One by one, dustfinger starts to remember everything that happened that cold night. He could already imagine the dim lighted room and Agi lying on the sofa, so weak, while he was like a beast. He shook his head to erase the image of that terrible nightmare. He couldn't think of a perfect reason why he had done it. It was stupid of him.
Ding-dong.
Mo left dustfinger with whatever is in his mind and went to the door. When he opened the door, a young man is standing with a grin and a paper bag full of books.
"May I help you?" mo asked.
"I'm here to see Agi"
Agi is still on her bed, staring at the ceiling. She slowly touched her soft pink lips and remembered what happened. It was her first time to kiss a man, a married man even, and she felt really strange. Unlike other girls, Agi never showed any interest in men. She never had feelings for anyone and doesn't know if someone is good looking. Agi covered her face with the big white soft pillow and squealed her heart out. She got up suddenly when she heard a commotion downstairs. She got worried with what might've happened to her grandfather and ran down the stairs in her short night gown and bare feet. She saw armed men in black trashing the place and grabbed mo, Meggie, dustfinger, Farid, and even john. One of them got Agi too and pulled her down the stairs truculently.
"Let go of me!" Agi started to shout and squirm.
"Ah, so there's another one" someone said.
A bald guy in a black suit appeared in the room with a sly grin. He approached Agi and holds her face, "Wow, you've got a nice girl to your group now. Won't you mind if we take her?"
"Leave her and john out of this, Capricorn!" mo protested and tried to get away from the men.
The name sent chills down Agi's spine. Capricorn is the one her friends are looking for, the one who would bring chaos to the real world. Capricorn let go of Agi and faced mo, "Fine, but I can't leave them out of this. By the way, this is my new comrade and silver tongue, Jacques"
The man is standing beside Capricorn; as thin as stick, but looks like an aristocrat from his elegant suit and top hat, has a thin curled mustache and a scar on her neck.
"Jacques is also a good writer; do you want to give them an example?"
The thin man nodded and unfolded a piece of paper, adding a few more things, and puts on his glasses, "In the real world" he started, "Good doesn't always succeed. Now that the great Capricorn captured the six low lives, he sent them to where he was once before and there they'll feel the wrath of a fairy tale"
In an instant, Capricorn's men were astounded that mo and his friends disappeared like bubbles.
"Now, we can start our plan" Capricorn said.
When they left the trashed house, flatnose noticed a few bags of groceries left beside the house.