TERAH’S spirit vanished in Chet’s arms but she was still here. She stood beside him and attempted to touch him but her hands went past. He looked like he lost from one of the important battles of his life.

“It’s okay, Chet. Maybe I am still alive. For you to find out, fulfil your promise. Go to my world, awaken me. Remember your promise, please,” she begged him. Hope that Chet would also let Zachary remember her.

Chet looked around. Confusion was evident in his eyes as he saw the blood on his hands. He stared at his hands and shook his head. The sword was still on chest. He pulled it while gasping for breath. He succeeded. Then he tore some clothings and wrapped it around his chest. He was still bleeding (thanks to her healing, it was only minimal) but as moments passed by, the blood stopped.

She did not know what he did. Maybe part of his superpowers.

He scanned his surroundings. “What am I doing?” he asked.

She stood beside him. “You will awaken your comrades and then me, Chet. Hurry up before something happens to my body,” she urgently said.

What if he forgot his promise? That would be a disaster.

But he still did not hear her.

Ugh. This was frustrating. How could she tell him if he did not hear her nor see her? It looked like she was a ghost inside in this dream. Horror filled her.

What will happen to her if he will forget about his promise? Surely, her physical form will die. She will be trapped in this place. What did she do?

She cannot bring back the time. It was wrong of her to act like a hero when in the first place, she was the villain even in her own story. She was a fool. The greatest fool that ever lived.

“Chet!” she cried.

He left and went back to where the body of his comrades were. She wished this did not happen. How she wished she was not a fool, following a stranger without even thinking of any consequences. How impulsive could she be?

Idiot. Fool. Baka.

Who would help her now? How about Zachary? Will he help her? What will happen to her? Will she be forgotten? At least he lives but I will die. I am not a martyr. I am not a hero.

"He had forgotten you," a new voice said, voicing what she had dreaded to hear.

"You shouldn't have your hopes high. You shouldn't have given your trust. For them. You are the biggest human fool I ever met. You even gave your essence to a dreambender. Fool."

She faced the man.

He was all in black and his hair nearly reached his shoulders. He had broad shoulders and an aura which looked like all the darkness came from him. He was a monster or the devil itself that went to visit her.

"Who are you? Are you like Chet, a dreambender?"

Just the mention of the man's name made her boil in anger. She wanted revenge. She will make sure she will get one. How dare him forget her?

“After I healed him, he forgot. Is this what he will pay me?” She wanted to cry.

"No. I am Death but that's not really my name. It's Sidapa. I'm here for you," he said, voice void of any emotion. “Don’t even think of running away. You will only get tired. No matter where you hide, I will always find you.”

Sidapa? She had read that name before from the Philippine mythology. He was a Visayan god. There was a major lack of written records on him but according to some sources this god lives in the sacred Mount Madia-as. He determines the day of a person’s death by marking every newborn’s lifespan on a very tall tree on Madya-as.

“What the heck is Death doing here?” she asked.

He shrugged. “I will always be captivated by the Forgotten. See that tattoo on your wrist? That was the mark of the Forgotten.”

What mark? She did not have any tattoos. She stopped when she found one. She was wrong. She had one. It was a letter F with thorns crawling on the lines.

“I am not forgotten,” she said with clenched teeth. Mariah will still remember her even though she will be gone. Her classmates will still remember her.

“A trapped soul will be forgotten if the cause of her death was because of a dreambender. You are mistaken on that aspect. Maybe Mariah will remember you but not your classmates. They don’t care about you. They are busy minding their own business. They will just remember you if they have something to ask and want from you.”

“Zachary will remember me.”

“That vampire? You did not know? Chet put a spell on him making him forget you for a couple of years. He should not let his guard down. Before I forget, including your loved ones and Mariah.”

She closed her ears.

Sidapa was wrong. Her classmates will remember her. As well as Mariah and her family. They love her. They will always love her.

Who was she fooling? Nobody loves her. Everybody will forget.

“Congratulations! You, a mere human, had entangled herself to the dreambenders making you a Forgotten. No. I am not talking about you who will not be remembered but to you who will become a wandering soul trapped in this place unless…”

Covering her ears was still pointless. She heard him loud and clear. “Unless what? You want something from me aside from collecting my soul?” Maybe going with him still has its perks. She will meet her grandmother and tell her stories about her own stupidity. Then about Zachary and Chet. Especially the latter who lied to her.

.

He clapped his hands. “What a smart human you are. No. Were.” He laughed like there was something funny in her situation.

“Forgotten people are bound in this place thus refraining them from going up and down. That’s why I am here. I am the only way who could free you. Come with me, Terah.”

She stepped back. "I am not ready. I have to avenge myself."

"Avenge? Really? It was your choice to give your life to that man. If there's someone who will receive the blame, it should be you. Nobody else. Come with me in peace and your soul will go to the place where it shall belong."

Am I truly dead?

"I will not come with you," she insisted. Maybe there was still a chance to return to her body.

Sidapa gave an exasperated sigh. "Alright. How about I will give you a proposition?"

"What is that? You will not betray me, right?" She realized she cannot trust anybody. Not in this world. Trusting Chet was her biggest mistake.

Chet was talking to Eraj who had already awakened. So they have hidden their bodies in the spiritual world so that they will not be chased by their enemies. Lucky him. He did not even mention her name. She was really a Forgotten.

"I will not. You can trust the promise of a god."

"What do you want?"

"Be my assassin and you will have your revenge."

“Why do you want me to be your assassin? Do you have a lot of enemies? You’re a god. You're powerful. Besides, I don't even know how to defend myself. I will just be useless.”

“It’s also better to have someone whom I just command. I got tired of doing some work. Do not worry. I will train you so that you will become the top warrior,” he smirked.

“O-okay,” she responded. She just hoped that she would not regret this.