A week after that, Tuesday.
All of the students have gathered in the Melaka Sentral bus station, as some pay their goodbyes to their parents or relatives before entering their buses, others eat snacks before taking their leave, and teachers all around the campus telling and guiding clueless students where their specific buses are.
"Hey guys! What do you think?"
Trizha shouted as she did a pose with her free hand holding the edge of her summer straw hat, wearing a summer vacation Hawaiian outfit, looking at both Margaret and Wyne who were wearing their casual outdoor clothes.
Wyne: "Trizha? Is that you?"
Trizha: "Yup! Do I look too beautiful, or too flamboyant for you to recognise?"
Trizha arrogantly says as she does another attractive pose. Meanwhile, Wyne just stared at her with an unfazed expression.
Wyne: "No, you look like that one grandma from the 90s trying to look good to a group of young men."
Trizha: "What?!"
Margaret: "Hmm… yeah I see it."
Wyne: "Hehe, get it?"
As Margaret and Wyne agree to each other in their perspectives to Trizha's appearance, Trizha suddenly lunges at them before delivering a harsh bonk to their heads, making the both of them kneel down in pain as they cover the top of their heads with their hands.
Trizha: "Don't ya disrespect me when it took me hours to decide on this fit!!"
Wyne: "Okay okay! Calm down geez, we were just joking…"
Suddenly, T. Marcela appears in front of them with a pissed-off expression. Probably because she's been spending a lot of time trying to get the students in their buses.
T. Marcela: "What are you three blabbering about? Get inside your damn buses or else I'm leaving you all behind. And don't you dare sleep when we get there!"
The trio then stood straight and bowed to T. Marcela as an apology, shouting "Sorry!" In unison before rushing inside a bus while T. Marcela watches them, sighing in relief that her job is finally over, as she looks around and sees no more students around the campus.
On other hand, while the trio are running towards the bus, Trizha suddenly bumps to a tall, fragile old man wearing a dirty black cloak, with almost his entire head covered in his black hoodie with its shadow covering his eyes, with a bag filled with different types.of flowers falling to ground along with him. Trizha gets surprised by this and feels bad, kneeling down to help the old man.
Trizha: "Oops– my bad, sir, I wasn't looking…"
Trizha says in a troubled tone and expression as she picks up the flowers from the ground and puts them back inside the old man's bag. Suddenly, she heard the old man whisper "What… Beauty…!", which causes her to look up to him, her eyes widening at the sight of his purple glowing eyes that stared down deep from her eyes into her soul.
Trizha: "What…?"
The old man: "...golden blonde hair, those otherworldly irises, and a beauty unmatched…"
He says in a very deep, shaky tone, as he slowly rises up from the ground, his stature intimidating Trizha as a sweat falls down frkm her face.
The old man: "It all reminds me of someone I loved… someone… I have adored since the moment I saw her…"
Wyne, being the first to notice, turns around to look at Trizha, who in her perspective… saw only Trizha herself, nobody else was there.
Wyne: "Trizha, what are you doing in there–"
Wyne then starts to notice Trizha trembling in fear in something she doesn't see.
Wyne: "What is she…"
The old man: "So beautiful…"
And so, the old man started to extend his right arm to Trizha, seemingly attempting to grab her face with the palm of his hand. And to Trizha's perspective, the right arm was coated in brown skin armor. She gulped in fear, her body unable to move nor move away.
.
.
"...Like a flower once filled of and surrounded by its petals… soon decaying and losing all of it, from the heat of sacrifice caused by a cruel fate…"
.
.
Trizha's eyes widened as she listened to every single word the old man tells her, unaware that his hand is just mere inches close to her face.
The old man: "Do remember one thing; you will always fight, not just for the sake of your fate, but your fate itself as well. Survive this time, Trizha Frantzes"
Trizha started to gasp for air silently to every word the old man said. Till she was suddenly smacked by a hand chop and her world returns as she snaps back to reality. Looking up, she notices T. Marcela looking down on her with a pissed-off expression.
T. Marcela: "Quit fooling around 'ground girl' and go to your bus already!!"
Trizha: "Ye-yes mam…!"
Trizha says as she immediately stood up, but not before noticing a small pink flower in front of her, in the position where the old man was last seen by her… he had disappeared before she knew it. She stared at it for a while, remembering what the old man told her before, before running back to Wyne and Margaret, who were waiting for her inside the bus. She lost all her fears after that moment, thinking it was just all her imagination or hallucinations.
.
.
On other hand, inside the bus where the trio entered, it was loud. Everyone is having a loud conversation, others can be seen just continuing to eat the snacks they brought along the way, and some just minding their own business such as listening to music using headphones.
Meanwhile, Trizha is seen sitting at the window seat of the middle row of the bus, gazing outside the window as she watches the teachers, including T. Marcela, enter their own bus specifically only for teachers. She then turns to the empty seat next to her, expecting that someone sits in there. But suddenly, she notices Nomoro in the corner of her eye, as she immediately lifts her head to Nomoro, who is walking on the path of the bus. She thought he was going to sit next to her, but he went to the back row of the bus, a row where only he sits.
She felt bad a little as watches him be alone in there, but not until she was interrupted by Wyne, who decided to sit down next to her.
Wyne: "Heya, Trizha."
Trizha: "Wyne? Weren't you supposed to be sitting next to Margaret?"
Wyne: "Nah, I just wanna spend the last few hours of our time alone before I get to spend a whole week with Margaret."
Trizha: "Huh… can't tell if you're being considerate or sarcastic…"
Trizha says as she looks at Wyne with a skeptical expression. Wyne just smugly shrugs, before taking out a pair of wireless or Bluetooth earphones from her bag, handing one to Trizha.
Wyne: "Anyways, it's loud out here. Let's listen to music, shall we?"
Trizha: "Sure, but you're acting kinda different, don't you think?"
Wyne: "Oh I'm just excited, that's all. Everyone would act differently if they're excited."
Trizha: "Oh well. Not that it matters…"
Trizha then puts on the earphone inside her right ear, before leaning to the window and starts to watch as the buses start their engines and begin to leave the Melaka Sentral bus station, now heading towards the La Luna Sangre Hotel in a few hours. She saw the old man once again, but soon disappeared when a bus drove past it. And while they do, Wyne puts on the music to Try Everything by Shakira.