"What do you mean that it was you who gave Cecilia her abilities?" Murillo is confused and trying to wrap her head around Chris's revelation.
"I don't know how to explain it, but her abilities are either an extension of mine or a part of my abilities," Chris assumed, as his hands gripped the rails of the observation deck.
"We can't also dismiss the fact that, according to Miss Bermudez's mother, she never had these abilities till she was five years old, during her accident." Bustamante reminded Chris.
Murillo turned her glances towards Bustamante, then to Chris, "Accident? What accident?"
Chris looked over his shoulder towards Murillo, "When she was five years old, Cecilia was in a coma for three days, because of an accident, and when she woke up, she suddenly had these powers, these abilities."
"But these abilities are not acquired, they are inherent…." Murillo stopped what she was about to say, "Then how did she get those abilities?" She glances at Chris, "Then how did she get your abilities?"
"Because she was her before, we just didn't recognize her," Chris said. He was contemplating what he thought, but how could he verify it? He then whipped his head towards Murillo, "Chief Murillo, give me the manifest of passengers from twenty-four years ago."
Though puzzled, Murillo took out her tablet and scrolled through the manifest by year. "Twenty-four years, captain?" she clarified. Chris nodded, and she continued to scroll until she found the year 2001. She scrolled through the alphabetically sorted lists. Then she found the name she was looking for, "Cecilia Amparo Bermudez!" She hands the tablet to Chris. "You were right, Captain. She was here…it was so long that I forgot about her name."
"Princess!" Chris said under his breath
"Princess, that little girl?" Bustamante remembered the person Chris was referring to, but he also remembers the child's fate. "Captain, that would be impossible. Princess was taken by the Kasanaan."
Bustamante was right; Chris was there, and he saw it firsthand. But then he remembered what Cecilia's mother and grandfather told him, "The coma! She was in a coma!" Chris paced around the observation deck. "She was in a coma, her spirit might have left her body; We all know that it's possible." Chris's hands waved around as he was near an epiphany. "Her soul left her body as if she were dead. The body of her soul was still breathing as if she were still alive."
Chris then held Murillo by her shoulders, shaking her as he concluded, "Cecilia was in a state between life and death. She was neither alive nor dead, which is why when she fell in the Kasanaan, she was not erased; instead, she was returned to her body!"
"That still does not support the claim that she has a portion of your abilities," Bustamante pointed out, as Murillo was too dizzy to speak.
"Ever since Princess fell to the Kasanaan, I lost access to half of my abilities. It remained like that for decades." Chris paced around again, "Until she came back!" Chris waved his hands to create a hallucination, but nothing happened. Chris looked over the railing till he saw Cecilia walking with her mother, Selina, on the gold deck.
With a direct line of sight on Cecilia, Chris waved his hands again; this time, he was able to conjure a world that only Murillo and Bustamante could see, as he targeted their minds. Chris clenched his hands into a fist with a snap as if deftly snatching something in midair. Bustamante and Murillo gasped and panted as they shared glances after experiencing Chris's hallucinogenic abilities.
"You're right, Captain, your abilities are whole again." Bustamante clutched his chest, calming himself.
"But it only works as long as the captain has a direct line of sight with Miss Bermudez." Murillo deduced, tidying her uniform.
Bustamante shot back, "Access to his abilities, though with a condition, is still better than no access at all." He pointed at the silver lining.
"Oh my… so that's why the way she asked that question was so familiar." Murillo's hand flew to her mouth. She glanced at the puzzled look on the two, "Never mind," she said, waving her hands as if she were erasing an idea.
"The mango ice pop!" Bustamante blurted out, "That was the ice pop flavor Martinez gave Princess, the same ice pop flavor that Cecilia always ate since she came aboard."
Then the Chief Officer remembered the clincher, "I told Princess my family's mantra, while I did not do the same with Miss Bermudez. Yet…she recited my family's mantra," The three officers stood quite, taking in the revelation they just learned.
"But captain, there is still a question that needs to be answered: She wasn't dead, so how did her soul, a living soul, end up in the Twilight?" Bustamante's question cut through their celebration like a hot knife through butter.
"I know why!" Chris glanced upward to the heavens, his eyes blazing with a fiery wrath. "Come down from your pedestal!" he said, his teeth gritted.
Triple-A, the archangel of death, descended from the heavens with fierce purpose onto the observation deck. He landed in a powerful three-point stance — one knee bent sharply, the other leg extended to absorb the impact, and a clenched fist pressed firmly against the polished wooden floor. His black wing unfurled behind him like a shadowed cape, poised and commanding. His tailored suit and crisp tie remained impeccable despite the landing. Slowly, he lifted his head, his stoic expression unyielding. Rising with deliberate strength, his fists clenched at his sides, wings folding tightly against his back, and chest thrust forward as he drew in a deep breath. "Ow, ow, ow…That was a bad idea!" The sharp pain in his knee and back caught up with Triple-A, and he winced, skipping lightly as he nursed his creaking joints.
Chris furrowed his brows. "Why did you do it?" The captain's question was like a knife aimed at the archangel.
Bustamante and Murillo supported the archangel to a nearby recliner. "I didn't do anything, I just showed her the ship, she decided to board the Twilight." He looked at the two officers, "Thank you," expressing his gratitude.
"What do you mean you didn't do anything?" Chris pulled the archangel by his collar. Bustamante and Murillo gasped in shock at the captain's actions. "We both know it was all your doing…you led her here; you let her get bound to the ship!"
Triple-A, ever patient with Chris, carefully pulled Chris's grip on his suit. "Careful, Versace! Giani gave this to me himself." He informed Chris as he straightened his coat and tightened his tie. "Everything happened for a reason. You two needed to meet each other."
Chris charged at Triple-A, "You should have just left her alone!" Chris glared at the archangel, searching his eyes for any hint of answers. "The moment she set foot on this ship, her life became one big heartache after another! Why didn't you let her have a normal life? A peaceful and happy life?!"