"Or they were cut off from us!" For a while, Chris just stared at Murillo; his glare was like a knife cutting through butter. "Thanks, Murillo." his response surprised everyone.
"The Twilight has become visible to the humans. For now, I want you and Bustamante to form two separate groups. One group guards all of the entrances; the other group watches the deck and railings…make sure that no humans will board the ship!"
"Aye, Captain!" The two officers answered and went their separate ways to form their groups.
"Let's go," Chris extended his hands, and Cecilia took them. The two ran back to deck zero and attempted to reenter it.
At the threshold to deck zero, Chris examines the lattice network that covers the entirety of deck zero. Cecilia reached out to touch the red and blue energy. The moment Cecilia's skin touched the lattice, it crackled, and she quickly retracted her hand. "Are you hurt?" Chris asked with worry as he examined her hands for any injuries.
"No…it doesn't hurt," she spoke softly, Chris holding her hand, examining it for any signs of injury. "It felt like it pushed me away; it did not want me to come near it." She explained as she looked at the lattice.
"Your father put this here; he knew you would try to go through the lattice, that's why it only repelled you. I can say it wouldn't be as gentle when it comes to us." Chris deduced, he turned to Cecilia, "We need to find your father; he's the only one who can remove this lattice, so we can get to the book."
"The book? Why would we need to get to the Book of Life and Death?" Cecila wondered at the importance of the book.
"Everything started when the book was closed; only when it is open can the pages be filled with the names of new lives and death." Chris paused for a while. "But now that the book was closed, no new names could be written in its pages…hence the stagnation of life." He informed Cecilia, his tone ominous and filled with dread.
"Then let's go find my dad," Cecilia said with a stern and resolute voice.
"Where do you think he went?" Chris inquired, hoping she would have an idea where they would find him.
"Dad loved our old house; it was the symbol of his love for his family." Cecilia glanced at the general direction of Manila. "Now that he is free from that demon, it's the first place he will go." Cecilia hung her head. "He and Mom made a lot of memories there. He will be there," She declared with certainty.
The two of them went through the communications room to teleport to Manila. When they stepped out, Cecilia noted that they had landed far from their intended destination. "Captain, this is not where our old house is; we're far from Intramuros!" When she glanced in Chris's direction, she was immediately overwhelmed by worry and concern. "Captain, what's wrong?"
The captain clutched his chest and fell to one knee. He could feel his breath was heavy and ragged, as if his body was being torn apart. He was forced on all fours as the pain became unbearable. "The Twilight…I can feel it…vanishing!" He groaned, his words stuttering as he found it difficult to speak.
Cecilia understood what he meant: without death, there were no souls to ferry to Kaginhawaan, hence there was no need for the barge of the dead and its captain. She reached to help him get up, but her hand just passed through him. Panic grips Cecilia, and she watches helplessly as Chris slowly fades away.
At that same moment, back in the Twilight, Bustamante and Murillo watched in horror as the ship was phasing in and out of their very eyes. The barge of the dead flickered, like a light that was about to go out. "Chief, what is happening to the ship?" She asked, panicked and grief-stricken.
"I…I don't know," He fearfully answered the question.
"If the Twilight vanishes…what will happen to us? To the Captain?" Murillo kept asking, though deep inside her, she already knew the answer; she only hoped that the Chief Officer would give her a different one, even if it was a lie.
Cecilia was in a state of panic; she wanted to ease Chris of his agony, but she did not know how. Then, like the Twilight, Chris started to flicker, vanishing and reappearing right in front of her eyes.
"The captain is tethered to the Twilight; it's what keeps him in his current state. If balance is not restored, the barge of the dead will no longer be needed, and it will vanish, and when that happens…so will the captain." Bustamante's words were like icy daggers that pierced their cores.