Back in the unknown place, Lumawig remained unconscious, lying on a hastily made bed of bamboo and some rags and leaves. His pale face, an indication that the backlash he received from forcefully invoking his abyan despite lacking the ability to do so, is severe. As Lumawig was lying on the makeshift bed, Lola Yma is smoking her tabako (tobacco), and occasionally blowing the smoke to Lumawig’s face, while whispering a prayer in a language that none from her community can understand. After a while, lolo Yma stood up, a look of pity could be seen on her face.

“What a pitiful young man. His soul is damaged.” Shaking her head, Lola Yma muttered about the condition of Lumawig.

“Lola, how is he doing? Is he going to wake up soon?” the little girl Sabel went to her lola’s side and asked a question. However, as she asked the question, a look of worry flashed in her eyes.

“I cannot say apo. At least for now, he is no longer on death’s door. But I am not sure when he will wake up, it could be tomorrow, it could be next week, next month, or next year. It is also possible that he may never wake up.” Sighed the old woman.

“But you’re the best espiritista (spirit medium) and medicine woman in the town, surely you can do something?” the little girl pleaded.

“Haaays… Apò, you are still young and cannot understand yet. Anyway, just keep on taking care of him and talk to him daily, okay?” A kind smile appeared on lolo Yma’s lips as she ruffled the little girl’s hair.

“Okay!” came an enthusiastic answer.

“Tao po! Lola Fatima, how is the young man doing?” A voice came from outside calling for Lola Yma, whose real name is Fatima.

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“Oh, chairman Buboy! Come in, come in!” When Lola Yma heard the voice, she immediately went out of the house to welcome the visitor. Apparently, the owner of the voice was the Purok chairman and one of the people who helped bring Lumawig back to her home. He has a stocky build and was quite short for a man. His head is covered with thick but short straight hair that has some brown highlights. He appears to be middle-aged and has a round beard. Unlike Lola Yma and the little girl Sabel, chairman Buboy has much darker brown skin, perhaps due to long exposure to the sun.

“Salamat lola.” The man called ‘chairman’ courteously replied.

“How is he doing? Has he woken up yet?” After entering the old woman’s house and having been seated, Buboy asked about Lumawig again.

“Haaays… I cannot say that it is good, but I also cannot say that it is bad either.” Sighed a Lola Yma.

“Hmm? Why is that?” replied Buboy.

“Well, it is good as he is no longer in danger of dying, but it is bad as I found out that his soul has been damaged.” Explained Lola Yma.

“Damaged?” Hearing Lola Yma’s explanation, chairman Buboy did not ask for an explanation, it seems that he knows a thing or two about the soul, as he did not ask Lola Yma how she could tell, added to the fact that Lola Yma is also a known espiritista in their town, so if anyone talks about the soul with authority, it would be her.

“What will happen to him now?” followed-up Buboy.

“I’m not sure. In more severe cases, people with dammaged souls will continue to deteriorate until it becomes so weak that it is unable to remain in the body or even dissipate, thus, causing the death of the person. In most cases, people who got their souls damaged becomes retarded. There are rare cases that the person will only lose some of their memories.” Lola Yma explained Lumawig’s condition to chairman Buboy.

“It is that bad huh?” pondered the chairman.

“Just leave him with me for the next few days. I have a feeling that he is not a normal boy.” Lola Yma told Buboy.

“Understood. By the way lola, the reason I came here is that I have some news to tell you, and it might be related to that young man we found…or maybe not.” Chairman Buboy finally told the old woman the reason for his visit.