“Uhm… Are you sure about this?”

“Yes! Are you scared?”

“No! It’s just… It’s too sudden…”

“Hihi~ Don’t be shy~ Come closer…”

“Uhm… Okay...”

…

“Woah!”

“Hihi~ What can you say? It’s cute, right?”

“It’s… It’s huge!”

“I know, right? I take good care of it!”

“Quite obvious. It’s so charming.”

“You can touch it. Hehe ~”

“Wa-wait!? Are you sure?”

“Mmm-hmm! Just be gentle, okay? She could be sensitive sometimes.”

“Uhm… Okay. Here I go……”

Triggs reached his hand and,

“KRAAAAA~”

“Wow! I think she likes you!” Calla uttered with a smile.

“It’s so big and healthy. What’s her name again?”

“Her name is Isha! And she’s a Philippine Forest Turtle.”

“Woah!... Nice to meet you, Turtle-Isha!”

“KRAAAAA~”

“She’s very unique! She’s too big for her species.”

“I have never seen a turtle this big. What do you feed her?”

“Just regular vegetables and stuff,” Calla answered proudly.

Triggs was in awe. He stared at the pedestal-sized turtle with fascination.

“Watch this!” Calla uttered as she walked a few steps away from the turtle.

“Isha! Come!” she commanded.

“KRAAAAA~”

The turtle walked towards Calla’s location.

“Good turtle!” Calla praised Isha. “Now, spin!”

“KRAAAAA~”

Isha followed the command.

“Very good turtle!”

“Wow! She can do tricks?”

“Yup! She’s very smart!” Calla replied. “She can understand our language.”

“Cool!”

“Isha, are you thirsty?”

“KRAAAAA~”

“Okay!” Calla responded to Isha. “I never let her drink any kind of water. I always make sure that she drinks the purest one.”

Calla held her hands together to make a bowl using her palms. She chanted,

“AQUA PURIFICA!”

Droplets of water started to condense on Calla’s palm. She squatted and offered the water to Isha.

“Here you go, Isha.”

Isha drank the water.

“KRAAAAA~”

“All done?”

“KRA-KRAAA~”

“You’re welcome!”

Triggs was awe-struck. He couldn't resist smiling while watching Calla and Isha’s interaction.

“Seems like you understand her too?” Triggs asked.

“Yup! She has been my friend for more than a decade now. We have a deep connection,” Calla replied.

“I see. Is she your childhood pet?”

“Yup. My best friend from the village where I was born gave her to me as a gift. Her name is Mae-Mae.”

“I’m jealous. I wish I also had someone who could give me a cool pet. Mae-mae must be a very good friend.”

“Uhm… Actually…” Calla murmured. A sudden change of mood was observed from Calla. She continued,

“I don’t remember her too well. I just remember her name. I'm not sure why, but it feels like some of my memories about that village are kinda fuzzy. All I can say is those are not good memories.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Triggs replied.

“Lae mentioned something about ‘Selective Memory’. She said it’s my body’s way of coping with my traumatic childhood. I was so young back then,” Calla explained.

She added, “All I can remember is the villagers hate me. They hate me so much that they tried to kill me.”

Triggs didn’t know how to react. He stayed silent and continued listening to Calla’s story.

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“But luckily, Isha and I were able to escape. I think a miracle happened; I just woke up on an island far from the village and Isha was right there beside me.”

Sensing that Calla was already done narrating, Triggs tried to console her, “I’m very sorry those things happened to you.”

Calla tried to brighten up the mood again.

“Oh, it’s okay! What’s important is I’m still alive now! And I’m happy and safe with my friends!” Calla expressed.

“And you know what? If that didn’t happen to me, I wouldn't have met my family on that island - the first people to truly accept me, my first home!”

“Oh, the one you mentioned a while ago? The one who told you about your Giya?”

“Yes!” Calla answered excitedly. “My adoptive family - the Sirenas* of Matukad Island!”

Mystified by the answer, Triggs had to ask,

“‘Sirenas’? You mean the real Sirenas?”

“Yup!” Calla replied. “‘Sirenas’, ‘Sirens’, ‘Mermaids’, ‘Magindaras’, or ‘Water Spirits’ - whatever you want to call them; they are the ones who adopted me when I ended up on the Island.”

Triggs was amazed.

“So, they’re real, huh?”

“Yup! And there are many of them in different places! I’m very lucky that I was adopted by good and loving Sirenas.”

“Wow, that’s nice! I always wanted to see a Sirena.”

Something came up in Calla’s mind, “Ooh! How about this… If I ever visit them again, come with me so I can introduce you to them.”

“Sounds nice! I will not say no.”

“Yey!”

The two of them were getting excited.

“KRAAAA~” Isha chirped as if she wanted to join the conversation.

“Oh, what is it, Isha?” Calla asked the turtle.

“KRAAA~ KRA-KRA…”

“Uuuhhh… About that…” Calla murmured as she rubbed her 2 index fingers together.

“What did Isha say, Calla?”

“Uhmm… Uhhh….” Calla continued murmuring. She was thinking if she should say it to Triggs.

“Uhm… Isha asked me about your Giya, Triggs. I’m sorry…”

“I see,” Triggs’ response. “It’s okay! Hehe.…”

Calla answered the turtle, “Isha, Triggs still doesn’t know about his Giya…”

“Kra - kraaaa… :(“

“What did she say?”

“She said she’s sorry.”

“Ohh… No need to be sorry. Don’t worry, Isha! I’ll learn more about this kind of stuff someday!

“KRAAAA!~”

“She’s cheering you now,” Calla said.

“Thanks! Hehe.”

After that, Triggs went silent for a while. He bowed his head, and he placed his right hand on his chin as if he was thinking something.

“Are you okay, Triggs?”

“I just remembered something you mentioned a while ago,” Triggs said. “I’m just curious…”

“Hmm? Why?”

“The Sirenas…” Triggs replied. “You said you learned about your Giya from the Sirenas, right?”

“Yup! I learned about Ate Panee from them.” Calla answered. “The Sirenas of Matukad Island are the remaining faithful followers of Ate Panee. They still worship Her as the Goddess of Primordial Waters.”

Triggs became more excited. “Maybe I can also learn more from them when I meet them.”

“Surely!” Calla replied. “I’m excited too!”

Their conversation was interrupted when suddenly,

BLAAAM!

“Isha!? What are you doing!?” Calla exclaimed.

Seeing the helpless turtle wagging her chunky feet in the air, lying upside down on her shell, Calla rushed to aid the poor Isha.

Calla helped her friend by flipping her back to her belly.

Concerned, Triggs asked, “What happened?”

“I think she bumped to the table again and got herself flipped over.”

“Is she going to be okay?”

“Don’t worry, this has happened a lot lately. And just like before, I believe she will be fine. She’s a tough girl,” Calla assured. She said this while rubbing the turtle’s shell.

“That’s good to hear.”

“Anyway… I don’t think I’ll be able to accompany you further,” Calla stated. “I’ll need to stay here a bit to make sure Isha’s really okay.”

“It’s okay, Calla,” Triggs replied.

“I think Lae and the others are still in the garden. You can ask them to continue the tour for you.”

As a response, Triggs nodded his head and said, “Sure.”.

“See you later, Triggs!”

“See you!”

Triggs left the room.

As he walked through the balcony, he heard a faint weeping coming from the room next to Calla’s.

Triggs was bothered by the noise. Slowly, he stepped closer and put his ear near the door.

“Someone’s crying…” Triggs mumbled to himself.

Concerned, Triggs knocked at the door.

“Hello? Is someone there?”

Nobody answered.

Triggs asked another question, “Do you need help there?”

No reply was heard. The crying also stopped after that.

Still uneasy, Triggs walked to the waist-high railings of the balcony. He looked down to the ground where the garden was.

There, he saw Otto and Zaine casually talking to each other. Lae was also there, looking at the flowers she grew.

“Guys!?” Triggs yelled from the second floor. “I think I heard someone crying in this room.”

The people on the ground heard and understood what Triggs said.

After that, Triggs saw Otto tapping Zaine’s shoulder as if the buffed man signaled something to him.

Without further ado, Zaine sprinted to the stairs and went up to the balcony. He rushed to the door where Triggs was.

“I heard a girl crying inside the room,” Triggs informed.

“Move away,” Zaine’s hasty reply.

Zaine went straight inside the room, leaving Triggs baffled.

Triggs mumbled to himself. “Dude? I’m just trying to help here.”

Triggs continued moving and went downstairs where Otto was.

“Man, what’s up?” Otto greeted.

Triggs’ mind was still occupied by the crying he heard. He asked Otto,

“What was that about?”

“Oh. I think it’s just Claire. She’s always like that,” Otto answered.

“What do you mean she’s always like that?”

“Claire has this supernatural ability: she can hear everything within a large radius. By ‘everything’, I meant everything - even those that normal people like us can’t hear,” Otto explained. He continued,

“Sometimes - or most of the time - she hears things that shouldn’t be heard. And it makes her like that.”

“I understand now,” Triggs replied.

“She’ll be fine, Man. Her kuya is already there to comfort her. Zaine is a good brother,” Otto said.

Suddenly, he remembered something, “By the way, Man, I almost forgot about this.”

Otto reached into his pocket.

“I want to return this to you,” Otto uttered as he handed something to Triggs.

“So you still have my money, huh?”

“Yes, it’s yours anyway. We just had to keep it. You can do whatever you want with it now, just don’t try to show it to your sister to convince her again.”

“I know, I know,” Triggs uttered. “She still won’t believe me, anyway.”

“Right, Man!” Otto replied. “By the way, if you don’t know what to do with your money, I have a suggestion.”

“What is it?”

Otto leaned closer and whispered something to Triggs.