Part 1:-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I am Niela, my daughter and I are the only Diwatas left in the Philippines. Thanks to Bathala, I was not born during the Liberty War. My grandmother is my only source of information about what the ancient era was like. Her last will is for me to protect the humans of the Philippines from danger. But how? Me alone? A Diwata against a whole race who can fry anyone from above? She is so delusional.
"Wwwoooooosssshhhhh!!!!"
An armored angel dived from the sky onto my wide balcony. The air shock from the angel's landing woke me from my brooding. I was sitting in front of my mirror, so I could see the beauty of the angel-the blonde hair, the healthy white skin, the perfect tone of their muscles. Their appearance is the only reason I can bear their disturbance of my peace.
"Niela!" The angel speak, "The Light Father su..."
I suddenly stand up and hover towards him.
"I know!.. I know.."
I extended my gracious hand for him to take me. He held my hand gently, and he began to float in the air. From within my hovering, our altitude increased slowly, and flawlessly, we started flying. Thanks to my ability, I don't have to be carried like a damsel while flying. All it takes is a little support to my hand, and I can surf the air just like an angel.
The brightness of the sky matches the aesthetics of the city. The patches of establishments complement the Cathedral that sits adjacent to the beaches of Manila. Birds are singing and chirping in the trees and on the roofs, while from time to time, birds of prey fly through the city's sky, making even the empty sky more lively.
Finally, we landed on the wide balcony of the cathedral. The Light Father never fails to throw a banquet in this hall every time he arrives here; he loves to celebrate anything with his children in the cathedral. It would be more fun if he let at least his guards reveal some curves and skin.
"KNEEL!" an acolyte shouted, signaling the arrival of the Light Father. Everyone, except his children, fell to their knees. Hell, I fell to my knees too, or else the pressure of his rihan would not only make me fall onto my knees but surely fall flat to the ground.
A strong, warm light glowed in the staging area of the hall, casting shadows across. The light dimmed more and more until it was safe for everyone to look at the Light Father.
Everyone paused, looking at his lion head, as if they could not comprehend what they were seeing. His solidified wings made of light dispersed into thin air as he casually strolled to the food on the table. He took a piece of meat and ate it.
With confusion on his face, he said in a booming voice, "What are you looking at? Enjoy the feast, my children; the food will get cold."
With the orchestra beginning their music to provide ambiance to the surroundings, everyone started to rise and socialize with each other. Fairies, elves, and angels, with their grace and appearance, decorated the grandeur of the hall. The orchestra matched the wind and birds chirping, creating a heavenly ambiance for the banquet.
Suddenly, the mood shifted, and the volume of the music was lowered as the Light Father returned to the staging area.
"Thousands of years have passed in this place that caters to sinners-the killers, the rapists, the cheaters. They killed their women and children, and they even chose the most greedy, the biggest liars, and the worst thieves as their leaders. I arrived in this realm full of violence and stupidity. My remorse compels me to do something, to bring peace and order. My fellow angels and I liberated the world from its self-destructing path!"
The crowds cheers.
"We drove the barbaric ways of the orcs from our cities, regulated the greed of the dwarves, and watched the scheming of the dark elves. We angels value morals above all else. Look at you."
He raised one of his hands.
SarielAnother cheering from the crowd.
"GLORY TO GOD!" he shouted.
"GLORY TO GOD!.. GLORY TO GOD!.. GLORY TO GOD!.. GLORY TO GOD!.. " the chanting of the crowd follows.
"Verily, the light of the Father's grace is not capable of bringing aught but a smile to our visage,"
from the other end of the hall, the giant door opened, and almost nude human females emerged. They spread out willingly to accompany everyone with smiles on their faces, especially to the angels.
Their giggles were there, but in their eyes, it seemed they were not really looking at anything at all. I felt some sort of mind-influencing Rihan on them.
"Pray, let someone tell me that I am not truly tardy, but merely fashionably delayed."
St. Nephael float in the air towards his Father.
"I will assume that St. Sariel is with you!" The Light Father looked at him with a stern expression.
"Oooohhhhhh!!!.... the wine and the hospitality of the local people is so great that the crown prince requires some attention from St. Therese of Hed-seier"
St. Nephael bowed down and gestured towards the door where a silhouette could be seen. An elf, in the most elegant Roman attire, was pushing the crown prince, whose eyes revealed the euphoria he was experiencing.
I saw the crowd, and I could tell they were repressing their shock and urge to gossip about yet another drama orchestrated by St. Nephael. With my magic, I immediately summoned Mikay, who was drenched in her ink. From nothing, my daughter was immediately materialized.
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"MOMMY!!! I told you to at least send me a warning before summoning me!" she protested.
"The sun is at its highest. Are you really going to miss what's happening within the walls of the cathedral!?" I raised my eyebrow at her and gestured toward St. Naphael with my mouth.
Mikay suddenly realized where she was, and with just one twirl, all of her dirt and inks vanished. With twinkles in her eyes, she stared intensely at St. Nephael.
"The happiness that he brings to me still lingers in my heart!" she flirtatiously said. "But don't interrupt us next time, Mother!" She gave me a bad look, as if all the tantrums she wanted to throw were turned into a piercing gaze.
Part 2:-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Bbbrrraaggggggg!!!"
"What was it??" Grumbart grabbed my collar and wrestled me to the ground, ending up on top of me.
"Gggggrrrgggghhhhh!" Pen-pen growled at Grumbart, ready to pounce if not for my gaze holding him back.
"A pendant," I replied, but he wasn't satisfied with the answer and punched me across the face.
"Answer me, MUSANG!!!!" I could feel the anger behind his punch, his rage evident in his actions. He was so furious with me that he ignored the growing size of my wolf, hidden by my costume. Blood from my nose and mouth ran down my face.
"Gggggrrrgggghhhhh!"
"Cough!.. Cough!.. Cough!.. "
" Shaman's medallion " I answered.
"Gggggrrrgggghhhhh!" Grumbart widened his eyes, locking his gaze with my wolf as if fear had suddenly gripped him. He stepped back, only to stumble and fall to the ground. "You gave fang and claw to a monster," he muttered.
I sat on the ground, clenching my jaw. "What do you mean?" I asked.
He looked me in the eye, his voice serious. "I was once a student in a research academy. Me and that bastard were roommates. He's one of a kind, a Hed-seier," he said, getting up from the ground. "He's a smart elf, and everyone respects him for it. But he matched their praise with overestimating himself. He thought since no one knew about ancient elven writings anymore, he didn't need to keep his research secret. One morning, as the wind blew into our room, his research paper flew and fell to the ground. Out of concern, I picked up the papers. It was hard for me not to look, and I thought he was researching medicines because of the sketches on the paper. Thanks to my expertise in old dwarven writings, which are very similar to the ancient elven writings he was using, I read a shocking and hair-raising revelation."
He walked towards me and stooped down to meet my eye level. "You know what he was researching?" he asked.
"What?" I asked back.
"Necromancy!" He answered. The words rang in my ears, making it hard to forget what my mothe.... what the Anitos had said to me about my father being resurrected. By the time we got home, I immediately went to my room and frantically searched for the secret compartment.
And when I found it, what I discovered were three pages of papers cut from a book. The papers contained an alphabetical dictionary of names of people, with details of their deaths beneath each name. In the upper right corner of each page was the date of their death, which matched the date of my father's death. I immediately scanned the pages, searching for my father's name. When I found where his name should have been, all I saw were smudges. There was no text except for the details: death due to a fall from heights and impalement by protruding rebars. That's how my father had died. There was no question about it; this page belonged to my father, and the smudged part obscured his name and death details.
"Necromancy!" I mumbled, realizing this could lead me to my father.
"Ok, ok! I understand! I will do my best to retrieve the medallion," I said, trying to calm him. "Would you like me to destroy the medallion to ensure it won't fall into the wrong hands?" I asked, seeking clarification on what would appease Grumbart and ease his agitation.
"Yeah! And make peace with whom you stole from!" Grumbart said. "For he or she won't last until the next moon for taking the medallion!" He continued, "What?"
Grumbart answered, "The medallion influences the soul of its keeper, making the person more spiritualized, but it will merge the soul with the medallion. Taking the medallion away from its keeper will damage the soul and result in death." He broke the Mithril ore in two and pushed half of it towards me. "Here, all I need is half of it for research. I hope this half is worth it for the life of the shamans you stole from."
I stood up slowly, clutching the ore towards me. "You're kidding, right?" I responded, thinking of my friend Gorg.
"I wish I were kidding, but hey! All you need to do is wait for the next full moon to verify my claims!" Grumbart replied. With his response, I immediately glanced at Pen-pen, signaling him to bail out of the situation. "Hey! Wait!" Grumbart tried to catch up with us, but our swiftness allowed us to escape. I made sure we stayed out of his sight and dove into the shadows, aiming to meet Gorg as quickly as possible.
With speed on my side, I managed to stop by the house. I placed the ore under my bed and checked the fake Mithril ore in my closet. After washing the blood off my face in the sink, I looked into the mirror, which was made of the smoothest silver instead of the usual glass. I saw myself: the broken nose, the dark eye bags, the messy hair obscuring my sight, and my thin chin making me look like an underweight zombie. My appearance was far different from my previous life; it seemed like every mistake and sin I had committed was reflected on my face.
Suddenly, a bell rang from the direction of our training camp. "Arf! Arf! Arf!" Pen-pen's bark through the biting of the bamboo canister added urgency to return to camp. We immediately went there, and instead of a formation of trainees, flying fairies were sprinkling sparkles in the air. The surroundings were decorated with white curtains and flowers rapidly growing and blooming from the ground. Tables with white mantles were populated with delicious food. My fellow trainees were confused and amazed at the transformation of our training grounds.
I saw Gorg from a distance, accompanied by Persis, both of them looking for me as they usually did whenever I slipped out of their sight. I immediately approached them. "What's happening?" I asked.
"Bad! That's what happening!" Persis responded.
"We've been looking all over for you, Musang. I was so worried! Where did you go?" Gorg added.
Persis tightly held our hand and pulled us away from the vicinity. "We need to go now," Persis insisted. Confused, we didn't resist, but as we tried to exit, elven knights blocked our way with their pole arms.
"The Diwatang Niela ordered us to keep the trainees here at the banquet," one of the knights said.
"This is bullshit! We feel more like prisoners than volunteers for the expedition," Persis exclaimed.
Suddenly, the trumpet sounded, and a super bright light began glowing behind us. Everyone closed their eyes and shielded them with their hands.
The glow grew dimmer until everyone's attention was caught by whoever was standing in the staging area. We turned our heads and saw the Diwatas and A'Yeel Hed-Seier standing beside someone-or more like something-a being with a humanoid body clad in silver armor.
The body was enormous, towering over everyone present. Even the orcs would need to look up to this being. It resembled an angel, but its wings were made of solidified light. It had no scepter or crown floating above its head, but the head itself was distinctive. It was not the head of an angel or any other known race; it had a mane of golden hair, a snout, and fangs-it was the head of a lion. The appearance was the most dignified I had ever seen in my life.
"KNEEL! You are in the presence of the Light Father!" Niela shouted.