Ooof. I reel back from the hit as a sense of clarity comes back. I am in the safehouse. Quite a large and spacious place in the outer neighborhoods of Cebu. It’s a decent place to plan and rest between missions. Not much here other than the living essentials, a small armory that is currently empty, and a small surveillance station monitoring the exterior. Finn and I also repurposed the space to make room for sparring in martial arts.
Some of my associates in AGON are taken aback that I am more familiar with western skills like jiu jitsu or capoeira than in things like karate, tae kwon do, or even kung fu. Not for the lack of trying, but I only learned official fighting skills rather recently in my time as an agent. Much of my other combat techniques are improvised based on the environment. I also learned a thing or two from Bruce Lee’s writings. But I read more from his writings about clearing my mind through meditation than knowing fighting styles. Plus, AGON recommended I lay low when I am in Asia especially in the presence of local authorities that have ties to China.
Finn waits for a moment for me to collect myself, “Daydreaming again?”
I shake the brain fog out of my head and put myself back into a fighting stance. Finn and I are practicing hand to hand combat now. And I was spacing out. Okay, time to focus.
I look at Finn’s stance. An expert in close quarters combat would notice Finn is being deceptive in his posture. It seems relaxed but it hides experience and strength that would make many spec ops feel like army privates. After all, Sun Tzu would say:
堅強的時候就顯得軟弱，軟弱的時候就顯得堅強。Appear weak when you are strong, and strong when you are weak.
Hmm...Seems Finn wants me to make the first move. Dammit.
My offensive starts with multiple jabs at Finn’s torso as well as low kicks to stumble or trip him. However, Finn manages to block or even endure all of my attacks.
Finn throws some fighting words at me as I try to get a hit in. “C’mon lass. That all ya got?”
I continue with my flurries.
“I wouldn’t say you fight like a wee girl. But more like a wet noodle. Or even better, you fight like a feckin English bastard.” He is being more harsh with the insults today, isn’t he?
I become more aggressive by making roundhouse kicks to Finn’s head. Finn blocks those as well. Finn then counters with strong side punches to catch me off-guard. I evade a couple and even block a few blows. Soon, Finn tries to grapple me and pin me to the ground.
Okay, this bit is kinda cheating, but I contort some of my body with some parts phasing through him in an attempt to grapple him instead and slam him down.
Finn grunts and makes a mischievous smile as he delivers a headbutts disorienting me. Too slow to react. Finn counter-grapples my body and slams me to the ground. Oof.
I slowly regain my senses as I look up at Finn.
“No fair,” I pout.
Finn replies with an amused expression. “Says the lass that I told very specifically not to use her powers during sparring.”
“Sorry, I just don’t think I can beat you in a fair fight. Or even if I used all my powers.”
“Lass,” he extends an arm to help me up, “You don’t need abilities to win the day. You just need guile and cunning.”
He says this with his thumbs up.
“Thanks? Also, I didn’t know headbutting people is considered a strategy.”
Finn laughs in his mirthful way, “In the old Eire, playing a bit dirty is considered a sound strategy. Or is that just me?”
Finn beckons me to sit with him at a bench nearby. I follow and sit with him. “I see. But I still need to better myself.”
“You are more of a fast learner compared to most of my old warband, the Fianna. You may not be the best martial artist. But I see you at your best when you improvise based on your surroundings. You’ll be fine.”
I smile and shrug at his attempt to encourage me. “I am not much of a fighter anyway. Much more rewarding that we can talk our way to victory than just punching things to resolve issues.”
He grabs a canteen and has a sip. “Aye. Don’t worry we will get plenty of opportunities in the future. Though these brutes don’t seem like open negotiators. Also, Yaz updated me on the descriptions of the cyber zombies you gave last morning. Both she and I can recall they are the type that similarly belong to this dangerous mercenary company from outside the Philippines with a reputation for depraved atrocities. So we do know there is someone else working with the aswang.”
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“It would probably be easier to get this mission done if we can find a native to help us know what the aswang and their allies really want.”
“Aye. Aside from that issue, I am really proud of you.”
I ask, “Why?”
“Can’t an old man like me be happy that his student has learned so much in just a few years.”
“Those few years felt like a century ago.”
“If that’s the case with you, imagine me having to live 150 of the craziest years of human history.” Finn finishes his drink and sighs afterward. “People come and go. Live and die. I've seen wars on scales I haven’t seen before in my early days.”
“I know of all the stories you told me. They were what kept me sane after AGON imprisoned me after...well you know.”
Finn shrugs, “Didn’t think my stories were all that interesting to begin with. Just scrums with some fecked up bastards.”
“I mean you told me the stories where you fought alongside the Irish Brigade, the Sioux tribes, the Haitian witchdoctors, the Jotunn of Norway, the Steppe Orcs, the Djinn of Ubar, the Vietcong....You went all over the world.” If there is one thing that makes Finn stand out, it is that he is more well-traveled than people give him credit for.
“Yeah...All to maintain the balance of power that is slowly slipping by the day. I could go all over the world. But I can never return home.”
“Something we have in common.” A melancholy we both share. There are those in AGON that call us the Exiles, because we carry ourselves as wanderers that belong to nowhere. There is also the detail that we can never return to our homelands too, but people wouldn’t ever know that unless they asked.
“You know it wasn’t your fault. You didn’t ask to be what you are now.”
He is right that much of my behavior after my reawakening was driven by instinct, but I still did it. “I can’t take back what has happened. I still caused a lot of grief. I honestly wouldn’t mind if AGON put me in a box and threw me into the ocean. It’s where----”
Finn interjects, “Perish the thought, lass.”
“Sorry. I just wish things were different…”
Finn moves his arm around my shoulder. I look up at him.
“Regret is the one thing worse than fear or anger. We all make mistakes and we wish we never made them. But life is about owning up to all the choices we make. Good and bad. What will you do with the past you carry, lass?”
I slowly slide my head by his side. He’s like a father I wished I had.
“Live and learn.”
Finn smiles warmly, “No one can deny you’re a good student. Someday you can teach others what you've learned.”
“謝謝, that means a lot, Finn.”
Finn starts drumming his lap with his hands in excitement. “So another round?”
“Umm…” I am a bit hesitant about getting my butt kicked again.
Suddenly, we hear knocking at the door. We both stand up, while Finn draws his spear.
“Odd. Yaz said no one should know about this location.”
“You think--?”
Finn just raises his hand as he carefully approaches the door. He leans on it while I get behind him.
“If you are looking for something, you got the wrong house.”
We hear a voice with a Filipino accent from the door. “My mistake then, I thought you guys needed a native for your ‘little problem.’”
Finn quickly opens the door to reveal a Filipino, possibly a native to the area. He wore a simple green shirt and some brown shorts. He has long hair tied into a ponytail like myself though it was closer to the nape of his neck than up near the center of the skull like me. He also had piercing green eyes similar to Finn except those eyes shine like emeralds. I walk over and observe him closely.
I narrow my eyes at him, “Have you been listening in on us?”
He boldly nods his head. “Not only that.”
He takes out a photo to reveal me from my infiltration mission. Wow, I am getting even sloppier by the day.
He continues “If you guys want to investigate in my city, you have to be a bit more subtle.”
I cross my arms and lean on the door.
Finn says, “You got balls, I give you that. You have 20 seconds to explain yourself.”
“I want these aswang outta my home. They have been kidnapping people left and right. I didn’t know it was just a lead-in to something bigger.”
I raise a brow. “Are you some kind of private investigator?”
The Filipino responds, “Vigilante actually.”
“Great,” I say sarcastically.
“C’mon. I only punish people that deserve it,” the Filipino says this in a weirdly nonchalant manner yet still full of conviction.
I ask back, “And how would you know they would deserve it?”
He points to his forehead. “I have a sense about these things.”
Finn chimes in, “Okay, okay. So are you telling me an average lad like you has gotten the better of these dossers?”
“I wouldn’t consider myself a regular guy,” says the Filipino as he takes off his shirt. “Can you let me in? Don’t want to transform out in the open.”
I became quite curious. Is he a werebeast? “Wait a minute, what exactly are you?”
“Let me in and I'll show you. Do you want to know what the aswang want or not?”
I look at Finn and we both shrug. We let him in. He walks into the middle of the safehouse. The bone and flesh starts shifting as parts of the Filipino’s face, arms, legs, and torso twist and turn to become a completely different creature. Half man, half horse. Oh. I should have expected it, but I can’t help having that sense of wonder when I see something new.
The werehorse furrows his brow, “What? Have you guys never ever seen a tikbalang before?”
We shake our heads.
The werehorse neighs. “Here’s the information.” He shows a microchip. Finn snorts in response. I couldn’t help but be amused.
“Just so you know, I am a bit offended when someone snorts at my horse noises. I am half-horse. I can’t help it.” He clears his throat. “Anyways, I have conditions.”
Finn takes a deep breath. “Of course you do.”
“Name them,” I say.
“First, whatever happens, we are doing this for the people living here. Not foreign governments, corporations, or secret organizations. Whatever agenda your superiors have, they are not the ones with the most to lose. The people here have everything to lose if things go wrong.”
I say, “Well, we are here to help the people of Cebu.”
“That may be true. But consider the possibility your mission and the interests of my home may not be one and the same. Just know as soon as you do something that fucks my home over, we are going to have a problem.” That last sentence sounds like a veiled threat. Not sure I am keen for another fight so soon, if our partnership goes south with the werehorse.
Finn nods. “Anything else?”
“I want you to have your higher-ups pull some strings to convince the authorities to get off my back. I haven’t been seen as the best law-abiding citizen here.”
We listen intently until...we hear groaning and banging along the walls.
I guess I jinxed myself in thinking of avoiding another fight. This time it comes to us.