Narration: Fei

The parade continues without incident. The crowd continues to celebrate the closing parade of Sinulog. The tikbalang organize their own party together watching the parade from the rooftops. Riz back in human form finds Reyna. They hug and both watch the parade together. Finn supports me as we watch the event unfold from the second floor of a building. I could see the little girl with the human thug I let go watch the parade too. The girl notices me and waves back smiling warmly. I wave back smiling as well.

“The ending to our mission is much better than what happened in Brazil.”

Finn scratches his head. “Don’t remind me. Remember we are still on probation for that. Hopefully, our success here will let command lighten up a bit. We will have to explain all the details. And I have a feeling you haven’t been forthright with me.”

“The aswang boss switched sides when she found that the bombs would have killed the aswang too. The manifest had some details specifically to allow an aswang crime boss to have access through a cipher.”

“Why would Pinnacle’s manifest allow an aswang to have access to their files?”

“I think someone on the inside wanted her to know like this was part of a plan.”

Finn ponders for a moment. “I wonder who that would be.”

“Finn, we figure this out later. Can we at least make this moment a small relief from all the action?”

“I didn’t expect someone like you to be tired. You’re dead after all.”

“You know what I mean,” I say in my deadpan tone.

Finn and I hear footsteps as a tourist comes by and leans on the railing looking at the parade. “Nice sight, isn’t it?”

Finn could tell I am caught off-guard by the new arrival. “You know him?”

“Hey, Jim’s the name. Enjoying the festival?”

Somehow I had a feeling last night wasn't going to be the last I saw him, though I say otherwise. “Umm...yeah...we are. Didn’t expect to see you again.”

“Well, I was busy with work for the last few days but I managed to get the time off for this special occasion. But I am more concerned about you. You look...really beat up.”

I try to brush it off. “It’s nothing special. Just an accident.”

He looks amused, “You are taking it very well. Your clothes are ripped up and I can see you’re bandaged up here and there. Nothing special about multiple injuries?”

Finn asks him bluntly, “What’s your business with us, Jim?”

“There’s going to be a time where I will need your help.”

Finn and I look at each other confused.

I ask back, “Our help?”

He nods, “Yes. I made a deal with AGON for aid.”

While we are on the second floor talking, I see from the side of my eye Reyna looking on from below. She has a quick glance of Jim before turning to Riz and they continue watching the parade. Odd. Hmm...

I say, “So you aren’t just a tourist.”

He shrugs, “Wasn’t it obvious?”

I retorted, “It was very obvious.”

“I tend to stick out like a sore thumb,” he chuckles. “I am leaving the country soon. Lots of plans within plans. You and your allies will be called to action very soon. The world is in the midst of falling apart. And the right kind of people will be needed to take on the threats to come. The question is do you have what it takes to face what’s out there?” Jim said that last sentence with a sense of foreboding.

I responded confidently. “Finn and I have been through much. Whatever happens, we will be there.”

“Hmm, that’s what I like to hear. Enjoy the parade, and Viva, Pit Senyor, you two.” Jim walks away, and I see in the back pocket of his pants a wallet that has the symbol of Pinnacle, like the one I saw in the warehouse. He looks back and winks at me before going down the stairs.

Finn looks at me strangely. “I think you have some explanation for me.”

I sigh, “Yeah, a lot.”

From a distance thanks to my acute vision, I see Reyna text on her phone to an unknown number saying only three words. Words that make me feel that I will have to keep an eye on her and Jim.

MAGNUS IS HERE.

Magnus? The family that owns Pinnacle and the other corporations that dominate our world?....I think we have brought ourselves the attention of some big players.

As the parade died down, I told Finn that I could support myself and that I wanted some time alone. He did give me a spare smartphone since mine was busted in my battle with Dalisay earlier.

Finn would go down to meet Riz and Reyna, while I decide...well....I think it's time I did something I haven't done in a for a few months now. I text Finn I needed some few hours to complete some personal errands. Finn would definitely know I'm full of it, but....I think he would understand. I realized as I look towards the horizon that it is a special anniversary for me today, and I can't believe I forgot about it. Then again, a lot happened in a few days.

I look at the setting sun feeling the subtle sting of its light upon me. I wait for hours until the night has fallen. Climbing down the roof, I walk down the street alone. The street is such a mess. Heh, Filipinos do love to celebrate. I do see some few sanitation crews cleaning up trash here and there. I stop by an electronics shop and buy a simple burner phone. I take the sim card out of the phone and focus my energy into it, before setting the card back in. That should make my upcoming call very hard to detect. Can't afford for anyone to know what I'm doing, even Finn.

I find a quiet spot on the street away from anyone that would be close by.

Heh...I'm actually more scared to dial this number than I was fighting the necromancer and the aswang.

Be brave, Fei. Dialing the phone, I waited for a response. "喂? (Hello?)"

An automated voice responded, "抱歉，您嘗試呼叫的人不在。請留言或再次致電。(Sorry, the person you are trying to call is not available. Please leave a message or call again.)"

"我希望給你打電話。(I wish to call you.) But considering that you don't listen to your voice messages, I guess it wouldn't hurt if I speak like this. And don't worry, I am using a burner phone, so no one can trace our call, even my employer."

The world around me feels silent as the grave at least for a moment before I heard cricket chirp again.

"It's been awhile. I have been all over the world, since I left China. The world is full of beauty and terror. Sometimes, they coexist together simultaneously. From the green and urban jungles of Brazil to the cold wastes of Siberian wilderness, I saw people and creatures that I couldn't even imagine in my dreams."

Is this what I can only come up with? I need to be more exciting.

"Did you know over the lands of Arctic, there are whales that can fly over the sky? Actually, it was more like they swam, even if was in the air. Africa is amazing. I saw animals I have only seen in books or on internet articles back home."

A car drives down the street past me but I bear no thought about it, I need to say all of this.

"Europe is great too. So many places rich with history. Each nation has diverse stories to tell. I remember you wouldn't stop talking to me about Rome. I know how much you wanted to go there. I was there among the ruins and the old buildings. The Colosseum. The temples. The churches. They were all there. As majestic as you described it."

"Europe had some excellent bakeries in the rural towns. I wouldn't be able to taste them anymore, but I know you would have loved the sweets and the pastries. So much different food. Makes me wish I was able to taste any of them. Now, I wish I could try our food back home too."

I hear a dog bark nearby, and I may have heard a rooster crow too. Was I out this late? No, focus.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

"And the people....I have met so many people. So diverse and so different. Some very nice. Others not so much. My work requires me to travel a lot, but the people of my job treat me well enough. Remember, when we would play cops and robbers? You would be the cop? And I would play the robber? The times you won that game is more than I count. But yeah, I play the cop now to this group of people. We fight criminals that are more supernatural than normal."

"Even though we fight them, I try my best not to overdo it. Sometimes, when my employers are not looking, I sneak medical insurance business cards in the criminals' pockets we take out of the fight. Sounds silly, right? Hahaha!"

"Well, I know some of them are poor and desperate, and I didn't want add to the burden of their lives by leaving with medical bills or lack of access to better healthcare. I know some groups that give good insurance, because my partner and mentor doesn't play nice with them. He can get MEAN."

"Now that I think about it, I am a really silly girl. Because you would be wondering, 'Fei, why would you help criminals?' Maybe because I was on the receiving end myself. So I feel for them. I am no saint. A part of me still thinks I should get what I deserve. Perhaps, in time."

I take a deep breath but not out of need but out of.....regret....

"I sigh despite being dead. The dead don't need to breathe. Yet, I act like I do. I can pretend very well."

"Maybe, I pretend to be a good person too. I know mom and dad would think so. Speaking of which, how are they? Do they still....remember me? Are they still in a position to take care of you? Last time, I was there, I...."

I.....I try to stream tears. My eyes are so dry, yet it hurts....Nothing flows down....I clutch my chest, but I remember....my heart doesn't beat....

"All that matters to me is that you are still okay. I am sure the people back home won't let me return. Let alone see you. But I just need to know you are there."

...............

"Please, brother. I need you."

...............

"WHY WON'T YOU SAY ANYTHING? I WAS A BAD SISTER! I. WAS. A. BAD. SISTER! WHAT MORE DO YOU WANT?"

I drop to my knees and I cry as much as I can, but no matter what I do....no tears....no heartbeat......For someone who doesn't need to breathe, why do I feel like I'm suffocating? Please say something, Tai!

"Brother.....let me at least say that I love---"

My other phone rings completely taking me out of the moment. I quickly throw away the burner phone and answer Finn.

"Hey Finn."

Finn replies, "You alright?"

With confidence, I say, "Yeah, I am okay. I was just checking on messages."

"So you did anyone call you?"

"No, I haven't heard from anyone. Just silence tonight." Hopefully, that was smooth enough.

"You know," Finn pauses for a moment. "I forgot this is the day---"

"I left China," I finish his sentence. "Yeah, I'm aware. But it's not a big deal. It's just like any other day."

"Lass, if you need to talk to about anything---"

"It's fine," I interrupt. "I'm okay. I've moved on."

"If you were, you'd---,"

"I wouldn't be here, yeah....could've worded it better." I walk down the streets heading back to Riz's home, while still speaking to Finn.

"Well, you know the Filipino lad?"

"Riz? What about him," I ask.

"AGON is interested in him. They contacted me earlier this evening. They want him to come with us to assess if he could work with us."

"Oh. That's...cool...." Didn't know what to really think about this, but he did help. Who knows? He seems capable enough, and....he just reminds me of better days. "But isn't it quite sudden? Don't we need to go through paperwork about that?"

Finn replies, "They may not be perfect, but AGON is not that bad when comes to that bureaucracy bullshite. They can arrange something. Riz is already contacting his former tribe about legal documents so he can travel. I will tell you more when you get back to Ricar's place."

"Noted." I hang up.

All this fighting and espionage....people find it exciting. I'm sure everyone who has normal lives wishes they were a secret agent. Now, this is my new normal.

I like Riz, but for his sake.....does he really want to get into this life? For all my talk about traveling the world and living in adventure.....I just want to go home.

Then again, what is home to me now?

I try not to think about these things for a while until I reach Riz's place. I hop over a wall and was about to go inside, but I notice activity in the backyard. Riz?

I see him walking out of the house, walking on the grass with sandals on. He takes out a phone and dials it. He waits for a moment, while I lean on a tree.

The phone answers, "Unsa?" On speaker? Isn't Riz worried about this being eavesdropped?

Riz says, "Hmm...I am surprised you answered."

"Just get to the point already." The voice is pitch deep and rough. Didn't sound human.

"English too, eh?"

"Why would I waste speaking our language to someone so disgraceful? This primitive tongue will do."

Riz must be calling his tribe. I remember Finn mentioned they were his former tribe. Wait, was Riz....

"Send someone from the tribe to mail my werebeast certification to Tito's house. I realized it's still back at our tribal barangay."

The voice on the phone asks, "What do you even need it for?"

"Anyone that shifts forms need that to cross borders so the other governments doesn't accuse them of being spies or assassins." That's true. Part of the International Statutes of Therianthropy as mandated by the United Nations to prevent a level of espionage that can be done by shapeshifters. Quite controversial but it makes sense.

"Oh, so you are finally leaving after all?"

Riz's tone because more caustic. "Oo, you must be so glad."

"I am. I will have that arranged immediately. Honestly, it's for the best. You did say you want to leave this "shithole" in our last encounter?"

"I say a lot of things. But that's not important, I got to know some people. They are bringing me into a group that will actually do some good for once."

The voice's response is dripping with sarcasm. "Look at you. Having a legitimate job, like a puta? I heard our kind's cocks are in high demand these days. Or are you going full terrorist? I heard some groups in Mindanao are trying to recruit again."

Riz grips his phone hard. "Still not really a fan of seeing me go my own way, eh?"

"Well, think of it this way. Look what happened when you wanted things to go your way---"

Riz interjects, "Because it was the right thing to do to get rid of the blood coke fucking up our city."

"You dragged us into a drug war with the aswang!" The voice growls, "That was not our business. The hairless apes can take care of themselves. It'll take years to recover from the consequences."

"Hundreds died, because you and the elders sat on your ass and did nothing. Aren't you of the Kadatuan?" Riz starts pacing around looking agitated.

"Don't pull that shit on me, totoy. It was bloodshed for people not worth a single hair of our mane."

"Wow, I forgot how disgustingly bigoted you are. Actually, you are even more so now, right?"

"There shouldn't be anything wrong about preferring one's own kin to strangers. Those who think they can bring justice for everyone is dangerously naive."

"Isn't righting a wrong anywhere one of our core values as tikbalang?" Sometimes, I forget Riz and his kind are a completely different race from humanity. Maybe it's how he carries himself.

"You also forget: justice is the most violent of all virtues. Contradictory and demanding a high price, and we paid it for a people who never belonged to these islands. Why do you think the diwata left, Riz?"

"Bull-fucking-shit. You think we were any more native to the Philippines than humankind?"

"Don't tell me you bought into the conspiracies and lies from Shaman Budo. That Budo," he emphasized that name with complete contempt. "Listen, there is no such thing as the Philippines or Maharlika because these people never belonged here. There are nothing more than a legacy of multiple mongrel variations of their kind slithering like parasites to these lands, while raping and killing each other for millenia. No one human belongs here. Not the Lumad. Not the Negritos. Not the Igorots. And especially not the shitblooded lowlanders, which is basically the rest of them!"

"Is this how you honor Ma's memory!? She was what you called a shitblood too," Riz stops pacing staying still again.

"I thought she would prove me wrong about humankind. For a time, I thought she was right. She did more for the tribe despite starting out as an outsider. She was not just family, she was my whole world."

"And you think she wasn't mine too?"

"It doesn't matter. From the loss of my whole world comes the sum of my failures, you."

......................

For few seconds, only silence. I can only hear the chirping of crickets. Hearing this conversation, maybe my brother's silence isn't that bad.

"Your disobedience as you grew up, your recklessness as you explored the land, your violence as you accrued more enemies, everything your mother and I didn't want you to be still came to grow within as you went renegade. And her reward for being your mother? A broken heart, then a casualty of the war YOU started-----"

Riz yells, "PUTANG INA MO!!! WHAT'S THE POINT OF THIS TALK?"

"A reminder that I AM ASHAMED OF YOU! Pride for the past is tainted. Pride for our tribe is wounded. Pride for my family is dead. Didn't you not remember---"

"Pride is all we have left. Yes, you said it many times. But what pride is left for an old horse like you? Nothing worthwhile."

The voice growls once again ending with, "Words from a disappointment matters little for I have no son."

......................

Riz merely says, "Sige, rot in your past."

Riz's father says, "So you say, totoy."

Riz crushes the smartphone with a very tight grip busting it completely. Taking a deep breath, he looks at my direction.

"How long have you been here?"

I stop leaning from the tree. "Long enough."

Riz kicks the shards of the phone away. "Hmph...just saying goodbye."

"I didn't know it would be this bad."

"Not a big deal." Riz tries to brush it off, but I can still see some tears in his eyes.

"I thought he would at least be grateful for your work to avert the attack on the parade."

"Eh, again, a tikbalang will be hesitant to admit they are wrong. And my dad is a cut from the rest."

"Think of it this way, a fresh start from beyond the sea."

Riz smirks, "Word travels fast."

"I know someone like you appreciates speed. Now that you have Finn and I as company, we can get you inducted to AGON, you can be someone different."

"So it goes." Riz and I start start walking close to together back into the house.

I joke, "You can always have Finn as your father figure. He's basically mine at this point."

"As long as someone tells him to fix his bad breath. You don't smell--"

"Undead, remember," I retort.

"Ay nako. I need to get used to that."

We both chuckle together as warmly as two monsters can.

So much pain today, yet there was also comfort, especially from those who struggle in similar ways. He has no where to go, just like me and Finn. Maybe him joining us will work out. Having another partner with us as we take on the world together, it makes things far less lonely. If I can't go home, I can build one with those who are now my friends.

Just as we close the door, I swear I feel a single faint beat in my chest, and I just simply....smile.