THE REALMS OF KAHILWAYAN: Alunsina Chronicles

Chapter 4 - The Encounter

There was silence. No response from Lito and Carlos. She went further, closer to the edge of the cliff, and looked around, raising and lowering the lamp around her to catch any shape or form of those two little children she saw from the window. Maybe she came in the middle of them playing hide-and-seek, she thought, or maybe it's not them, maybe it was some other kids from the other side of the hill, kids she did not know, who was playing here earlier.

Disappointed, frustrated, after all the trouble she went through going there, she called out again, this time, whispering, like she was looking for them in a hide-and-seek, "Lito? Carlos? It's Juana. Where are you? I saw you from Apuy 'Sina's window."

And then, from somewhere in the darkness, she heard someone speak.

"Whose window did you say?"

"Lito?! Lito, is that you?!" Juana called out with elation. Finally, she sighed to herself with relief.

Confused, Amihan emerged from the dark fog, yanking Kanayon behind him who was trying to pull him back, stopping him from revealing himself to the girl.

"You are not Lito," chided Kanayon.

Juana stood before them, raising the lamp higher, her smile fading into dread, seeing two little children she cannot recognize floating above her.

Realizing Juana could see them, they froze, perplexed, above her.

"Can you see me?" Kanayon blurted out, hovering closer to her.

"And me?" Amihan added, pushing Kanayon aside.

Shivering, Juana raised the lamp on top of her head to get a better look at them, her mind trying to figure out what she was seeing.

"What do you mean I can see you ...and you? Of course, I can see you. You are not some ghosts, are you? What are you? You are not my friends. You are not Lito...and...and Carlos! Who are you?" She rambled in fear.

Amihan and Kanayon looked at each other.

Crossing his arms in front of him, Amihan descended and stood in front of Juana, asking as he went closer to her. "That's weird -"

"More than weird. Terrifying!" Juana blurted out as she stepped back, using the lamp to drive them away. "You tricked me. I thought you were Lito and Carlos calling me."

"Who are Lito and Carlos?" Kanayon asked, circling around her and landed beside Amihan.

"Friends," declared Juana, "they are my friends: Lito and Carlos."

"We are friends!" Amihan and Kanayon interjected together.

"Well, ''kinda" ...''so-so", depending upon the weather, the season - " Kanayon backtracked in rambles, mimicking Amihan's air quotes.

"Who are you?!" Juana cut in, more invested, and impatiently insistent. "What are you?! What are you doing here in our valley at this time of the night?!"

"I am Kanayon," offering his hand awkwardly for a handshake.

"And I am Amihan," he added, elbowing Kanayon aside, and offering his hand.

For a while, Juana stared at them. This time, she felt she wasn't afraid anymore, she felt more relieved, now that she knows their names. And hearing it for the first time, their names, "Kanayon" and "Amihan", she found herself giggling.

"You have weird names!" She remarked, reaching for each of their hands and shook them. "I am Juana."

They mouthed her name and circled around her. Inspecting. Figuring her out. It made them curious how a mortal, a "cabayi", can see them. Though it was their first contact, all their knowledge about the mortals of the realm of Kalibutan, the "calalaque" and the "cabayi", was from the "sugidanon", the stories told to them by the primordial beings. And this moment clearly disproves a few details of the story they were told.

Juana eyed them circling above her until she got dizzy. "Stop doing that! What are you doing - "

"Quiet! - " Amihan interrupts.

"And why? - " Juana replied, crossing her arms imposingly.

"Who are you really? Why can you see us?" Kanayon asked.

"What? What do you mean? Am I not supposed to see you? You think I am blind?" She sassily rambled back at Kanayon, realizing she was gradually screaming, one question after another, hearing her voice bounce back at her. "You better leave this place before I call Lolo and Tatay. Surely, they know who your parents are! - "

"You mentioned 'Sina." Amihan blurted out without letting her finish.

"Who?" Juana wondered. "Apuy 'Sina? -"

"Yes. Her." Amihan confirmed.

"What about her? -"

Kanayon glared at Amihan, eyeing him to be cautious of letting Juana know everything, and before Amihan could reply, he cut in, "What Amihan wanted to know is, who is Apuy 'Sina? Is...is that her real name? Apuy 'Sina?"

Before Juana could reply, Amihan couldn't hold back and gave it away, blurting, "Is it...Alunsina? - "

"What? Alunsina?" Juana replied dubiously. "I don't know. We just call her 'Sina or Apuy 'Sina for us who are younger. We don't know where she came from. Lola and Lolo just told us she just came one day, and became part of our family."

Amihan and Kanayon suddenly halted looking at each other. Juana gave them more questions than answers.

"Came one day? As in..." Amihan inquired, breaking away from Kanayon's look.

"Appeared" one day?" Kanayon added, air quoting "appeared".

Juana stared at them, annoyed. And after one big sigh of disgust, she turned her back on them and marched back home, ranting, "Why did I even bother to come here against my better judgment? I know, I know, I am just 10 years old, that would everyone say if I get caught sneaking out this time of the night because a girl like me should not be out here this time of the night, blah, blah, blah, but I am curious, and I got curious, got excited." She looked back over her shoulder towards where she left Amihan and Kanayon. The dark fog had covered them, but she could still see their forms hovering, circling around and darting at each other, she was sure they were bickering. In disbelief at what she believes a waste of her time when she could have spent it by Apuy 'Sina's side, she turned about and continued her way back home, this time more confident of the path.

It did not take long before she found herself in front of their house again. The walk back home felt shorter, and she prayed her family did not notice her gone for what felt like just a moment. It puzzled her. It wasn't just a moment, she thought, looking back into the hill where she found Amihan and Kanayon. She could not see the exact spot because of the dark fog, but it was a good fifteen to twenty minutes walk, one-way, she could not have gone for nearly an hour. But had I gone that long, she questioned herself.

She can see Apuy Sina's room still lit, and the yellow "perdon" at the window, the one she replaced and lighted before she left was melted down to an inch or two. She remembered what Lola Clara told her once about the "perdon", that it was made with a special wax that had a secret ingredient only the parish priests of Jaro Cathedral know, and that secret ingredient gives the "perdon" not only its fragrance, but its composition, that one "perdon" can last for an hour until it is fully melted. Judging from what's left of the yellow "perdon", she was away for a long time and she prayed her family would not notice. "Fingers crossed, and hope to die", she mumbled.

Where did all that time go, she wondered, as she shook the dirt off her slippers, and quietly opened the front door wide enough for her to tip-toe in. After all the weird things she went through and witnessed, flying kids, she screamed in her mind, getting caught at the last minute was the last thing she wanted, imagining herself cornered by the adults, all those darting eyes of Lola Clara, of Lolo Kulas, of her Nanay and Tatay, admonishing her about how crazy she was for going out this time of the night for no reason at all. She had a reason, a good but crazy reason, she thought out loud, and that's not going to help her at all.

"Come what may," she resigned, looking out to the hills once again. There was nobody there, but dark fog everywhere. Amihan and Kanayon were not there anymore, or so she hoped. She took a slow deep breath of relief that she was safe home, and closed the door quietly.

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