Mermaid Blues: Beasts, Giants and Spirits

On the Way to Sagada

Grace Joy, Ana, and Seline are standing on top of the UPA Building. They are standing by the edge of the roof, facing towards the West where they can see the sun about to set in the distant sea. The sky is clear, the fog has just dissipated. It is already four o'clock in the afternoon.

The dimension Mark had created was slowly dissipating into their sights. The wind was steady as they observe the environment returning back to normal. Meanwhile, a ball of fire suddenly formed in front of the girls. They were frightened by it's presence. However, they knew that the spirit was good since it saved them. Because of it, Seline won't make it in time to save both Ana and Grace. She won't be able to find them if that spirit didn't devour her and transported her to Mark's parallel dimension.

Seline stared at the brilliance of it. As if she was the one being called by the spirit. As the spirit changed its form into its lion-wolf like image, Seline walked forward to get closer to the railings so she could look at the spirit up close. She gave it a simple sincere phrase of gratitude: "Thank you".

The dimension was gone. And so should the spirit. It knows that once the dimension was gone, the students will percieve it. The spirit disappeared without a word. He just heard those words from Seline but didn't reply back.

A few moments later...

Seline turned back to look at her friends that were missing in her life eversince she was fifteen. Ana and Grace who were standing beside each other gave Seline a smile of relief. Seline smiled back.

"I can't believe we found each other at an unexpected event," Seline said.

"I can't believe you guys are real," Grace responded. Ana and Seline giggled as they turned their heads to look at her.

"I can't believe we are still alive," Seline added.

"It's scary. I do not know what is happening," said Grace.

"Me too," Seline agreed.

"Are you sure you are okay though?" Ana asked Grace.

"I am fine. I can't believe they made me feel dizzy. I have never felt too dizzy before until they gave me that awful feeling," she said.

"Maybe they put you into some kind of magic or something," Seline responded.

"I know," Grace agreed.

"I hope everyone is okay," said Ana.

"Yeah. I hope Gilhameer and Ken are okay," Grace replied.

"How did you know about Kendrick Rosales anyway?" Ana asked with wonder.

"It's a long story," she replied as she faced the horizon. "Let's say that I helped his friend to find him when he got kidn*pped by the same enemy we faced a while ago."

"Wait...Kendrick Rosales? Do you mean the brother of Rosales guy who put up Pine City Corner?" Seline got surprised. "I heard that his brother is also studying here. Is he the one you are talking about?"

"Yes," Grace giggles. "He's cute as a baby."

"Really?" she replied in disbelief.

"Yeah. I hope they are fine right now wherever they are," Ana said. She took a deep breath before she informed Grace and Seline about something. "Girls, since we are all here, I need to tell you something..."

Then, she told them about the men murdered by the hunters. She explains to them the reason why two realities of one Earth are colliding. She tells them about Wendel, Benjie, and Kianu being the survivors of the killings because of their tattoos. She explained to them the existence of two realities on one Earth. She tells them the fate of the realities lies in the tattoo held by the bearers. She told him about the connection between her and the bearers of the tattoo.

***Blue Water***

They were halfway to Sagada, Kendrick fell asleep in his seat. He was wearing his headphones and listening to music. Benjie was driving, keeping quiet. He focuses his eyes on the road. Gilhameer is in the back seat. He is dialing his phone to call his parents. He attempted to call them three times. Yet, there is no response on the other line.

"Tsk!" Gilhameer looked at his phone in disappointment.

"Are they not responding?" Benjie asked.

Gilhameer shook his head. "Now, I am losing the signal. My phone's gonna turn off any minute now."

"Call them again later. Hopefully, there is a signal to the place where we are going to."

Gilhameer nodded.

A few minutes later, a sudden person came into the middle of the road. Benjie saw the stranger, which surprised him. And so, he immediately turned his maneuver to rotate the car. The tires screech as the car tries to U-turn. The car was about to ram the stranger, but thankfully the car managed to turn back, preventing him from being hit by the bumper. Benjie stepped on the brakes after the car turned. The back of the car is now facing the stranger. The distance between the back of the car and the person is almost a foot away.

Kendrick got startled as he woke up when Benjie was still turning the car. Moreover, he forgot to fasten his seat belt so he was joggled on his seat. After Benjie stopped the car, Ken immediately asked his big brother what happened. Gilhameer is shocked by what happened. He also got joggled into his seat. He dropped his phone while the car was on.

"Kuya. What happened?" Ken asked while wondering.

"I almost rammed someone," he panted. His eyes widened. He was terrified. He immediately opened the car door then he got out. He headed towards the stranger. The stranger's reaction seemed nothing at all. He doesn't seem terrified or frightened. He is staring at Benjie. And so, Benjie began to wonder.

"Are you okay?" Benjie asks as he walks closer to him.

The man smiled.

"It's okay, I am fine," he responded.

Benjie apologized. "Are you sure you are alright?"

The man smiled again. He responded by nodding.

"Is there anything painful?"

"There is no pain right now. I just want you to hit me."

Benjie suddenly got suspicious.

"Why are you here, in the middle of the road?" he asked. "It's good that there are a few cars passing by or else you'll get rammed."

"Just an advantage," the man replied.

Without any warning, he grabbed Benjie's neck. He tightened his grip to choke him.

Benjie immediately grabbed the stranger's wrist, then he immediately threw the stranger's hand away from his neck. After that,

Benjie kicked the stranger's crotch. When the stranger bent down in pain, Benjie hit his face with an uppercut.

"Ken!" He quickly turned around to check on Kendrick.

He was too late. Kendrick is outside the car. He is standing there, with a man behind him - wrapping his right arm around Kendrick's neck while the other hand was holding a gun to Ken's temple. Behind them were four more men. Those four men are pointing their guns at Gilhameer, who is still sitting in the back seat.

"Ken!" Benjie was about to run towards them but the stranger behind halted him.

"Op-op-ops!" he warned. He drew out his gun.

"Don't move! Or else, my men over there will kill him and the Chinese guy."

Benjie froze.

"Raise your hands. Now!" he ordered.

And so, Benjie raised them up.

"Turn around!"

Benjie obeyed. He turned around to face him. He gulped deeply as he felt the tension going through his body.

The stranger walked closer to him. He immediately punched Benjie's left cheek.

"Kuya!" Kendrick yelled.

"'For the pain that you have given me," the stranger said.

"Who are you?" Benjie asked.

"Bartolome. At your service," he answered. "Just call me 'Balto'. Now, I ask you next..."

He delivered another punch. That time, it was against Benjie's belly. Ken was trying to squirm to break free from the grasp of the man who held him.

"Are you the Benjie Rosales?" Balto asked. "My boss, Gaddo, is eager to kill you."

Benjie remained coughing, spitting out the blood. He placed his hands on his belly as he recovered from the pain.

Fortunately, Seth and ten Association agents came onto the scene. They immediately surrounded Balto and his people. They were pointing their rifles at them. Balto and his men were surprised. They suddenly felt alarmed and tensed. Balto went around Benjie and hid behind him. He wrapped his arms around Benjie's neck and choked him.

"Hey!" Seth called Balto's attention. "Surrender now. And no one will get hurt."

"Yeah? Then, put your guns down, or else these guys over here will die!" he warned.

"You are outnumbered. This show is over," Seth argued.

"Not if you put down your guns, and let us escape," Gaddo still refused. "Go ahead, and Benjie will die."

"I am sorry, but we can't do that."

Benjie's eyes turned shiny brown. He grabbed the arm of Balto tightly and growled. With his strength, he suddenly slammed the back of his head on Balto's face. Balto grunted in pain as he loosened his grip on Benjie. Benjie immediately grabbed Balto's forearm as he completely broke free. He knocked him down to the ground.

As the men beside Kendrick were about to move, Seth's men who were shadowing them shot their backs, one bullet each. They fell down to the ground. The remaining two of his men raised their hands to indicate surrender after the shooting of three of their comrades.

After the shoot, the agents immediately went to those who were shot to check their vitals. Seth went to Balto with a handcuff in his hand. Balto is still lying on the road, trying to recover from the damage he took from Benjie slamming him on the concrete ground. Benjie went to where Kendrick was standing. He immediately hugged him. Kendrick hugged him back. Kendrick is very terrified.

Gilhameer opened the door of the car and he went out. He looks at the two brothers hugging together.

"Aww..." he whines. His voice might be whining but his face didn't show any emotions.

"Mr. Bartolome. You are under arrest," Seth told him while cuffing his hands. "However, you are not being judged according to ordinary people's laws. You'll be judged according to the council of the Association."

"Fine then. I won't talk anyway," Balto said.

"I won't be so sure about that," Seth protested. After cuffing him, he stood up from crouching down. He took a deep breath, then he looked at the siblings who were standing about five meters from him.

He brought out his two-way communicator that was hanging on his belt. The communicator then screeched. He spoke responding to the screech.

"This is Alpha Number Three, responding from the middle of the road going to Sagada. I am guessing somewhere along Bauko - Sagada road," he was scanning around. "The Rosales brothers are fine. We've captured the assailants. Three people were shot. Nothing fatal though. However, we need some ambulances here. I repeat, we need an ambulance."

"Got it," Gaston replied on the other line. "Ambulance. Coming right away."

Seth then hung up. He lowered the communicator from his mouth to his hips. He looked at the Rosales brothers. The Rosales brothers are also looking at him with anxious eyes. Seth sighed with frustration. He grabbed his waist.

:::::::::

Sherdel is sitting on the floor on the veranda outside his room. He was leaning his back against the railings, facing away from the outside view, while he was facing the glass door, looking inside his room. He grabbed a bottle of beer beside him and he took a sip.

Then, his phone rang. He checked who was calling. It was Cat. He didn't dare to answer it. He canceled her call. After a few seconds, his phone rang once more. He canceled again. Another minute passed, Cat called him. Yet, he didn't respond.

Since Cat already knew that he had no intention of answering her calls, she sent him a voice message instead.

"Hi! This is Cat. I know that you don't have the mood to talk to me right now, but I called to remind you about the celebration tonight. Your father and my dad will both introduce us to their partners. I hate their ideas too but I suggest working this out...," the message stopped.

Sherdel sighed in frustration.

"What the f..."

He was about to throw away his phone. But he realized that it would be a waste to destroy a thing worth thousands because he was just pissed. He put it down on the floor instead.

He rubbed his face with his palms.

"You left your key chain again," a man suddenly entered the veranda.

Sherdel got startled, terrified when he realized that it was his grandfather who was talking.

"I found this in the living room."

He came up close, then he gave it to him.

"Haven't I told you not to drink?"

"Why do you care? My life is ruined anyway," Sherdel told him. "This is a flavored beer. It won't get me drunk anyway."

Mr. Tony sighed. He decided to sit down on the floor like Sherdel was doing. He faces his grandson. Then, he slightly smiled.

"Tell me. What has your father done to you this time?" he asked.

Sherdel bit his lips then he nods.

"I feel like he is choking me."

The old man cleared his throat. He didn't know what to say to comfort him.

"To be honest Lolo, I feel something painful in here..." he pointed at his chest. "Sometimes, I wonder if he loves me."

"You know, son..." Tony sighed. "Ever since he was a kid. I never understand him. I kept on wondering if he was my son or not. He was unable to talk to me. Until one day, without any warning, I found out that he had run away from home."

"I wanted...I....wanted to blame you," his eyes slowly teared up.

"Me too," he responded. "He...he's a rebellious man. He never listens to me. Sometimes, I wonder what went wrong. I always wish that his mother had been here to tell me what to do," Tony looked up to the sky. He looked down." I am mad at myself for not knowing how to be a good father for him," he continued.

Sherdel looked down and thought. Then he looked at the key chain that belonged to his mother. It is the keychain where the accessory is an eagle sculpted from an unknown crystal. It was the same keychain that Severino threw onto his back at Burham Park.

:::::::::::::

Gaston is walking in the hallway. He is with Gordon. They are heading to the lobby where there's the exit. Gordon is wearing a blue forensic coat. Blue gloves in his hands and overshoes on his feet. He is holding a bag of tools.

"Tell me again, where will I investigate?" Gordon asked in disbelief. "I might be mishearing what you just said."

"I said, you and your team must go and investigate what happened at Horizon Reached," he repeats. "Ana sent me a distress call just now. The hunters have attacked the school. However, for some reason, no students got hurt. She said she got teleported to another dimension or something... It was where they struggled to fight the hunters."

"Oh my God! Are you saying they are sent to a dimension?"

"Yes! That's what I said."

"And the girls have already met, right?"

"Yeah," he replied.

"Okay, sir. We will also pick up the girls for questioning."

"I'll take care of that. Get some of your men to gather some evidence from the scene."

Then, Japeth caught up with them. "Guys! I gotta go check out the family of Gilhameer. They might be in danger because their son got involved in this."

"How about Seth? Did they find Benjie?" Gordon asked.

"Yeah. Fortunately, because of Kianu's telepathy. And Gilhameer's GPS signal," he replied.

"We have to hurry," Gaston said. "Go! Go! Go!"

:::::::::::::

The venue where the party is being held is inside the hotel where Sherdel is supposed to attend...

Mr. Severino, Sherdel's father, keeps on moving from one table to another just to shake hands with the guests and to interact with them at the same time.

"Where are your children?" one of the guests asked.

"I am sorry Ma'am Fuentes," he replied. "My youngest son is with his mother in Boracay right now and my eldest is sick."

"But where's the other one?" she wondered.

The question made him stutter.

"I heard you have three kids?"

"Well, he's the one who's coming. I am sure he's on his way." Then he chuckles.

"I am looking forward to meeting him," the woman said.

"Actually, I am going to introduce him to everyone here in this place."

"Oh? Okay," Mrs. Fuentes smiled deeply.

"Nice meeting you again, Mr. Fuentes' wife," he shook her hand again.

Then, Mr. Cohasan, the father of Cat, tapped Severino's back. Severino turned to face him.

"Where is Sherdel?" he was standing impatiently.

"I am sure he is on the way."

"The program is going to start. He can't miss this event."

"Don't be so impatient my friend." Severino hangs his arms around his friend's neck.

"Give him more time. I know you are excited about meeting him right now. But, at least give him time to back up on his feet and prepare."

"Yeah. Yeah," he nodded. "You're right."

Then...

"Look...isn't that Mr. Anthony Alhibing?" Mrs. Fuentes asked her husband who was sitting across from her.

Mr. Alhibing and Mr. Cohasan looked at the couples when they heard their conversation.

"Right," the husband responded. "He is one of the richest people here in the country."

"Oh! I would like to meet him. At least get some pictures with him. If you may? Because...you know...You might get jealous. Ahahah!"

Mr. Severino and Mr. Cohasan immediately looked at the entrance. Severino was surprised, he was seeing his dad entering. Walking beside him is Sherdel, in a tuxedo.

Everyone in the room focuses their eyes on the 'just arrived' guests. They are murmuring about them. They suddenly got excited.

Severino walked close to them.

"Sherdel," he called.

Both of them looked to their left. They could see Sherdel's father approaching.

"You look handsome tonight," he commented.

"Thanks," he said, but without any facial expression shown on his face.

"Let's go?" he wrapped his arm around Sherdel's shoulders. "Let's introduce you to the group."

Before they took a step, Mr. Tony Alhibing grabbed Mr. Severino's forearm. He stopped, then he turned to face his old man. Sherdel also halted. Mr. Tony pulled Sherdel's father away to distance himself from Sherdel. Sherdelino was about to follow them.

"Sherdel?" someone from behind called.

And so, he turned.

"Sherdel...right?" the old man asked.

"O-opo," he answered.

"Oh! Nice to meet you," he immediately shook his hand.

Sherdel painted a smile on his face. He was wondering who the man was shaking his hand. He seemed excited to see him.

"It's been a while. You were a little chubby boy when I last saw you. Look at you now. You are a tall, handsome young man."

"Thank you, Sir," Sherdel replied.

"May I ask who is this man that I am talking to right now?" he asked.

"Oh..." he widened his eyes. He realized that he hadn't introduced himself yet.

"I am Mr. Dominic Cohasan. The father of Catherine."

"Ahhh..." Sherdel chuckled.

"So, where is Catherine?"

"She's sitting at the table over there," he points at the table where she's at. "I have been waiting for you to come."

"Sorry if we were late."

"Shall we go have a seat?" Mr. Cohasan asked.

"Of course," he immediately answered.

On the other hand, Mr. Anthony Alhibing and Mr. Severino Alhibing is having a conversation. And it is not a good one. They look at each other with hate in their eyes.

"Why are you here?" Severino asked.

"Are you out of your mind?" Mr. Tony said. "Forced dates? Arranged girlfriend?"

"It is none of your business."

"You cannot force him to love somebody he doesn't like."

"This is for his future," he said. "Don't dictate to me how to raise my child. You don't have any idea how to be a parent anyway."

He grabbed his father's hand, which was gripping his forearm, then he removed it.

"If I were you, I would get out of here," Severino told him.

He fled, leaving his father there alone. Mr. Tony Alhibing sighed. He looked in the distance. He could see Sherdel sitting across from Catherine at the table. He feels sorry for himself. Day by day, he can see that his son, Severino Alhibing, is getting stubborn and stubborn. It will be hard to convince him about Sherdel's love life.