Mermaid Blues: Beasts, Giants and Spirits

Before the Eclipse 2

Ishmael Laksamana, twenty-five years old, lives in Aurora Hill, Baguio City. He opens the door of his room. He immediately rushed inside. He closes the door and locks the hinges so that no one can open the door from the outside. He immediately rushed next to his small bed. He lowers himself down to the floor to reach the suitcase located underneath it. He grabs the handle of the lying suitcase and pulls it out.

He puts it on the bed and opens it. He rushed to his closet adjacent to his bed. He opens it and pulls his clothes out. All the clothes are now on the bed. There is the pistol he hides underneath the pile of clothes. He took it and tucked it into the waistband of his pants.

But then, he heard a clicking behind him. It sounds like a gun c*****g. It seemed like someone behind him was wanting to shoot him. He quickly turns around, pulls out his gun, and points it toward the invader. He looked and he saw two people pointing their guns at him. They came in through the window behind them.

"Knock, knock," Gaston said.

"Ishmael Laksamana, you are under arrest for k********g Cynthia Camilo," Simon said. "Put that gun down and let's talk."

Ishmael was trembling in fear. He looks at them with threatening eyes. He is still pointing his gun at them. He is taking a deep breath through stress. He doesn't know what to do now that he is busted.

***Blue Water***

In the interrogation room...

Ishmael was sitting down next to the table. His hands are cuffed, and he puts them on top of the table. He is thinking deeply in remorse. He is quietly waiting for the punishment the arrestors will give him.

Finally, after long minutes of waiting, the door opened. Someone enters. He thought it was Gaston or the agent with him that had come in. To his surprise, it was someone dear to his heart that came in. It is Father Salvacion. Father Salvacion is looking at him as he walks towards the chair on the opposite side of the table where he sits. He looks at him with dismay and surprise. He wonders why he committed a crime.

Ishmael, embarrassed and disappointed in himself, looked away. He couldn't bear seeing his mentor looking at him in dismay. He is ashamed of himself.

Father Salvation sits down. He sighed in frustration. "Look at me," he said.

Ishmael couldn't bring himself to face him.

"I said, 'look at me'. Let's talk," Father Salvacion repeats.

Ishmael closes his eyes as he turns his head to the front. He opens them and looks at Father Salvacion.

"Son. Why did you do it? I thought you had changed," he said with a gentle tone.

Ishmael put down his head. He doesn't reply.

"Did you know that you are endangering the life of an innocent woman because of what you did?"

"I am sorry, Father," he finally replied. "I didn't mean to make a woman's life be endangered."

"And yet you did," the priest replied. "You made a terrible mistake, son. I thought I knew you too well. I trusted you. You are like a son to me. Why is it that you brought yourself into this?"

"I did it for good reason, Father," he defended himself.

"What is it? What is the reason for your crime?"

"I heard what you and Dr. Matt are talking about in the office. He said you have cancer in the back. And you are going to die. I heard it," he explained. "The fund from the church is not enough for your treatment and you don't want to tell that to us."

"What are you talking about?" Father Salvacion denied.

"Please do not deny it. I know what I heard," his tears began to flow down. "So I decided, if you want to keep your disease a secret since you don't want it to bother us, then at least I will be the one to save you from it. And so, I contacted a friend, my colleague I knew from Mindanao, who is now a member of Kasim's group. He suggested the gig to me, so I took it."

"You endangered a woman. I don't need to get help. I am fine. You don't need to do that," he said.

"Easy for you to say that," Ishmael argues. "You are like a father to me, Father. I am nothing if you die. Ever since I was thrown out of the house when I was fourteen and joined the NPA, I have never thought I would ever do something right in my life. Not until you picked me out of the streets and I felt hope," he said.

"Ishmael...I am always proud of what you have become. I am proud of raising you to be a smart, caring, and kind man," the priest said. "However, you do not need to endanger the life of a person in order to save the life of another. I am fine. I don't need therapy."

"You have to live. We need you," he protests. "Look, I have the money with me. It's in my bag. It's worth half a million pesos!" he informs with optimism.

"I am so sorry," the priest replied. "Even if you have that kind of money, you are too late," he said.

Ishmael's optimism in his face faded.

"I...I have already had this disease for more than two years now," he explains. "Doctor Matt came to me last week to inform me that my colon cancer is no longer curable. Ishmael...I am dying."

Ishmael begins to sob. His tears are flowing down heavier than a while ago. His heart ached after he heard that. Suddenly, sorrow instead of hope had overtaken his heart. He cries as hard as he can. He whines while he shakes his head. "No. Don't say that. Please..."

"It is true, son. I am dying," he said.

"Why? Why are you telling me this now? Why did you keep it a secret all this time?"

"Son, I didn't want you or the others to worry about me. I have already done my part in this world. I have accepted my fate since then," he said.

"No. No. Don't say that," Ishmael whines and refuses to believe. "Don't say that."

"I am sorry, son. I am sorry," he said.

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

Gaston enters the training room. He found his agents training, learning self-defense, and having friendly combat. The agents immediately seized what they were doing. They gathered together in front of their leader. They stood straight, in a military position.

Gaston looks at them from left to right. His face is painted with seriousness. "Listen up. I want you to gear up and find this guy whose name is Francisco Kamsalim. He is a colleague of Ishmael Laksamana. They secretly reconnected via f*******: recently. He is the one that offered Laksamana his job of being a driver. According to Mr. Laksamana, Kamsalim is the driver that was involved in the k********g of Asunta de la Rochaz."

His secretary is distributing the printed photographs of the face of Fransisco Kamsalim to each of the agents.

"Find his account on f*******:, trace his location, GPS, house address, anything about him. Five of you will come with me. Let's check the location where Laksamana and Kamsalim met before the kidnapping."

Ten agents raised their arms.

"I mean, five werewolves. Come with me," he clarified. Half of the volunteering agents whined in disappointment.

"Everyone, go and prepare! Face your computers quickly! Now. Go! Go! Go! The association needs you."

And so, the agents immediately rushed to the bathroom with their bags to change their clothes.

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

Japeth is sitting on the couch. He is thinking deeply as to how real Cielo told him about the prophecy. His mind is in conflict as to whether Ceres is telling the truth or he is saying that to make an excuse. He raised his right hand near his head and he fidgeted a ballpen.

He is in the living room area of the mansion. He sits down with his legs forming a figure 4 leg lock position. He forgets that there is a document he needs to sign on top of the low-leged table in front of him.

Silvia opened the glass door. She entered the room. She found him drowned in his thoughts. She suddenly began to wonder. She squints as she approaches. She is holding a book in her hands. The book is as old as herself but contains lots of facts throughout its age. It is a handwritten book made from deer for the cover and normal paper for the pages. She tucks it in between her chest and her arm.

"What do you want from me, my son?" she asked to interrupt his deep thinking.

"Oh...you are already here," Japeth responded. He sits properly.

Silvia sat down on a couch next to the couch Japeth was on. "So, why did you call me?" she asked again.

"Umm... Is it possible for a santelmo to predict the future?" he asked.

"Oh..." she nodded. "Okay. Good thing I have the memoir of my father with me," she said. "Is that the only question you want to ask me?"

"Well, you see, I came to Grace's house to warn them about the danger they are getting if they completely wipe out the tattoo from Kianu's wrist. And then, Cielo...he ...he told me that he met a santelmo while he was in Bontoc."

"Oh...." Silvia paused for a second to process what she head. "Wow. Lucky guy."

"Yeah. And then, this santelmo he had just met told him to let the seven links open the 'bridges', you know, the connection between the realities. The spirit said that there would be an eclipse that was going to happen. And Cielo believes that that eclipse the santelmo is talking about is going to happen next week. During that eclipse, there will be a battle that is going to happen. The battle will decide whether one of the three guardians will die or not. If one of them dies, then automatically the world will end. If they manage to survive, then the world will not be destroyed," he explains to her.

The old lady squints. She nodded. "I see," she replied. "If that santelmo who told him about the future is blue or white, then, there is no lie," she replied. Then, she explains. "Just like the stars in the heavens, their powers can be identified by their magnitude and sizes. Red is the weakest and blue or white is the strongest. Red stars have more limited abilities than the stronger varieties. Fortunately, my father recorded a large blue one in his memoir. This type of santelmo can foresee the future. He even suspects that this spirit can simultaneously exist in the past, present and future. From what I understood from his writings, he managed to befriend one."

"What? How?" Japhet wonders.

"I don't know," she replied. "All I know is that Cielo is telling the truth. Spirits have their own way of communicating with themselves. In the case of the Saint Elmo's flames, they behave like dogs - curious and playful. But they are also like lions, dangerous and silent."

Japeth nods. Then he began to reflect on what she explained. "Cielo is telling the truth then," he said.

"If he really met one, then he is telling the truth," she replied. "Come to think of think of it, he just came back from almost dying, isn't it. It's quite a miracle he survived from a very critical condition. We thought he's gonna die, but look at him, came back from the dead...like nothing happened."

Japeth nodded as he agreed.

"Did the others know about this? Or he only told this to you ?' she wondered.

"It would be more dangerous if the higher ups would know about this?" he asked.

"That's unethical if you ask me," the old lady commented.