Mermaid Blues: Beasts, Giants and Spirits

Prelude

Grace's mother, Asunta, is chilling on the sofa in the living room. She is watching the regional news on the Tv in front of her. The report currently talks about the event that happened three days ago.

This is already the fourth time a strange phenomenon has occurred since last year. Both researchers and scientific experts are left baffled by these phenomena. (The screen is showing the sea at the center of the ricefield in Cagayan) It is known that the first event happened in Cagayan wherein a sea almost engulfed the ricefields. Thirty farmers were affected by the sudden appearance of water. (The second clip is the unknown mountain peak appearing in the midst of the sea between the Babuyan Sea), followed by a mountain covered in a bubble in the Babuyan Sea. Many residents in Abra lost their homes and their sources of income due to a forest suddenly growing in the city of Bangued, crashing into the town in a matter of minutes. Right now, the unexplained phenomenon in the sky has made the people in the country panic, thinking that it is the start of the end of the world. People of different religious sectors are convinced that this is an indication of the second coming of Jesus. Not only the people in the Philippines are in a state of panic... there are riots starting across the globe...

Grace pulled the door open. She had just come home from school. "I am home!" she said.

Asunta turned and glanced at her daughter in the back. She sees that Grace is removing her shoes. Grace placed them on the rack next to her.

"It's already eight in the evening..." her mother worriedly said.

"I am sorry. The line at the jeepney station is too long," she said.

"My God. People in this city keep on increasing," her mother reacted after she heard Grace's reason.

"What are you watching?" she asked as she approached. Then, she looks at the TV. On the screen, there are a series of clips showing protests and riots happening in some countries around the world. She sat down beside Asunta.

"What is happening today is so scary," Asunta said.

"I can't believe it," Grace replied. She is terrified by the report. "Is it really the end of the world?"

Asunta shook her head. "I don't think so," she answered.

"It is pretty scary though," Grace said. "Looking at the sky with two moons makes me feel scared."

"I know," her mother responded. "We were on our way to Asin when we noticed the sudden change of sky."

"How is the investigation?" Grace asked. "In Asin?"

"It is fine. Weird at the same time," she said.

"How so?"

"We found this warehouse on top of a hill where the authorities suspect to be where the gunshots were heard. However, when we got there...there was...it's weird," she nervously told her.

"Is there something that happened?"

"No. It's just that...there are traces of blood spills. However, the warehouse is empty. We can't find a single body lying down on the floor or anywhere. The evidence strongly suggests that that place was a fighting ground. We can't see people bleeding around the hill or corpses. They just disappeared like air."

"That is weird," Grace nods while she pouts. She looked at the TV again. The report is still about the strange phenomena. She feels sad all of a sudden. There is something in her heart that says that she might have a connection to those events that have happened that cannot be explained. She felt guilty as she watched the phenomenon in Taos, Mexico, where the silent hum paralyzes people. The video clip shows the people in the middle of the road rolling over as they cover their ears, groaning in pain. There are those questions popping out of his mind again: "How come I feel like I'm guilty?" Am I connected to them?"What should I do?"What is my purpose?"

"Anyway, you must eat. I have cooked chicken adobo. I know you are hungry right now, so go and have your dinner."

"Wow! My favorite," Grace reacts. "Of course. How can I say no to chicken adobo?" she excitedly said. She shrugged off those questions and the feeling she felt.

"Okay. Go on," her mother commanded.

And so, Grace immediately walks to the kitchen.

****BLUE WATER****

Silvia and her grandson, Simon, are hiking in a mountain far away from Baguio. They are deep in the forest located somewhere in the mountains of Kibungan, Benguet. They are five kilometers away from civilization. They have been walking deep in the forest for five hours already. It is already getting dark. The sun is setting on the horizon. They stopped when they got to a place where the pitcher plants grew bounty. That place is humid and cold. Simon is amazed at the pitcher plants around him. It's his first time seeing that place. Ferns and pine trees surround them. There is also a deer sighted in the distance.

"What is this place, Lola (grandmother)?" He asked.

"I told you," his grandmother responded. "Next time I'll take you with me, stop complaining while we are in the middle of the destination."

"What? I thought this place would be scary," he defended. "Why do we need these documents in the middle of the forest anyway?"

"Shut up and listen," his grandmother instructed.

"What?" He wonders.

Then, Simon heard a voice that made him startle. Silvia heard it too, so she looked in the direction where it came from.

" I thought we agreed not to bring anyone else here," said the voice.

Silvia couldn't determine which direction the voice came from. Not even Simon.

"I am an old woman. I am not the same as the woman you met five years ago. I need someone to look over me now, you know?" She replied.

Then, the spirit who owns the voice appeared in front of her. Simon was startled with horror when his eyes saw it suddenly appear in the blink of an eye. Moreover, he got fascinated and terrified by the spirit.

The spirit has a body like that of a human. However, it is broader and larger. It is about seven feet tall. It has the head of a lizard and the tail of a crocodile. It has webbed human-like hands and feet. Scales cover all over his body like a crocodile. The most intriguing thing about it is the tattoos on both of its forearms. Each forearm has a lizard tattoo. They are identical to each other. They are facing away from the owner. Those tattoos resemble those tattoos held by Benjie and the others.

"Ah...yes. Of course. How silly of me. You are indeed human," the spirit replied. "So, it's been five years already, huh? Where have you been all this time?"

"I was in Australia helping with the investigation of the anomalies there," she said. "How are you?" she then asked.

"I am still stuck in this material side of the world. Unable to find my way home," he said.

"I am sorry I still can't find a way to help you with that," she apologized. "But I have something which I believe you can help us."

"You are wasting your time coming here," he refused.

"Wait, Lola Silvia. What is that? Is he a spirit? Is he an alien?" Simon asked nervously. He's terrified of the spirit in front of him.

"Oh! I forgot. This is my grandson, Simon," she introduced to the spirit.

"Is he gonna bite me?" he asked with fear in his eyes.

"I do more than just a bite," the spirit replied. "I believe you humans call me the Ephirmise.

Silvia whispered into Simon's ears. "He is a spirit of death. His kind is responsible for the death of many people long ago in Europe."

"Oh, God!" Simon reacted in horror.

"Don't worry, as long as you won't touch him, he won't hurt you," she said.

"Go away!" the spirit said. He turned his back on them.

"You should understand that we are also doing this in order to get you home," the old lady tried to convince him. "I know you know something from thirty years ago. The exact moment of the divergence."

The ephirmise glanced at the back. Silvia could tell that the spirit was getting curious through his eyes.

"You said it yourself. The divergence was a cause of three humans from this country," she added.

"So what? Now, you believe me?" he mocked.

"I need you to tell me whether you know these men in these pictures..."

Silvia ordered Simon to open up the folder and show them the pictures of the seven men who possess lizard tattoos. And so, Simon pulled out the pictures of Wendel, Kianu, Benjie, Arthur, and the other three. He showed it to the ephirmise. The ephirmise stared at the seven pictures. He examined them.

"They are all cursed to possess the mark of Lumawig. A tattoo that happens to look like yours."

"You mean my Kanawan and Kanigid?"

She grabbed the photo of Kianu from Simon's hand. She showed it to the ephirmise. "This guy was one of the people trapped in the world of the spirit after divergence. He witnessed so much trauma while he was there. He saw his colleagues die one by one. During an anomaly of reality collision in Abra, he finally escaped from that place by crossing through the bubble-like barrier. It's his chance to survive your reality. The reason why he is not disintegrated is that he was under the protection of Lumawig's mark," she explained.

"He did?" he was surprised.

Silvia flashed the image of Wendel.

"Wendel is once saved by a santelmo (Saint Elmo's flame) while he is on the run to save his life from the hunters. And Benjie is the only one who is not aware of how to use the power."

"And the other four?" the spirit asked.

"They're dead. They're killed by hunters," she answered. "However, the Cordillera Marksmen Association is trying their best to save the remaining three."

"Ahh..." he understood. "So, it is time for this world to correct itself," he said. "The mark of Lumawig is indeed a gift to reconnect the spiritual reality to the material. I would rather say, 'Let them be killed," he said.

Simon looked at his grandma. He looks at her with disagreement in his eyes.

"You are aware that there will be destruction after their deaths, right?" Silvia argued.

"I am a spirit of death, I don't have a care for mortal lives. If that is the only way to get me back home, then, I would."

Silvia took a deep breath before questioning him again. "Do you have any idea why the hunters have an interest in the other reality?"

"No. However, there is someone in my mind who is connected to all of this."

"It's Renato Santiago, isn't it?" she guessed.

"I have mentioned that guy many times. He is the reason why the divergence occured anyways."

"Who are responsible for the divergence"

"I am not a spirit of knowledge. However, I knew they don't exist anymore. The world is trying to fix itself. It must have to choose some people to do that for its sake today."

"Is there any way we can track them down?"

"The tattoo of Lumawig doesn't only link together the people who possess them. All I know is that one of the newly chosen 'guards' must have the ability to connect herself to people telepathically. Since they are now connected to the misdeeds of the past and the Earth is trying to restore itself, I am pretty sure you can contact one of them by the tattoo."

"Did Kianu once mention that there was a voice of a girl in his mind warning him to run away whenever he is in danger?" Simon asked.

"Her voice is clearer than the others..." she muttered. Then, she began to think deeper.

"You know what to do," the ephirmise said. Then, he disappeared. He fades before their eyes as dust is swept away by the wind. Simon got terrified and amazed at the same time. He looked around and he realized what happened to the pitcher plants around them. They become dry and withered.

****Blue Water****

Benjie is on the veranda of his room. He is sitting on a chair as he is being lit up by the moon above. He is drunk. He can't accept the fact that Kendrick was taken. He is drowned in his conscience, blaming himself for what happened to his little brother. He is mad at himself and upset about what will happen to Kendrick. He is confused. He couldn't do a thing to save him.

He took another sip of beer. He stood up. He angrily threw the bottle of beer and yelled in frustration. His eyes turned light brown with anger. The bottle of beer crashed into the ground below. He is all alone in a spacious house. He fears being alone. He doesn't want to repeat what happened in the past that traumatized him until today. He is worried about Kendrick.

"HAAAAH! AAAAAH!" he angrily screams as tears flow down his eyes. He grabbed the chair and threw it out of the veranda. Then, he slowly kneels down on his knees.

Meanwhile, while he is still crying, he suddenly hears a noise coming from inside the house. It seems like porcelain fell down the floor and was crushed. He began to wonder who or what caused the object to break. Black was barking from the outside. He too sensed the noise that came from the inside. A few seconds passed, and another object was heard dropping on the floor. He is the only one in the house. No one is with him. He suddenly got alarmed. With curiosity, he decided to go inside to check.

He entered his room. And he rushed to the door to get out and he headed to the stairs to go down. He slowly walks down the stairs, making sure he won't make a sound. The living room is dark. Thanks to his wolf eyes, his vision is enhanced by seeing through the dark. Just when he set his feet on the floor, he saw something unexpected. In the middle of the living room, he sees a glowing creature standing on the table. It is in a form of a wolf. However, it has four tails.

Benjie widened his eyes, frightened and alarmed. He had never seen a creature like it before. It looks like the moon that shaped itself into a wolf. However, looking at the creature, he realized that the creature matches the descriptions Gilhameer spoke of. And so, he got angry and looked at it with a piercing glare. But then, his mood changed when he heard Kendrick's voice.

"Help! Help!" Kendrick yells. "Kuya! Help!"

"Kendrick?" Benjie responded when he recognized him. He looked around to search for Ken. However, the voice is just an embodied voice echoing around the room. He can't see Kendrick, he can not track his scent, however, he can hear his voice with an indication of his struggling. And so, he keeps on calling him.

"It is pointless to call him. He is not here," the spirit said.

Benjie looked at the shiny spirit. The spirit is not there anymore. However, there is a man standing at that same table where it stood instead. Benjie suspects the four-tailed beast has transformed into a human.

"Where is he?" he asked. "Where the f**k did you take Ken!"

"Don't worry, he is safe," the man replied. "You will see him soon."

"Where is he?" Benjie asked again. "Give him to me! Or else I'll kill you!"

The man smiled. He is just staring at Benjie. Benjie is about to charge. However, a duplicate of the stranger appeared behind him and he immediately beat him in the back with a wooden figurine of an eagle. Benjie was knocked unconscious. He fell to the floor and closed his eyes. He fails to mutate. He couldn't even get to the stranger. The stranger didn't notice that the tattoo on his wrist was shining.

On the other hand, the neighborhood about four hundred meters north of Benjie Rosales' home is where the Camilo Family Resides - the home of Ana Camilo. Ana is having dinner with her mother, Cynthia Rose. She was taking a sip of milk in her glass when she suddenly felt a pulse coming from her brain. She froze and she dropped the glass of milk.

Her mother was surprised when she heard the glass break when it reached the concrete floor. "Oh my God!" she exclaimed.

However, Ana is not bothered. She remains frozen like a statue. Her mother didn't know that Ana got sucked inside the deeper part of her mind. As a result, her vision turned black even though her eyes were open. She feels like she is asleep even though she is awake. Her ears shut down and she can't hear her mother.

Ana could hear a voice coming from nowhere. All she can see is black. She could only hear a man's voice who seemed like she talks to her on the phone.

"I told you a thousand times, I don't kill people..." she heard. "Fine. I'll send him to you. Let's meet. At Shilan, my place..."

Then, the conversation cut off. She woke up again in the real world. She is breathing heavily as she regains consciousness.

"Are you okay?" Her mother asked worriedly while she shakes her. "Oh my God! What happened to you? You make me worried."

Kate, her big sister, is fanning her with a plate. "Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!" she panics. "Do you want some water? Water? Or...Or... do you want to go to the hospital?"

"I am fine. I am fine," Ana replied. Then, she tries to remember what she just heard. Then, she stood up.

"Oh, thank God," her mother sighed with relief.

Kate rolled her eyes and she sighed too. "Don't you dare do that again!"

"I have to go somewhere," she told her mother.

"Where to? It's already dark. Where else are you going?" her mother asked as she wondered. "Is there a problem?"

"I have to go outside now. Please cover my plate for me," she said as she ran towards the living room.

"Wait! Hey!" her mother calls. "Are you sure you're not going to finish what's on your plate?"

Kate looks at her mother. Her mother looked back at her. They were wondering what just happened to Ana. They looked at each other with confusion.

Ana got out of the house, she is now running toward the gate. She immediately pulled it open and passed through. She got onto the sidewalk. There is a ringing in her mind again. It is getting louder and louder. She can feel that something was coming. She looked to her right. She saw a van coming.

A van passes by. Mark is the one driving it. There is Benjie lying unconscious in the back seat. His mouth is gagged with a thick cloth in his mouth. His hands are tied up and also his feet. His lizard tattoo is shimmering like coal as it senses that the mermaid of force is nearby.

Ana is now aware that there is something wrong with that van that just passed by. She took a deep breath before she runs after the vehicle.

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

Inside the laboratory of the Cordilleran Marksmen...

Gordon is examining the coin with his microscope. He is wearing a white lab coat and protective gear on his face. He found a fingerprint on it. And so, he immediately removed the coin from the microscope. Using a piece of special transparent tape, he copied the fingerprint by sticking it to the coin and then removing it from the coin after a few seconds.

Meanwhile, Cielo entered the room. He found Gordon giving the copy of the fingerprint to his assistant. He approached him.

"Hey!" Cielo called his attention.

"Yep?" Gordon replied.

"How is the progress?" he asked.

Gordon sighed. "Somehow, I managed to get a fingerprint from that small coin. We will run it into the government database to identify whoever kidn*pped Ken. However, it will take twenty minutes to complete. The radiation emitted by the coins has been long overdue, so I am unable to study it."

Cielo patted Gordon's back. "Good job," he complimented. "You can rest now. You have been working all day."

"Yep. I think so too," he agrees. "Working on three cases in one day drains so much of my spirit."

"I was hoping to invite you for a beer but it seems like you really need some sleep," he said.

"If it's beer then, why not?" Gordon replied.

"No. No. Let's have some beer next time. You really look messed up. I believe you haven't even taken a bath."

"Oh come on," Gordon whines.

"You need to rest. Your brain needs it," he protested.

"Can I show you something cool then?" Gordon said. "My inventors rushed to make it. But I hope it will completely work in tracking down the moon cruiser's electromagnetic signature."

"Really?" Cielo responded impressed. "Good. Good. Another reason why you really need to take a rest."

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

Gaddo is inside the prison cell designed just for him. He is all bruised. His face could hardly be recognized. His hands are cuffed. He is only wearing his sando and his pants are torn. He is sitting on the edge of the bed. His fingers interlaced as he silently stared at the door.

Meanwhile, he hears a struggle coming from outside. He stood up as he became alarmed by the noise. Seems like there is a riot or a fight happening behind the metal door. He could hear men exclaiming in pain, the sound of punches, the metals clanging, and a woman chanting.

Suddenly, the door got crushed... crumpled like paper. It is crushed by magic. Agatha entered right after. Gaddo was surprised to see his friend enter.

"What took you so long?" he complained.

"I am sorry. We are not enough to get you two out at the same time," she replied.

"Two?" he wonders.

"Yeah. Gabriel got caught too, you know?" she informed him. "You don't know?"

"Goddamn, that man!"

"He helped me knock down the guards. He is there outside waiting for us."

Gaddo chuckles. "You are so so late."

"Oh. Look at you. You look like crap," she mocked.

"Shut up and get us out of here," Gaddo got offended.

And so, they went out of his cell. As they run through the corridor, Gaddo can see the guards lying on the floor as they pass by. They are all asleep due to the spell cast by Agatha. Some are bleeding since they fought against Agatha and Gabriel before she put them to sleep.

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

Fifteen minutes passed. The reinforcements came to the prison. The agents are now surrounding the area. They are scouring around checking for some clues and hoping that the escapees are still within the perimeter. The medical team comes in and out of the building to transport the sleeping victims to the ambulance.

Inside the prison cell of Gaddo, Gaston and Japeth are investigating Gaddo's prison. Gaston is examining the edge of the doorway while Japeth is looking at the crumpled metal door placed three meters away from the doorway. Japeth crouched down. With his fully healed hand, he grabbed the crumpled door in his hand and pointed his flashlight at it. He examines it up close.

"This feels warm," Japeth said.

And so, Gaston reached out to touch the side of the doorway with the tips of his fingers.

"Yeah. This one too," he replied. "Whosoever did this might need a lot of heat to weld the door open."

"That might be a possible theory. However...," Japeth disagrees. "The door should have been melted or just slashed to its sides if they used some kind of welding. Instead, it left us with a ball of scrap."

"I hope our crew finds something from the footage. Or else, we are not going to make any progress on this case."

Cielo arrived at the scene. "Hey," he greeted. "Thankfully, no other inmates escaped. They are only interested in saving the prisoner here and Sebastian Ramirez. Based on what I am seeing here, both their doors are crumpled like a sheet of paper."

"Maybe The Hulk did it or Superman," Gaston jokes.

Cielo and Japeth took their eyes on him. They scowled, which caused Gaston to flinch.

"No?" Gaston then responded.

"Jokes aside, I have called Lola Silvia to lend us her knowledge. I suspect magic did this," Cielo informed.

"Where is she?" Gaston asked.

"She's on her way now," Cielo said. Now, let us wait for our crew to scour the footage."

"I hope this will be good," Gaston commented. "I haven't had my lunch and dinner yet, since I have been busy solving three cases in a row. All I just ate was some cinnamon and coke.

"Huh," Cielo scoffed. "That explains why your joke died."

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

Benjie is in a vacant chicken barn. He is still unconscious. He didn't know that he was being put in a chair and to rest in a sitting position. His head was held down as he silently breathed. His body is chained to the backrest. His feet are tied up. His hands are also tied up at the back. Gaddo, Agatha, Gabriel, and Mark are surrounding him.

Mark poured a bucket of water on him. Benjie woke up startled. He held his head up as he breathed deeply. He was feeling tensed and frightened. However, just when he looked up, he realized that there was also a person sitting in front of him. That person is Kendrick. Kendrick looks at him with fright and fear in his eyes. Like they did to Benjie, he is chained up against the chair.

"Kendrick?" Benjie spoke. "Kendrick, is that really you?"

"Kuya," he replied. "I'm sorry."

Suddenly, Gaddo came and stood in between, preventing Benjie from seeing Kendrick. Gaddo is facing Benjie and facing away from Kendrick.

"Who knew that a famous entrepreneur from Baguio would be going to be a corpse near a river tomorrow morning," he said.

Kendrick widens his eyes in horror after he heard Gaddo.

"NO!" Kendrick yells. His eyes turned bright brown as he attempted to transform one more time. However, Agatha electrocuted him with a taser to force him to lose concentration.

"What have you done?" Benjie yelled at Gaddo when he sensed they had done something to Ken. Gaddo's body is blocking his sight of Kendrick. "Kendrick!"

"Do not worry. He won't die," Gaddo responded. "I know that feeling, you know. You raised him on your own since both your parents died. You stood like his father all these years. I, too, am a father, so I know the feeling of having a child. Too bad, because of this tattoo of yours, you will die leaving poor Kendrick alone."

"You son of a b***h!" Benjie yells. "I'll kill you. I swear, I'll kill you!"

"Over your dead body," Gaddo replies. He moved to the side to allow Benjie to see his little brother. He sees a man, Gabriel, standing behind Ken. He is pulling Ken's hair, forcing Ken to hold his head back down. Gabriel's right hand is holding a dagger ready to stab Kendrick's neck. Gaddo was also surprised by Gabriel's sudden decision.

"Leave him alone. Leave him alone!" Benjie shouts as he tries to break free from the chain. However, the chain is not like that of an ordinary chain. It seems twice harder as the ordinary ones. He growls angrily.

They never knew that an invader was outside listening to Benjie's voice. They have no idea that Ana followed the van from Suello Village all the way to where they are in Shilan. She is hiding behind a tree five meters away from the abandoned place's door. At the door, she could see two guards holding guns.

She got startled when she heard another scream coming from the chicken coup. "Oh my God! Oh my God!" she whispered as she began to get tense.

:::::::::

In the conference room, all the leaders are gathered together at the oval table. They are having a meeting, discussing the person who kidn*pped Kendrick.

"This is Mark John Laksamana..." Gordon introduced as he flashed Mark's face on the whiteboard via projector. "Luckily, the government data has this one and only fingerprint that matches the fingerprint I got from the coin. He is a registered voter living in La Trinidad. He just registered a year ago at twenty-three years old. He put Shilan as his address."

"So, what are we waiting for? Let's put that son of a b***h into torture...I mean... put him in prison," Cielo said.

"We may have found a way to track him down. However, we can't constrict a spirit," Gordon said.

"Whatever! We'll figure that out along the way. The important thing is we find Kendrick and bring him safely to Benjie," Seth said.

"Speaking of Benjie, have you seen him lately?" Gordon wondered.

Seth sighed in frustration. He suddenly got worried. "Japeth, I need you and your agent to check on Benjie. I need you to track his GPS, go to his house, his favorite place, and others. We need to confirm he is safe and sound."

Japeth stood up. "Yes, Boss," he replied. Immediately, he walked out of the room.

"My God, Benjie," Seth muttered in frustration. "Okay! Let's discuss," he said to the rest of the leaders.

Gordon can't help but yawn. He's been holding it for a while.