Mermaid Blues: Beasts, Giants and Spirits

The Fall of A Warrior

It is already two o'clock in the afternoon. Ken was in the small garden located at the back of the library institution, at the very edge of the campus. The place is hidden and a few students come to visit. Most of them are students from the Agriculture Department. He is currently weeding and uprooting unnecessary grasses from the soil.

"I can't believe that Sir Matthew made you do this thing. I mean, this is too much," Gilhameer said. He was sitting down on a bench in the corner while holding a cup of hot coffee, while he was watching Kendrick in front of him uprooting grass and piling in on his back.

"This is outrageous. Buwisit!" Ken whined. "What wrong have I done to him?"

"Umm...besides crushing his beloved vase? Nothing," Gilhameer replied.

"This punishment is too much. I mean, just for a vase? I was sincere when I was apologizing a while ago. Moreover, I told him that I was going to pay him immediately."

"He does not like shortcuts. He wants you to suffer, dude," Gilhameer said, and then he took a sip.

Kenn sighed. He looked at his friend who was slurping.

"You like?" Gilhameer asked as he offered him his coffee.

"This is so wrong. Not unless there is some other punished student to help me up. It's much better if I clean an entire classroom. It's a lot smaller."

"Dude, believe me. You are not the first one to suffer cleaning here alone. I remember when my classmate was caught cheating during an exam. Mr. Matthew immediately sent him to a larger garden to weed. You are lucky this is just a very small garden, a very small piece of land," Gilhameer told him.

"At least he committed cheating. Well, no offense, but he deserved it. But for me? You know me. I am just a decent Igorot."

"That's the part of the world." Then, he put down his cup and stood up. He picked up the broom which was lying beside him. He went over to Ken to help him pick up the uprooted grass. "Do you want me to call Kuya Benjie to complain for you?"

"Tsk!" Ken slowly shook his head. He is already upset and ashamed. Involving his brother in a simple issue will make his situation worse. "As you said, this area is small. I can endure it. I am already done anyway."

"Okay..." Gilhameer is thinking of a topic to get Kendrick out of the stress. "You forgot to tell me about how you found your dog."

"Oh, yeah. I forgot about that," Kendrick's negative aura suddenly lessened after Gilhameer reminded him about that. He was thinking that he would forget what he was cleaning for somehow if he told the story to his friend.

He was about to say a word but he suddenly paused when he sensed a sudden tension. He suddenly got alarmed as he felt the energy rubbing through his skin. He widened his eyes in fear as he slowly turned his head to the right where the energy was coming from. Gilhameer also looked to the right as he began to suspect Kendrick's behavior.

Gilhameer widened his eyes in fright and shock. He immediately stood up when he saw the emitter of the energy that they had suddenly sensed. Ken also stood up while seeing it coming. They don't know what they are going to do. They froze in fear. They had never seen a creature like that before.

They are looking at a shiny white figure. There is no creature on the planet like it. It doesn't even look like it is an animal. It is like a projection, it has no solid body. It's just like an image that came out of a projection machine. It is a moon in the shape of a wolf, a huge wolf the height of a sedan. It has two long wriggling tails. Its bloody red eyes are contradicting its shiny bright color. It is slowly walking closer and closer.

"What the hell is that?" Gilhameer whispered as he leaned on Ken.

"I...don't know."

Finally, the wolf-like figure is standing before them. The guys were catching their breaths as they wondered what are they going to do. The wolf creature is just staring at them without any movement. It is quietly examining them with its scary red eyes. They don't know it is a spirit.

A minute later...it opened its mouth and immediately pounced on Kendrick's left shoulder. Ken never expected it. Not even Gilhameer sees that coming. It happened in just a blink of an eye. He widened his eyes when he realized the quick creature had already clumped its teeth on Ken's shoulder. One second later, the bright creature took him and jumped onto the roof of the library.

"KENDRICK!"Gilhameer cried in panic.

****Blue Water****

Grace is in the library. She is reading a book about human anatomy. She was there for thirty minutes. She had no class to attend at that time, so she decided to go there to kill time. She was sitting at one of the tables in the corner nearest to the huge window. Everyone in that corner begins to leave the tables. She is the only person who has no intention of leaving yet. She is studying the figure of the heart as she memorizes the parts of it. Then, she looked away for a second to rest her eyes. She looked at the window. She could see the small garden outside. In that garden, she could see two boys. One is crouching down on the ground while weeding and the other guy is collecting the weeds with a dustpan. She smiled at them with admiration. Then, she brought her eyes back to the anatomy of the heart. Meanwhile, a shadow from outside quickly passed by the window. Grace noticed it, however, she thought it was a bird passing by. Then...

"KENDRICK!"

She suddenly heard a voice of a guy in distress. She got startled as she gasped. She turned her head to the window and she looks at what was happening outside. She is surprised when there is only one guy in the garden instead of two. What's more, is that he looks shocked. The expression on his face seemed traumatized. With a little splattered blood on his face.

Grace stood up with fright on her face. She closed the book and grabbed her bag sitting across from her. She took her bag and the book and then she left her table.

On the other hand, when Gilhameer got up his courage. He immediately followed the strange wolf who took Kendrick.

::::::::

Seth entered their office. He is holding a folder with a drawn portrait inside. When he opened the door, he was surprised that Japeth was the only person in the room. Japeth is reading a document sent by his secretary a while ago. He looked away from the documents and looked at the person who had just entered.

"Japeth," Seth greeted as he walked over.

"Hi, Boss!" Japeth greeted him back with an enthusiastic smile. He put down the documents on the table. "Have you squeezed anything from them?"

"Yeah. In fact, I have. I just came to inform you that we have another clue in the case," he said. He put the short white folder down on Japeth's desk. "This folder contains a sketch of their so-called boss and sponsor for hunting Benjie and the others. "

Japeth looked at Seth with intrigue in his eyes. He grabbed the folder and opened it. Inside the folder is a short coupon bond with a face drawn on it. He took the bond paper and began to examine the face.

"How did you get them to talk?" Japeth asked in wonder.

"Threats. And the torture, of course. Stubborn beings have their weak spots too, you know," he answered. "Especially, if there is a guy who is claustrophobic. (Tsk)! I tried to play with his feelings for a while."

"What would we do without you," he praised.

Seth pouted as he nodded. "Well, maybe because I have a greater sense of wisdom."

"Who is this handsome face?" Japeth asked when he resumed examining the portrait.

"They don't know his name. However, everybody calls him 'Syndicate'."

"'Syndicate'? Why in the world would they call him that?"

"I have no idea," Seth replied. "However, he is known to kill anyone who stands in his way, either ordinary humans or Lignodons. One of them was with him during the m******e of the Baas Village. The 'Syndicate' himself chopped off the target's head clean off. He was very angry."

"Angry at the tattooed victim?" Japeth brought his eyebrows together.

"Yeah. Guess what? He told him to "go f**k the lizard who did this to me" before finally cutting off the victim's head."

Then, from the door, Gordon came in.

"Hi!" he greeted as he briskly walked towards them.

"Okay. So, I found something from the teabags Boss Gaston brought from the foot of Mount Banahaw. You won't believe how clever the witch did."

"Okay. Spill it out," Seth demanded.

"Remember the markings on them?"

"Yeah," Japeth and Seth replied.

"Those really are signatures. And teabags aren't really teabags. They don't contain ingredients like makeup tea. They are just teabags that are emptied and then refilled with some other substances such as grounded chicken skulls, seminal deposits from a hawk, and grind m*******a leaves. And, of course, the main ingredient - the coffee leaves."

"Ew..." Japeth commented.

"Did Tita Silvia help you with this?" Seth asked.

"Hell no!" he chuckled. "Are you underestimating me right now? I can do my job without the aid of that old faith healer."

"Ohohoho," Japeth laughed with excitement. "Are you serious? Why didn't you inform me that she had come back?" He told Seth.

"I know you are upset with me right now because of her, but we need her wisdom on this. If we combine your expertise and her expertise, then I am sure we can solve this faster," Seth told Gordon.

"I understand," Gordon humbly said. "Let's go back to the topic. Since the village is dominant with coffee trees. Those tea bags are used to enhance the scent of the coffee around you. "

"Huh..." Seth squinted. He nodded to indicate that he understood why the witch scattered them there. "She enhanced the scent to cover their scents from our werewolves' noses. Therefore, we can't find any scent of them from the inside and outside of the house because they are already mixed with the coffee smell."

"You guessed it," Gordon pointed his finger to Seth. "The witch really is a witch."

"Okay, Sir Gordon. I want you to work with Tita Silvia, okay? Whatever she does, don't get annoyed," Seth instructed. "I beg of you. Solve this case and she'll be gone."

Before Gordon is about to say a word, Gaston came in.

"Hey, friends! Are you ready to kick ass?" he asked.

"What are you talking about?" Gordon asked.

"Arthur is on his way to Edina and Enzo. He needs backup. No need to explain. Just let us go there quick," he informed.

:::::::::::

On the rooftop of the library where the spirit settled, the spirit put Kendrick's unconscious body down for a while. Then, it transformed into its original shape as a human - a human whose name is Mark John. Mark looked down at the garden and he saw Gilhameer running towards the library he was at. And so, he turned back into being an unusual creature. He took a little glimpse at the boy down there once more. Then, he disappeared into thin air, leaving Kendrick behind.

Gilhameer stopped running just when they saw the man on the roof returning to being an unusual beast again. His eyes widened when they saw that the large dog disappeared along with the unconscious boy's body. Although he couldn't see him, they could still feel its presence on that rooftop.

"I need to transform!" Gilhameeer told himself. He was focusing his eyes on the roof, searching for a trace of where Kendrick and the spirit were at. "Where to?" He was scanning around to look for space for him to shift shape. However, he is afraid that the students in the library might see him. There is no place for him not to be seen. The garden is wide open.

"Ay s**t!" Gilhameer muttered.

He suddenly felt the spirit's presence around the garden somewhere but they couldn't trace where exactly he was. He was staying alert and attentive since at any time the shiny furred beast might attack him without any warning. With his eyes, he tried to scan the surroundings to see any movements. He felt tense since his presence was getting stronger.

Meanwhile, without any warning, he appeared behind him and he rammed Gilhameer with his hard head. He got thrown away and landed against the golden bush.

Everyone among the few students who were next to the large windows of that library never noticed that something was happening in the garden. They can neither see Gilhameer and the spirit nor the damaged golden bush where Gilhameer landed and was crushed. They just saw the same usual boring view of it and saw nothing happening there.

He can barely stand due to the pain he got from the impact. His back was aching after the impact, feeling like small twigs had entered through his skin. His chest got heavy due to the headbutt. The spirit decides to leave him alone, and so, he disappears.

Grace came running to the scene. She stopped by the bench. She gets shocked when she sees a guy struggling to stand up in the distance. She immediately runs to him. She found him wounded - a s***h on his face and shrapnel to his back.

"Oh my God! Are you okay?" she spoke and she immediately grabbed his arm to pull him up.

Gilhameer successfully stood up as he leaned on her.

"Are you okay? What happened to you?"

Gilhameer looked at her. He didn't know his eyes were still mutated. Grace was surprised. She froze when she looked at them. They look like those of animals, not of humans. She was frightened, however, she still managed to stand on her ground.

:::::::

In an abandoned area on the hill near Asin Road...

The hunters and Arthur have arrived. Arthur came out from the van with his hands chained together. The first thing he sees when he set his foot on the ground is an old building standing at the distance. Two hunters were holding his arms to make sure he won't loosen the chain tied to his hands - one man on the left and one man on the right. They are also leading him towards the building.

Gaddo, Agatha, and Gabriel came out of the door. Together with three hunters behind them, they walked from the door to meet the incoming hunters. Then they finally meet.

"Where are they?" Arthur asked immediately. "Where is my son?"

"Don't get excited so much," Gaddo told him. "Welcome."

"Get me to them. Now!"

Gaddo laughed. He looks at Agatha on his left side and then he glances at Gabriel on the right. Gabriel and Agatha are laughing with him.

"Okay. Whatever you say," Gaddo replied. "Fine. Fine."

:::::::::::

Inside the abandoned building...

Edina and her son were released from their glass cage. Now, they are standing still outside the cage. Enzo, who is so frightened, is hugging his mother's leg. A hunter came over and he tied Edina's hands with a rope. One hunter grabbed Enzo's hand and he pulled him away from his mother's leg.

"Mama! Mama!" he cries as he is being pulled.

"No! Don't touch him! Enzo!" she yells worriedly. She tries to take a step close to Enzo but the guy knotting behind her is pulling her. "Enzo! NO! Don't hurt him. Please, don't."

"Don't worry. We won't hurt him. We'll just distance you away from each other. It's an order," a hunter walked in front of her and said to her. Enzo is now being held by a hunter, who distances him two meters away from his mother. All thirty hunters are now standing around them. Edina was getting more and more scared and tense every second. She's getting worried about what they will going to do to her and her son next. She keeps on taking deep breaths.

"What are you going to do to us?" she asked.

"Shut up and wait," the hunter beside her replied.

Then came Gaddo, Agatha, andGabriel. Arthur entered with them. Edina was surprised.

"Edina?" Arthur spoke with optimism when he saw her.

"Arthur?" she was happy that the love of her life was alive.

"Why did you tie that lady? Untie her. Geez, don't be so sadistic," Agatha complained to the hunters near Edina. Immediately, they untied her hands. Enzo is also released, and immediately, he runs to his father. He hugged him when he got there.

Arthur wants to hug his son back but his hands are tied behind his back. He just let his young man hug his feet tightly for the last time. Edina came over with her hands opened wide. She hugged him when she got to him. Arthur closed his eyes as he let his tears flow down. At least for the last time, he had felt his lover's warm loving hug. She released him. She looked at him in the eyes. She let her tears come out. She gently pressed her palms on Arthur's cheeks.

"I am so scared. Your son keeps on crying. What are we doing here, Arthur? I am scared. I am scared they are going to kill us, Arthur."

"I am here now. I came here to take you home," he said.

"How?"

Arthur smiled at her. He didn't say a word. The optimistic face Arthur was giving to her seemed like it was not a smile of enthusiasm. She is getting more terrified, she fears that he has surrendered himself just to save them. She fears that she might lose him.

"He's not going home," Gabriel chimed in. Arthur turned his head to scowl at the one who said that. Edina looked at Gabriel with wonder in her eyes. Gabriel continued. "We don't need you here anymore. You've done your part. You can live happily ever after with your son now."

"No," she reacted. She looked at Arthur. "What does he mean by that?"

Arthur cleared his throat. He averts his eyes on her.

"Sorry, sister. He agreed that he would die in exchange for your lives," Agatha said. "You should be grateful you have him as a lover."

"No! Arthur, tell me they are lying. Tell me you are coming home with us."

"I am sorry," he replied. His words had made her shed more tears. She froze.

"You are crazy. Are you going to abandon your son?!" she complained. "I won't allow you to die. No! You will stay with us. Please! We'll find a way to eliminate this stupid tattoo. Just, please...Don't do this! You don't need to die."

"There is no other way, Edina," he told her. "I must have to protect you."

"No. You listen to me. You can't leave Enzo. We need you, alive."

"For God's sake! Let him go already so that we can get this over with," Gaddo frustratingly complained.

Edina walked towards Gaddo. She swats him like flies.

"You son of a b***h! What wrong has he done to you? You have no heart. You monster!"

Two of Gaddo's men held her hands. She is being pulled away. She is flailing her hands around, trying to get their hands off her.

"It's time. The other side is impatient," he said.

Gabriel warns Edina. "The deal is a deal. You must have to go now. Unless you want to see him die in front of you and your son."

"Please. Why are you doing this?"

The hunters grabbed Arthur's frightened son and pulled him away from his feet. The child was crying so loudly that he continuously yelled "Daddy". He stretched out his right hand, hoping to reach his father. However, he gets farther and farther.

Arthur looks at his lover being held. He could see her crying in grief and sadness. Enzo was brought to her. She knelt down and hugged the little boy.

"Listen to me. I want you to live well, okay? Take good care of my little boy," Arthur said.

But, a loud noise is suddenly heard. It came from the door. "BOOM!" a grenade exploded by the door causing it to collapse. Everyone inside the building lowered themselves and flinched. After the door's collapse, huge wolves came in one by one. The hunters were surprised. They didn't expect this to happen. And so, they immediately get their guns out of their hosters. One hunter is already about to point his weapon at the approaching wolf but it was too late. The wolf pinned him down on the floor before he could.

"Protect the Syndicate!" one of the hunters shouted.

"Protect the Syndicate!" followed by the others. And so, ten hunters came and surrounded Gaddo, Agatha, and Gabriel, with Arthur kneeling down.

Gunshots are heard. Silver bullets are everywhere. Wolves are pouncing the enemy. Wolves are being shot at. Blood began to spill in that tiny room.

One wolf successfully got to Edina and Enzo. One more came to assist and then another. One white wolf spotted Arthur being surrounded by armed men. The wolf is a foreign kind. He stands out among the other wolves because he is very different. His fur is very thick and fluffy like those of the chow-chow, but white. His eyes are bluish and his size is bigger than the rest of the wolves. He is Cielo himself. Cielo growls as he approaches the ten men. The men focused their eyes and weapons on the incoming creature. However, two more wolves are approaching him. These wolves jumped and landed on four of the men.

"Get us out of here," Gaddo ordered Agatha. And so, Agatha spoke out a chant. Cielo jumped to accelerate his speed. He also aims to slam over Gaddo with his heavy body.

"Ad punctum, sicut sagitta." And they immediately disappeared. Instead of dropping down on Gaddo, Cielo slammed onto the floor.

From the roof, Gaston and three more men crashed it down as they were being dropped from the helicopter above. Each is tied to a rope so that they can safely get down.

Gaston went down exactly to the spot where Edina and Enzo were. He found them confused and frightened. Edina was looking at him anxiously while she was hugging the frightened child.

"Are you alright?" he asked Edina.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"We are your Arthur's friend. You are safe now, ma'am."

"Where's Arthur?"

"Don't worry, ma'am. We will save him. You'll go home with him."

"Please save him," she begged.

"I will..." he confidently replied. Then, he gently patted the young boy's head.

::::::::

Agatha had brought them to an area at the top of the hill beside the hill where the abandoned building stands. Gaddo looked at the abandoned building in the distance. He could see a helicopter hovering above it. From where he stands, he can hear the sounds of firing guns.

He had become frustrated and angry. He grabs his gun from his holster and turns back to where Arthur is. He was surprised when he saw no Arthur. Only the chain wrapped in his hands was lying on the grass.

"He escaped," Agatha was surprised.

"Where the heck did he go? How did you let him escape? Where is he?!" he yelled. "Find him! Go! Go! You sick idiots! Why did you let him escape?"

"Would you please calm down?" Agatha told him.

"How can I calm down? We already have him! How come he escaped?"

"Damn it," Gabriel muttered frustratingly. He walked away from where they were to begin his search.

"He's not getting anywhere. Trust me," Agatha told him before she ran away.

Gaddo rubs his face due to his frustration and dismay. A few seconds later, he decided to go to the path where his colleagues weren't going. He walks northwards. He never knew that on one of those tall pine trees in that area, Arthur was up there, waiting for Gaddo to arrive.

:::::::

Gabriel is trying his best not to make a sound as he takes a step. He is on the east side of the hill. He slowly walks on dried pine needles. He is calm and concentrated, his mind only focuses on spotting Arthur. All his five senses are at their peak. He doesn't care about the leaves dropping down on him, the birds chirping on the branches, and some lost dogs loitering around. He is holding a gun ready to shoot whoever moves before him.

Then, he heard a crackling sound. He stopped and froze. He tries to listen again. A crackling noise was heard again and another. He realized that the noise might be coming from a creature stepping on branches and leaves. He slowly turned around since he realized that the sounds were coming from behind.

To his surprise, a wolf is already close to him. The wolf is glaring at him with anger and threat. It growls as it shows its fangs at Gabriel. It has black fur running along its back and shiny brown covering the majority of its body. The wolf is Seth.

Gabriel pulled the trigger. "PAK!" The gunshot was heard all over the hill.

::::::::

Gaddo turned around in the direction where the gunshot came from. He stopped next to a pine tree. He doesn't know that standing on a branch above his head is Arthur. Arthur was quietly looking at him down there. Arthur is in his pre-mutation, meaning he is in the mid-stage of transforming into a wolf - he is still in human form, however, his body hair is getting furry, his nails are getting sharper, his eyes are turning brown, his fangs are growing, and his ears are turning sharp.

Gaddo was surprised when a guy suddenly fell from the tree and landed on him. Gaddo immediately drops down to the ground while Arthur is unscathed. Arthur rolled over away from Gaddo. Gaddo immediately stood up, never minding the headache and shoulder ache he got from the impact. He stood up like a drunk man struggling to compose himself due to too much alcohol. He grabbed his left shoulder where it hurts the most. He looked at Arthur sternly. He grabbed his gun from the holster and he took aim.

"Raaah!" Arthur ran to him angrily.

Gaddo was about to pull the trigger but it was late. Arthur was fast enough to get close to him, grabbed Gaddo's hand holding the gun, raised it up to the sky, and immediately kicked him in the stomach. Gaddo moved back, another pain in his stomach from the kick. The gun in his hand slipped away. Then, Gaddo tries to reach a dagger hanging on his belt, beside the holster. Arthur ran and tackled him. Both are pinned to the ground, Gaddo failed to pull the weapon out and now he is lying underneath Arthur. Arthur growls as he begins to punch Gaddo's face. He keeps on punching and punching, even until Gaddo's burned face starts to bleed from the opening wounds. Gaddo is already losing consciousness. He attempts to reach the dagger on his belt. However, it is hard to pull it off from its tiny sheath since he is losing strength.

Arthur seized by punching him. He looks up at the sky and screams angrily. Finally, he decides to speed up his mutation. He is about to turn into a wolf. His facial structure is already changing. His body structure is expanding as it changes shape.

From the distance, about ten meters behind Arthur, Agatha threw a dagger. It was flying at high speed towards Arthur's back. Arthur was already in his full wolf when the dagger's blade burrowed into his skin. He froze as he began to feel something wrong on his back. He feels pain all of a sudden. Gaddo saw it as an opportunity when he realized Arthur was not punching. He quickly pulled out the weapon from the sheath with all his remaining strength. He immediately stabbed his chest.

Gaston and the wolves have arrived in the area. They were devastated by what they were seeing. They found Arthur slowly losing his transformation, kneeling down, frozen in his place and there was a man below him. They just saw the man just stabbed his chest. They are further alarmed when they look at the dagger planted on his back.

"NO!" Gaston yelled with frustration, fright, and desperation. He and his men immediately ran to him. Arthur slowly closes his eyes, losing consciousness. He could barely breathe. He touches his chest to the part where there is bleeding. He slowly falls to the ground.

Agatha chants "Ad punctum, sicut sagitta." She immediately disappeared into thin air. She left Gaddo lying on the ground while Arthur's body was lying on top of him.