The Tale of Xenosa

Abilities Shibilities

Cheskas POV

Morning came sooner than when I expected it to arrive, I glanced at the wall clock and saw that it was only 6 AM. I looked over Lacresia’s bed and saw that she was no longer there, huh I never expected her to be a morning person. I stood up and made up my bed. I went to the bathroom to take a bath, as I was scrubbing the filth from my body I felt a sting on some parts that were when I noticed a few scratches on my leg and stomach, some were on my back and a deep cut on my arm. They were already starting to heal, so fortunately I didn’t need to worry about that. I stepped out of the shower and proceeded to brush my teeth. I then had the chance to glance at my face in the mirror. Weird, I had a white streak on my hair, that wasn’t there before, my face had a few scratches as well but nothing too deep. So this was how I looked like with my oval-shaped face, dark thick brows, and long lashes, large Asian nose and lips, and almond-shaped eyes. I don’t why but the white streak on my hair complimented the entirety of my look. I wasn’t what people would consider to be a pretty girl but I’d like to believe that I’m not ugly as well. I finished brushing my teeth and went out of the bathroom to get changed. I then went down to the kitchen where I saw Lady Katalina and Lacresia was seated at. They were already eating breakfast and talking about Louis. “Good Morning Cheska, take a seat here and have some breakfast,” Katalina greeted with a smile on her face. “Good morning” I replied and sat down. It was a usual Filipino breakfast with bread and coffee on the side. “So, how did you girls sleep?” Katalina asked, “It was soo good, I haven’t had sleep that nice since I left home” Cresia replied and I nodded in agreement. The rest of the meal was composed of just us talking about our pets and asking Katalina questions about them. After we ate, Cresia and I decided to help with the household chores, I washed the dishes while she helped Katalina in cleaning the table and drying off the plates and utensils I’ve washed. When we finished, I decided to step out of the hut to see the outside, Katalina said it was safe as long as I didn’t go too deep into the heart of the forest, ‘cause just like the forest back home this one here was also home to lots of wild animals and occasionally some creatures of the night. “Wow” was the only thing that came out of my mouth after I stepped outside of the hut, the view here was breathtaking! We were on a cliff, perhaps we were high enough that the clouds seemed to be just within my reach. I didn’t notice the change of altitude at all. The hut was placed facing the cliff and the clouds but behind the hut were hundreds of hectares filled with trees and other plants I don’t know the name of. What was it with this journey and cliffs, everywhere I went had cliffs lol. But I’m not going to complain about this one. It was beautiful indeed. Even Luci followed me out, that’s weird if we’re so far up then why doesn’t it feel cold? Lady Katalina must’ve done some kind of magic to keep this place warm and safe. I was just enjoying the view in front of me, I don’t I’ll ever get used to a view like this. Luci was also enjoying just walking around the place. “Hey, Ches! Lady Katalina wants us both inside” Cresia called. “Alright, I’ll be there” I replied, then stood up to follow her inside. We were now at the hut’s living room, and Lady Katalina had a serious look on her face. “I know you girls are busy resting and exploring the place but I forgot to tell you one thing about the maze last night,” she said with a worried expression. I don’t know why but I didn’t like the way she’s behaving right now, she looks like she’s about to tell us something scary. “Calm down Lady Katalina, you won’t scare us off no matter what the news is. We’ve been to the tunnels and we’ve already faced some of the monsters there. I’m sure whatever you’re about to tell us won’t be that big of a deal” Cresia said looking calm as ever. I on the other hand am busy trying to figure out what’s getting Lady Katalina so worked up, “It’s better if you tell us now Lady Kataline” I said. She took a breath and swallowed the lump she seemed to have on her throat, “You see, this is quite of a big deal. If you remember, last night I told you the story of that labyrinth, on how and why it was created. And how it became the way it is now. You see after the creator’s family died, the only ones left there are the creatures, and out of all of them, there was one you needed to get through. I know of your prophecy Ches,” she then looked at me “and I know of your role in the prophecy Lacresia” and then looked at Cresia. “I know that you two need to get to City of Biringan and I now that you’ve been having dreams as well Ches.” My breath hitched as I heard her mention those dreams, it’s true I’ve had dreams before but I’ve had none so far, well ever since I went on this trip I hadn’t had a good night’s sleep, except for last night of course. “The fact is I know a lot of things and that’s why I know that you two need to get the yawe”. “If you don’t me asking Lady Katalina, but what is a yawe?” Cresia asked. “Yawe is a key. It’s a special type of key that will let you enter the City of Biringan. You’ll need to defeat the bakunawa that dwells on the deepest part of the labyrinth.” I then said “I don’t mean to be disrespectful or anything but aren’t bakunawa’s fictional? I’ve heard stories about them from my Nana” Lady Katalina looked at me and said “Child if there’s one thing I should tell you about this trip of yours, it’s the fact that you’re about to face and encounter all the mythical creatures you’ve heard about and even the oned you didn’t. The Bakunawa is a sea dragon it is said to be so powerful that it could eat the moon if it wanted to. The Bakunawa was supposed to be the guardian for the creator and his family they were good friends with each other. The stories used to say that the Bakunawa that dwells there wasn’t evil as a matter of fact the kids used to play with it, but when they left the Labyrinth, they left the dragon there as well. This caused the dragon to be misguided and to be vulnerable to the influences of the creatures there. But the dragon was true to its core, and no matter how evil it became it never forgot its duty to fulfill the family’s wishes and to protect them. The creator’s wife if you remember, was a shaman, a witch, it was rumored that she was one of the few people to ever hold the key to enter the City of Biringan. The devastating story of the creator’s family said that all their family’s treasure was left there in the maze to be safeguarded by the Bakunawa.” “That’s cool and all but Cresia and I don’t have a clue on how to defeat a sea dragon, do you know how much we struggled when we fought with the aswangs? I don’t think we’re built for this kind of thing Lady Katalina. I’m sorry” With disbelief totally evident in her voice Lady Katalina said “Whatever do you mean “not built for this” Cheska? You are a demigod.Only demigods have the ability to kill all creatures of the dark and that includes sea dragons. Demigods were blessed with abilities and powers they got from their powers. The-“ “What do you mean powers? What powers?” Cresia said. This girl really likes cutting people’s sentences, but she was right though. I was wondering about the same thing. I didn’t know about any powers. Growing up I didn’t know anything about abilities and stuff. My thoughts were broken by the sound of Lady Katalina’s voice “Of course you have powers. All demigods have them, they’re given to you as a blessing being a child of a god and as a child of a mortal. Some of you have overwhelming amounts of them, this depends on the parent of course and how powerful of a god they are. Some demigods are so powerful that they’re able to be one of the gods themselves. You guys were able to battle Aswangs, the Bungisngis and a few other creatures without any proper training. How do you think were you able to do that? Those things are just the surface, the physical abilities. Your powers are in a whole new level, more powerful than the babaylans and the shamans. The blood that flows in your veins, is the very blood of the gods.” Cresia and I looked at each other with our mouths wide with disbelief. “You girls are almost there, you’ll gain your power soon. I can sense it.” Lady Katalina continued. Just a few days ago, I wondered about my newfound abilities believing them to be the result of an adrenaline rush. It turns it was something much more than that. "Now that you girls know about the whole thing? Are you still willing to go and fight the dragon of the labyrinth? Or will you choose to just simply give up and pretend that all of these things never happened, and none of the creatures are real? Cresia and I looked at each other for the nth time today. This thing is going to be one heck of a rollercoaster ride.