The Spirit Martial

Spirit 02

I opened my eyes when I heard a grunt of a woman. May isang matandang babae na nakahawak sa akin at inangat ako. Patay na ba ako? Siya ba ang nakakita sa katawan ko kaya siya ang nasa harapan ko ngayon?

“Lalaki ang anak mo,” sabi niya

Lalaki? Anak? Sino? Iniharap niya ko sa isang babae na halatang pagod galing sa panganganak. She was catching her breath habang nakatingin sakin at nakangiti. I looked down and saw something I shouldn’t see. T-T-T-That’s ... how it looks like?!

Hindi ko alam bakit but my body acted on its own at umiyak. Why does my voice sound like a baby? I tried to move my hands and I saw two small hands of a newborn. Woah, woah, woah, teka lang. ANONG NANGYAYARI?!

Mas tumindi ang iyak ko at inilapag ako ng matandang babae sa piling ng babaeng kaharap ko. For some reason, I stopped crying the moment she held me and for the first time in many years, I felt safe. Where am I?

Few years have passed already at hindi ko pa rin lubos maisip kung bakit ako napunta dito. I’m currently 10 years old now. I committed suicide back then tapos nandito na ako, living a simple life with this woman who gave birth to me. She’s really kind and she really loved me.

The place we’re living right now is called Agartha. I don’t know much about this place but we’re no really living in the mainland itself kasi nakatira kami sa isang maliit na isla na parte pa rin ng Agartha. Sabi ni mama, ang Agartha ay mundo ng mga spirit casters pero sa mga katulad namin, hindi kami welcome doon.

Agartha is rich in mana kaya when I first went outside, my eyes were mesmerized by the people who walks with their spirits. Spirits are from generation by generation, pa-swertehan na lang kasi naka-rank yung lahat ng spirits dito. Pag nasa ibaba ka, inaapi ka and unfortunately, we’re at the lowest and rarest.

Nalaman ko na ang spirit naman ay ang pinaka delikado at umabot sa point pinatira kami dito sa katabing isla because we’re dangerous. One touch of our spirit can kill pero hindi naman talaga totoo yun. Depende lang naman sa pag gamit.

Napatingin ako sa labas ng bintana kasi nakaupo lang ako sa silya habang nagbabasa ng libro para malaman ang kung ano pang impormasyon tungkol dito sa Agartha and saw the 3-layered magic barrier sa mainland.  Hindi ko pa sinabi ni mama pero balang araw, gusto kong pumunta doon. If I the Gods have given me another chance to live, then I’ll live this life to the fullest and I promised to myself na hinding-hindi ko na ulit gagawin yun.

According to this book I’m reading, there are actually 5 types of Spirit Casters which are attacker, defence, healer, poisoner, and commoner. Out of the 5 types we belong to the commoner, which is not accepted by the society, and the poisoner because our spirits our poisons. These 5 types are applied to each family . Walang masyadong impormasyon dito about sa families pero may isang family dito na palaging nakasulat, Pendragon Family- family of spirits with scales at sila lang ang pamilya na na-belong sa tatlong type. They belong to the attacker, defense, and poison. In fact, Pendragon Family rules the whole Agartha and they’ve been ruling for 100 years along with the Spirit Martial, the King of Spirit Casters and the strongest of all.

For some reason, years back, the Spirit Martial vanished and a curse has appeared after that- the Pandora’s Box.The pandora’s box is a demon box na lipat ng lipat sa Agartha at pag ito ay bubukas, maraming klaseng demonyo ang lalabas para maghasik ng lagim. Fortunately, hindi pa nakarating dito yun kaya hindi ko pa talaga nakita yun sa personal. Nandoon lang kasi ito sa mainland.

“Anak,” tawag ni mama kaya tumayo kaagad ako at pinuntahan siya.

“Po?” sagot ko nang makarating ako malapit sa kanya.

“Oras na,” she said with a gentle smile so I smiled back.

Lumabas ako sa munting bahay namin at nagpaalam kay mama. Every 3pm kasi ay pumupunta ako sa mahiwagang kahoy para mag meditate. Nakakatulong rin ito sakin para ma-control ng maayos yung spirit ko. Yung mahiwagang kahoy kasi ay ka-uri ng spirit ko, isang Aconite Tree, at yung spirit ko ay Aconite flowers mismo.

Sa mga taong may ibang spirit, hindi sila pwede dito kasi nakakamatay ito, lalong-lalo na ang spirito na nasa loob ko. Kahit ako'y takot dito pero kailangan ko itong tanggapin kasi pag hindi, ito mismo ang lalamon sakin.

Ipinagpatuloy ko ito hanggang sa ako ay nasa saktong edad na, I’m 20 years old right now at tinutulungan ko ang mama ko sa pagtitinda sa palengke. Hindi naman mahirap magtinda dito lalong-lalo na’t hindi ako inaapi dito. Hindi ko alam kung bakit ako napunta rito pero nagpapasalamat ako. Did my wish from that shooting star came true? Are Deities really real? If they are, then they my gratitude. I will surely treasure this life.

For some reason, I have a feeling that I’m being watched or something is lurking within the market pero hindi ko yun pinansin kasi pag pinansin ko yun, it may be a trap. Sabi kasi ni mama, may ability ang ibang spirits na magtago. According to her, there are some instances that we see a person pero kami lang yung nakakakita. For instance, when an A-class Spirit Caster hides, A-class below cannot see him/her but only the A-class and those who are above. Noong nalaman ko yan, hindi na talaga ako tumingin sa mga tao ng matagalan, I’ll just scroll my eyes around the crowd baka kasi may matawag akong ganon, baka ano pang mangyari.

Sa kaso ko, I’m not really sure what rank I have kasi the school I’m going is not really big and it focuses on basics only. Gaya ng paano kontrolin ang poison or paano tanggalin, ganon lang. This island are for commoners after all syempre karamihan dito ay tulad ko pero hindi kami pareho ng Spirit, just commoners and poisoners.

“Cygnus, pwede mo bang kunin sa bahay ‘yung ibang paninda, paubos na kasi oh,” sabi ni mama at tumango naman kaagad ako. Cygnus- ang pangalan na binigay sa akin ni mama. It means, the God of Balance and symbolizes as swan. I like this name better and I like this life better.

Tumayo ako at naglakad papunta sa bahay. Napakaganda rito kasi walang diskriminasyon. Sa dati kong buhay, kahit saan ako maglakad palaging may nakatingin na mata sa akin pero dito? Meron nga pero may kasamang ngiti kaya masaya na ako ngayon. Sana ay tuloy-tuloy na ito.

Habang naglalakad ako, napatigil ako sa wooden bridge na dadaanan ko talaga papunta samin. My memories from my past life flashbacks when I saw a guy standing on the railings. His black eyes were glued to the river below the bridge and his hair swayed along the wind's direction. It’s what I did before I jumped. I must stop him.

Tumakbo ako papunta doon and I noticed that he closed his eyes. He’s really gonna jump!

“STOP!!!” I shouted and he opened his eyes at napatingin sa akin. Tumigil ako sa railings na tinatayuan niya at hinawakan ang paa niya. “Huwag kang tatalon!! Pag-usapan natin kung ano ang problema mo! Hindi solusyon ito!” I added. This isn’t a solution, this is an escape. Stop.

His cold eyes pierced through me at napa bitaw ako. It was as if he’s telling me to mind my own business. Bumaba siya sa railings at tinitigan ako.

“Are you calm? Let’s talk,” sabi ko

This is the prettiest man I’ve ever seen in my entire life.

“I’m calm,” he said with a deep voice and a cold aura, “but,” he added. Napatingin ako sa mga dumadaan na tao at parang nalilito sila sa nangyayari. He was about to jump! Hindi ba nila nakita?!

Wait.

Hindi ba nila nakita?

Napalunok ako and I slowly glanced at him. Did I just make a mistake?

I did make a mistake.

“You can see me?” he asked with a smile at napa atras ako.

You’ve got to be kidding me!