Chapter 30: Chapter 28: Arts and Crafts is not Lumi’s Strongest Suit
"Lumi, I brought you here not only for some fresh air but because Barney needed some space," Matthos started to confess, "he needs to do something important."
Lumi looked shaken to the core, and her ember eyes looked like extinguished fire. She didn't like where this was going at all.
"Matthos, do you mean that something is already happening?" she gulped.
"Yes, Lumi," he confirmed, "I don't know which one started but it almost tried to take Physma."
She felt like she was about to faint, and some people looking at them thought it was a confrontation. Before they could come close and give Matthos a piece of their mind and call the police, Lumi went straight to Matthos's arms. She buried her face in his scent of citrus and sandalwood.
The onlookers were suddenly awkward and looked elsewhere after that. Finally, Lumi and Matthos were alone. Well, the beings were watching them with interest. The particular being who talked to Lumi found it amusing. It showed how beings had emotions.
Lumi forgot their surroundings, and for a while, Matthos felt awkward with the glares he received. Then it changed to worry as he patted her shoulders, reassuring her that whatever happens, he will be there for her.
"What do we do now?"
"We wait, and we do what we can. So, how are you with arts?" Matthos grinned.
***
Talisman making was an intricate process. It can be anything, really. It can be made of several materials or even something as simple as an animal fang. Barney and Matthos have even experienced someone creating it from exhumed bodies of dead fetuses, and they did not like that at all.
Now, Lumi was there to guide them through the creation of the agimat, as her people called it, that can protect them in this current pandemic.
"The blood of a predator, a chunk of fool's gold and ivory. What am I missing?" Barney asked Lumi.
"You didn't write down the ingredients I told you. You needed tears of Wren and then create the tree of life. That way, when you speak the oracion, Dian Masalanta will appear near the tree. Then the tree will disappear and the wreath of May will appear," she chided.
"So why did you kick us out again?" Matthos was looking at Barney's failed creations.
"Well, I was looking at the golem they found near the beach," he replied and showed the ugly looking stone shaped like a fetus with fangs, "I think it's a tiyanak."
"Is that liquid inside of it?" Lumi frowned and immediately touched it.
"They got near the sea," Barney sighed, "there will be liquid inside."
"No, Barney, look at it," she said impatiently, "It looks viscous, unlike sea water."
Matthos went close and saw that the liquid was indeed thick.
"Do you think it is tears of Wren?" Barney said in awe.
"Part of it," Lumi was uneasy, "If it is in a tiyanak golem, then it was already used for another spell. Did you contain the curse inside?"
"Of course I did," he replied indignantly, "Okay, so how do we do separate tears of Wren from this thick mixture?"
"Chromatography and distillation, of course," Matthos was confident as he touched the liquid. "It's not your average process though," he took the golem and looked for inscriptions of spells. Then, finally, he saw some at the bottom.
It said, "Agsangit ti agsapul ti turay."
In the Ilocano language, it meant "the person who looks for power will cry."
"Someone attracted the being controlling the source of the curse," Matthos continued, "It looks like nexus vorti. Someone is looking for nexus vorti and they're being cursed."
"Well, Lumi, that is why being average helps a lot," Barney grinned, unaware that he was easing the knots in her stomach, "you see, people are so into the idea of power. They don't understand that with power comes sacrifice. It's like a curse. It will be a lose-lose situation. You will lose your soul in return for something that is volatile. So let's live a silent life, shall we?"
"Yes, a silent life, got it," Lumi nodded.
Matthos watched their exchange. Yes, he can give her a silent, average life. Physma is a being-friendly, province-like, safe island that she can settle on. The question now was, how? His job was so demanding. He will be gone for months, looking for clues and curses.
"I don't think the talisman we'll make will be as effective as the one your father made, Lumi," Matthos cut in. "The tears were already used, and we don't have any Wrens to, well, force to cry."
"I don't think that is your only problem," Lumi confessed.
Barney and Matthos frowned but waited for her to continue. She exhaled and said, "I cannot draw properly. I also don't know how to meld the metals well together."
She was waiting for them to burst in irritation. That wasn't what happened. They only chuckled at her statement.
"So Lumi has a weakness after all," Barney laughed.
"Don't worry, we can all suck at it together. We can make it," Matthos's lips curled, " Who knew Arts and crafts is not Lumi's strongest suit?"
***
Agimat/Anting anting - talisman used to protect Filipinos from harm.
Tiyanak - unbaptized, dead babies.
Tree of life - the sacred tree present in many mythologies around the world—also a part of Philippine mythology.
Chromatography - the process of separating the contents of a mixture by using a moving solvent in filter paper.
Distillation - The process of converting liquid into vapor, and then condensing it back into liquid form.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Ava_Marie_Nessie
Ava_Marie_Nessie Hello, everyone! Thank you so much for the 16K reads! I did notice that my analytics are going down, and I know that it's my fault. I'm really sorry for that. I hope that you stay for a while until I get things in order. Thank you so much for supporting this book.
I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
Sincerely,
Ava Marie
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone