Chapter 16: Chapter 14: A Mother’s Instinct and Lumi’s First Taste of Cola

"I learned as time went by that beings' emotions were magnified. If humans felt sadness, beings feelings are similar to depression. The emotional state becomes an unpredictable factor in an encounter. Subject show—"

"Show?" Matthos read the passage all over again. Subject? He scanned the pages and saw the aforementioned word repeated in many texts. However, he could not find the beings pertained in this particular text he was reading.

"Beings are emotional? Well, that's not so surprising," he thought to himself, considering the stories of creation. Every mythology's creation story was dramatic in a sense. The origin story of the Philippine Archipelago was one. In the beginning, Bathala, the supreme god of creation, fought with Aman Sinaya, goddess of the sea. The goddess sent large waves towards the sky, now known as typhoons—the god retaliated by throwing boulders which created thousands of islands now known as the Philippines.

According to the myths, some boulders got lost in the process. Hence, the islands of Thorne, Physma, and Acacia were formed.

Now that Matthos thought about it, Lumi said she knew about tribes and colonizers. She was familiar with Old English. If she can remember who colonized the place she lived in and know another language she spoke of, they'll know what kind of being Lumi was, or her origins.

On the other side of the room, Lumi was watching the television. She was looking at the 42-inch screen in concentration. Barney decided to make her watch Peppa Pig. It was a sort of revenge for the bath time.

Barney didn't believe Matthos when he said that Lumi did not like showers. The former was confident he could convert her into liking showers, and oh how he ended up wrong. He's lucky there was power and running water so he could use the bathtub easily. But the problem was the flowers and bath salt.

As Lumi patiently watched Peppa Pig, Barney was on the couch with an icepack on his head. He took Tylenol and put some bandaid on his deep scratches. The look of defeat pleased Matthos but did not say it out loud, or else he'd get a sneaky hex from his friend's active eye. He did not want to speak limericks or rhymes in serious situations.

"Matthos," Lumi called out, distracting him from his reading.

"Yes?"

"I'm parched."

He thought of the best snack for her while she was watching. Matthos snapped his fingers and brought out some chips and a can of cola. Not wanting to shock Lumi, he transferred the cola to a cup and put the chips in a bowl. He gave it to her, who then gave him a strange look.

"This is cola," Matthos explained, "It is a carbonated drink, which means it has bubbles. The chips are made of potatoes, sliced thinly and then fried."

"Cola," she pointed at the cup, "Chips, made of potatoes," she nodded at the bowl. With a look of approval, Matthos rubbed her head and left her to continue watching while he read. Barney fell asleep on the couch.

Lumi felt sorry for him. She'll try to get used to the shower, but it won't be anytime soon.

She looked at the cup, hesitant as she saw the bubbles. It reminded her of ale. She took a cautionary sip and felt the flavor explode on her mouth.

The caramel, spices, and vanilla combined, and it felt almost ticklish as it swirled on her tongue.

"Cola," she repeated with a grin. When she took a bite of the chip, it felt so foreign. She was used to potatoes being boiled and baked, but fried? It felt satisfying to chew it. Surprisingly, it did not wound her mouth, she noted. She liked these 'snacks,' she made a mental note to learn more from Matthos. And Maybe Barney when he wakes up.

While she enjoyed her snack, Matthos was distracted by his phone. The screen displayed 'Mom.'

He glanced at the two and decided to take the call upstairs to not disturb them.

"Mom?"

"Matthos, did Kang call you?" Rosalie's worried tone made him alert.

"Yes, why, Mom?"

"The case here in City A is strange. Apparently, it's been happening for a long time, but people didn't know as it is labeled as carbon monoxide poisoning and such," she told him.

'It matched Lumi's story,' Matthos had to create those talismans and send them to his parents immediately. They were in danger.

"Is your eye active, Mom?"

"No, it's not. Whatever it is, it's not manifesting near. It comes from a distance, and the team can't pinpoint its location. The team doesn't even know what to look for," Rosalie said in frustration, "All we know is people are ending up into these forms of hysterics, and some even claim they lost their children."

Wren

"Mom, is there a surge of bird population within City A?"

"I'm telling you about people going into a state of hysteria, and you're asking me about bird population?" his mother's tone was filled with incredulity, "Are we on the same page here?"

"Maybe check that, Mom," Matthos smiled, "I think it can be a lead."

The other line went silent for a while and then, "Matthos, you know something, don't you?"

"I always know something. I'm the chief researcher," he dodged.

"You can lie to everyone but not me. I gave birth to you," Rosalie said in an accusatory tone. Her instincts are telling her that her precious son is onto something. "Please tell me you did not do another experiment," she said in exasperation.

"I'm telling you now, I will come home to Physma and ground you for the rest of your life, Matthos Timothy Trem," she threatened.

"No experiment," Matthos said, 'at least, not now,' he said to himself, "I'm just doing research with Grandpa's notes, also doing folklore, reincarnation, and beings."

"Any leads?"

Matthos lied, "The rise of some messenger creatures can indicate something, Mom. That's why I told you to check the birds."

"Oh, Matthos," Rosalie cackled, "A mother's instinct never lies. Fine, I'll check the birds. But you'll tell me if you're in trouble, right?"

"Of course, Mom. You'll be the first one I'll call."

That was a lie.

CREATORS' THOUGHTS
Ava_Marie_Nessie

Hi, guys! I hope you enjoyed this so far. I'm looking forward to working with the editors to deliver quality chapters. I'd love to interact with you here and through social media. Just shoot me a message and I'd reply.

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