Barney ended up feeding Matthos while Lumi read an old book on Philippine mythology. Barney found her in deep thought, and in one glance, he already saw why she looked so grim.
"Lumi, our history was mostly written by Spanish friars. Hence, they've included their input on our culture. It might be different from what you remember it to be," he said pitifully as he looked at her frowning at the old book.
"I just can't believe that this is how they called us, Indios? 'Why was this still here if it was different.' I thought you had human rights in this civilization?" she was confused.
"These books were left untouched, only translated to modern jargon, or terminology, to fit the new generation. However, the people who did it believe that they must preserve what the authors put down, or else they'd be doing the same thing, washing the history of it. It's how we'll do it, to never forget."
"Is this book in every household then?" she felt hopeful that even with colonization, the people would know of the culture.
"No, these books are hard to find," his words dashed her hopes.
"Do the people know of the different deities?"
"Not a lot of people know, sadly. People also aren't that familiar with the different pantheons. Speaking of which, Lumi, which deity did you primarily worship?"
"Barney, we did not worship one deity. However, we respected them. Our town had many people in it, so many tribes that had many deities. Some deities were more active than others. That is why, to be safe, we worshipped them all. From Bathala to Magwayan. I think my memory is muddled as I remember more. My father and I did not truly fit in one tribe," she recalled.
Closing her eyes, flashes of trees, green light, and braided roots appeared. 'Why can't she recall her past?'
"You must've lived in a place equivalent of a silk road, where many people settled to do exchanges," he commented.
"Then came the Spanish, who presented Christianity. Many were open to this. But they, the colonizers, wanted only one," her memories were vague, but she remembered how it felt to see the bloodshed of people being called pagan, unclean, dirty, with the death of her people from the curse, more followed.
"They destroyed many things. The places where people worshipped, the trees, the plants where we inscribed the alibata. We were not allowed to teach the children or speak our language suddenly. We all had to speak in their language," she smiled bitterly, "That was the time I prayed to many deities, even the one they presented. I hoped that they'd leave us be. I only saw it in my slumber. Now, I read this book, and I find out that it is not written by my people, but by those who came with the ones who slew them. They preserved what their people sought to destroy, and in a way, they did," she looked down on the book.
"How accurate are these?" Barney was curious.
"I can't say, as it does not include much," she sighed.
"So it's true, most of our culture is lost then," he deduced. She only nodded. He continued to ask, "What are you reading?"
"Pre-Hispanic culture. This is exactly my time."
"Wow! You're old, Lumi," Barney grinned at finding another way to tease her. This comment made her cheeks puff the way a squirrel does when it stuffs itself with acorns.
"You know, I may be old, but you look older than me so it's fine," she fired back and continued to read. She planned to ignore Barney.
"Okay, I'm sorry," he retreated, "But really, if I ever try to work on a book on Philippine culture, will you help me?"
"Of course, if I'm still alive by then. What makes you think I won't turn to dust?"
"Wait, is a curse preventing you from dying?" his eyes bulged out.
"No," she deadpanned, "I just lived long. Had a long slumber. Other than that, if my curse was to turn to dust, I would be scared of the sunlight and would need an Obsidian ring laced with blood and white oak."
"So the Vampire Diaries was accurate," he remarked.
"What's that?"
"Something I'll let you watch in your free time."
The smile on Barney's face only reassured Lumi that he was planning something.
"Well, as long as the show isn't as bad as your coffee, maybe I'd like it."
"Lumi, you are such a bitch sometimes," Barney scowled.
"Right back at you," she applied what she learned from Matthos. Modernization had its perks. This was one of them.
Hi, everyone. I'm sorry for the long absence. As you know, my Aunt died and there was foul play and theft involved. Well, racism prevented justice. Yeah, ouch.
Anyways, I'm launching a YouTube channel, a Substack newsletter and TikTok page. See you guys there!
Love, Ava Marie
Matthos and Barney weren't that enthusiastic as they looked at the golem. The idea of extracting the tears of Wren from the mixture continued to disgust them. However, there were no Wrens to force to cry, and two, they loved nature, so recycling it is.
"You both look like you're going to be sick," Lumi commented.
"Yes, we are," Barney admitted.
"So, do you know what you are doing?"
"Yes, and I'm going to do it now, unfortunately," Matthos winced as he poured the saliva-looking thing into a pot.
Hours of working on it, and they finally came with substandard tears of Wren.
"You think this will work?" Barney eyed the greyish tears contained in a vial.
"I'm hoping it will," Lumi answered as she concentrated on pounding ivory, iron pyrite, and blood in mortar. She was near the fireplace, and the fumes circulated around the living room. Matthos couldn't handle the scent of fresh blood, feeling a bit queasy due to his post-recovery state. They forced him to stay upstairs and sleep. With no other choice, he did. But he did ask to be woken up when it was the drawing part.
"Lumi dearest," Barney sang in an off-tune voice, "what's the next step?"
"Have it solidify under the sun and then draw the tree of life. After that, it will supposedly burst in front of us and Dian Masalanta will appear."
Due to the fireplace's heat and the force of the pestle, the three ingredients melded together into a scary mix of amber that mirrored Lumi's eyes.
"Finally, it doesn't smell like blood anymore," he sighed and opened the window. Lumi stood up to let the mixture cool down before pouring it into circles.
"And that is why recycling is good for the environment," Barney proclaimed, "unless it's your ex. Never go back to your toxic ex."
"What is a toxic ex?" Lumi frowned as she washed her hands. She was still adjusting to Barney's modern wisdom.
"An ex is a past lover, and toxic means that they were bad for you. They were energy vampires, sucking out the life out of you," he explained, "so you should never ever go back to them. Okay?"
"I will remember that if I will be given the chance to have a normal life, Barney," she answered and continued to wash her hands.
"Good," he felt proud, and then he remembered, "scratch that, don't have a toxic ex. Matthos will murder me."
She pondered on the idea. Matthos was very protective of her. She doesn't think that he'll murder Barney, but he'd probably do something close to it.
"Hmm, I'll consider that in the future," she grinned.
The look of defeat was etched on his face and only faded when the said person came down.
"I found a wax seal stamp and pour. Want to use this?" He held two tools in his hand. Lumi nodded enthusiastically as it made her job easier.
"Thanks, Matthos!" she almost skipped as she took the tools from him.
"You always make it easy for her," Barney said under his breath. Lumi had a great hearing and glared at him. "What? It's true! If that was me, he'd say go figure." He pouted.
"You're a big boy, act like it," Matthos sniffed and sneezed.
"I'm going to cook, like the big, independent boy that I am," Barney muttered. Lumi laughed at his mini tantrum while his friend only rolled his eyes.
"Lumi, you should rest," Matthos guided Lumi to the couch. It was only then that she felt the tiredness and soreness from all the work she was doing.
"Do you still have those muscle relaxants?"
"Yes, I do," he handed her two tablets which she chewed, not complaining about the bitterness. Barney saw her do it and was baffled, "You're supposed to swallow it and down it with water. What the heck?"
"It's too much work," she replied.
"So is chewing!"
Matthos just smiled at their bickering and went to the kitchen to get an icepack.
"By the way, what do we do next after making talismans?"
"Try to figure out the current case," Barney answered, "Before it affects the island. City A and B are in a bad shape, and our parents are currently in it."
"Do your parents know about me?"
"Do you want them to?"
"Well, I don't know, are they— openminded?"
"Lumi, they're curse breakers themselves. They're required to have an open mind. Else, they'd get nowhere," Matthos responded.
"Oh, that's great!" she felt relieved. That meant they wouldn't reject her, at least outwardly.
So the trio spent the afternoon waiting for the mixture to cool down and rested as it did. Matthos ended up spending his afternoon answering emails while Barney listened to his mother nag him for not sending messages.
Lumi found herself enjoying the silence as she watched the two in their own worlds. Somehow, and for once, she fit in.
Sorry for the long hiatus. Expect more chapters as I'd apply for premium by the end of the month.
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