Ice woke up under the night sky.
She got up at once realizing that she is no longer inside the bus.
She glanced around hoping to find John nearby but no one seemed to be around for miles.
Panic was starting to seep in but she tried to go into a corner of her mind she always goes to when feeling threatened.
In here, she is stronger, smarter and braver.
In here, she is invincible.
Inside her mind's eye, she is connected to the realm of the Gods where strength is not measured by one's physical stature but by the resilience of their mind.
She began to gather her wits and her composure returned.
She took stock of her situation and began gathering information according to what she can see and feel around her.
Once she gets into this state, there are few who are her equal in terms of focus and clarity of mind.
The nights sounds are both fascinating and scary.
The insects are emitting low-grade sound waves that seemed to make the very air around her electric but it helped her focus instead of being distracted.
She can use this sound to detect if there is somebody hidden from her sight.
She just had to be sensitive to the disturbance in the steady hum of the insects.
When content that no one is really nearby, she relaxed a bit more and sat near a gigantic tree.
The fireflies made the tree look like a small city from a distance.
The dance of the thousands of flying light bulbs caught her fancy and she was entranced to it for several minutes.
She never saw the pair of eyes watching her as she also watched the fireflies.
Her senses, fine tuned as they were, did not register the rock-like stillness of the owner of the eyes.
These were not malevolent, however.
In fact, they looked even friendly.
Abagat, the rock-like figure beside her, reached out into her bag and put a piece of paper inside.
Then he closed his eyes and contacted Tinaw.
"Kuyang, the First Child is here. It seemed like the portals had been opened" he reported.
"It shouldn't have. The other guardians told me the contract has not been made as of yet."
"She is here, nonetheless."
"Send her back. It is dangerous to cross without the contract. She might get sent to the Lost Isles."
"Done," Abagat gave Ice a gentle push and the young girl, without noticing that she was no longer seated at the foot of the tree continued staring up but all she saw was the ceiling of the bus.
Some of the ceiling lights are on so she thought she was still looking at the fireflies.
She gasped as John touched her upper arm.
"Are you okay?" His look of concern touched her deeply and she felt profused warmth towards him.
She nodded and he went back to sleep.
Ice looked around.
They were seated near the front of the bus and it seemed like only her and the bus driver were awake.
She can make out somebody seated at the back but the lights are dim and she couldn't tell whether it is a man or a woman.
He/she looked like hugging something long and tall.
'Maybe a guitar case,' she thought.
Then three seats away from them, a woman in a black leather jacket is curled up.
Behind her is somebody hooded and she couldn't tell if this one is awake or not.
There was no one else.
She resumed her position.
It looked odd that they were the only passengers but she paid it no further thought as her 'dream' came back to her.
It felt so real.
More real than her being on this almost empty bus with five strangers.
Well...four if she didn't count John as a stranger but she did meet him only recently.
The road ahead is unrecognizable. Just a black line stretching out to God knows where.
The fireflies were real.
She knew it.
She just couldn't recall where that place is, exactly, but deep in her mind, she knew the place.
She even knew the one who pushed her back to the bus.
His name was Abagat and he was one of the Negrito Guardians of Unwritten History.
Her hand stole inside her backpack and she brought out a piece of paper.
This is what he put inside her bag.
"To walk among friends even for just a few steps is always a grand adventure."
She closed her eyes as she remembered a promise she made a long time ago:
"Let us not forget each other even when we grow apart. Our hearts shall know when and where and we shall be together once more."
They concluded it with a childish gesture but one which holds the power of the strongest contracts.
She raised her hand and looked at her pinky.
All of a sudden, another pinky is entwined to it.
She blinked and the whole world seemed to peel back to reveal another world beneath it.
One that had more vivid colors. One where it is sunrise instead of the middle of the night.
All the occupants of the bus were there except for the driver.
In front of them was a little girl, no more than ten years old but has eyes older than she looked.
She was dressed in ordinary casual clothes but she had an ancient air to her.
The clothes looked modern enough but to Ice, they felt like they came from hundreds of years in the past.
She fought the impulse to go to the little girl and hug her so tight. She knew her and at the same time she didn't.
The face was different.
"There should be more of you." She looked at the hooded girl.
"There should be more of me," the hooded girl replied sarcastically.
"I guess the others will be along shortly. For the meantime, welcome to the Gate of Transformation."
She gestured grandly to the nondescript rock behind her.
"Oookay...cool. Where are we exactly?" asked the tall one with the guitar case.
"Oh, I didn't see you there," the little girl giggled when she said that.
Whatever the joke, it went over all their heads.
John stepped forward to where the girl was standing.
Something seemed to pass between them but they said nothing. Just looked at each other calmly.
"You see, right?" she asked and John nodded.
"What does he see, exactly? This is all making my head hurt. What happened to the bus?" The tall young man is clearly agitated.
"Vince, right?" The little girl looked at him directly.
"How…?"
"You and your companions," she began.
"They are not with me…" he quickly corrected.
"How does one become companions, then? Or friends? Isn't it by simply meeting?" she said philosophically.
"Uhm…"
"Believe me, your fate and that of these others have been intertwined from the beginning."
John approached the rock and appeared to be turning an invisible knob.
Before anyone could say anything, he disappeared.
"The Gate of Transformation is a doorway into your own mind and heart; into your potential future," the little girl said as if that could explain what just happened.
"Bullshit! He just disappeared and you say things like he just went to take a dump or something. My future says I'm outta here." Vince is nearly shouting.
"How did you all get here? And where is 'here'?" The girl is unperturbed by Vince's outburst. She looked at the others approvingly as they were calmly observing the events before them.
"I take it only mister guitar man here is the clueless one."
"We are all clueless, I think, but my guess is that we have seen weirder things than him," said the woman in the leather jacket.
"Alright, if you have time for theatrics, you certainly have time to listen. You just have to decide which one you wanna do," she smirked at Vince.
That silenced him.
"John saw the gate for what it really was and went inside to be transformed. Into what, I do not really know but the most important thing about the gate is that it takes you somewhere to form a contract before you get transformed. Kinda like a waiver or something in case you transform into a frog...or a turd," she smiled nastily.
"And why would we wanna do that? Be transformed, I mean." Vince was still thinking that this might be an elaborate prank.
"Because the only way forward is to change, am I mistaken?"
"Could you please stop speaking in riddles?" Vince sincerely pleaded.
"I was planning to but you keep interrupting!" She pouted.
"Go on, honey...we are listening," the woman in the leather jacket said as patiently as she could.
"Wow, you are nice! My name is Rai by the way. A moment ago before you arrived, I just got out of the gate. Needless to say, I have already made a contract and when you see me again later, I will not look the same. I don't really know why you are here. All I know is that I am going to meet 8 people that I will guide within a game called Cradle of the Valiant."
"I knew it! This is a game! For a moment you got me convinced that this is real. So, where are the cameras?" Vince said triumphantly.
"Look behind you."
When Vince looked back, he expected a camera crew with their recording gadgets but the image shocked him so hard he stumbled backwards.
All that should have been there was slowly being carried away by the wind like ashes from a burnt paper. Everything was disintegrating and far beyond where the horizon should have been, there is nothing. Not just nothing but nothingness.
"Right now, all that is keeping us all alive is the displacement magic around the gates. You people have crossed into the inbetween where past and present are being separated. In here, you see the past being carried into the River of History. You can never go back that way. Not anymore," Rai said seriously.
"What happens when we get carried like that?" Vince swallowed hard.
"You become a memory of the Negrito Guardians, that's all," she answered simply.
"So we have to go inside the Gate? Then what?" the woman asked.
"Then you move on."
They reluctantly stepped closer to the rock.
Ice looked at it closely and saw that there were carvings all over it.
One that stood out for her was that of a very tall tree that was surrounded by what looked like stars.
Like fireflies.