"Ready?" Zone asked Ice as they were about to jump to what was seemingly an endless chasm.
"How do you get ready?" Ice responded nervously. She just came from what felt like a life or death situation but that one is different.
At least she was still connected to the ground (sort of).
She mentally scanned her inventory.
So far, there was nothing there to save her if she fell.
She swallowed hard.
Zone took her hand and for some reason, he avoided looking at Amihan.
Amihan's face looked impassive.
"Ready or not, here comes the wind," she said cheerfully but Zone detected just a slight hint of malice in how she said that.
He sighed.
Ice felt the rush of wind. Although she had her eyes closed, she could feel that they were going very fast.
It didn't feel like flying. Not that she knows how that feels like, exactly.
She just thought that whatever flying is, this was not it. It was like being blown across the sky by a giant wind turbine.
There was no sense of being connected to anything solid or that feeling of being buoyant (if you can call it that).
She wasn't floating at all. She was being hurled.
Whatever power Amihan has, she prayed that it included the ability to stop.
It was irrational to think that way. They did get to the top of the mountain using this same power. If you can believe Zone.
She is now having serious doubts about that story of his.
She tried hard not to think about it. She focused on the feeling of seeing all of them again.
Well, the possibility of it.
Aside from the prospect of reunion was the feeling of confidence that she was stronger now to be of real help.
Not if she fell.
She cursed herself for remembering what she tried so hard to keep from her mind.
Ora would tell her in times like this, "Focus not on your fear."
John would probably say, "Remember this sensation. Learn from it."
She couldn't help but sneer at that.
"Try learning from this John. I bet you haven't even imagined the possibility of being propelled across empty spaces - thousands of miles of empty spaces, by something you don't understand."
She tried to imagine the rest of the gang's reaction to something like this.
"If you let me fall, I will kill you before you could even blink." That one is Ash.
Vince would probably say, "What if we run out of wind?"
Grace would probably be clinging to Zone right now, earning dark looks from Amihan.
Rai would just probably say, "Wheeeeee!"
Ice smiled. Thoughts of them calmed her.
She thought about the people she met on the island.
She promised in her mind she'd go back for them.
Hopefully not via Amihan's nightmare express.
Thankfully, after hours of travelling, they slowed down.
She dared open her eyes.
They were still a couple of hundred meters from the ground but they were no longer moving that fast.
As they got closer, Ice could make out someone waiting for them at the foot of the mountain.
This mountain is a whole lot different from the one she climbed.
This one looked greener for one.
She was so concerned by how they were going to get down that she did not notice entirely what the person below looked like.
She gasped when she realized that it looked like a man and a horse put together.
"Are we back in 'Cradle'?" she whispered to Zone. She hoped that the creature before them is a game character.
It is surreal seeing something like this in real life.
"This is Alasan, my teacher," Zone introduced the horse/man creature.
"Pleased to meet you Lady Second," the horse/man spoke.
It spoke!
"My name is Ice," she said more from habit than from politeness.
She was not afraid of the creature but she couldn't get over her shock.
"This might help," Alasan said and he showed her symbols drawn around his forearm.
Ice knew them.
Baybayin. The Old Alphabet of the forgotten race.
It read 'Tikbalang - Manlalakbay ng mga mundo' (Tikbalang - Traveller of Worlds).
Suddenly, Ice saw Alasan for what he really is: magical and majestic.
She bowed respectfully.
Alasan bowed in return.
"I'm afraid I might have to take you away from this place again. Somebody wants to meet you."
"It's okay. I kinda figured that out, anyway," Ice glanced at Zone who nodded.
"Take my hand," Alasan offered his hand.
She was surprised when she took it. It was as soft as cotton but powerful like heavy machinery.
The combination was unusual but that was her perception.
"Don't be alarmed," Alasan lifted her onto her back.
"Try to follow," he looked at Zone and Amihan.
The whole world looked blurry but amazingly colorful as Alasan ran past it.
Ice already rode the wind but riding in this manner is entirely different.
No matter how crude it would have seemed to anyone looking, she felt calm and relaxed.
Alasan invited trust. His nobility is radiating outward and Ice picked up on that.
This magical creature wouldn't let her fall.
In a matter of minutes, she felt like they travelled hundreds of miles.
They stopped in front of a dark man, sitting under a large tree.
She knew him.
His name was Tinaw and he was the first of the Aeta Guardians of History. The holder of the first ever event worthy of remembering.
"Greetings, Second Child," he sounded like they saw each other only yesterday.
"Good morning, sir," she answered.
"Hardly that," he smiled.
"I have done what you required. I will be taking my leave," Alasan tapped Tinaw's shoulder.
"Leave the boy," Tinaw glanced at Zone.
Amihan went obediently when Alasan beckoned for her to go with him.
"Now, sit down with me for a while," Tinaw requested.
"Do you know why we call you Second and why you could understand the old language?"
Tinaw did not waste time with any preamble.
When Ice showed bafflement, the guardian continued.
"I would start from the beginning but that would take too long. To put it in the simplest of terms, there is another you, trapped elsewhere. She is the first child of a family that was caught in the middle of a cosmic storm. It appeared to you as an explosion. We saw it differently."
When he saw that Ice and Zone were listening raptly, he nodded approvingly.
"You do not show disbelief. That is admirable."
"I often hear or feel this other person speaking inside my head. What you told me is just a confirmation of my suspicions. I can feel the other me inside my head. She sometimes shows me things that I would not have understood if she didn't have the knowledge that she sometimes shares with me."
"This would be easier, then. This other you, or what we call the First, was rescued from the explosion by a shard of the flame of creation. However, the only safe place to put her at the time was to a place where words hold the most power. Your kind might call it a library. It was different but for convenience, it would help if you think of it that way. She has access to what could be the largest repository of knowledge. Alas, when the explosion took place, the library got lost in time along with your other self."
"How did I come to be and if she is lost, how come she could still sometimes talk to me?"
"Just before the library got thrown across the spacetime continuum, the First--you, shouted something. The library manifested it--for words uttered there with enough conviction would have the power to change the world. At that moment, that was your most fervent wish."
"What did I shout?"
"The words: 'I want to be with them!'"
"Then how come it did not happen?"
"It did. Your mind was not able to grasp the possibility and the concept of teleportation so the library ended up with an approximation of your thought. You wanted to be with your family but you also knew that you cannot leave the library at that moment. Those were your most dominant truths. The library simply granted those two things."
"I kinda understand but it makes my head hurt. However, I wasn't with my family when I came to. I was with John."
"I don't know your exact thoughts but who's to say you did not get what you wanted?"
"To tell you honestly, I don't really remember what my family looks like. Just hazy shapes and half-formed ideas about them. Maybe the Manlalakbays were sort of a family. They did treat me like one."
"As fascinating as that was, what we need from you now is the knowledge of the First. She knows information that is hidden from us. It is only through you that we can hope to communicate with her."
"But I couldn't summon her at will. She comes and goes. And even when she does, I'm not sure I can talk to her like I can talk to you. Talking to her doesn't always feel, you know… two-way. I can't really explain but I don't get that feeling of talking to a separate person. It was still me and I was just having a monologue."
"You must. For all our sake."
"Wait, when I was in the game, she manifested like another character inside my head. Maybe I can talk to her there and ask your question."
"Then you have to find the other members of your group. They have with them the necessary power to force open the conceptual locks of the game. Find them… and soon."