A bell tinkled and the darkness went away like a blanket being lifted.
They found themselves in the middle of thick forest. There were colorful but tiny houses here and there and there was a larger building that looked like a miniature castle.
The King of the Engkanto is a tiny man dressed in a jester's costume but had a crown made of gold.
He came stomping angrily towards Xien.
"Now where is your deceitful friend?"
"I wouldn't be so hasty saying things like 'lies' and 'deceit', your majesty," said Rai who decided to show herself.
"So you are the schemer who did this. Why? Are you sent by the Witch?"
"No. Not the witch. A higher being sent us."
"To punish me?"
"To ask for your help."
"In what? I don't believe you. You deceived me earlier. Who's to say you are not deceiving me now?"
"I am not a liar. You are needed, the second most powerful Urban Legend. We are facing a war that threatens our existence. Will you continue to be stubborn?"
"You lied, therefore you are a liar. And who is more powerful than me in my kingdom?"
"Your kingdom? More like your prison. But are you saying you are more powerful than the Bride?"
His eyes widened at the mention of the White Lady.
"Be that as it may, she is not here now. If she asked me, I will do her bidding. But you are not her. You are nothing but a lying little bitch."
"You need to be taught some manners, king."
"Who will teach me, you? If you manage to do that, then you will cease to be the deceiver in my eyes. I will then bow and call you master," he said mockingly.
"Let me bite him in two," offered Xien and she grew larger. The king stepped back apprehensively.
"That is the only way I could convince you?" asked Rai.
"Words have no meaning to me. I am the master of using words to get what I want. Your tricks have no effect here, deceiver."
"Alright, just remember, you wanted this," said Rai and brought out a whip not unlike the Buntot Pagi that Zone had.
The king gestured and the whip turned into a chain of flowers.
He laughed as he ran away.
Rai discarded the flowers and went in pursuit with Xien close behind her.
Xien leaped powerfully and caught the king in her jaws.
"Xien, NO!" Rai shouted but it was too late. Xien tightened her jaws with a crunch.
"Why did you do that?" Rai said exasperatedly as Xien spit out the bloody body of the king.
"He irritated me!"
"Now you are just a biter," said the king calmly and stood up.
"Stay out of it Xien. We need to change his mind. Let me," Rai said and she got out another item from her phone.
"The Kibbaan's net," she said to the king as she casted it towards him.
"Yes, you caught me which would just make you a hunter," he said as he squirmed inside the net.
"Yes. I supposed so. If you think of me that way. But I am also your captor. Which means I can do anything I want to you until you yield."
The king did not move.
"Do to me what you will but you are not my master. I will never submit to you. A king is not just a king because he wears a crown."
Rai sighed.
"Would the truth convince you?"
"You know it would but you chose lies and subjugation. A person who does that is not someone I would bow my head to. A king should know better."
"A truth then."
She withdrew the net. And the king stood with his head held high.
"Your truth will never be my truth. Whatever you say, you will never be able to convince me."
"Not even with something you can confirm?"
The king remained silent but his eyes betrayed him. They showed interest.
Rai kneeled in front of the Engkanto and bowed her head.
"I offer myself as your evidence of the truth you seek. You may strike me down and I will not move."
"A trap. You will do something to counter me if I do that…" he said hesitantly.
"I already had you on the net. You recognize the Kibbaan's net. I could have held you there forever."
"You will not move?"
"No."
"But you will die. What good is that truth then?"
"You will have it. And you will ponder upon my earlier words and know them to be true. You will then move to help in our quest because you will not escape your own realization."
The King of the Engkanto drew a sword from his side. He slowly raised it.
He aimed at Rai's neck and slashed.
Blood trickled from the sword's tip.
It stopped just a few millimeters after it struck Rai's neck.
Xien stared in disbelief. She bared his fangs at the king.
"You did not move. You spoke the truth."
The king bowed and Rai stood up over him.
"I did. Now listen, King of the Engkantos and second in command to the Chained Bride. You are needed in a quest of utmost importance. You are hereby commanded to leave this place of exile and take your rightful place in the war against the shadows."
"Your wish is my command, emissary of the higher realms."
"Now, while we are at it, free the spirit of the boy you just took."
_________________________________
Induyan and Grace stood at the edge of the cliff where the balete tree stood watch over a small town.
"What's it like at the birthplace of all stories?" asked Grace from the guardian.
"You should ask Tinaw. His tree guarded the place from the beginning. I remember it less and less as time went by."
"But you were there, right? You've seen it."
"There was nothing special about the place. It was all grassland with the occasional tree mingled."
"I heard the place is populated by giant bamboos that reach to the sky. You call that grassland?"
"Bamboo is grass."
"Well…to the eyes it's not."
Induyan laughed.
"Funny you should say that. I have to admit not a lot of things are what they seem. You, for example."
"What about me?"
"You and the rest of the Urban Legends, I mean. You do appear hideous to others but you are not really what you seem."
"Yes, well…we accepted our role. What else could we do?"
"Didn't you ever wish that people would see you differently? That they would see and understand the sacrifice you made?"
"It would defeat the purpose of the sacrifice. We already agreed to keep these dimensions alive for exactly this situation we are facing. Bathala saw all of these in a vision and he knew the Urban Legends could provide another way to travel the shared world. We had to keep the story dimensions running even if that means we get treated as menace and evil."
"I remember those times you were used by politicians to distract other people from their evil ways," Induyan smiled ruefully.
"They still do that up to this day and it works perfectly as ironic as that sounds," Grace smiled back.
"Whenever they have done something massively corrupt or evil, out came the headlines bearing your distorted likeness and people would often accept that it was you who are evil and not those humans taking advantage of them."
"It's easy to attribute evil to those you already labeled as such. Besides, they wouldn't have to carry the guilt of having condemned a 'monster'. It's just how it should be for them."
"If only they knew how the face of evil is not what it seems."
"There will come a time when humans will recognize things for what they are."
"God bless you for thinking that way."
"There is no other way for me, Induyan. My very existence is begging for that outcome."
Induyan did not answer. Her heart goes out towards the Chained Bride but her heart is full of doubt whether humans will ever learn or if they do, will it be on time?
"Will the Kampilan Gate hold?" Grace changed the subject.
"It should but you know there is a limit to everything. Not even a God can hold time for that long.
Everything is set in motion. We have to move. The one you call Ash is standing guard. But you have to go back soon."
"Will Ice and Zone be at the meeting place?"
"Who told you that they are already moving?"
"You forget, I am the Queen of the Urban Legends. Gossip is one of my domains," Grace laughed genuinely.
"So the creatures of the night still carry messages back and forth."
"Slowly but they still do. Gossip is one thing that has kept us entertained over the years."
"To answer your question, yes. Tinaw is making sure of that. Alasan will take them."
"The Sprite and the Cat might have already reached Biringan by now. The Engkantos are stubborn but they are loyal. They will be here soon."
"Everything is slowly being pulled closer to that predestined war. I am scared for all of us."
"Don't be. Believe that the Value Pillars will hold."
"That's just it. The Pillars are weak and old. The old stories could not sustain them. We need a new myth to strengthen the Pillars."
"That's why the Manlalakbays were set on this path. Have faith in them."
"We haven't even gotten the one destined to be 'Magiting'. The Architect is on a 'bookmark', The Keeper of the Frozen Flame is a captive of the Dreaded Dragon and the Bearer of the Kampilan got thrown so far he is considered lost."
"Can Abagat get him?"
"I'm not sure if even Abagat can take him alone. He is in the heart of the Shadow world. It might take all your concerted efforts to get that one."
"Then we will. Let's gather the others. The bats whispered that the King of the Engkantos had accepted the task. They will be here shortly."