Maurice was laying on the bed shirtless. Even with the cold breeze of the evening wind that came in through the window, he didn't seem to be affected by it. His mind raced while his eyes stared blankly at the ceiling when suddenly, the door opened.
Gertrude groaned as she stretched her back. "This is by far the longest day that I have ever experienced, Mathilda." She addressed the kuhaw that was perched on the top of the bookshelf as she stepped inside.
The bird cawed. "Kuhaw!"
"If only we can understand one another, then it would make things much easier." Gertrude threw a piece of meat from a wooden pail and threw it at the black bird.
The bird caught the piece of meat mid-air and swallowed it whole. Gertrude was oblivious to Maurice's presence so she proceeded to take off her massive black robe—revealing a white dress with a tribal necklace that dangled from her neck.
"I already fed her." Maurice suddenly spoke up which made Gertrude flinch.
"For the love of the tree, are you trying to kill me, my boy?" Gertrude looked surprised.
"Sorry if I didn't tell you that I was staying here." Maurice with his right arm as a pillow, lay comfortably.
"Did you tell your parents that you're staying for the night?" She asked.
"Yes, they accompanied me here actually. I also told my roommates not to wait for me." He sat up—his feet almost touched the floor.
"It's been a long time since I saw those two. If I remember correctly, it was your 79th bloom day, wasn't it?" Gertrude dragged a chair and positioned it near Maurice's bed.
Maurice nodded as he watched Gertrude slowly sit on the chair.
"80 years ago since I found you outside the door now look at you. Such a fine lad you've grown into." Gertrude stared at Maurice's dark green hair. "Were you able to attend to all your subjects today, by the way?"
"Yes." Maurice put his hand under his pillow and the sound of paper rustled. "I came here to show you this." He handed Gertrude a piece of paper with a drawing of himself touching a white tagak.
Gertrude squinted her eyes. "Is this one of your drawings?"
Maurice nodded. "I drew it in the aviary after Barbara and I cleared the tower of vines and parasitic plants. The day before it happened."
"I know that you're a clairvoyant but this just proves that Obyne lied, right?"
Maurice rapidly shook his head. "No!" He raised his voice.
"M-My boy, what's gotten into you?" She was shocked but put her big hand on Maurice's. "Tell me... What's bothering you?"
"Today, he brought a black tagak. I was curious because in my vision, I saw a white one so I touched it out of curiosity if it would change color or not. Then—"
"It changed to white—fulfilling what you saw in your vision the day before?" The white of her eyes got bigger. "So it wasn't magic."
"The moment it happened, I f-felt the energy in my veins. It was... it was almost as if I s-sucked the fear energy out of the bird." He looked confused.
"That's—"
Maurice pulled his hand under Gertrude's and then looked away. "What am I? I'm confused... I need to know! I have the right to know!" Maurice shouted and yelled at the top of his lungs. Tears came rushing down his cheeks.
"Maurice, m-my boy..." Gertrude held her hand close to her mouth with her big eyes wet with tears.
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It was a Tuesday morning; the students gathered in the arena for their first subject. Wilda, their teacher, stood on the stage with her hands behind her back.
"It's Wilda," Ezra mumbled as she walked along with her classmates. Hanz, Barbara, and Carlo were walking behind her. "I can't believe that I'm this close to the Hero of Balete!" Her face lit up with excitement.
Wilda, with her hair pulled back, grabbed a mirror the size of a fist from her back pocket and then checked her plump lips on its reflection. "Uhh!" She grunt and then proceeded to pull out her lipstick from her cleavage. She dabbed it onto her lips and then smacked them together. "There we go..." she said as she put her mirror and lipstick back where she took them.
"Oh shocks!" Ezra, from afar, looked at Wilda's lips and then gasped. "Hey, you're Barb right?" She looked behind her.
"Y-Yes, why?" Barb walked a little bit faster so she could catch up with Ezra.
"Do you know what shade of red is on her lips? She's like my idol growing up and I'll die in my sleep if I don't figure it out." She grabbed Barbara's arm as if they'd known each other for a long time.
Barbara looked confused and embarrassed. She looked back at Hanz and Carlo. "Err... I d-don't know," she croaked.
"Line up!" Wilda said in a loud voice.
"Let's figure it out together later, okay?" Ezra mouthed as they stood in line.
The students, who were all wearing their white and blue uniforms, formed a horizontal line in front of the stage.
Wilda jumped from the platform to the battleground which was painted with a rectangular border that was 100 meters long and 75 meters wide—it was about as big as a soccer field in the human realm.
"Tree Dwellers!" She whipped out her blowgun that was tied around her left shin and tapped her hand with it. "This is Battle Tactics and I am Wilda, your professor."
Trevor leaned into Kurt. "She's hot," he whispered.
Kurt nodded while his eyebrows went up and down. "Her tight leather jumpsuit screams dominatrix."
"Right! She can whip me with that blowgun all day and I wouldn't even stop her." Trevor smirked while they both let out a maniacal laugh.
Wilda instantly appeared in front of the two and hit both of their cheeks with her blowgun. "Just because I'm wearing a daring outfit doesn't mean you are allowed to talk nasty things about me." She hissed at them. "One more inappropriate word from the both of you and I'll kill you in your sleep like those useless diwata in the 6th Great War. You got me?" She made a small step back and her healthy breasts bounced.
"Yes, Ma'am!" They responded at the same time. They looked humiliated and scared.
Wilda slowly moved away and back to the middle of the line.
"You two should be ashamed of yourselves!" Tris, who was standing at Kurt's left, said crossly.
"Sh-Shut it!" Kurt's fingers twitched as he stuck out his tongue.
"In this subject, you will not need to bring books or notebooks. I've been around long enough to know that in battle; skill, cunning, and muscle memory win the game." She continued tapping her hand with her blowgun.
"Don't tell me we're going to battle each other out in our first class of the day," Barbara whispered to Hanz who stood to her right.
"I kinda wanna see some action, if you'd ask me," Hanz said as he chewed a piece of gum in his mouth.
Wilda looked at all the faces of the students and then stopped her gaze at the boy who had his front teeth protruding from his mouth. She looked at his curly red hair and freckles on his cheeks. "You, rabbit teeth, what's your name?"
"M-Me?" The boy who stood at the end of the line asked.
"Yes!" She yelled.
"Le-Levi, Professor!"
"Approach." She ordered and so the boy jogged toward her.
She eyed all the students once again and stopped at Carlo. "You, with an afro, what's your name?"
Carlo's eyes widened. "Carlo, Ma'am!"
"I like your hair. Now, approach!" Wilda commanded with a stern voice.
Carlo stood next to Levi and they shared a nervous look.
Wilda looked at Barbara and Ezra who were standing next to each other. "You look like best friends... Names?" This time her voice was calmer.
"I'm Ezra and this is Barbara, Professor Wilda!" Ezra answered her energetically.
"You may come forward, Ezra and Barbara."
"She just mentioned my name!" She whispered at Barbara excitedly as they both marched forward.
Wilda walked to her left and stopped in front of Dave. "Can you still see with that hair?" She slightly bent forward—her cleavage was inches away from his face.
"Y-Yes, Ma'am... very much, actually." He stuttered while his jaw slowly dropped.
"What's your name?" She put her finger on the hair that was covering his face and tucked it to the side—revealing Dave's blue eyes which were deliberately glaring at her breasts. "Ah!" She was startled and then instinctively jumped backward.
"Dave..." He mumbled.
"Y-You perv! Step f-forward like the others!" She pointed her right hand at her while she covered her breasts with the other.
"S-Sorry, Professor! You put it in my face yourself." He stated his defense as he stood next to Barbara.
Wilda was breathing rapidly. She calmed down and stared at Imelda. "You... You with the long hair! W-What's your name?" She sounded like she was out of breath.
"Imelda." She uttered with a look of fear in her eyes. "Sh-Shall I approach, Professor?"
Wilda nodded. "Please..."
Sam scooted next to Hanz. "Looks like we're going to see our classmates fight." He said to Hanz who instantly responded with a nod.
"Since we don't have all the time in the world, you will be the only matches of the day, then another batch of students will be selected in our next meeting. Levi versus Carlo, Barbara versus Ezra, then Dave versus Imelda. Are we clear?"
"Yes, Ma'am!" They all shouted.
"Alright! Those who are not fighting yet, climb up the stairs and take a seat. I want everyone to observe. Okay, Carlo and Levi, please approach the center and wait for my signal."
Everybody excitedly ran up to their seats as Levi and Carlo walked to the center.
"You can do this, Carlo!" Barbara, who was already sitting comfortably upstairs, screamed. The students all began to clap and shout to cheer.
"Begin!" Wilda shouted after she jumped back up to the stage.
Carlo immediately took off his ring and transformed into a 7 feet tall kapre with an exposed upper body. His afro hair became bigger and white fur stuck out around his neck over his collarbone. He put his hairy hands on his hips and looked directly at Levi.
"Go, Carlo!" Imelda cheered from the side. "Just focus! If you win this, you can take me out for dinner later!"
Levi also took off his ring and transformed into a humanoid creature with skin that was as black as the night. Only the whites of his eyes and teeth were his visible features.
"Levi! Levi! Levi!" Flora and Dexter shouted after Levi's hunyango form was revealed.
"Buga Buga!" Carlo screamed at the top of his lungs and a thick cloud of black smoke escaped from his mouth. Everyone in the arena was coughing and squinting their eyes as the suffocating smoke impaired their field of view.
"Ugh. I hate it when Carlo uses this move." Barbara coughed as she waved her hands in front of her face.
Nobody could see Carlo. He sprinted with heavy footsteps and stopped behind Levi who was frantically listening to the sound of Carlo's feet.
Carlo stretched out his massive arms and wrapped Levi with them as tightly as he could. "Bear Hug!" He recited, then lifted Levi with his own body bent backward. Levi was smashed into the ground head-first.
The cloud of smoke dissipated and everybody saw Levi's head buried into the ground.
"Looks like Carlo's getting that date with Imelda," Hanz commented.
"What can a hunyango do to a kapre with strength comparable to ten raging buffaloes?" Barbara said.
"Wait, Levi's still up, look!" Sam pointed.
Everyone clapped when they saw Levi pull his head from the ground. Carlo hurriedly threw punches at him. "Just pass out already, Levi! I have a date to attend to!"
Levi swayed his body from left to right dodging all the jabs and punches that were coming from Carlo. It looked like he was dancing to the beat of Carlo's rhythm. "Looks like something's going on between you and Imelda..." He still managed to smirk.
Carlo stopped throwing punches. He dug his right foot into the ground behind him as if he was preparing for a big kick.
"This is Carlo's strongest kick move, right Hanz?" Barbara tapped Hanz on the shoulder. "What was the name of this move again?"
"This is Spring Break. If this connects, Levi will be pushed backward and will have all of his bones broken to pieces." He replied with his hand on his chin.
Sam, who was actively listening to their conversation, scoffed. "So this is it then," he said.
"Spring Break!" Carlo kicked the ground with his right foot which then sprung forward directly aiming at Levi's crotch.
The audience gasped when Levi, in slow motion, caught Carlo's foot with his bare hands.
"How c-could he—" Hanz stood from his seat.
Levi, with his shark-like teeth, grinned. "Shape Shift!" He shouted then his appearance immediately transformed into the exact look-alike of Imelda.
All of the people in the arena's jaws dropped and stopped as if time had suddenly paused.
"I-Imelda?" Carlo started to stutter. The girl that he had met at the marketplace now stood in front of him. "H-How—"
Using Imelda's voice, Levi spoke. "Carlo, my love? Can I take a picture of your feet?"
Carlo was stunned. His pupils shrunk to the size of a mung bean and his body stiffened like a rock. "Kkk..." He choked.
"Professor?" Levi, who was still holding Carlo's right foot, gestured at Wilda, whose mouth was wide open.
"Carlo, you fucking idiot! Wake up! That isn't Imelda!" Barbara with her eyebrows furrowed, exposed her full set of teeth in anger.
"L-Levi... Levi w—" Before Wilda could even finish her sentence, a loud noise echoed in the background as dirt and rocks flung all over the place.
"Oh shit! Carlo's drilling him to the ground!" Trevor reported to Kurt.
"That sounds so wrong!" Kurt replied. Both their necks were extended to get a better view of what was transpiring.
Carlo was standing up with both his feet swallowed by the dirt—Levi, whose whole body was buried, popped his hand out from the hole that was made.
"That's the power of love, you snickering buffoon!" Carlo spat.
"Wooh!" The crowd cheered after Carlo made a miraculous comeback. "Carlo! Carlo! Carlo!" They all chanted.
Wilda jumped out of the stage and landed by the hole that Carlo made. She saw Levi motionless.
"Carlo wins!" Wilda almost jumped as she declared the winner of the first match. "Impeccable performance! Now hurry your butts down here, Ezra and Barbara. You're up next!"
"Good luck, Barb!" Hanz gestured for her to go ahead. "Show them what you got."
"Barb, be careful. Ezra uses puppets to defeat her opponents." Sam held her arm.
"Don't worry. My babies kinda work like puppets too." She smiled at Sam then he let go of her.
The two girls got down from the audience and strutted their way to the center of the battleground.
"Hey, Barbara!" Ezra shouted from the other end of the rectangle. "What about maroon?"
Barbara did not catch what Ezra was saying. Her confused look told it all. "Moron? Did you just call me a moron?" She asked in a raised voice.
Ezra laughed. "No, stupid! I just asked you if it's maroon!"
Barbaraka took off her ring. Her mouth widened so that it almost touched her ears with teeth like a blade of a saw. A tattoo of a centipede wrapped around her right arm almost like a sleeve. Bugs of differen
t kinds crawled out of the red pendant of her necklace as her hair grew longer and then weaved itself together.
"I'll show you who's stupid and moronic!" She screamed.
Ezra laughed harder as she took off her ring as well.
End of Chapter 8