During lunchtime, Melchor asked Yohan to join him for lunch at their regular eatery. When they arrived, they found the ground floor full of customers, so they had to go to the second floor. They sat near the stairway, surrounded by other busy people eating. While eating, Melchor pointed out a group at another table near the windows. The group included Sir Marcelo, Yva, Gabriel, and an officer, who seemed engrossed in conversation and only acknowledged them when Sir Marcelo nodded at their table.
Towards the end of the meal, Sir Marcelo's group walked by and exchanged greetings. Sir Marcelo excused himself first because he left for another meeting. The officer, Yva, and Gamaliel excused themselves as well. Yohan felt uncomfortable when he unintentionally made eye contact with Gamaliel and Yva as their eyes seemed to peer into his soul. They were staring blankly; he didn't know how to describe what he saw through their eyes. Their eyes were just pure blank, they both locked their eyes on him, looking at him directly and he felt like their eyes were looking at his inner self, at his soul. He had to squirm and slouch himself just to avoid those stares. It felt like hours but it was in a blink of an eye.
After the group left, Melchor mentioned that Yva and Gamaliel were valuable in their office and municipality due to their unique abilities or because of their calling. Or maybe because of their skill? Or because of their blood? Before they could wrap their lunch with their coffee, Melchor said something even more about them.
Yva and Gamaliel later settled at the waiting shed, silently processing their hurt feelings. Words don't have to be said for them to both understand that they were hurt. They had been hurt several times because of people's reaction towards them but they just probably didn't expect that Yohan could be one of those people. But he could be one of those people because they were probably still strangers to him, besides he doesn't know them properly yet.
Yohan's motorcycle light signaled Gamaliel to go home, and after turning off the light. Yohan was still in the process of what he would say but Gamaliel just nodded at him and walked away. While, Yva was already halfway to her house, leaving Yohan feeling relieved yet sorry. Maybe he is still in the process of embracing new concepts such as the spiritual realm.
During their lunch earlier that day, Melchor explained to him why they were drenched in the morning of their tree planting activity. As it turned out, they were the inspectors who checked the area for safety before anyone else. Yva and Gamaliel were responsible for inspecting the perimeter of the site and ensuring that it was safe for the activity. Additionally, they were required to be the last ones to leave to ensure that nothing was left behind. He couldn't help but shiver when he recalled what Melchor had said about Yva and Gamaliel being the only ones who could perceive unseen beings and detect their presence through strange scents. Despite initially wanting to dismiss it, he couldn't due to the seriousness of Melchor's demeanor. Melchor concluded by emphasizing that Yva and Gamaliel's unique abilities were meant to protect and assist humans against unseen beings with negative intentions. Other gifted people like them are hungry for power and are people of the darkness. Yet, Yva and Gamaliel's bloodline vowed to be against the dark.
Yohan noticed that Yva's place remained dark even after he finished dinner, indicating that she might have gone to bed early. Maybe she decided to sleep early.
On his way down after his morning jog, Yohan spotted Yva's car parked near the lot. He hesitated to approach her, uncertain of what he would say, and paused to catch his breath and ease his aching knees, realizing that his exercise was not as intense as he intended it to be.
After taking a bath, Yva prayed before drifting off to sleep. The sound of rain on the chicken coop's roof woke her up, and she smiled, acknowledging the success of the day's mission. She recognized the challenge of facing the tenmongaw and understood the need to assert her authority and maintain a strong spirit to overcome it.
Yva, Gamaliel, and Charity arrived at the foot of the mountain promptly at 4 a.m. Charity, still affected by the tenmongaw's curse, was drowsy during their prayer, prompting Yva to pinch her just to make her active.
While Gamaliel and Charity remained in the car, Yva stood near the flowing water in the canal and spoke assertively-
"I know you are here so I'm here to order you to take back your curse. She is sorry, she doesn't know that you live here," she commanded-
then looked at Gamaliel if something changed with Charity's situation but signaled back that nothing changed. Yva then changed her tone in a threatening way-
"You know this canal could easily be dried up if we would put hoses at this area and then you would lose your water. So remove your curse or I would do what I just told you. And I won't give you any chicken or wine if ever that's what you want in exchange. I'm just asking you to give her peace"
And just after some minutes, Gamaliel raised his hand in a thumbs up. The tenmongaw heeded Yva's command. But before she left her spot she softly said-
"This place is your home; I know but I have to warn you that this is a national road. There would be a lot of vehicles going through and froe. It's a public place. It is a noisy place. It's a place where trash would usually be thrown out. And I certainly can't help you with that."
Yva had warned Charity that she should never do that again especially if she is new in that place. And if ever she had to relieve herself again in the future in a mountainous or a creek or anywhere aside from using a comfort room. She must have the courage to announce that she will be relieving herself and that whoever is there will be aware and will remove themselves from that area.
Because believe it or not strangers were the often easy target of unseen beings.