Brother Owl, Jonathan, and Mattheo rode on a cloud with wings, and one that Brother Owl himself spoke to. They flew high, and Jonathan and Mattheo both allowed themselves to take a look at the scenery below them. As they left the island, they could see various weird and appropriately strange colors leaping and breaching from the multicolored sea. Strange whales as long as serpents, with feathers instead of scales. Tall heron-hawks with six wings diving in to snatch out fishes made of stone and gold out from the multicolored sea. What a sight.

The cloud dipped low and they were going through a valley with a canopy of white-barked trees. Little invisible creatures made of spirit stuff made themselves visible, peeking out of the shadows of the branches of the trees. They pressed themselves against the side of the trees, making sure not to be seen, but they wore masks made of gossamer star weave, blending with the wood fiber, adorned with crowns and horns. They were small, no larger than Jonathan’s shin, but their proportions were always out of place, their heads larger than their little wooden bodies. They sat and ate, on the branches of the trees, even as the winged cloud kicked up psychedelic candy seawater into the valley.

Presently, the cloud pulled up, out and away from the valley, zooming through the skies which were not empty, which actually were populated. Gigantic avian beings with weird writing etched onto their stone hide (reminding Jonathan a bit of Hangul and Baybayin) and burning with a pastel white flame flew beside them, housing almost a million people. The thing was so large that a single flap of its wing could definitely evaporate the cloud they were sitting upon.

The cloud neared it, and Jonathan saw a bunch of… people? Could he call them people? Beings with books for heads, beings that were walking suits of armor, beings with masks for faces, some with bodies made of swords, others sentient animals walking on their hind legs, others having too large heads for their bodies, others with a million spindly arms and legs like a spider.

Jonathan thought to himself: I guess, now that we’re residents here in this weird, broken heaven, we’re the weird ones in here.

Jonathan watched Brother Owl standing calmly by the front of the winged cloud as if he were guiding the entire fluffy chariot. Mattheo himself sat calmly by the side, relaxed, even, and his fluffy hair bounced around as the winds buffeted it. Jonathan inhaled. This is one of the first few times he’d managed to get a portion of peace and quiet, here in this new world that they ended up in. He watched outside. Strangely enough, even with the look of a shattered world, there was a sort of tranquil peace. The greens of the trees and grasses here were greener than in the Earth than they came from, probably because these used to be Heaven’s Gardens. Little nipa huts on stilts stood in little cloisters on cliff faces, and Jonathan could see little children here and there dancing and jumping to and fro.

The sun was still high up in the air. It burned with an adorning white color, granting warm light to the broken paradise. Jonathan watched the sunbeam create little sparkles and rainbows as it slashed through the sea spray of the ships sailing down below.

“We’re near.”

Brother Owl’s voice jerked Jonathan and Mattheo out of their reveries. They sat up, and then leaned forward where they were sitting to see what Brother Owl was talking about.

Before them, the sea turned darker and darker, until it eventually became a stone ground. The docks, filled with little ships made of flesh and stone and wood and bronze and gold and powered by strange magics. Those strange people walked to and fro this docks area. Giants with cigars in their lips and with skin covered in a barky complexion carried cargo and supplies from the ships that were coming in on their backs, like dockhands or workers. There were creatures with a body of a human mixed with the lower body of a horse helping with the carrying of this stuff. There were little men and women--gnomes? Duwende?--running to and fro, seemingly only causing mischief. White-haired beings with sharp ears watched them do their work as they wrote something on stone tablets that had glass screens. Lithe men and women ferried passengers about by floating in the air and guiding them to the proper processing areas.

Of course, the occasional human could be seen here and there, but that seemed like out of pure coincidence. There! A tall muscular man with the head that looked like a mix of a horse’s and a bird’s. Another! A giant and fat man--with muscles bulging underneath that layer--with the head of a karabaw, and he had large jewels on his ears. A bunch of young men and women were playfully trying to snatch it away from him. Over there too! A tree man--although this one wasn’t tall and spindly like that tree demon that had stolen Yewon--traversing the huts that lined the docks, flittering and leaping from roof to roof.

“Where… are we?” asked Mattheo, looking down with awe on the citizens. “Are we in some sort of… wait are we in America?”

Jonathan laughed and kicked Mattheo.

“No,” said Brother Owl, as they pulled up and over the tall towers that blocked their view. “We are in Biringan.”

For miles and miles, even past the horizon, it was simply the City. From up where they were, it seemed like the floor had turned into a strange stone and wood mixture, since houses cramped up every nook and cranny of the city, no planning, no deliberation, with the only forethought put into the houses seemingly being: “Don’t be on the street.”

Here and there were tall structures, looking like hundred feet tall cathedral towers made of stone and gold and glass, clumped together, resembling patches of bamboo shoots. There, the towers burned with a technicolor beat, resembling neon lights, pulsating, as if warning. These clumps were filled with activity, Jonathan and Mattheo could see, even from afar, there were figures running to and fro.

Finally, as large as the structures themselves, were gigantic, hollow stone beasts, resembling those things that they flew beside, those large stone and gold eagles. They were filled with people, and here they had more variations: a large stone one in the shape of a man walked toward one of those clumps of tall cathedral towers, and they could see people disembarking via the man’s house. Large crocodiles stayed low, walking by the roads, the easiest for the city folk to embark and disembark on for their daily commute. Karabaw transported even larger amounts of people.

A thousand rivers cut through Biringan, and within them, large serpents filled with commuters also rode, arguably the most dangerous option of the bunch presented so far.

Above it all, Biringan was crowned by a single sun, burning with white-hot light, as if angered at the heaven it shone down upon.

The flying cloud dipped in altitude then, and Mattheo and Jonathan felt their stomachs lurch up, ready to un-digest everything they’ve ever eaten… but there was nothing since they were just dead a couple of hours ago. The cloud was full of abandon, diving deep and then suddenly pulling up again, cutting close to bahay-na-bato windows and stone alleyways, cul-de-sacs, and broken roads cramped and congested with street vendors.

And then, suddenly a harsh turn into an alleyway. Through it all, Brother Owl stood, never losing balance.

“He’s kind of like… a real owl,” said Mattheo.

“Yeah, I was just about to say that.”

“Yeah… bro,” Mattheo pointed at himself, and then at Jonathan, “mind brothers.”

Jonathan shot him a glare, and Mattheo turned to what Brother Owl was staring at.

A balete tree. There was smoke coming out of it.

And around it, signs of battle. A dead man bleeding by the chest.

“Brother Owl, why are we here?”

Brother Owl didn’t answer. The flying cloud suddenly lifted up, vertically up, pushing Jonathan and Mattheo to its floor. Brother Owl looked about again, at the roofs, at the alleys. None. Nowhere. “They’re gone.” Brother Owl’s voice was a mix of regret, irritation, and despair.

“This will not do.”

“Who’s gone?”

“This is where Susanna and her friends should have ended up in,” said Brother Owl, turning to the two of them finally. That was when they saw that his eyes had lit up, burning an indigo-white fire, and about his head was a crown of stars. “But they are not here. They are in danger. Biringan will consume them.

Brother Owl’s flying cloud descended upon a teahouse on the rooftop of a stack of shanties. Crocodile men and naga serpent-men served scalding hot milk tea and coffee there. Brother Owl stepped onto the balcony of the comfy-looking teahouse. It was a small square, towering over the rest of the stone base houses of Biringan, illuminated with paper lanterns. It was bisected into two parts, with tables within the shop square and by the balcony. At this time of nearing sunset, there weren’t many people.

One of the serpentfolk saw Brother Owl, and then immediately slithered to the backroom of the small open teahouse. The air here was warm, humid, sticky, just like in the Philippines.

Jonathan noticed Mattheo towered over Brother Owl.

“What are we waiting for?”

“Who. The owner of this place. De la Rosa. Would you like some tea?”

Jonathan didn’t answer, but Mattheo said: “Yes, please. Do they have, like, milk tea here?”

Brother Owl nodded, and then glided over to the counter. He ordered for the milk tea that Mattheo wanted. Jonathan asked for iced coffee.

“Come, let us sit.”

Jonathan followed Brother Owl and they both sat on a very short table: one that wasn’t surrounded by chairs, but by sitting pillows due to its closeness to the ground. “Uh, what are we doing here?”

“I must speak with a babaylan that knows the name of Biringan.”

“A babaylan?” asked Mattheo. “What is that like a--”

“A spirit medium, Mattheo,” said Jonathan. “The ones that speak and intermediate with the spirits.”

Brother Owl nodded. “There are many, here in Biringan, but one, in particular, knows who I am. That shall give us the leverage that we will need.”

“What do you mean the name of Biringan?” asked Jonathan, pushing for more answers.

“Biringan has many names, for it has many spirits, due to its hugeness. Thus, many babaylan know many different names of Biringan. By speaking to the spirit of Biringan, we can have an advantage in seeking out your friends.”

“Why don’t we just… you know: look for them with our eyes?” asked Mattheo. Jonathan suppressed a laugh. Brother Owl didn’t get it.

“Biringan is vast yet congested, expansive yet compact. It is easier to find the seed of a gumamela within the forest of Gandara than it will be to find… them.”

“Whatever those mean, man,” said Jonathan.

“Ah, Owl, great Brother Owl. What brings you back here?”

Jonathan and Mattheo turned to see a strange-looking… creature. It was definitely human-shaped, but it was no human for sure. Its entire body was made out of roots, vines, leaves, and its neck was crowned by pink petals. Its face resembled that of a human’s as well, although with three eyes instead of one, and made completely of vines and leaves and soil wrapping together to create a facsimile of a human face. The being wore a bahag that reached its ankles.

The serpent man slithered in then, putting the three drinks they asked for on the tabletop, before slithering away.

Brother Owl was on his feet and greeting the strange plant creature. “Greetings, Siyang Walang Humpay sa Pagdala ng Salbasyon.”

“Owl, darling, please, just call me Walang Humpay. Or just… Humpay. Really, it’s such a mouthful, even in the language of Heaven.”

Brother Owl nodded. “Right, of course. I just thought it to be proper to address you in such a way.”

Walang Humpay shook their head. “And who are these, with you?”

“Ah, new Gahumnon,” said Brother Owl.

“They’ve unleashed their potential? What did you do this time?”

Brother Owl shook his head. “It is a long story, Humpay. They were sent to me by Sidapa--”

“That old cooch, ugh. Nice guy, but that’s why I hate him.”

“--because they arrived in Idalumnon after running into a balete tree.”

“That’s… strange. Balete trees cannot usually be configured to lead there.”

“They were running after their friend, who was stolen by tree spirits.”

“Yeah, they said she was the Devil Empress or something,” said Mattheo.

Humpay blinked. “Oh. Oh, dear.” They nodded and then sat down with the rest of the three. “Is this why you’ve come to me, Owl?” they asked.

“It is related to that. Walang Humpay, I know you are one of the babaylan that knows the name of Biringan.”

“I cannot help you find the Devil Empress within Biringan,” they replied. “I cannot risk asking Apo Biring that.”

“No, it’s not the Devil Empress that we need to find. We need to find a group of women who have escaped here since our Monastery was attacked.”

“Who attacked the Monastery of the Moon?”

“Humabon. Do not worry, he is sure not to harm the Monastery again.”

“A weakling on the edges of Heaven,” Walang Humpay replied. “Very well, we are looking for a specific person? Group of people?”

“Yes. I have a lock of Susanna’s hair that might help.” Brother Owl took out that lock of blonde hair. Mattheo shot Jonathan a look as if to say: “Why does he have a lock of Susanna’s hair?”

“Susanna. That is her name? What is her true name? That will help. Apo Biring knows the true names of every being in Biringan.”

“Wish. Her true name is Wish.”

“Wish. A strange name to be sure. Follow me.”

They stood up and then walked up a flight of stairs that led to another house--a bamboo stilt house--stacked on top of the teahouse. This one was smaller, however, and had the distinct smell of frankincense.

Walking in, Jonathan and Mattheo found it to be empty save for a banig on the corner, and then an altar for what looked like a small being sitting on top of a narrow tower. Before the statue lay various pieces of food, spices, and coinage.

“Silence,” whispered Walang Humpay, as they entered into the bamboo-stilt house. Jonathan and Mattheo followed the order.

“This is your spirit house to the name of Biringan?”

The petal being shot him a look. “What did I just say?” They sighed. “City ordinance states that spirit houses and altars to any deity other than Holy Trinity are prohibited.”

“There are city ordinances in Biringan?” asked Brother Owl, sarcasm dripping from his deadpan face.

“Yes,” replied Walang Humpay. “Many do not follow it, but I, being a Servant, am a particular target of the Fallen, and that means I suffer their guarding eyes and occult tracking mechanisms every day.”

“How unfortunate,” said Brother Owl. There was a moment of silence, a lull in the conversation, and then Brother Owl gestured at the altar as if to say: Alright then, do your thing?

Another sigh. Walang Humpay knelt before the mighty altar then, head bowed down. There was a rising power, again, that slight change in the direction of the wind, that slight shift in the speed of the air, one that signified the gathering of power. The petal being lay on the floor. The large sitting statue being glowed. Lines of power, creating ancient interconnected scripts, suddenly etched themselves upon the wooden black bark of the statue, beginning from the fingers and toes all the way up to the eyes.

“Ya, ya, Apo Biring, hear the prayers of thy servant, seek my name in endless abyss, and grant me a portion of your eternity.” This Walang Humpay repeated, in differing cadences, rhymeless poetry. With every repetition, the power grew, swelled, ebbed and flowed, calling upon the mystical symbolism of the statue that lay before them.

Jonathan and Mattheo realized they were clutching on to each other, making sure none of them flew off in the force of the gale of that spiritual breeze.

The growing, swelling sensation suddenly ended, suddenly disappearing, and Jonathan felt as if he was thrown off a cliff, suspended in a state of silent tranquility, right before the fall. That was the feeling that now engulfed the room, one of endless tranquility. It was strange, to both Jonathan and Mattheo, to feel this. It was like the first time they ever felt this kind of silence, this kind of sudden safety, after falling into that damned balete tree.

Then, the statue opened its eyes, and there it was glowing green. It started out from within the statue, and said: “Siyang Walang Humpay sa Pagdala ng Salbasyon.” Its voice echoed across the entire spirit house, although it felt as if its voice echoed across all of the city. “Why hast thou called me? And why dost thou bring such stranger beings into my midst?”