///OUTSIDE THE MONASTERY OF THE MOON, BY THE EATING HUT

Jaime held his peace as the rest of them retreated to rest for the night. When they were all gone, Brother Owl left the hut, and then walked over to the tip of the cliff, the precipice of sea and land.

Jaime followed.

“I shall be leaving before the corpse sun sees me,” said Jaime. “While the many moons obscure me.”

“Guro,” said Jaime. “I… am not confident in my ability--”

“You are more than skilled enough to teach them and feed the flames of their power, Jaime. Remember that you have become a professor recently in the Monastery.”

“I may be skilled in the secrets of violence, but teaching…”

“Teaching shall come to you naturally. Learn who they are, each of them. Find out their Tungkulin, bring them to Sinagsinta and let them know, let them Exceed their limitations. I will be counting on you.”

“Guro,” said Jaime, after a pause. “You have many other students here, and teachers, that work in the Monastery. Why do you give such precedent to these new incursions?”

“They have the Will,” said Brother Owl, staring off into the moon-lit sea. “Their conviction is a blazing flame, their conviction to save their friend. It must be tempered, directed, as a smith might forge a lantaka and fire it at the sound of thunder. They wish their friend rescued. Cultivate that, let it become their driving ambition, let their Will consume them, so that they may make God bleed.”

Another silence. The waves of the sea had turned black, smashing against limestone. The sound resembled the agong beat of the drummer diwata. There were birds, and giant bats, and garuda, and the half-bodied manananggal, an upper-body torso with wings flying about, with her entrails spilling out, looking to feed. They were flitting to and fro, cutting black through the silver night.

“I shall leave soon. I shall bring some prayer bamboo scrolls with me, to help in invocations.”

“You will not bring a second?”

Brother Owl shook his head, turned around, and then walked back to the Monastery, saying: “I will not need one.”

/// THE MONASTERY OF THE MOON, EARLY MORNING

It was Jenna who awoke first, and she looked around to find Susanna, until she realized that she wasn’t there anymore. A bunk bed where Susanna and Yewon would’ve laid down on were empty.

She gripped the sides of her pillow and remembered what Brother Owl had told them the night before. He was going to be gone starting this morning. He was going to leave and he was going to bring Susanna back. A mighty tall order, but one that they were grateful for nevertheless. Still, doubt filled her heart.

“You may rest easy,” Brother Owl had said, yet unease squirmed in her heart.

She climbed down from her bunk bed and saw movement from the corner of her eye. When she turned to look, she saw that it was Esther, wrapping herself in the blanket.

Jenna stared at her, unmoving, with the dead pale light of the sun burning through the capiz shell windows. The dust motes whirled, falling upon her blanket. She moved again under her blanket, and then threw it off her. “What?” Huge bags encircled her eyes. She was wearing an oversized hoodie--the same one she wore when she arrived on Paraiso. It fell all the way down to her thighs.

“I know you’re awake.”

“Yeah, so?”

“Wanna grab breakfast?”

She frowned. “I have to shower first.”

Jenna kept that placid, emotionless face. “Wanna shower together then?”

Her frown turned into a scowl.

Together in the shower, they talked. “How are you so far?” asked Jenna as she lifted a tabo and threw water over herself. They were in a shower that had two faucets, with two tabos (dippers), and two wooden baldes (buckets). Perfect for showering at the same time.

“Not good. Especially considering the hurricane we’ve just been through.”

“Mm. Well, your Ate is here to help you, okay?”

“I know, but… Susanna is dead. And what if… what if we all die?”

“Hey, hey,” Jenna looked around and then knocked thrice on a bamboo pipe. The one that provided rushing water into the faucets. “If you strengthen yourself, power will get you far.”

“Why did you do that? Don’t do that. Don’t knock.” The shampoo was getting into her eyes.

“Still not into superstitions, eh?”

Esther shook her head.

“Well, you have to remember: our best friend has been stolen by a bunch of spirits, you walked into a Balete tree, and we’re all now in the seventh layer of the Multiverse. Maybe some superstition can be beneficial.”

Esther didn’t answer. They finished showering soon enough. “Ate…” her voice was suddenly small. “What if I die?” She only looked at the floor.

Jenna inhaled and then shook her head. “You won’t. Don’t worry.”

“Yeah but what guarantee is that? When Susanna seemed so powerful then she gets killed anyway.”

“The better part of violence is choosing your fights, and choosing them well. Never let them know how powerful you are,” Jenna said, as she put on a towel to cover herself. “That’s the first teaching of Brother Owl to me. I guess some street savvy is something we all need to survive the streets of Paraiso.”

Esther breathed, and her breath was ragged. “Come on now, Esther. Where was that moxie you always had with you? That’s something that’d get you far in a broken heaven.”

“I don’t know. I feel like I’m getting tired.”

Jenna hugged her from behind. “Don’t worry, we’re here. Keep angry. We’ll feed your fire.”

Esther couldn’t help but burst into a fit of laughter. “Weirdo. Get off me.”

“No!” And she hugged tighter. Esther complained about not being able to breath.

A little while later, they were in the pantry, where a bunch of food was readied. So that was what I was smelling all this time, Esther thought. Jaime was there, wearing a simple camisa de chino and pantalones that looked too comfy and made him look a bit too soft. His white hair was wet, fresh from a shower. He was making himself some coffee, grinding it and then siphoning it.

“Ah, good morning. Blessings from Hanan, spirit of the morning.”

“What?”

“Hanan,” said Jenna, going around the pantry and getting food. “She’s the diwata of boundaries, new horizons, and mornings.”

“Diwata?” asked Esther, as they sat down on pillow seats around a wooden table with high-backed seats. “Aren’t those like… fairies and elves or something?”

“Well,” Jenna pursed her lips. There was food prepared all over the wooden pantry counter. “Wait, you should get some food.”

“Oh right, I forgot that I was hungry.”

Esther rose to her feet and grabbed a ceramic plate and walked around, grabbing little pieces of egg and a cup of rice, and some beef tapa. She picked up a cup of milo. “There’s milo here…?”

“Yeah,” said Jenna, grinning. “Although we just call it chocomalt here.”

“How did milo get to the seventh layer of the Universe?”

“Susanna brought it,” said Jenna, still smiling that cheek smile.

Eventually they grabbed what they wanted and then sat on the table. Jaime was there on the rectangular table, thumbing through a book and sipping coffee. He had a plate of omurice, dashed with ketchup. Esther noticed the tattoos that sleeved his arms, icons of triangles, of eyes with wings, of single syllable words. She noticed the scars that ran down his neck and chest.

“The food here is too delicious,” said Esther. “Are you sure we’re in a destroyed heaven?”

Jenna laughed. “It’s the perks of being within the Monastery of the Moon. It’s a safe place. One of the few ones you’d actually find here.”

They ate. As they did, Esther raised her question once again. “Oh right, what about the diwata thing?”

“Hmm…” Jenna thought as she shoved more food in her mouth and then chewed with her chin in her hands. She was deep in thought, and then she swallowed. “Okay, let’s try this. You guys had, uh, World Religion class, right? So Diwata in Paraiso are basically the little gods that live in everything. You know, like the Kami from Shintoism. Animistic, elemental beings that live in everything. You can say Diwata or spirit here, it doesn’t matter.”

“Little gods huh…” Esther took a bite. It was delicious, alleviating her fatigue for a bit. “I get it. So if there are little gods, are there big gods?”

Jenna turned to look at Jaime, and then back at Esther, and nodded. “Well, there was a big God, but, well, They’re dead. I’m sure you know that, though?”

“Ah, right. Brother Owl showed us, through his weird drug tea.” She pulled one leg up so that she was sitting on the chair the way a rather lax and presko tambay would.

“Angel’s Blossom, if I recall correctly,” said Jaime.

“Right,” said Jenna. “But yeah.”

“Do we pray to the little gods?”

Jenna nodded. “We pray, we give offerings, and we speak with them, but all we do is revere them and acknowledge their strength. In fact, here in Paraiso, the Diwata aren’t invisible, since this is heaven, so we physically do have to avoid them. Unlike God, however, we do not worship them. Worship is saved for the creator.”

“You’re saying they’re invisible everywhere else?”

Jenna nodded. “You know the multicolor sea? That’s the Sea of Collective Thought, or more commonly known as the Dreamsea. It’s where all the Diwata come from. It’s from there that Universes are born, from the dreams of the Diwata. And everytime they come down to inhabit a universe, they’re always invisible. There’s a lot of them, back in our world. It’s why you have to be careful at night, don’t step on mounds without saying “Tabi-tabi po”, or don’t throw rocks around randomly because you might hit one of them. Their societies are omnipresent. You just don’t see ‘em.”

“You sound like Brother Owl.”

Jenna scrunched up her nose and then smiled. That smile again. Esther missed it. She didn’t know how much she missed it. That vibrant, uncaring smile, where even her eyes seemed to laugh. Eye-smile, they called it. She was like a little ball of sunshine. “He can rub off on you,” Jenna said, “That’s for sure.

“Good morning,” said Angela as she appeared out of the hallway and into the kitchen area, newly showered. The humidity of Paraiso was something that necessitated it unless you had some sort of dehumidifier. Just like the Philippines where the Engkantos had been.

Angela yawned. Her bangs and hair were still perfect. Esther wondered where they could get a hair groomer here. “I can just get anything?” asked Angela.

Jenna nodded. “That’s right.”

“Wow.” She picked up a plate and began her excursion. The smell of coffee and pandesal was overwhelming. Angela had an entire plate of pandesal, stuffed with corned beef and diced potatoes. She also grabbed a cup of coffee and sat down beside Esther.

“You look like you hadn’t slept,” said Angela.

Esther shrugged. “I’m not tired, strangely enough.”

Jaime paused. “You used Gahum,” said Jaime. “That can explain it. A restlessness, a call to go out and do something. We call it a Gahum High. This usually happens during the first time you use Gahum. It can control your entire being.”

“Right,” Jenna nodded. “I had that too, I remember.”

Angela furrowed her eyebrows. “How can you be so calm, Jenna? Ate Susanna’s dead.” Her voice cracked at the end, but then she shoved an entire pandesal into her mouth to keep herself from crying.

Esther watched her eat.

Jenna shrugged. “Brother Owl is going out to fetch her. And that’s Brother Owl, for dead God’s sake. There’s nothing he can’t do.”

Jaime shook his head, dipped some bread into his milo and then ate it. “Brother Owl isn’t immortal. He can fail. The probability of that happening is low, but he can.”

“Besides, Sidapa is Brother Owl’s bitch.”

Jaime almost spat out the milo-soaked bread in his mouth. “To be fair, a lot of things are Brother Owl’s bitch. We don’t even know where he came from, if he’s actually a Mortal or just masking himself, or if he’s immortal or not.”

“Did Brother Owl find you guys when you guys fell into Paraiso?” asked Esther.

Jenna nodded. “He keeps track of incursions from other universes, makes sure to get those that have a larger potentiality of Gahum prowess. He found us.”

There was a moment of silence, as everyone ate and mulled over the happenings. Eventually, Jenna turned to Jaime with a pained smile cut into her face. “I have to be… completely honest, Ate Susanna wouldn’t have been killed if she hadn’t gone to Panginoon Tupas’ Sinking Field. Can I ask who the fuck you are and why you made us go there?” The table shook. Esther held out a hand and stroked Jenna’s bicep.

“Ate…”

“Sorry, sorry, I’m getting a bit heated. I have to be the level-headed one for now, since Ate Susanna isn’t here yet.”

Jaime nodded. “I understand. It’s… Hm. Well, I’m Brother Owl’s apprentice,” said Jaime, leaning back. He was also getting restless, fingers tapping on the wooden tabletop. “Well, I used to be. Now I feed my Gahum on my own. But we did have a mission: to take down evil Panginoon without attracting the attention of the Archons. We’ve taken down 2 so far, and it’s mostly been me doing the work. Getting into their ranks and then ascending to becoming right hand men or whatever, and then sabotaging their businesses and affairs. You two--” he pointed at Angela and Esther, “--are anomalies. Poon Tupas was a sex-crazed devil. He’s a Lust Fallen after all. When he saw you, he immediately wanted you to be part of his harem, and so he did. I didn’t even know you guys were with Brother Owl until you were in the dungeons.”

Jenna exhaled. “Hey, at least… Panginoon Tupas was defeated?”

Jaime nodded. “Brother Owl knows many skills, and he has told me that he knows the Secret of Slicing. He cut Panginoon Tupas thread from Tadhana, and then crossed his name out in the tree of life. For all intents and purposes, even that of magic, Panginoon Tupas never existed.”

Esther blinked. “That’s how angry he was?”

Jaime nodded again, silent.

The rest of the breakfast proceeded as that, silent, with mournful retrospection plaguing their minds. When Jaime was done, and he was the first to finish, he rose to his feet bringing his plate. “Bring your plates over to the sink once you finish.”

“Do we have to wash them?” asked Angela.

Jaime shook his head. “We have dishwasher spirits for that. Come to the courtyard once you’re all ready. All of you, okay? Including Mattheo and Jonathan and Gala.” And with that, he left.

“Huh, where are they?”

Jonathan appeared then, his hair sticking out at every place, uncombed, and large dark bags under his eyes. He had changed into monastery clothes, which is to say he now looks like an 1800s Filipino living in the countryside. A simple white camisa-de-chino and some brown balloon pants. He sat on the chair, still blinking. “I can’t see.” He stood up and walked back out, and then back in again, and he had his glasses.

“Good thing those didn’t get busted up,” said Jenna, grinning. “Help yourself to breakfast.”

“Thanks.”

“Where’s Mattheo?”

“With Gala.”

Shock infused Angela, Esther, and Jenna. “What?” asked Esther, with a disbelieving grin on her face.

“Gala woke up crying. We found out when we went to check up on you guys. Mattheo went to comfort her.”

“Fuck that’s cute,” said Esther, biting her wrist. “I hate it. Absolute cringe.”

“Hoy, don’t bite your wrist,” said Jenna.

Angela slapped Esther’s wrist. “Don’t curse. We’re in heaven.”

Angela snorted a laugh. She got up to get pancit canton. “You think I can go in there and see them?”

Jonathan came back to the table with lots of scrambled eggs. “I’d rather not let you disturb the moment, but what the hell.”

“Oh, wait, you have to call on them anyway since we have to go out to Jaime,” said Jenna.

“Do we have class?” asked Jonathan as he rubbed his eyes, drinking milo. “Wait… no we’re not in San Lazaro anymore…”

“Jaime wants to teach you guys stuff,” said Jenna. “Is what I’m guessing. Angela you can go ahead and announce it to them so that they can eat and bathe as well.”

“These floors are really cold,” said Jonathan, as he pulled his feet up to his chest. “I guess that’s what happens when you have bamboo slat floors.”

“These stilt houses are built for tropical weathers and flooding,” said Jenna. “But you’re from the Philippines so you would’ve known that.”

“I’m off to see the lovebirds,” said Angela, bringing with her a bowl of pancit canton. Jenna raised her hand to tell her that she shouldn’t eat outside of the kitchen, but she was already gone.

“I’ve been wondering,” spoke Esther as Angela left. “What makes a Panginoon ‘evil’, like Kuya Jaime said?”

“Well… Brother Owl always said that ‘There is no more Good in the Multiverse, only Evil. Evil is the truth, and all goods are just lesser evils. There are no more goods.’” She paused for a bit, and then, with a pained expression on her face, put her forehead on the table. “Shet, you’re right, I am starting to sound like him.”

“So, what, all people are evil?”

“Yeah,” said Jenna. “Basically. Except that, like, there are some that are less evil, and we can fight for that.”

“That’s so bleak,” said Esther. She wasn’t eating anymore, instead sipping continually on her milo. She would get up every so often to refill it and then would sit down again.

“I can see why he’d say that,” said Jonathan. “But I’m no philosopher or anything, so that’s all I can do. See.”

“Well, here in Paraiso, as you can see, everyone’s out for themselves. The Multiverse is basically just dead at this point,” said Jenna. “So that’s what everyone is doing.”

“Yeah but… isn’t there something greater they want to do?” asked Esther. “It’s all so… defeatist.”

“The Archons control heaven, and above them, the Holy Trinity. There’s not much we can do, unless we overthrow the Holy Trinity. But even then, who’s to say anything will change? Brother Owl told me that the concept of death didn’t exist until after BATALA died.”

“Wait… so did BATALA already die before any of us existed…? Or…?” Jonathan rubbed his temples.

“Some say BATALA died before us, others say BATALA died after, and that’s why we die and why universes end, others even say that BATALA is not dead yet, simply dying.”

“What the fuck?” said Esther. Angela wasn’t there to slap Esther’s wrist, so Jonathan did it for her.

“Ow, what the hell?”

“It’s for Angela,” said Jonathan. He turned to Jenna. “Anyway, how does that make any sense?”

“There comes a point in the universe,” said Jenna, rising and bringing her plate to the sink. “Where things become unexplainable, and you just have to accept it for what it is.”

“Then what’s the point of learning it? If it just ends up becoming unexplainable?” asked Jonathan.

“Brother Owl said: ‘It is the nature of the liar to investigate the Lie.”