Chapter 1

the capital
​

I had always read about the Capital in books and I never thought I’d see it in person.
 
“Whoa!” Lexi mouthed as we got off the train station.
 
Establishments and skyscrapers towered above us. Ground and flying vehicles roared. People murmured. Unlike us who were just standing still, everyone seemed too busy to spare us a glance. It was as if the city was always moving.
 
“Grabe, ganito pala sa Capital,” Lexi said in awe. “Amazing!”
 
Ilang tao naman ang napatingin sa amin dahil napalakas ang pagkakasabi niya. Some snickered and some gave us side-eye. Maybe it was obvious that we were from the outskirts.
 
Hinatak ko siya sa gilid para makapagpahinga at napangiti ako dahil sa nakita ko.
 
What made the Capital appealing was the touch of nature in it. Despite being urban, almost half of the city were forest and flower parks, greenhouses and rows of trees.
 
“Saan ba tayo tutuloy?” tanong ko sa kanya nang makaupo kami sa bench sa park.
 
My eyes shifted to the shrubs beside the bench and a smile escaped my lips when I saw naturaes.
 
Naturaes are nature spirit guardians the size of butterflies, and unlike most guardians, these species can stay in the real dimension as long as they like.
 
Nakapalibot ang naturaes sa mga bata at nakakalungkot lang na hindi nila nakikita ang mga ito. Only the Divians, Seers and Exorcists could see and communicate with beings from the spirit dimension.
 
“Hmm, wait lang,” Lexi replied as she pulled something out of her pocket. “Miss Ariah?” she muttered. “Huh? Eto lang?”
 
Binaligtad niya nang paulit-ulit ang papel para maghanap ng iba pang nakasulat maliban sa litratong kasama no’n pero wala siyang nakita. She groaned and gritted her teeth as she glared at the paper.
 
“Nakakainis si Papa! Dapat pala tiningnan ko muna ‘tong binigay niya bago tayo umalis!”

​“What did you expect? Si Tito ‘yon,” sabi ko na lang. “He likes challenging us.”
 
Nasanay na ako sa ugali ni Tito. Paano simula noong bata kami ay lagi na niya kaming dinadala at iniiwan sa gubat o sa bundok doon sa baryo namin. We had experienced being lost for days and encountered dangerous animals because of him. Kapag naman nakabalik kami sa bahay nang ligtas ay tatawa lang siya at sasabihing, “Alam kong makakabalik kayo. Kayo pa.”
 
“No choice,” Lexi said. She breathed deeply and started to focus which made me worried.

“Wait. Gagamitin mo siya—!”

​“Charlie, sal-ve!”
 
Spirit particles gathered in front of her and a few seconds later, Charlie, one of her guardians and a human-sized eagle, came into view.
 
“Charlie, see this woman?” she said while showing him the picture of Miss Ariah. “Once you see her, alert us, okay?”
 
Charlie immediately took off and we almost got blown away by the wind generated from the strength of his wings.
 
“Sigurado ka bang si Charlie ang dapat mong gamitin?” tanong ko.

“Alangan namang sina Smith at Lio? You know I can’t control them well.”

“Sabagay.”
 
Lexi and I both have three guardians. Normally, Divians equip themselves with one or two guardians. In our case, since we still couldn’t control our main guardians, we were given two supporting guardians to aide us.
 
Binigay ni Papa sa akin si Jerry noong bata pa ako para may makasama sa bahay dahil lagi silang wala. My other guardian was given by Lexi’s dad as a reward when we returned alive the first time he left us in the jungle. He said it was from my parents and they told him to give it to me when I have proven myself. And then my main guardian. That was the last gift I received from my parents.
 
“Ano? May lead na ba?” muli kong tanong.

“Wala pa,” Lexi replied. “Puro buildings lang ang nakikita ko. Charlie, navigate lower.”
 
That was one of the benefits of having a guardian. A Divian could possess the abilities of his or her guardians and communicate with them despite the distance.
 
We were waiting for Charlie’s chance of seeing our host when we suddenly heard a commotion from the side. Nagulat na lang kami nang biglang nagsitakbuhan ang mga tao.
 
“Ano kayang nangyayari?” bulong ko.

“Tara, tingnan natin.”

“Wait. Jerry, sal-ve!”
 
I called Jerry from the spirit dimension and tasked him to guard our things. We went toward the source of ruckus and we both halted when we saw what was happening.
 
“Holy shit,” Lexi muttered.
 
Hanging around a building was a humungous spider that almost covered half of the structure. From the eyes of the ordinary people, the building must have look like it was collapsing by itself instead of getting crushed by a huge, hideous monster.
 
“Give me the ancient seal, Spirit Masters!” she demanded. “Or I’ll destroy this place!”
 
My eyes drifted to the owner of that voice and saw a woman standing on top of the building. She was wearing a long, fitted black dress while half of her face was covered with her curly and jet-black hair. If it weren’t for her hideous guardian, I might mistake her as a femme fatale instead of being an Exorcist.
 
“Lexi, tara na!” bulong ko sa kanya. “Umalis na tayo rito!”
 
I was about to pull her arm when the woman shifted her gaze at our direction.
 
“Oh. Amateur Divians, huh?” she remarked as she smirked at us.
 
A chill went down my spine as I stared at her face. Hindi ko alam kung gaano kami kamalas para maranasan ang ganitong pangyayari. Only a few minutes had passed since we reached the Capital and this was what greeted us.
 
I was thinking if it wasn’t too late to run but before I could think of an escape route, her guardian spewed webs as thick as human bodies. 
 
“C-Charlie! So-hai!” Lexi shrilled.
 
The next thing I knew, we were already on Charlie’s back, flying away from the webs sticking on the pavement where we were standing a second ago.
 
“Shit shit shit,” Lexi muttered, still shaken by what had happened. “Akala ko mamamatay na tayo. Buti nagawa ko pang tawagin si Charlie.”
 
Looking at her, I was amazed at how she could still think rationally in that kind of situation. Napatingin ulit ako sa babae na nasa taas ng building at muli siyang tumingin sa direksyon namin. A smirk appeared on her face, as if enjoying our distress. The spider was readying for another attack and I don’t know if we could still survive this time.
 
A large quantity of thick webs came out of the spider and flew to our direction. All I heard was our desperate yells when something suddenly appeared in front of us.
 
“Tortos! Sensen barries!”
 
My mouth hang open when a turtle twice the size of the spider materialized and standing on its shell was a woman wearing a simple white shirt and jeans. A transparent barrier suddenly enclosed us and I realized she just uttered a protective enchantment.
 
“Are you girls okay?” tanong niya nang humarap siya sa amin.

“Ahh!” Lexi exclaimed as we both recognized her face. “I-Ikaw si Ariah!”

“You know me?” she asked in confusion. “Let’s talk later. I need to teach this woman a lesson.”
 
Upon saying that statement, she jumped from her guardian and a pair of wings grew from her back. I wasn’t able to follow her movements because she was too quick but the next thing I saw was the three legs of the spider getting cut down and falling on the ground, along with the woman.
 
Ariah landed gracefully next to her and much to our surprise, punched her face real hard. Nawalan ng malay ang babae at hindi ko na gustong malaman kung gaano kalakas iyon para magkaroon ng dent sa mukha niya. 
 
Napatingin naman ako sa baba ng makarinig ako ng ingay. There were officers in black uniforms and one guy was in white. As far as I remember, those who were clad in white uniform and cape are Spirit Masters, the strongest among the Divians.
 
“Are you okay?” tanong niya habang nakatingala sa amin.

“O-opo,” sagot ko naman.

“You can go down now.”

“P-pero, may barrier po,” said Lexi as she pointed at it.

“It’ll follow the thing that it encloses, so don’t worry.”
 
Lexi ordered Charlie to descend and we stood in front of the guy in white.
 
“Pasensya na at nadamay kayo sa gulo,” sabi niya.

“O-okay lang po.”

“Don’t worry. We’ll make sure that Agnes will get the rightful punishment that she deserves.”

“Heh. You’re always late, Gavin.”
 
Tumingin ako sa direksyon ni Ariah habang naglalakad siya papunta sa amin. She looked cool. Parang wala lang sa kanya ang ginawa niya kanina.
 
“And you’re always early, Ariah,” the officer replied. “Ikaw pala ang nakahuli sa kanya. Good job.”
 
Agnes was out cold while her guardian disappeared. Once the owner lost her spiritual stamina or passed out, the guardian would dissipate into spirit particles and would return to the spirit dimension. The huge turtle picked up Agnes by its mouth.
 
Ariah scoffed at his remark and pulled out a cigarette from her pocket.
 
“Nagkataon lang na nandito ako,” sabi niya sabay sindi sa sigarilyo.

“Why can’t you just—”

“Bye,” she interrupted as she turned around. “See you not so soon.”
 
The turtle turned its head at the officer’s direction and placed Agnes in front of him. Suddenly, it dematerialized as Ariah walked away. Whoa! She could send her guardian back into the spirit dimension without using the incantation? Awesome!
 
Bigla naman siyang napahinto sa harapan namin.
 
“Oh, girls. Naalala ko na sinabi ni Leon na may maghahanap sa akin. Kayo ba ‘yon?”

“Opo,” sabay na sagot namin ni Lexi.

“Ano pang hinihintay n’yo? Tara na,” she said as she threw her cigarette away.
 
Napatakbo naman kami ni Lexi sa park kung saan namin iniwan ang mga gamit namin. Jerry was still there and thank the gods nothing bad happened to him.
 
“Jerry, nés-sa!”

​“Charlie, nés-sa!”
 
After sending our guardians back to the spirit dimension, we picked up our luggage and ran toward Ariah. We boarded a praevala, a floating vehicle, and travelled for several minutes while admiring the picturesque Capital from above. The scenery changed when we got to the outskirts: a huge lake covered half of the place while a lone cabin stood near it. Parang hindi rin nalalayo ang itsura sa kung saan kami galing.
 
The praevala gradually descended and Ariah smiled at us.
 
“Welcome to my place, girls. I’m Ariah and I’ll be your Master.”

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