“Shouldn’t we run after them?” asked Jonathan as Brother Owl and Brahm made their way towards the gate of the Monastery. He looked around to see Esther and Angela too busy talking with their Ates to be able to do anything and help. Much less to listen. With a dissatisfied grunt, he turned to Mattheo. “Ya, Mattheo, let’s follow after them.”

Mattheo took one quick look at the other girls, found that they were more or less safe, and nodded. “Gotcha. Let’s go.”

And so they ran after Brother Owl and Brahm. The monastery was more or less traditionally pre-colonial or indigenous in its design, but as they left the U of houses that they were within, they found that they were surrounded by a high stone wall, which rose up to twice their height. They saw Brother Owl and Brahm standing by the gate, which was marginally tall, made of stone, and was shaped like double doors.

They opened that, and through it, Jonathan and Mattheo saw the being on the other side. They couldn’t quite say that it was a human… more like human shaped. Sitting on a palanquin, carried by sixteen slaves wearing gold masks and covered in golden jewelry, but principally naked and only wearing weak bahag cloths. Yes, it took sixteen of them, four one each rod, front and back, to carry the being’s palanquin.

The being itself was… strange. Imagine a golden pig, wearing an extravagant bahag, with the tail so long that it seemed to flow down from the palanquin. It wore a carabao hide vest that wasn’t even tied together and was just open in the middle. Its ears were large, flopping about as it moved. Disgusting, yet at the same time, divine.

“Panginoon Humabon,” said Brother Owl, putting both of his hands behind his back, but not bothering to straighten his posture. “How may I help you?”

“YA!” He brushed off a veiled woman slave that picked at his ear. “Don’t TOUCH that, you fucking whore! Godshit, don’t touch me. I’m going to have you all ROASTED when we get back home.”

The women shuddered.

“Ah, yes, BROTHER OWL, the Mendicant Sage, the Star of the Noon, the Collector of Calamities. Your NAME escapes me NOT, attention whore!”

Brahm looked like he was about to surge forward when Brother Owl’s hand shot out and gripped his arm. He didn’t move then.

“UNFORTUNATELY,” it--he--Panginoon Humabon--squealed. “All that attention has reached me, in my sea empire. Unfortunately for you, it has brought me to the attention of the TRUTH: you collect budding Attainers and TEACH them the ways of GAHUM here, in this godforsaken island.”

Brother Owl answered not. Jonathan listened intently, eyes squinting. For some reason, he could feel that he couldn’t be noticed.

Mattheo was taller than him. Both of them hid behind a large Narra tree.

“And so, I have come to STEAL those Attainers from you, as you technically are within my banwa, my territory, my land!”

“There are no banwa laws as to hiding and training a specific group of people,” said Brother Owl, matter of factly. Mattheo saw that his face changed not.

“THAT IS BESIDES THE POINT,” said the pig. “THERE ARE NO LAWS IN HEAVEN! Now, I did not come to BARGAIN, mendicant fool. Hand over this island to me, or suffer. I have SURROUNDED your entire island with my karakoas and Garuda-riders. You will not escape alive.”

Brother Owl squinted, then. A visible change. When he did, Jonathan felt the air change. As if it began to swirl, as if it began to churn, reacting to a change in mood, in temperature, in the atmosphere.

Mattheo, who was wearing a windbreaker, pulled it tighter to himself. Jonathan swallowed. It was getting colder.

“Why do you want to do this?” asked Brother Owl, his voice still lilting, calming, uncertain. The indiscernibility of his voice made his every action unstable.

Brahm, on the other hand, was clenching his fist. There was a light seeping through them. Brother Owl shot him a single look as if to tell him that no, now’s not the time. And the light disappeared.

“What do you seek to achieve?” asked Brother Owl once more.

“WHY do I have to tell you, fool? Are you my MOTHER? My FATHER? No! I only honor my ANCESTORS, not foolish caretakers such as yourself!”

“I may hand over my Attainers if you answer my question.”

The pig caught a golden sword which was slowly slipping off the palanquin due to one side of slaves wavering in strength. He caught that sword. “YA! DON’T DALLY OFF! I DON’T PAY YOU A SINGLE PIECE OF GOLD FOR NOTHING! I swear, these damn slaves…” He slapped the front-right side with that golden sword, killing one of the black-coated slaves, and then swallowed that sword, right down his gullet.

“Anyway, my answer is simple. Actually, two answers. Firstly: they are part of my banwa. I get to do whatever I want to them!”

“There is nothing mandating that.”

“I MANDATE IT, YOU QUIETLESS BASTARD. SILENCE.” He breathed, shoved a golden spear down his throat. “Secondly, there have been… rumors. Huge rumors. Big rumors. Rumors that the destined Emperor has returned, have begun their training, and where else would I look for him, if not for a place where Attainers are trained?”

Brother Owl lowered his head. “You have known about the Monastery of the Moon for more than three decades now, Humabon. We have not done you any harm--”

“Kill the damn fool. Kawal Mambabatuk!”

A man stepped out from the huge army that Humabon had behind him. It was a large, lean muscular man, with his hair tied high up on his head. He wore a red bandana that stood like a crown on his brow. A putong, as it’s called in Paraiso. He wore an extravagant, regal bahag that reached his knees. He was covered from head to toe with tattoos.

Brahm stepped forward. Brother Owl’s hand shot out again, bringing him back. The Brother shook his head. “You are making a grave mistake, Humabon. Leave this place now, or live with regret.” Brother Owl’s voice was still soft, still lilting. Still uncertain.

The wind had picked up now. A growing storm.

“Ha! You, a beggar monk, think to THREATEN ME? Break his spine, Mambabatuk!”

Jonathan and Mattheo visibly flinched when Mambabatuk surged forward, kicking dust behind his feet. In a matter of seconds, he had a bamboo spear flashing out.

Brahm countered, bringing forth a sword, running in front of Brother Owl and parrying the spear stroke. However, when the spear hit the sword, Mambabatuk’s fingers and toes burned with bright orange light, and Brahm’s sword disintegrated into dust. Brahm dove out of the way, avoiding the dust of his once-sword.

“HA!” laughed Humabon, the golden pig. “You think you’re the only one with Attainers, Brother Owl?! ANYONE can be an Attainer. All it takes is a mighty push.”

“You shall realize your mistake now...” said Brother Owl, as he parried away another spear stroke from Mambabatuk with the flat of his hand. Mambabatuk’s eyes opened wide.

Mattheo whispered low: “How are his hands not being disintegrated?!”

Jonathan pointed. “Look closely. His hands aren’t touching the spear.”

And they weren’t. Subtly, some invisible force wedged itself between the spear and the Brother Owl’s hand, making sure that Brother Owl made no contact.

“How is he doing that?” asked Mattheo, face in wide-eyed admiration, tinged with terror.

With a subtle movement of his fingers, Brother Owl parried away another spear stroke, “...when you realize the BATALANG MAYKAPAL’s Seventh Commandment is...” Mambabatuk’s bamboo spear was sent flying away, deflected, and struck the earth.

Mambabatuk’s eyes widened, and his face burned with fury. He lashed out, fingers wide open, his forearms and shins now burning with that intense orange light as if he was being ignited from the inside out.

Brother Owl put one hand beneath his chin, pointing straight up, all five fingers pointing at his nose. His other hand--the one that had deflected the spear--was down on his hip, and he was pointing with two fingers. “...thou shalt kill.”

Mambabatuk stopped right as his fingers were about to grasp Brother Owl’s entire head. The Brother’s frock whipped behind him, as the air suddenly burst out. The growing storm suddenly focused on a spirit-thin Setsuna cut.

Within their souls, they heard the voice of the universe: 『SECRET OF SILENCE: SPIRIT THIN SETSUNA CUT』

Mambabatuk fell backward, to the ground. The palanquin upon which Humabon sat fell to the ground as the sixteen slaves were bisected in half horizontally, no blood being spilled from them. Humabon hit the ground and cried out. The army behind Humabon was also cut, cleanly. A smooth horizontal cut with no seams nor notches.

“DEMON!” Humabon screamed out as he tried to scramble backward and away from Brother Owl. Instead, he looked like he was rolling away, due to his size and shape.

Jonathan and Mattheo were looking at each other. “How did he… is he a magician?”

Brother Owl put his hands behind his back again, moving forward. When he put his arms behind his back, Jonathan and Mattheo noticed that they were slowly dissipating. They had been turned into an intense indigo color.

The Brother moved forward, looking down upon Humabon, and stopped when he was right in front of him.

/// BACK IN THE MONASTERY’S COURTYARD

“Ate Jenna?!” Esther’s face was priceless, full of shock.

Jenna thumbed her nose and grinned widely, her eye smile bringing back a certain joy to their predicament. “Yep, the one and only… well, the one from our universe, at least.”

Gala bounced forward and hugged Esther. “Oh, I missed you guys! I didn’t think we’d see you again! Although, I suppose it is kind of a sad thing, to have you guys in such a… horrible place.”

“Right,” said Angela, managing a smile. “Ate Gala… what’s wrong with you…” And she gestured at her brow.

“Oh,” Jenna grinned. “That’s a side-effect of the demon elixir she drank.”

“Yeah,” Gala said, nodding. “Now I know The Black Secret."

“The what?"

"The Black Secret of Violence."

"...Ha?"

“You’ll see soon enough,” she said. “They’re cute, don’t you think?” she said, smiling, poking the little horns.

“Agh, stop that,” Jenna said, visibly disgusted. “That’s disgusting.

“Just because you don’t like demons doesn’t mean you won’t like me.”

“Shut up,” said Jenna. “Anyway, we got here right before Panginoon Humabon, the uh, the Noble Lord that’s shouting there at the gate, got here. Pretty bad timing.”

“Will we get out of here alive?” asked Angela, worried.

Jenna nonchalantly gestured with her hand. “Don’t worry. We’re all getting out here alive. Brother Owl is like, a god or something.”

“Guys,” Susanna arrived. She tied her hair up into a ponytail atop her head. She now held a sword in one hand, and a spear in the other. “We have company. Garuda-riders. Jenna, Gala, you get Esther and Angela to the escape zone.”

Jenna furrowed her brow. “Right.”

Esther screamed and pointed at something in the sky. “What is that?”

Looking up, descending from all sides of the Monastery, invading and desecrating the safe studying space, were large birdmen being ridden by smaller gold-masked men wielding bows and arrows. They were descending from those flying ships which flew overhead the Monastery.

“It’s like a fantasy show or something!” continued Esther.

“Jenna, Gala, break! Protect them!” Right away, Jenna grabbed Esther’s and Angela’s hand. The Garuda-riders descended, faster than they thought they could. They also loosed arrows, half of them aiming for Susanna, the other half at Gala.

Susanna grunted. She inhaled, and then exhaled: red flame burst from her fingertips and began creeping up her arms and legs, reaching for her heart. Her eyes blazed red.

She took something from her neck, tugged it, and then threw it into the air. In a flash of light, a multitude of swords appeared about Susanna, forming an elegant crown for the weapon goddess. "Bring about piercing destruction! Impale the heavens: 『TEN THOUSAND SWORD CROWN』!" Susanna thrust out forcefully with her spear, and the swords that crowned her flew out, crashing and piercing and impaling and killing multitudes of Garuda-riders.

Some aimed for Gala and Jenna, however, trying to block off their escape. Gala leaped down in between Jenna, Esther, Angela, and the attackers. She put both hands together, and then slammed both of them to the ground. Then, she repeated the following, chanting it like a mantra, her voice getting louder and louder at every repetition: “...all are one is the truth of Nature; Heaven and earth shall give me shelter…”

Closer, and closer, the Garuda-riders flew closer and closer. Arrows were loosed, all aiming at her, at Jenna, at Esther, at Angela. Looking around, Esther noticed that all the other students were being attacked too. Others had already been killed, viscera and flesh scattered on the floor, blood smeared on the walls, eyes of children bloodshot and wild, falling out of their sockets.

Jenna brought them closer and closer towards a room in the eastern building of the U. The doors were open, and there were already other students and children pouring in. Two women wearing white robes were ushering them to run inside.

“Gala!” screamed out Jenna, as she turned around.

Closer, closer.

Right as the Garuda-riders were upon her, Gala lifted her hands up, her eyes gleaming a hot white pink, her hair rising and turning into pure ivory silver. “Don’t touch my FRIENDS!”

The very island answered her call. The earth and soil of the courtyard sloshed up and rose like a tsunami wave over Gala as if to cover and shield her. The Garuda-riders were caught in the earth’s wrath, piercing them, smashing them, cracking them, destroying them, blocking any projectile weapon that came upon them.

“Gala, come on!” yelled Jenna.

Gala turned and ran towards her friends, now with a massive wave of earth covering and protecting them, like the benevolence of an earth spirit.

Within the room, most of the students were gone. Esther and Angela were staring at the thing the students were walking into... a balete tree.

“Oh my god,” said Esther. “This is what got us here in the first place.”

“When we’re compromised,” said Jenna as she walked into the room. “This balete will take us to one of 72 locations. It’s to make sure no one finds us. And then, Brother Owl will come to collect us again, or the alumnus and other teachers come with us. Unfortunately for you, most of the teachers are gone…” Jenna walked up to the side of the balete and smiled.

“...So you’re stuck with me.”

Gala bounded into the room. “Where’s Susanna?” And right as she said that the Warrior Maiden walked in, completely clean, with only a light sheen of sweat over her body. “The Garuda-riders have begun retreating, but the danger is not over. Come, Brother Owl will find us.”

And with that, the five of them walked into the Balete.

///MONASTERY OF THE MOON’S GATE

Brother Owl looked down on the being. “Do you regret, Humabon?” His voice was not intimidating in the least. He was calm, collected, and still with that lilting tone.

“Damn you to the Bottom of the Multiverse, Beggar Monk!” And suddenly, out of nowhere, a Garuda-rider--no, three Garuda-riders--plucked Humabon from where he stood and carried him out, as the pig uttered curses all the way. Brother Owl watched as the forces of Humabon left.

When that was done, he turned around. “Brahm, make sure the Monastery is safe, check up on any students left behind.” He walked into the gate, and with a gesture with his finger, shut the stone gates closed.

“Jonathan, Mattheo, let us regroup with your friends.”