9 Chapter 8: The World She Walks In

Calista woke up but she had no idea about the time She woke up in a world sparse of color. Only the greys highlight the shadows that painted her small prison. Her body aches as she moves, the stitches were not yet completely healed. Calista had it rough this entire time, she is trying to recall the events on how she got into this mess.

She remembered being at the Despedida party with her friends and then she ended up in a boat somewhere in a faraway place with a throbbing headache splitting her head. What's worse is that she doesn't know where she is or how she got there. Her mind gave rise to the idea that she may have been kidnapped ( which she still thinks is the case) by a mysterious man claiming himself to be a death god.

She thinks her captor is devoid of any sense of logic as he loudly proclaims his greatness to her and how privileged she is to be in the same boat with her. She thought of everything that day as an elaborate prank but then everything became so clear to her the moment she cursed at him.

She got herself drowned, almost got eaten by a lurking beast from the foul-tasting waters( wherever she was thrown down to), and then to add salt to the blistering wound, she got torn to pieces. All of these would have hurt someone's psyche, no one would ever be able to handle such torture. She knows, she almost didn't make it. Her mind came close to breaking leaving her with only a shell of herself in the process.

She recalled being thrown away in a pit filled with decapitated heads and torn bodies that for whatever reason, we're still living. She cannot make sense of it. She cannot see clearly if they were certainly human. But she could hear agonizing screams that sounded like one. At that point, fear had already consumed her. Her torn torso, slowly sunk into the pile of wriggling body heaps didn't help either. She is doomed and no amount of prayers can save her from it.

No one was listening, no one cared to listen, she remembered it again. That one incident when she was still a child, how her grandmother died. The memory was hazy but she knew how she died but she couldn't remember. The gloom is eating up the remains of her sanity. She screamed for help yet the heaps of dismembered bodies are slowly covering her muffling her voice.

She was about to give up and just let go to be fed to the darkness and despair of such unforgiving torture when she heard a voice calling her. The voice started weakly but it became louder and louder in her head. It sounded like a mother, a gentle voice but a powerful one. She tried to make sense of it but she cannot. There's no way! But the warm voice called her again.

"Calista...Calista?"

She struggled through the heaps of bodies but she was able to answer, "Here I am."

"Dear Child, you finally answered."

Suddenly her mind became clear, the fear and despair dissipated and she was able to see clearly for the first time.

" I can see you again? Why is everything white? Where am I?", her mind raised a lot of questions as uncanny scenarios seemed to follow her wherever she went.

"We are inside your mind dear child." the voice calmly explained.

Calista got acquainted with the voice. She called herself Mama Guayan, the voice told her about her predicament and what she was doing there. Obviously, she is dead however, her soul traveled to Sulad because of a purpose and that is to overthrow Sidapa and rule the underworld for herself.

" You will be the new crowned Sidapa, ruler of Sulad, and the souls in it." declared Mama Guayan.

Calista was in utter disbelief. Is she the next ruler of the underworld? She doubts herself if she can do it, especially with a powerful god already at the helm.

"It is your destiny if you so choose to accept it." Mama Guayan said, " You can rise and become the god, fate has written for you or you can drown here at the bottomless pit of your despair."

Calista chose her fate with the first option. Mama Guayan's presence felt like she was pleased with her decision and with her parting words, she left Calista in a state of calmness which put her to sleep.

That's when she woke up in a dark room back to her usual eyesight which was close to none and this time, she is being stitched by a dark shadowy figure. The pain was unbearable as the needle passes her pulsating flesh, there was nothing to numb the pain but the soothing voice of Mama Guayan constantly speaking to her inside her head telling her not to scream in pain nor show any form of agony as the shadow might make it more painful than it usually is.

She put up a brave face and went through hours and hours of hellish pain that no man can dare withstand but she did. She was able to, thanks to her invisible guardian soothing her and putting her mind at ease despite everything.

One time while she was conversing with Mama Guayan, the shadow began to ask her questions. Unable to answer out of fear, the guiding voice told her to say she was praying ( Mama Guayan thought it was funny). The shadow reprimanded her telling her that it was an insult to his Master and she should refrain from doing so, especially to the deity she knows since childhood. The shadow pried once more and out of annoyance she said something that sounded like a threat to his Master.

The figure felt threatened and without any warning, she was hurled into the cold mossy wall of the cell. The collision winded her, she was unable to breathe from the shock and the insurmountable pain surging through her fragile body. Blood started oozing out from her wounds but at least she was still intact. The pain became so unbearable everything else went numb. Her mind danced in the gibberish grunts and what appears to be the voice of the shadow in the background.

What she saw next was the shadow pulling something out from thin air. She cannot identify the shape but it looked like a weapon of sorts and whatever it is, it comes with a thick gray fog that's engulfing a huge part of the room. The shadow asked her something but she cannot make of it.

Then suddenly Mama Guayan's voice finally came back and whispered to her and instructed her to do the shadow's Master's bidding. The shadow was unfazed and threatened to erase her from her existence. As of right now, the shadow sees her as someone who might kill his Master if given the chance, and so he wasn't having anything of what she was saying.

"If you kill me now, don't you think your Master wouldn't bat an eye about it?" she asked in her weakened voice.

At last, the shadow finally paused and thought about it. She noticed how the fog began to fade as if it retracted to someplace and finally the shadow sheathed his weapon. Everything was calm again. She was relieved but at the same time fearful of what's about to come next but the guide inside her head is telling her to keep it calm and follow through with the plan they spoke about.

"What should I call you?" she asked the shadow.

"Tagahatid."

She paused for a bit to gather some air and her aching body, " Tagahatid, teach me."

There was a moment of silence between the two of them. Not long after, Tagahatid, bowed silently and vanished into the darkness.

Although relieved, she must now take on the daunting task of dragging her body back to the bed. It was horridly excruciating but she managed to crawl back to the bed on the moss-like floor while bleeding profusely. When she finally went back to her bed she was drenched in both sweat and blood and with a sigh of relief she passed out and woke up not knowing the time of day and recalling what had happened.

The hours were long or it could've been short as she is still at a loss with the time. Mama Guayan is currently out of reach in her mind and now she is back to her own depressing thoughts. The cycle was starting again when out of the blue, the shadow (or Tagahatid as he calls himself) showed up from nowhere.

She was relieved to see someone she can talk to but also scared of what this so-called "Tagahatid" might do to her. The shadow began to bow at her and offered her something to drink. She was quite hesitant about it. Her mind was racing in fear and doubts in accepting the cup that the shadow is offering her in a bowing posture while outstretching its "arms" with the cup on hand.

"Do not worry, Lady Calista. I am not here to end you." Tagahatid guaranteed her, " This cup is a conction of diluted pampaduka and boiled flowers in the Master's tree. This should help heal better and should enable you to move without the fear of pain.", he added.

"Why should I trust you?" she jabbed at him.

There was an eerie silence in the air and Calista was ready to face any fury this creature might bring to her. Instead, the shadow answered, " Why not? Is it that you said if you die my Master would not keep his silence? You were his chosen after all.", while still pushing the drink to her.

Calista silently nods. She took the cup from the shadow's hands and drank it. The concoction tasted sweet at first but after swallowing it, a bitter aftertaste then came to punch your senses. It was so revolting that she almost gagged the entire medication altogether. However, she managed to keep it where it should be.

Tagahatid nods in delight and then helps her back to lay on her bed, " You shall take a rest, for now, the medicine will help you heal and sleep a good night's rest."

Calista felt the effects of the concoction. She was light-headed and she felt a state of calmness that she can only feel when she is speaking to Mama Guayan. Her body also felt loose and her eyes slowly went out of focus, blurring her vision even further then everything went dark.

Before finally succumbing to the medicine- induced sleep she was able to ask Tagahatid, " What time is it?", in her slurred voice.

Tagahatid responded but she cannot hear it pretty well. The drink was so potent it took her down a few minutes after drinking it. All she heard was gibberish then she was finally out.

It could've been hours or days since she slept but when she woke-up her body felt light and rejuvenated. She was able to stretch her arms without fear of tearing the stitches or bleeding. She felt good this time and now, she waited for her mentor to arrive. He came to a thousand counts later ( this was Calista's way of making sense of time). He bowed to Calista to greet her and asked her if she was ready with the task ahead.

"I am. But may I ask about what time it is now?" she asked.

" Would time matter so much to you?"

" It would help me with my bearings. It is the midday of Danghos in the month of Dagancahuy, Lady Calista," he replied.

Calista was confused. This was not the type of system that she was familiar with, "Ummm..ahhh..what do you mean?"

"My apologies Lady Calista, I meant to say it is noon on the day of Friday on the month of April."

"You could've just said that!" she said as she got a little bit annoyed at such complicated details.

Tagahatid bowed lower and apologized again. He explained to her that the hours and days in Sulad do not work like the modern world she was in. The calendar system follows the Skyworld rules of time and thus everything is different. He also explained the time difference they had from the Living World which surprised her.

She was about to ask a question but was stopped by Tagahatid. He explained that time is of the essence and he cannot answer any more questions as they have a lot to cover when it comes to the tasks she was given.

"Task? I thought you're gonna teach me." a confused Calista blurted

" It is in those tasks that you shall learn and earn your place."

Tagahatid gestured his arms towards a narrow opening, Calista couldn't see it clearly but it looked like a door. She walked into the opening and was followed by Tagahatid. She heard a loud bang like a door closing from behind.

"Let us begin," Tagahatid said.

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WRITER'S NOTES

Greetings Reader!

Here's a list of the ancient words for the days of the week!

Days of the week in Visayan

Domingo; Ligidligid – Sunday

Lunes; Tigburukad – Monday

Martes; Dumason – Tuesday

Miyerkoles; Dukutdukot – Wednesday

Huybes; Baylubaylo – Thursday

Biyernes; Danghos – Friday

Sabado; Hinguthingot – Saturday

There! There you go! Don't forget to like.

Thank you for your continued patronage.

Pugay!