Bittersweet Enchantment

A long, long time ago in a country in the far east called the Pearl of the Orient, there lived a family of mananambal.

Witches. Shamans. Sorcerors.

Their clan possessed supernatural powers like creating charms for resistance against magical attacks, concocting healing potions and most importantly, fortune-telling dreams.

In spite of their skills, they were shunned and maligned so they were left to live at the outskirts of their village.

Out of fear, the other villagers refused to trade or even to interact with them. Only the sick, the desperate and the chieftain would visit them.

But the head of the family, an old witch they called Old Mother, continued to serve the village faithfully by leaving protective spells around the village boundaries, scaring away the maligno and dealing with the other supernatural beings who lived in the forest so their people could continue to use the land.

She made charms to ward off evil, potions to heal mysterious illnesses and brokered the peace between humans and monsters. All of the men and women in their small family knew how to do this and created a small trade in selling their charms and potions.

Their most famous and valuable skill that only Old Mother possessed was in dream fortune-telling. When she slept during the day, none of her family members could wake her. Sometimes she would sleep for days on end because the dreams held her in their grasp.

If Old Mother was dreaming, she could see the future that could save the village from war, famine and plague. She could save little children who suffered from nightmares and negotiate with the maligno who possessed helpless villagers.

Her powers were most powerful during the full moon and the dreams were so powerful and so frightening that she had to sleep in a different hut from the rest of the family. Only her favorite granddaughter could sleep next to her to write down and relay Old Mother's prophecies.

The next morning, she would give the bamboo tablet to the village chief in exchange for his protection and favor.

The rest of the family didn't like the discrimination and treatment that they received from the village so they kept grumbling under their breath.

Yet the matron refused to say anything but continued to keep the tiny village in the mountains safe.

"Old mother, I don't think we should help them anymore. The harvest was bad and they never shared their rice with us. They never invited us to eat wild boar. We are never included when there are feasts," her headstrong, willful granddaughter told her impatiently one day.

"This is our way and this is what we've done for a long time. The village gives us safety and protection. I am not a holy priestess but a witch, my child." The matron answered her serenely.

"I want us to have more power, more influence and more secure standing in society." The granddaughter declared loudly before she left the hut. I want more, more, more!

Her parents, siblings, innumerable aunts, uncles and cousins didn't protest. She was their golden child and she possessed the greatest potential when it came to magic. She'd grown up knowing that she would inherit all of her grandmother's powers upon her death and so she was spoiled rotten.

This beautiful, headstrong girl named Liwayway wanted her family to be the best in the land and the most powerful.

She imagined them living in large huts with tracts of land as far as the eye can see. She wanted her siblings to marry well and her relatives to be prosperous. It was unfair to her that they possessed such powers and skills but they could not use them to their advantage or to improve their status in the village.

In her young mind, she cannot achieve these things if they continued to live in the margins of society.

She was born to be a witch and she was ready to put her powers to the test.

Her grandmother merely watched her back grow smaller and smaller as she walked into the woods.

After thirteen nights and thirteen days, the granddaughter came back with a basket full of gold ingots, precious stones and a tall, handsome young man in tow.

Liwayway proudly declared him as her husband and her family accepted him wholeheartedly.

Her grandmother merely looked on and said nothing at her granddaughter's return. She did not stop the family's celebration of a small, intimate wedding in the mountains. She did not participate when they gave thanks to their gods.

When a large full moon came out of the heavens on Liwayway's wedding night, the family whispered to themselves. See here! They said to each other. Mayari has blessed her wedding bed! She has given her favor!

The Old Mother only drank water and ate no food from the wedding banquet. Her granddaughter's husband caught her eye and winked.

She pretended not to see.

Liwayway soon showed her power to her family as a promising witch who was worthy of Old Mother's position.

When she went out to the forest at dawn everyday, she came back with more gold and precious stones. She could point out where to harvest the sweetest fruits and to catch the plumpest boars.

She encouraged her father and uncles to bring these gifts of the earth to the village. In three months, they had filled up a hut with gold, jewels and other valuable objects. They'd built up a large granary and expanded their huts.

Liwayway told her family that it was only the beginning of their prosperity.

Soon, their family bought more land and started on their chosen trade. Their rice field yielded more than twice than the usual harvest and their groves of fruit trees were overflowing.

They grew rich in every season and every year so the other villagers started to respect them. Soon, they came in droves to seek marriages with their daughters and sons.

The old witch who was the head of the family died shortly after without speaking ever again to her favorite grandchild.

She already knew what her granddaughter had done and she'd already seen the future.

The devil will always collect his due and nothing will be able to stop him.