Kastilyo ng mga Aswang

I'm not an idiot; I knew the red dots encircling us were aswangs and the yellow dot represented us. I shiver. "Are they in the trees?" I asked as I peered up at the big trees that were all around us.

"Yes." Serapina said, "But they're also lurking within the fog" She gestured at the fog where a nearby tree appeared. I'm sure that's not a cat, but something else entirely. Aswangs are known to shapeshift into animals as their way to blend in or escape, cats and dogs are the most likely animals they form into.

I hurriedly turned my head away from the cat and lowered my attention to the ground. My entire body felt my heart beating, and I could hear it beating in my ears.

I hate this.

Serapina grabbed my hand after sensing my unease, which caused me to flinch a little. "You're safe; the karwahe bubble is like a one-way mirror. While they cannot see us from the outside, we can see them from the inside." That helped me to calm down a little as I clung to her hand tightly, "You could look at them for as long as you want."

"Can we be sensed from here?" I looked over at her and Sirilo and questioned. They exchanged glances with one other and returned the favor by gently shrugging.

"Aswangs are specifically repelled by karwahe bubbles. In addition to various agimat sa oracion, it is created with vinegar, salt, and crushed garlic," Sirilo explained. Agiman sa oracion, while essentially a prayer, chant, or incantation against aswangs or evil spirits, may also be used to seek the assistance of divine creatures.

Soon enough, we arrived at the Kastilyo ng mga Aswang. The castle was purely made out of obsidian. The structure had the appearance of clusters of obsidian spikes emerging from the ground. The fog made it appear even more unsettling.

I never let go of Serapina's hand because I was too afraid to. She would caress my hand to calm me down, and happily, it helped, so I held onto it till we entered the castle grounds.

We stepped out of the karwahe with Sirilo assisting us. Serapina and Sirilo walked beside me, which made me a little anxious and a little alert since no one was behind me. What if I get ambushed from behind? What if an aswang is secretly following us behind?

As soon as Sirilo felt my unease, he placed his hand on my back, which helped to reduce my anxiety a little. I really hate this. I hate that I have to depend on others to keep me safe. It annoys me that I am powerless to stop these aswang fuckwits. I hate it all.

When we entered the main hall, an alan greeted us and bowed, "Mga mahal na prinsesas and prinsipe." An alan is a deformed half-human and half avian, they have wings which meant they could fly and their fingers and toes are pointed backward. They look horrific, but they're completely harmless.

We followed the alan to the lavish dining area. I became aware of how eerily quiet the entire castle is. With the exception of our heels striking the obsidian marble tiles, there was no sound of any kind. Once we made it to the dining room door, two tikbalangs opened the door for us.

There are three different varieties of tikbalangs, which are hybrids of humans and horses. There's the centaur tikbalangs, the horse-head with a human body tikbalangs, and just a horse who stands with its two legs tikbalangs.

The ones who opened the door were the horse-head ones, their heads were black and their eyes were red. They were wearing nothing but a bahag on. For me, they look terrifying. I might smash a sarangay, but I don't think I would smash a tikbalang.

Inside the dining room was a long table, sitting in the middle was an old good-looking engkanto— or rather a dalaketnon; an evil version of an engkanto. Once he sees us, he smirked and stood up from his seat and so did the other eleven aswangs that were also on the table.

"Welcome," He greeted, his voice cold and deep. I shiver, "Prinsesa Serapina, Prinsipe Sirilo and.." He turned to me with a bone-chilling smile, "The crown princess of Bringan, Prinsesa Nita" He gave me a bow, putting his hand on his chest. The others did the same

He was dressed in a black barong tagalog with golden decorations, and he had gold jewelry on as well. His complexion looked deathly pale as if he were a ghost or had recently passed away. His eyes were odd; the sclera and pupil were both black, but the iris was golden.

The dalaketnon motioned to the vacant seats, "Please, take a seat." On the very rear of the table, three unoccupied chairs were located, one of which faced the dalaketnon. I was so afraid beyond comprehension when Serapina whispered to me to sit across from the dalaketnon

The delaketnon said, "I would like to introduce myself to the crown princess," as he sat down and drank his wine—or rather, animal's blood. He introduced himself, "I am Kidliyel Limakago, the representative of the aswangs and the ruler and king of Akiban."

I slightly furrowed my eyebrows as the eleven aswangs gave me a small head bow. I mentally counted them again and I was sure that they were only eleven, not twelve.

"Uh.." I spoke up to get Kidliyel's attention, "They are only eleven..?" I corrected him. Kidliyel looked at me confused as he counted his sons and daughters before letting out a chuckle.

"I apologize, mahal na prinsesa. It appears that one of my sons was able to escape", he claims. The dinner arrived shortly and was not at all appetizing. The aswangs only consume raw, bleeding meat from animals, and it's apparent that blood is what they drink. It stank and had a horrible odor.

Kidliyel was kind enough to have our food cooked. But since they were aswangs and they only eat raw meat, the cooked food didn't taste that great. It didn't have any seasonings on it (which made sense since aswangs get hurt when they touch salt) which made it bland to the taste. The only thing I enjoyed was the rice, it was well-made. At first, I was hesitant to eat it since It was all red and shit, but Serapina reassured me that it wasn't blood but food coloring to make it look like blood. Either way, the rice was delicious.

"Prinsesa Serapina, you're turning eighteen in a few months" Kidliyel spoke, getting our attention. Serapina was 8 months younger than I was; I turned 18 on March 20th, which was two months ago. Serapina gave him a simple smile but I could tell she was feeling uneasy.

Sirilo interrupted, presumably sensing Serapina's unease, "Yes, but our agreement said that the betrothal takes place two months after her birth date." I'm perplexed as I glance at Sirilo. Betrothal? Serapina? Is Serapina getting married? To who?

"Are you okay, Serapina?." the dalaketnon next to Serapina inquired while holding her hand. He received nothing more from my stepsister than a tense smile before she yanked his hand away and resumed eating.

Serapina just gave me a blank stare, as if she sensed my bewilderment and interest. I nodded at her as if she were telling me that she will explain to me later and continued to concentrate on my meal. After dinner, Kidliyel offered for the three of us to sleep in separate rooms, but we declined and told him that we would be much more comfortable in the same room.

The reason why the three of us choose to be in one room is that it's crucial to never fall asleep in the lands of aswangs, because you will never know when you'll ever wake up (they're gonna eat you while you sleep). So the plan is for Me and Serapina to sleep comfortably while Sirilo stays awake as our lookout. He says he'll sleep in the karwahe once we got out of the castle tomorrow morning.

After having a half-bath and completing our evening skincare routine, Serapina and I were returning to our room. That's when I asked her about her marriage. She was quiet and hesitant to say anything at first. I assured her that she was under no obligation to share any information with me. Making her uncomfortable was the last thing I wanted to do. With a pursed smile, she shook her head.

"No, it's okay" She assured, before going back and being silent for a while, "It's a marriage of convenience. It served to strengthen the friendship between the two courts and prove to every creature that there is still a chance that the aswangs can still be a part of our society despite.. You know, "she explained. I nodded as I tried to understand the situation she was in.

"Are you.. Okay with it?" I asked her. She blinks before letting out a breath.

"I mean— It's for the sake of Biringan" She shrugs, "So I'm okay with it" Liar. I could feel the sadness in her voice and the hesitation in her eyes. She doesn't want this marriage, that's the truth. But she does it for the sake of Biringan.

Since she is only seventeen, she is not deserving of this. It is unfair that she is only granted one month of independence following the celebration of her eighteenth birthday. If anything, I should be the one in an arranged marriage, I am the crown princess after all. Isn't betrothing an aswang prince directly to the crown princess a much more hefty bargain?

Serapina deserves the chance to live her life; she is capable of far more than getting wed off to an aswang she doesn't even like.

"His name is Guido," Serapina says, "He's the sixth son of Kidliyel and the second youngest." I nodded at her. I'm assuming he's the one who was concerned for Serapina earlier, "Unlike his brothers and sisters who are halves, Guido is a full dalaketnon. Don't worry about him, he's really kind and has always made sure that I'm comfortable in any kind of situation" I don't know about that.

Many people show off their good side in the courting process, but once they're dating or married that's when they show off their true colors.

She said that Sirilo utterly disapproves of it when I asked her what he thought of it. Likewise, even though I've only known Serapina for a week, I vehemently oppose this union. I'll ask Sirilo later if a crown princess has the power to call off weddings and not draw off war because of it.

We went to our room and at last had a restful night. Serapina's bed was on the left side of the room, Sirilo's was on the right, and mine was in the middle. Our room was rather spacious and had three king-sized beds. But I asked Serapina if she could sleep on my bed since we were in a place full of aswangs. She acknowledged my concern about sleeping alone and said she could understand it because I was half human and hence a likely target for aswangs.

Sirilo made the decision to sit close to me on my side of the bed while he is on watch to help me feel safer and calmer. After struggling to sleep for a while, I felt an arm come over me. It was Serapina, and she was clutching me from behind while she was softly dozing. I don't care. Actually, I feel safe.

"Are you and Demantro friends?" I looked at Sirilo, who was reading a book to pass the time. He turned to me before turning back to his book.

"Are you interested in him?" He asked back.

I shrugged, "Not exactly interested. It's just.. He's a bit peculiar"

He chuckled, "A 'bit peculiar' is an understatement." He says before closing his book, "Demantro is a strange man, no one can ever know what goes on in his mind. In short, he's trouble. A big trouble and a huge headache. So it's best to get interested in him" He warned as he turned to me, "As for your question. Let's just say I have the misfortune to attend and stay in court meetings with him"

Only the noble and royal families are permitted to attend The Hight Court meetings. Noble and royal children who are firstborn and over the age of sixteen are required to attend these sessions in order to listen and learn; they are only permitted to participate if they are over the age of eighteen.

Demantro is the first born of the Baromento House so It makes sense that he attends court meetings. I was supposed to attend court meetings too since I'm the first-born legitimate child of the Pandapan Royal Family, but Mama was too busy sheltering me in the overworld (I'm still salty that she kept me away from here without a proper reason to explain to me) so Sirilo attended them in my stead since he was older than Serapina.

"Serapina said that Demantro had a brother here, does that make him half aswang?" I asked him. I forgot to ask Serapina since I was too busy ogling the cities of Illaryo and Ijikan.

"Demantro has a twin here; they're superfecundation twins," He says. Superfecundation twins, where twins have different fathers. "Their mother is an anggitay, which makes Demantro a half tikbalang and half engkanto while his twin brother a half tikbalang and half dalaketnon." He explained.

An anggitay is a women's version of tkbalang, except most of them have a singular horn on their forehead.

"Their mother had been on the run ever since she gave birth to them, no one had heard from her since," Sirilo said. I frowned.

"Is that why Demantro sneaks to Akiban? To look for his mother?"

Sirilo just shrugged before opening his book once again, "I hope that's the case.."