Chapter 2 - Today I rest but tomorrow I will fight

"The difference between possible and impossible is one’s willingness to jump into the unknown."

ANGELIQUE eventually found their van parked just a little bit farther from the entrance. The van door opened.

“Hey pretty lady, do you know what time it is??” Jeffrey asked her.

“It is 9:30 already! What took you so long?” Nina fetched her bags for her.

“Why would you even ask, Nina? It is as if you do not know our friend that well.” Revin said feigning irritation.

“Hmm.. I am just giving her the benefit of the doubt.”

“Ugh.. I am sorry, okay? But I was here earlier already! I should have been in the van with you guys earlier if not for a rude guy I just met.” she said.

“What happened?”

Angelique told them about what happened to her with the rude stranger she met as they hit the road.

“Really? He did not answer any of your questions at all?” Nina asked.

“Yeah.”

“Maybe he did not understand you?”

“That is impossible. I just heard him talk to his driver in English as well!”

“Then he is just plain rude.” Revin told her, “If I was there with you I would have given him a piece of my mind.”

“I am kinda regretting why I was not able to say anything when I heard him speak, you know? If only I was not that shocked, I could have cursed him right in his face.”

“Chill, girl.” Jeffrey laughed.

“He made a total fool out of me! I was there being all patient. I spoke to him loudly. I even attempted to do sign language even when I do not know a single shit about it!” The more Angelique thought about what happened the angrier she got.

“You said he was a foreigner, right?” Nina asked.

“Yeah.”

“Is he good looking?”

“Well..” Angelique tried to recall his face. He was handsome, alright. But she did not want to admit it, not when he is downright rude! “He was just so-so.”

“Oh my god, Ali. I just can’t believe you. You came so late. You even sat on a stranger’s lap. How outrageous can you get?” Revin asked.

“I thought he was you guys! If I had known it was somebody else, do you think I would do that?”

“If it was a handsome man, yeah. I do not know about you guys, but I would.” Nina interrupted.

“I was so surprised seeing it was a stranger I even hit my head!” She reached for the aching bump on her head. She really did hit it hard.

“That is because you are just plain stupid.”

-+-

“HEY! I thought we are going to have a relaxing time swimming? How come we are trekking right now??” Angelique complained.

“Can you be patient? This is just a short walk. The land is not even steep!” Jeffrey countered.

“Just a few steps from here and we can finally swim!” Revin cannot hide his excitement.

“Just a FEW steps? This is my 100^th step.” She really hate exercise above anything else.

“That is because you walk weird. Can you make your strides bigger? You are just so slow.”

They are surrounded by greenery. The air is fresh and clean. Angelique just loves her birthplace. Laguna is a location of diversity. On one hand, it is becoming more and more urbanized with it’s economy booming with all the money brought in by industries being built. On the other hand, it is still a province with agriculture, fishery and natural landscapes. It is also close to other rural provinces such as Quezon.

That is why they did not have to go that far if they want to have a swim in natural and clean water. Revin recommended they should all go to Sta. Lucia falls. He went with his family there last year and loved the serenity he felt surrounded by nature.

The place is really serene. There are no houses near, just trees, bushes, and wild grass. They spotted a hut a few miles earlier but there are no signs of one now. Though it is a known tourist location, the place is untouched by technology. The path is just well-trodden and not cemented. After a while, they spotted the falls but they had to descend before they could get there. The stairs is not cemented as well. Probably the locals just made steps by carving out rocks. The steps are uneven and narrow.

Angelique grasped the make-shift railing made out of thin bamboo put together by rope.

“Hey! Wait for me!” She told her friends. She was much slower going down the stairs as she is too scared of heights. As the stairs are narrow, it just enough for two people. With the counter-flow, she had to be careful of her steps. She is just one wrong step away from death.

“Jeff and Revin are already there, Ali! Faster!” Nina called out to her.

“I am scared! One wrong step and I fall to my death!”

“What are you talking about? It is safe! People just go to and fro here you know.”

“Alright! Alright!” She is getting nervous and embarrassed. She can sense the impatience of other tourists behind her as she is really taking her sweet time with the steps. Overwhelmed by embarrassment, Angelique decided to go down fast.

“Ohhh, I am doing it!” She was doing great at first. But somehow, heights and Angelique just does not mix well. She lost footing. “WOOOAAHH!”

Everything happened in slow motion. Angelique was falling forward. She briefly imagine herself landing with broken ribs and leg.

Fortunately, a strong arm caught her. She held onto the arm fast and tight.

“Thank you.” She jerked her head high to meet her savior and was surprised to discover it was the handsome stranger in the van earlier.

His facial expression did not show any emotion in it. He was just studying her face, as usual. After a second, he released her.

“I am sorry. I could have dragged you with me when you saved me. Thankfully nothing bad happened.” Angelique stared back at him and felt awkward. He was wearing a suit in a swimming location! His bony secretary is with him in a suit too! Everybody else are in their swimming trunks or bathing suits.

“Stupid woman, you almost cost me more paper works.” He finally said.

“Uhh, excuse me? Did you just called me stupid?” She cannot help herself but laugh at this ridiculous situation.

Suddenly, the man and his secretary were dumbfounded. They were just staring at her with disbelief in their eyes.

His secretary caught her attention, “What do you mean, Miss?”

“Do not play dumb. I just heard him call me stupid. How rude! I was just trying say thank you.” With that, she walked out on them. She just does not want to give more time to them.

Surprisingly, the handsome stranger took hold of her hand.

“What? Can you let me go and just talk?”

But he did not listen to her. He held her face and turned it side to side as if he was a doctor examining a patient.

“Let go of me!” She tried to swat his hands away but he was stronger. He just continue to study her from head to toe.

She pushed him with all of her might and succeeded. “Get out of my face you pervert!”

He glanced at her once more and then turned to look away, seemingly dissatisfied and disinterested. He then continued to ascend the stairs.

His assistant walked closer to her and whisper with apologetic eyes, “ I am sorry about this. My master-- I mean, my boss did not mean to offend you.” Not even waiting for her acceptance of the apology, he hurried behind his boss.

“MASTER? He has his secretary call him that? He must be so full of himself. Probably other girls swoon around him all the time, too. What do these dumb girls see in him anyway? What a weirdo.”

“Hey, Ali, do you know that guy?” Nina asked her.

“That was the rude guy I was talking about. He did not even answer me back there in the van. Now he dared speak. And he even said I was stupid! Jerk!”

“Wow, Ali, I did not know you can speak Greek.”

“Greek?” Angelique was confused.

“Greek, or whatever that language he was speaking is. It sounded Greek to me.” Nina said nonchalantly.

“Huh?” She tried to recall what happened. She could swear he spoke in English. And besides, she does not know other language. “You probably just did not recognize he was speaking in English because you were far away from us.”

“Did I really?” Nina asked herself.

-+-

UPON reaching the top of the stairs, Fran Treloar adjusted his suit and tie.

“Did master find anything strange with the woman?” his assistant asked him.

“I thought it was her.” He looked back at the bony man, “She definitely understood me just now, right?”

“It also surprised my lord, but yes she really understood you.”

“That is impossible. Proto-Greek has long been forgotten by humans. Am I right, Charon?”

“Yes, my lord. The Greek language spoken today has evolved so much so that it does not resemble our noble language.” Charon guided him to the parking lot and opened the door of the van for him.

“That is why I thought it was her.” Fran furrowed his eyebrows. He searched her thoroughly but he did not sense the mark. “It is probably just one of the wonders of Divine Will.”

“What do you plan to do next, master?”

“That wood nymph, Afina, she told you she found the essence here, right?”

“Not exactly. She sensed the mistress’ essence briefly on the night of the lunar eclipse. She and the other nymphs tried to find its location but ultimately failed as the eclipse ended shortly.”

Fran cannot hide his disappointment.

“Please forgive this humble servant. If only I was more attentive, we would have found her essence. You must terribly long for her, seeing as you personally went here to search for her yourself.”

Fran cleared his throat. “My objective was to find it and give it protection as it finds its host. She is my responsibility.”

“Yes. . of course.”

“I do not think anyone else could do the job efficiently.”

“Yes. .”

Silence.

“Charon?”

“Yes, master?”

“I do not harbor those kind of feelings.”

“As you say, my lord.”

Silence.

“Let us go back to the office and get back to work.” Fran would just have to return here some other time to continue the search.

-+-

“Watch out!” Revin said before he jumped into the waters. They all looked away to shield themselves from the sudden “shower” of water.

They are having the best time of their lives. The water was cold and refreshing, just the perfect thing for the hot temperature of summer in the Philippines. The environment was also preserved clean by the locales. The trees and plants are thick and well-taken care of. There are different insects and small amphibians around.

After sometime playing in the water, the group started having conversations about their future plans.

“My mom said I could just experiment with my life for a while. Try to find a job even though it is not related to my degree. Do things my way.” Nina shared, “I am the youngest of five siblings so my brothers and sisters do not oblige me to pay for anything in the house.”

“Wow, I envy you.” Jeff chimed, “Honestly, I have already started giving out resumés last January. I have also done some interviews and teaching demonstrations. I received some callbacks but they are still waiting for me to pass the board exams and get my license.”

“Woah, isn’t that a bit too fast?” Angelique asked.

“No, not at all. Schools start hiring teachers around December to January. And I have no choice, anyway. I am the eldest. I barely made it to graduation with my family’s meager income and my scholarship. I have to help my parents put my younger siblings to school.”

“Same here.” Revin said, “Though I am not the eldest, my older sister put me through college. Now it is my turn to help our youngest and provide whatever he may need until he graduates.”

This is the usual situation of middle to low-income families in the Philippines. They have a very close-knit family type of culture. Commonly, adult children do not live independently until they marry. Some even stay with their parents even after they have kids of their own. Moreover, hospice care for the elder is very unusual, if not taboo. The children take it upon themselves to care for their parents until they pass away as a gesture of appreciation for how the former were taken care of from birth.

“How about you, Angelique? What do you plan to do now?” they asked her.

“Well, of course, I would try to find a teaching job. Then maybe after I have adjusted to the workload I would enroll for my Master’s Degree.”

“What program would you take?” Jeff inquired further.

“I am considering taking Second Language Teaching or Literature.”

“You have got it all figured out, huh.” Revin commented.

“Yeah. Ever since Professor Ramos asked us about our plans after graduation, I started thinking about it. I have also asked my mom about what she thinks of my plan since I would not be able to help with the finances that much while studying.. She is alright with it. Ginger only has a year to go before finishing her degree while the two boys are still in high school and elementary, respectively.”

They had some good time talking about their future until they realized that the sun is about to set.

“That is our cue to leave.” Angelique said.

“We better get going. I promised my mom I will be home before 8:00 pm.” Nina said while she picks up her pace going up the stairs.

“Wait guys!” Revin stopped them from their tracks. “Before we go, would you like to have an adventure?”