Chapter 4: History Of The Three Great Realms

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"Listen!"

The voice came from the foot of the sacred mountain, Mount Balatukan, from the other side of the tall freestanding rock. Despite being confused about how the goddess' voice triumphed over the ten thousand voices of everybody else, they still did as told. They quieted down to listen, each pair of eyes directed to the person sitting on the branch. Everyone fought their unease and fright and did their best not to look at the skeletons and waited for Anda's next words.

They fervently hoped it would be words of enlightenment and hope.

"In front of you is the monolith called Liyang! Prove you are worthy of entering the sacred mountain by overcoming this giant and tall wall! Those who can pass will be allowed sheltering by the sanctuary and saved from the treachery of the dead plains. Those who fail, stop denying you don't know what you'll end up with!"

Everyone remained silent, and in utter disbelief.

They would have to cross this rock to pass… Hoho, sounds easy. But was it really easy?

They simultaneously looked up, trying to peek at the top of this rock. At a hundred-meter distance, some could see the topmost part. And, they felt like they had heard the joke of the century when they fully understood what the challenge was.

...

A baritone voice echoed within a dark room of a seemingly ethereal place. It was followed by a deep sigh.

"Anda is playing around again…"

The man who said this had a muscular body covered by a loose black robe that actually resembled a priest's garment, except for the black color and many complicated and circular patterns on it.

The patterns on his attire were quite mysterious. They seemed alive, rotating, moving randomly, and gleaming with a faint holy glow. Because of these, if the gentleman was sized up from head to toe, he would appear bathed in soft glimmer and full of mystic aura. 

The man's long hair was black and wavy. His complexion was not really fair but instead perfect for the description 'bronze-like skin'. It was a skin color quite rejected by the majority of the mortal world's Easterners, but longed for by those from the West.

He stood with his back straight next to a very large open window. Without curtains to cover the scene, the man could freely stare at the serene scene beyond the window. The room was located on the topmost part of the tall mountain. There was only one mountain in this world, which means he was actually situated at the topmost part of the sacred mountain.

It was a puzzle of why and how he could be there. Who was he? Why was he acting like he was the owner of the world as he stared down from the peak of the sacred mountain? These questions would surely cross the mind of a regular mortal if they saw him like this. After all, when he mentioned the name of the goddess, he sounded like 'She' was in a lower standing than him.

"Look at what's she's doing. She's like a good-for-nothing kid. Obviously so bored that she even fooled those pitiful souls." A woman's voice rang from behind.

When the man looked back, what registered in his eyes was a fair-skinned woman sitting comfortably at the only chair in the room, her legs crossed. She had her head lowered as she stared at the nail art, on one hand, the other hand holding a bamboo scroll.

"I let her be because that's her sole source of entertainment." Defended the muscular man in priest clothing.

"Please, don't misunderstand, alright. It's not like I care about that Anda's weird quirks. By the way, I like this story here. Although we seemed forgotten by the mortal world, there is still some documentation about us. I'm happy!"

"It only mentioned our names. Some stories in that scroll have been invented thousands of years ago and there are some inconsistencies."

The woman chuckled. "It doesn't matter. Let me read it for you, it said here, once upon a time, there were only five deities in the whole world. One of them, named Bathala, is the most powerful. Due to loneliness and desire to show his powers to the universe, he created the three worlds, namely the Skyworld 'Kaluwalhatian', Mortal world 'Kalupaan' which in mortal's language is 'Earth', and the Underworld called Kasakitan. Well, in the modern context, it's simply the Skyworld, Earth, and Underworld. After this, he scattered all laws in the universe, and those who found them turned into deities. These gods moved into Kaluwalhatian thus making this Skyworld the abode of deities."

"Then." She paused and laughed before continuing, "Because the middle world Earth was devoid of intelligent creatures, the Creator Bathala thought, it would not be nice to leave the plants, trees, animals and other creatures and wonders there without stewards. And so, he labored for three days and three nights to create humans which are made into his likings. The humans looked like the first generation deities, except they don't have powers to command nature and have rather finite lifespans. However, since they are filled with intelligence, they are good enough to be the stewards of Earth, tasked to take care of the plants, animals, and all the natural resources."

The man remained quiet. The woman laughed again as she played with the bamboo weavings of the scroll. "This story is quite long so listen carefully, okay?"

He sighed, looking out into the foggy distance again.

"I'm done reading that tale. It's not even a millionth of this universe's truth." The man expressed his disdain through his tone. He stayed quiet and unmoving after that.

"Haha, the next part is obviously one of the parts that you have to pay attention to," she said, ignoring his remark. "It's about the third great realm called Kasakitan, and it's named the same with the one you're currently guarding, Your Highness, Sitan. And whoooaaah! It even said the guardian's name is Sitan, the same as your name!"

When she didn't gain any response, she lost interest in her act and in watching the other party's expression. "You are really so boring, Your Highness Sitan, Deity of the Underworld."

"You've been alive since time immemorial. Why are you acting this way, Miss Hanan?" He was only short of asking if she had no childhood so she was being quite childish. He was simply finding her behavior unacceptable.

The woman cracked a bewitching smile at him. "You should address me as Your Highness, Princess Hanan."

He once again didn't reply, so the woman sneered but went back to reading again. "This scroll is quite good. It has the names of many deities like you and me. It's a pity, there is so much information omitted. It did not even record the last world. If those damnable devils of the Kasanaan, the World of the Devils, learned of this, probably they will hunt the scribe and offer his soul to their king."

A crow suddenly entered the room and landed on Sitan's broad shoulder. It made noise for a while as if talking to its master. The woman was no longer speaking and only the bird's noise could be heard for that short while. When the crow went quiet, the man stared down the window and studied the scene below. However, there were only trees and branches on his sight when he did that.

Sitan spoke while still busy studying the place below. He seemed to be thinking when he suggested, "Miss Hanan, why don't you continue reading the tale?"

"Sure. I'm now on the part where the author describes the three daughters of Bathala, namely me, my sister Mayari and Tala."

"I mean to say, can't you do it silently?"