Chapter 1: Ambushed

"RUN, CELESTIA! RUN!"

With one last tearful glance at her beloved mother, Celestia runs as fast as her trembling feet can. Walang tigil ang pagtulo ng luha sa mga mata nito habang tumatakbo. Her eyes were bleary but she didn’t falter on her steps.

Alam nito na may mga humahabol sa kanya. Their footsteps were fast approaching, and there were a lot of them. But Celestia is nothing but a fighter, and a runaway girl. Buong buhay nito, kahit wala siyang kaalam-alam sa kung ano ba talaga ang nangyayari sa kanila ng pamilya niya, hindi siya nag pumilit na malaman bakit sila palipat-lipat ng tinitirhang lugar. In her seventeen years of existence, wala silang naging permanenteng residente. And she had no clue why until earlier.

She shrieked in pain when something hit her right arm. She stumbled a bit from the impact pero hindi niya ininda ang sakit at muli itong tumakbo. She can’t afford to let herself be taken by these witches who ambushed their home. These witches who were responsible for whatever situation her parents are in right now. Her parents, who might have been dead as of the moment. Her parents, who even despite being beyond exhausted and injured from the ambush, managed to let her escape from all the witches surrounding them at their house.

Her eyes turned blurry from the tears that had formed on her eyes. Agad niyang pinahid paalis ito with her uninjured arm.

"Sumuko ka na bata habang may pulso pa ang mga magulang mo!"

Muntik ng huminto sa pagtakbo si Celestia nang marinig ang sinabi ng isa sa mga humahabol sa kanya. But her survival instinct that her parents instilled in her system won against it.

"Madame Yen will spare your parents if you surrender yourself, you selfish witch!"

'No. No. Huwag mo silang pakinggan, Celestia. Remember what your parents said, hindi sila.' Iyon ang paulit-ulit na sinabi nito sa isip habang patuloy na tumatakbo. She reminds herself why she’s fighting for her life instead of surrendering. 'This is what my parents are hiding for, are fighting for. So I have to escape and survive.'

And then suddenly, at the reminder of her importance to survive, she remembered something that her mother told her before the barriers surrounding their home had been broken down by the dark witches.

—

Earlier at the Alverias' Secret Residence…

"Mom, I think someone's coming..." nag-aalangang sabi ni Celestia sa ina.

Her mother snapped her head towards the open window. Nang makitang may mga papalapit na pigura, she quickly abandoned what she's sewing. Dali-dali itong tumayo at lumapit sa bintana.

"Clemente!" malakas na sigaw ng ina ni Celestia, her clear blue eyes never straying away from the figures approaching their home.

Nagmamadaling bumaba ang ama ni Celestia nang marinig ang tawag ng asawa. He frowned seeing his wife staring intently somewhere outside the window.

"Amara?" nagtatakang tawag nito sa asawa. "What's wrong?"

"Someone's approaching the barrier," sagot ni Amara.

Mabilis na lumapit ang lalake sa tabi ni Amara. His eyes widened a bit when he caught sight of who the figures were.

"Vance? Clein?" Clemente muttered under his breath. "They're with their wives."

"Sila Tito Vance po 'yung paparating?" masayang sambit ni Celestia. Her smile slowly fades when her parents didn't answer. Instead, they went outside the house and ran towards the barriers surrounding their home.

Celestia remained inside the house as she watched her parents lower down the barrier to let their relatives inside, before bringing it up again. Sinalubong ni Celestia ang mga ito nang malaking ngiti, only for it to disappear once again when she noticed their frantic movements and grave expressions.

"Tito—"

"It's nice to meet you, Celestia, but pleasantries aren't our priority right now," her Tito Vance says, her mother's older brother.

Bahagyang nagulat si Celestia rito. She wasn't used to having her relatives talk to her in such a way. They're usually soft and sweet to her. Right now, they just seem impatient and in a hurry.

"What do you mean, Tito?" naguguluhang tanong ni Celestia.

"Living room, Celestia. Let's talk there," Amara says, gesturing to her daughter to lead the way.

"There's no need to be comfortable before we talk, Amara. We need to hurry up," Clein, Clemente's younger brother, says. "They might have been tipped off already of your current location."

"What's going on, Tito?" kinakabahang tanong ni Celestia.

"Listen, Celestia," Vance's wife, Althea, catches her attention. Her usual vibrant mood turns serious now as she stares at Celestia. "Maraming bagay kaming itinago sa'yo. I know you're curious why you keep on changing locations, and why you're always hiding. I also know you suspect something about yourself, which you never dared to ask your parents."

Nanlaki ang mga mata ni Celestia rito. "Paano niyo po nalaman 'yon?"

"Hindi na mahalaga 'yon ngayon. Ang dapat mong malaman, the most important part of you that we don't tell you, is that you have three different kinds of blood, Celestia."

"T-three?" Celestia asks, brows furrowed. "But... I thought I only have two? Right? Mom's a vampire, Dad's a werewolf."

"No, Celestia," her mom responds, voice shaky as she adds. "I'm a hybrid of two beings as well, which means you're a hybrid of three."

"Your mom's a half-witch, half-vampire. Her mother is a witch, and our father is a vampire. You know we're just half-siblings, right? Which is why I'm a pureblooded vampire and your mother's not, because both my parents are vampires," Vance explained.

"What..." hindi makapaniwalang bulong ni Celestia. As she processed the information, she slowly feels some sort of indignation to the elders for hiding a part of her all her life and suddenly revealing it out of nowhere. "Bakit niyo po tinago sakin 'yon? Hindi po dapat bata pa lang ako, sinabi niyo na 'yon? It's my right to know it!"

The women let out a surprise yelp when the windows rattle as Celestia yelled the last part. Pero dahil namumuo ang galit sa isip ng dalaga, hindi niya na iyon napansin.

"Celestia, calm down first. Let your parents explain why they hid it from you," Clein's wife, Milan, soothingly says.

Celestia takes several deep breaths. Mariin nitong pinikit ang mga mata habang pinapakalma ang sarili.

"Okay," sabi nito, tapos ay tumingin ng diretso sa mga mata ng magulang nito.

"Whatever we talk about here, remember not to let anyone else know about it. No one, Celestia. No one else should know," Clemente states with all the seriousness Celestia had never seen from her father.

She swallowed heavily before nodding her head.

"The day you were born, a comet appeared at the same time you cried. Then..." Amara hesitated for moment, casting a glance at her husband before continuing. "You know Javier, right?"

"Javier Monterro? The famous old Seer?"

Tumango si Amara. "Yes. Him." She takes a deep breath. "We are not particularly close to him. He's a light wizard, and he's protected dearly by them. But he reached out to us few days after you were born. According to him, he had his thirteenth prophecy that same night you were born, and the prophecy entails that an offspring of two different beings born at the end of the year when the comet appears will put an end to the dark witches' entire race. Alam mo naman kung anong practice ng magic ang ginagawa ng mga dark witches diba? It's beyond evil, at alam nila na hindi sang-ayon ang iba sa ginagawa nila. Marami silang kaaway, at maraming gustong lagyan ng hanggan 'yung practice na ginagawa nila before it becomes too vile and spread throughout the world."

"But dark witches are powerful, which is why they still continue their practices because no one succeeded in stopping them," Clemente adds grimly. "And then the prophecy appeared, as well as you, Celestia."

"They see me as a threat to their practice and race, which is why they're haunting me down," Celestia stated.

"Yes," her mother answers, eyeing her daughter worriedly.

"Paano po nila naisip na ako 'yung tinutukoy ng prophecy? Surely, marami naman pong ibang bata ang isinilang nung araw na 'yon?" tanong ni Celestia.

"Because only you were the offspring of two different beings, Celestia. The prophecy specified it. At kami lang ng ama mo ang tinutukoy nun."

"How sure are you?" Celestia asked. "There's a lot of people who might—"

"Because it's not common in our world to have a union with someone from a different race. Others deem it unethical since in their words, it might 'ruin' and 'taint' the blood of their offspring and future generations."

Natigilan si Celestia sa sinabi ng kanyang Tito Vance. Nang tingnan ni Celestia ito, his uncle was looking at her parents who eyed him back with a firm look.

"Ibig sabihin niyo po... my existence is illegal?"

"NO!" Celestia flinched at the simultaneous furious exclamations of the elders at her question.

"Huwag na huwag mong iisipin 'yan, Celestia. Your existence isn't illegal, it's just uncommon," Milan told her in a gentle yet firm tone.

"You are a blessing, Celestia, as every child is," her mother softly says. "Both of us were born from two different beings, but you have three different bloods in you because I married a werewolf, a different race to what my own parents are. But that doesn't make us weird or unethical, it's what made us spectacular, Celestia."

Celestia smiled at her mom's comforting words, only to have it ruined by someone clearing their throat.

"Our time's limited, Amara. No time for this. You should tell her about what she acquired the day she was born," Vance says.

Kumunot ang noo ni Celestia, at nagtatanong ang mga tingin nang lumingon sa mga magulang.

"Listen, Celestia. Ito ang aalalahanin mo," Clemente stares right into her eyes as he continues. "Ayos lang malaman ng ibang tao na mayroon kang tatlong magkakaibang dugo, ayos lang na malaman nila na magkaibang race ang mga magulang mo, na ganon din ang mom mo. Pero ang hindi nila pwedeng malaman, ay ang regalong binigay sayo nung araw na pinanganak ka."

"The Celestial Beings... akala namin ay alamat lang ito o 'di kaya'y gawa-gawa lang ng mga tao. But no, they are true, and they were the ones who blessed you with the Celestial Blessing."

Nanlaki ang mga mata ni Celestia dito.

"Celestial Blessing?" mahinang tanong ni Celestia.

Tumango ang ama nito. "They blessed you with a rather priceless ability, Celestia. It's something that can't be trained by your parents and teachers for no one else has ever received it. And it's something you definitely had to keep as a secret, because the world is full of greedy creatures who would want it."

Ramdam ni Celestia ang mabilis na tibok ng puso niya habang ina-absorb niya ang bawat salitang lumalabas sa bibig ng ama. She feels an inexplicable thrill in her body, a tingling sensation that's clawing in her heart as she processes it. But her mind's slowly getting overwhelmed by the amount of information she learned in just a small amount of time.

"What ability is it?" She asked, anticipating the next words her father would say.

But everything comes crumbling down when the house suddenly starts to shake, as if there's a massive earthquake happening in their location.

"The barrier! May sumira nung unang layer!" Amara frantically yelled.

"Fuck, they found us," Clemente muttered darkly.

"Get your daughter out of here, Amara! We'll hold them off as much as possible!"

Celestia's eyes widened for a bit before shaking her head vigorously. "No! I'll help! Hindi ako tatakas mag-isa!"

"Ikaw ang pakay nila, Celestia! You have to leave! Hindi ka nila pwedeng makuha dahil hindi natin alam kung anong pwede nilang gawin sayo at sa mga kapangyarihan mo!" Althea exclaims.

"Pero paano po kayo? Hindi ako pwed—"

Lahat sila'y natumba nang biglang may sumabog mula sa labas. Celestia winced when something hit her arms. May dumaplis na bubog mula sa bintana rito.

"They already breached three layers! You have to leave now, Celestia!" Milan exclaimed.

"Amara, bring her to the escape route. Kami na ang bahala rito. Just make sure to bring her away from here."

Walang pag-aalinlangang tumango si Amara sa sinabi ng asawa. Agad itong lumapit kay Celestia na ayaw pa ring umalis pero wala ng magawa nang makitang desidido na ang mga magulang sa plano nila.

A tear escaped from her eyes as she tackled her father into a tight hug.

"Be safe, dad. Please," she whispered shakily.

His father's arms tightened around her for a few moments before he hesitatingly pulled away. "I will. We will see each other again, Celestia, so make sure to never let them capture you. Don't ever listen to what they say, even at the expense of our life. Do you understand?"

No. I don't. I can't do that. I don't want to do that.

"Yes," Celestia lied through her teeth. "Yes, I understand. I won't let them catch me."

"Good," Clemente smiled, then he pressed a kiss on her forehead. "Now, go."

Dahan-dahang humakbong palayo si Celestia sa mga ito, papalapit sa kanyang ina. She looked at her parents' siblings and their wives.

"Mag-ingat din po kayo, Tita, Tito. Magkikita po ulit tayo. Hindi niyo pa po ako natatalo sa chess," Celestia says, trying to lighten up the mood despite knowing how impossible it is in their current situation.

"You too, Celestia," Milan says, looking at her tearfully.

Bago pa man magbago ang isip nito, tumalikod na si Celestia at lumapit sa ina. When another explosion occurred, hinila na siya ng kanyang ina papunta sa likod ng bahay.

"Hindi kita masasamahan tumakas, Celestia. We need as many people as we have to prolong your escape. Walang masyadong alam sila Clemente tungkol sa magic ng dark witches, but I do. Kaya tutulungan—"

"Ayun! Ayun ang bata!"

"Fuck," mariing bulong ni Amara. Humarap ito sa anak tapos ay tinulak si Celestia palayo. "Go! Run as fast as you can and don't ever look back, Celestia! I can handle them!"

Celestia's terrified eyes met her mom's determined look, but she knows her mother. She's just as terrified as she is. Only that she's great at masking it.

"M-mom..."

"RUN, CELESTIA! RUN!"

And run she does.