Chapter 7 - A Game of Deception

Jasmine wakes up after being absorbed by the darkness. As she comes to, she sees dark sky lit by the fool moon and the sky in a dark red hue. She smells the air but no fragrance and the ground is dry and cold.

She dusts herself and starts to inspect the area. She sees herself in a rocky mountain with steps leading further somewhere to the distance. No animals are running around nor insects flying; a desolated area.

Jasmine wonders if this hell or an illusion made by the devil. She is scared for sure but her new found confidence is stronger; all thanks to Juan small pep talk. Even with her legs shaking, she has the strength to stand up and defend herself and the guardians against all odds.

"This time . . . I will do the guarding. I will save my soul and the guardians from this mess!" she tells herself as she starts to walk toward the stoned path.

As she walks she felt her book breathing again but this time it is breathing in a faster pace – as if it is catching its breath after a fast job. She inspects it and sees nothing out of the ordinary. Jasmine knows the book is breathing even she didn't see any physical breathing from the book.

"I know this happened before back at the underworld. I wonder what triggered it in the first place." As she ponders as she continue to walk down the path.

Finally, the path leads her to a circular clearing within the mountain side. And in the middle of it she sees the devil sitting on his chair and table with a contract.

"And finally, the princess wakes up. Heavy sleeper aren't we?" the devil asked as he twirls his hair and tapping his feet with a rhythm.

Jasmine walks up to the table and sits across the devil. "That's what happens when my parents let me sleep late in the night".

The devil grins and smoke can be seen coming out of his ears. His smile grows as his eyes glows brighter. "So you want to play a game. If you win I will leave you alone for good and if you lose I will get your and the other guardian souls. Is this your term?"

Jasmine nods. The contract in front of them began to write itself with ink and fire blazing trails. Jasmine is trying herself not to cry but she knows she can do this, she must.

"And so the conditions are set. So what are we playing?" Jasmine asked as she is still looking at the contract as it writes itself.

"Well, what games are you good at? Cards? Oh wait, kids like you don't play that. . ." the devil then pouts as he is trying to think a game that suits a kid like Jasmine. "I'll be honest here; my games I play with adults are to tease them until they break in their own terms. I can't show those since you won't even get the temptations I will show you like power, wealth and other adult stuff".

"Temptations? I love candies and other sweets!" Jasmine replies

The devil looks at her with disappointment and he slams is head to the table in rage. He picks his head up and yells "No! This is what I meant! You are too innocent to tempt!"

"Well, I am good at riddles. I always get the answers when playing bugtong with my friends at school. And I am also good at playing hide and seek. I always find my friends within 10 minutes!"

The devil then smiles and he giggle in excitement. "Then we shall play a riddle with hide and seek. So I will take that from you"

The devil conjures a big hourglass in front of them and he puts it on the table. "Now! I will hide with in this realm I made, this playground of mine. I will give you a clue where I will hide and where to find me. This hourglass is 10 minutes long and once this hourglass finished its time before you find me . . . then I am afraid I will have to get your soul and your friends'. Is that a deal?"

Jasmine nods in silence and still staring at the contract forging the rules of the game. The devil is patient with the girl and yet this irritates him. He is the devil and she just ignores him.

"You are somewhat different. What changed you girl? A while back you were crying and ready to die. Now you don't seem to care at all. Are you mad now?"

"No. I am just sleepy and I want to get some sleep and get this over with. I know your tricks, there is always a way to defeat the kind of people like you."

The devil was taken back. The way she spoke isn't like what he witness from before, she is unconcerned and sleepy? This insulted him and he began to heat and bubble up with anger.

"You don't get to be angry with me, devil. I am just a kid who is happy to see magic like this" as her gaze is still fixed to the contract. The devil is breathing heavier by the minute as the girl is belittling him as a cheap magician.

��Losing your temper are we?" she then looks at the devil. "Now before we begin. I would like to ask some questions."

The devil calms down and replies "Go ahead girl."

Jasmine held raises left hand and held up her index finger to the devil. "First, where are my guardians? Are they safe?"

The devil snaps his finger and he summoned 8 bottles atop of the table. Jasmine sees the guardian have shrunken are held inside the bottles. All of the guardians are pounding on the glass of the bottle and are trying to yell something to her.

"Safe and sound, I will return them to you in perfect condition if you win."

Jasmine then held up her index and middle fingers her to the devil. "Second, where are we?"

"An exactly replica of the world above. My creation! A world where I play games with fools who made deal with the devil" the devil says as he grins to Jasmine. "We are at the Mountain of Vale beside the town where you and Leshin were this afternoon"

Jasmine returns to her sleep. She ponders for a while to collect her thoughts while the devil grins and taps his foot in excitement. She can hear the taps as if the devil is intimidating her to fail.

Jasmine then nods and stands up from her chair. "Alright. I am ready. Tell me the riddle"

"Feisty! I love people like you!" the devil then claps and disappear right in front of Jasmine, leaving only the table and the hourglass.

The area then starts to come to life as wind began to blow and she hears noises from the town below the mountain and town began to light up with torches. Then she heard a great might voice around her.

"Now girl, let us play! Here is the riddle to find me:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I am sometimes full, but I am never empty

I am old, yet I am new

I am fast, but you see me slow

I always pull your tears towards me and never push you away

Death worships me, yet Life needs me

What am I?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Luck be with you child. I will be waiting!" as the voice left Jasmine, the hourglass flips and the sand starts to fall. Jasmine then took the hourglass and runs toward the end of the mountain and into the forest.

"Deep breathes and calm thinking is what I need. Be calm, Jasmine. Always remember every riddle has answer" she talks to herself to give her a boost of confidence and not to feel lonely.

As she was running, she thinks of the clue that the devil gave her. She thinks deeply what is new and old at the same time. "A tree? Trees always change their leaves depending on the season and they always have their branches FULL of leaves"

Then as she was running downward the mountain, she sees dead trees by the distance. Realizing that the dead trees do not have leaves on them; she moves on and thinks of another solution.

She reaches the end of the mountain and stops for a while to rest from her sprint. "Having a leisure walk are we?" the devil's voice fill the area again.

"No. I was just catching my breath." She says as she smiles to the devil.

"Confident are we? Or you just hopeless and guising as yourself with your stupidity?"

Jasmine ignores the devil and looks at the hourglass. "I'm guessing it was 2 minutes?"

"You ran fast for a child." As the devil continues to distract Jasmine, she focuses her attention to the riddle. She opens the White Chronicle and grabs a small stick beside her and writes down the riddle.

She mutters the words again and again, hoping it to make sense of the words.

"Give up child. Your soul is mine. No one has ever found me in realm."

Jasmine was stump on a part of the riddle: I always pull your tears towards me and never push you away. What kind item pulls something but never push it?

She starts walking again toward the forest, keeping her head cool and ignoring the devil's insult. Then as she start heading toward the town of Vale, she encounter balate tree with a water puddle beside it.

The balete tree glows in familiar purple magic – just like the same color and magic that spewed her out to this world. Out of the magic she heard a screaming voice from the tree.

Then the tree spat out a man and landed into the puddle of water. The man stands up and he held up his glasses and starts to wipe off the water on it.

Jasmine cannot believe what she is seeing, her grandfather is here. She stops on her track and look at her grandfather closer.

"Grandpa! It's you!" she ran toward her grandfather and hugs him tightly as she could. Her arms were so tight that her grandpa yelps in pain. Her grandfather didn't realized who she was but as soon as he put back his eyeglasses he was overjoyed and hug her and lifted her up in the air.

"What are you doing here? How did you find me?" she asks her grandfather as tears of joy pours from her eyes.

"I was wondering why you didn't come out of your room. As I open the door to your room, there was a hole in the ground. I hurried to tell the others but the ground underneath me did give way and here I am!"

As Jasmine hugs her grandfather, she realized something as the words of the devil echoes in her head "My creation! A world where I play games" she remember the devil saying this.

She looks at her grandpa and she smiles. "I am glad that you are here grandpa. But I guess you peaked into my memories and crafted him."

"What? What are you talking about my dear?

Then she pokes her grandpa's eyes and ran further toward the forest. Her grandpa started to shout in pain and curses her name. After more shouting, his voice started to turn into a deep raspy voice; a familiar voice took over - that of the devil. She didn't look back as it pains her to see her grandpa in pain, rather, that infuriate Jasmine further.

"I will escape this hell and see my grandpa again. And you devil will pay for this insult!"

She runs and finally reached Vale. She enters the gate and sees no one from the town to greet her.

"You are hopeless. I tried to save you time and give you what you want: your grandpa. Instead you poke him in the eye and made him blind!" says devil with a condescending tone toward Jasmine.

Jasmine checks the hourglass and sees that almost half of the hour glass is gone. She then rushes toward the Inn and kept her head focus on the task on hand. As she enters the Inn, she looks around and starts to solve the riddle again:

I am sometimes full, but I am never empty. That can be a cup that is being used again and again.

I am old, yet I am new. An older cup! That was being used by the patrons. Yes I am on point!

I am fast, but you see me slow. Well I did saw the Inn have large mugs that they pass around and the fly pass across the tables. And they drink the content of the mugs slowly. Yes this might be it!

I always pull your tears towards me and never push you away. The town folks of vale drink their worry away with a mug of beer. So I guess tears signify their worries and mug with beer is always being drunk – thus never push the patron and instead invites them to drink.

Death worships me, yet Life needs me. Huh now this is tricky.

Jasmine opens consult the White Chronicle again for any clues about how a mug of beer can have relation with life and death. Then she sees an entry about alcoholic drink in this realm and it reads: Alay - those who drink alcohol must prepare a small amount of offering and pour it back to the land. An offering to the land with it's bountiful offering, those who are dead that cannot drink and to the living to celebrate a long ad prosperous life.

She realized this it! She grabs a mug and pours beer on it. She rushes outside and lifts the mug to the sky.

"It's here! I know the solution its mug and the beer in it!"

As she declares her victory, a large smoke materializes out in the air above Vale and three people falling from it. She sees the devil is entangled with vines from Leshin's spear and Juan falling right behind stabbing and slashing the tentacles around Leshin.

They hit the ground pretty hard. Jasmine sees the three struggling and she approaches them to see clearly what is happening.

Juan is surrounded by more tentacles from the devil as he tries to get up. Leshin pins the devil down and uses more of his magic to trap the devil on the ground. Leshin shouts as he concentrates his magic. More mud and vines cover the devil and his tentacles.

Seeing the opportunity, she yells to Juan to ignore the tentacles and stab the devil in the heart. Juan hands dive straight to the devil's heart; killing him instantly. Large black smoke emerges from the devil's body and its body slowly starts to evaporate. Then his body explodes sending the two guardians flying and their weapons almost hitting Jasmine.

Jasmine looks up the sky and sees the red dark sky is returning into a blue sky. "Yes! I did it! We are free!". She jumps up and down and pours the drink all over the ground.

Jasmine then rush forward to the two guardians lying on the ground exhausted from the battle. Leshin gave a thumb up and Juan laughs.

"We did it. We have killed the devil that haunts us." Leshin says as he struggles to fix his headdress in place.

"We did my friend! The bastard is gone!" Juan replies as he lies there in the ground.

"Wait how did you manage to escape his bottled prison?" Jasmine asked.

"Simple. You solved the riddle and our bottles break." Juan says as he stands up.

Jasmine was about to rush toward her friends but was stop on her tracks.

No, that was too easy! There is no way the devil was killed that fast! Jasmine thinks to herself. She checks the hourglass to make sure the hourglass stopped but sees the remaining sand passed the half-way point. She is running out of time and the devil successfully got her attention with this spectacular performance.

She looks back and sees her friends are gone. She looks up the sky and shouts "No fair! You keep distracting me!"

"Haha! What a foolish girl." The devils cackling laughter angers Jasmine further.

"First, that wasn't the answer to my riddle. Second, you should add that to the contract instead of looking at it. You should have at least said that the devil will not disturb you when trying to solve the riddle!"

Jasmine clenched her fist and bit her lip in frustration.

"Oh? Where is that confidence? What happened to that? I thought you are so great with riddles and hide and seek? Just give up!"

Then Jasmine runs toward the river near Vale. She grabs the hourglass and put it beside her.

"Not much time left" she mutters to herself. She sits by the riverbank and was not moving at all. Her mind was in disarray as she was angry at the devil from leading her astray.

"No! Maybe a mug with beer isn't the answer but I am close! Something watery I bet!" She is lost in her thoughts again.

As she was talking to herself, a large serpent emerged from the horizon. It was so large that its body shadowed the mountain of Vale! Has the large serpent continues to rise its shadow starts to darken the mountain ranges from the distance. The serpent got white old scaly texture and it seems to have a long body.

The serpent seems to be endless as it rises to the heavens and with it, it expand its shadow on the land. Its head soon reached beyond the clouds and Jasmine freaks out at the revelation of the serpent she is looking at.

This is the very same anito statue that was showed to her at the underworld, the Bakunawa. Then the serpent extends its wing and it covers the sky with more darkness.

The Bakunawa then spoke "Is this what you fear right? The humongous serpent that can consume everything on its path in a blink of an eye! Give up and you won't ever face this at the surface and I will give you a peaceful afterlife!" Again this is the devil taunting Jasmine to the last minute to distract her.

Jasmine sees this as another distraction. She stood up and gave the devil the finger. "Leave me be devil why don't you eat the moon and . . . "

Then she had an epiphany, the answer! She stands up walk toward the riverbanks. She crawls and leans on water to look at the moon's reflection on the water then she looks at the moon up in the sky. She smiles. She knows she beaten the devil.

"I get it now. It's the moon. You are hiding in the moon. Yeah IN the moon. That's why you kept distracting me at near water that reflects the sky."

The serpent stood still and wasn't responding from her.

"I see you want me to explain here! Let me tell you what I learned:

I am sometimes full, but I am never empty. Full moon and its other phases

I am old, yet I am new. It is old, maybe old like the earth but can renew itself with its phases.

I am fast, but you see me slow. It rotates around the earth fast but we see it slowly.

I always pull your tears towards me and never push you away. The waves are generated by the moon. Gravity is at work here.

Death worships me, yet Life needs me. Dark beings praise the moon and the living relies from the moon to help generate life on this world."

"HA! Well done! Now go up here. Into the moon and get me. This is where I hide!" the devil taunts him as the large serpent starts to encircle the world with its endless length and drawing closer and closer to Jasmine.

Jasmine looks at the serpent puzzled with what he said. "I did said hide and seek. Now grab me up here! Oh wait, you can even fly!" the devil says as he laughs.

Jasmine looks at the hourglass and sees there is a handful of sand inside. Jasmine smiles and seems to be smiling. She returns her gaze to the river water and says "You seem to be confident that I will not reach you in time. I can even take a small breather if I want to and I will reach you in time."

The serpent then rushes its head wriggling closer to Jasmine. "You what?! Are you daft? You clearly can fly or use magic to get up here!" the devil replies.

Jasmine then look at the reflection of the moon on the river water and she says "You lose now hold up the bargain! Free me and my friends!"

No answer and the serpent stood there in the distance. She waves her hand in the water and over the reflection of the moon. As her hand passes over it the devil shows itself underneath it.

She held her hands on the devils face and she starts pulls him out of the water. The devil tries to escape from her grasp but she holds firm.

The devil then screams in agonizing pain as he starts to evaporate. Jasmine smiles and says "There are other ways to reach the moon. I was right. You were in the moon, well in its reflection that is."

The devil continues to struggle from the girl. He was surprised that a girl can hold him down. He thinks maybe this is the power of the contract that binds them but he sees the real reason why. He sees this small thick rectangular leather floating behind Jasmine and it emits faint light. From the light a figure made of light is sitting beside Jasmine holding her arms to give her the strength to pull her.

The devil summons his tentacles to his side and orders them so slice the girls hand off him but the light behind Jasmine grew and gave Jasmine long slender vine light structures that tangles with his tentacles.

Jasmine didn't seem to realize there was a figure beside her. She was shocked as this magic starts to help her fight the devil. Both the devil and Jasmine can seem to make out the figure's appearance but Jasmine was happy and smiled as there's a fighting chance to defeat the devil.

She then realized The White Chronicle was breathing. A steady breathing that matches her breathing. "Is this the White Chronicle? Is this one of its power?" she asked herself.

The figure then nods as her and holds her arms tighter. The devil shouts with pain and then summons the Bakunawa to attack Jasmine but before it reaches them it starts to disappear and evaporate.

Jasmine sees the whole reality is disappearing like its master. As the devil evaporates, he yells "Di ito ang katapusan hija! Du og vennene dine vil surfe på kjevene til den syv slangen! A kad dođe to vreme, sakupiću vaše duše!

After the devil spoke his last words, he explodes into nothingness and the whole realm was swallowed in darkness once again.

Jasmine opens her eyes and darkness is all she sees and she feels The White Chronicle breathing slowly. She turns around and sees the figure is still with her.

"Thank you for helping me back there! I thought I was a goner." She says to the figure. The figure then dims it's light and sees a woman infront of her. She got skin that shines like gold, long curly red hair, eyes of gold, clothes of white gown and her beauty was dazzling.

Jasmine pause for a moment to appreciate her beauty and she sees some alibata on her clothing. She reads it "Confidence". Every alibata writing on her clothe have the same words on it.

"Yes Chronicler, I was awaken by the resolve you shown. The White Chronicle ordered me to share its power to you." the woman opens her hand and showed Jasmine a rectangular leather bookmark.

Jasmine grabs the item and waves to see if any magical reaction will happen. With no magic coming out she looked up to the figure and asked "Are you the bookmark?"

The woman nods and replies "Yes and one of the many bookmarks the White Chronicle will give you as you develop and grow."

"What is your name?"

"I have none as I exist as a construct to channel the power of the White Chronicle"

Jasmine tucks the bookmark within the pages of the White Chronicle. She smiles and says "I'll think of a name for you don't worry. Everyone I met was friendly and has a name. It will be unfair to you if you do not have a name."

The figure was dumb folded from Jasmine's reply "I do not need it" she replies.

Jasmine shakes her head and tells the woman she will need it so they can have a better time understanding each other. The figure stands in silence then Jasmine asked to help her to find a way out of the devil's collapsed realm.

"You have. You just need to open your eyes."

Then Jasmine wakes up and sees trees above her. She came to and sees other guardian lying on the ground beside her. She then grabs her book and sees the bookmark in it.

"So I did it." she smiles and sees the ship flying above them.

"There they are! Captain Amihan and the others are there by the trees!" she heard the loud voice from the ship above them.

She lays there tired and happy knowing that she can sleep with both eyes shut. "I did it. We did it guys." She mutters before her eyes finally closed and her dreams take her to a place of comfort.

Back the underworld, Masiken is worried that Hel might not pass the test that Mebuyan gave her. He is sitting in a rock near the pond of Mebuyan. Surrounded in mist, he taps his staff anxiously as he waits to see if Hel emerged from the mist with a smile of victory or a frown of disappointment.

Then he heard steps approaching him and he sees Hel emerged from the mist. He stands up to meet her sees a face of worry.

"Hel, what happened? Did you pass the test?"

"No. I failed. She wants me to summon a horde of dead warriors in a second. I need to concentrate harder and faster."

Hel then hugs Masiken for comfort. "I am sorry. I am a failure" tears emerge from her eyes.

Masiken hugs her ease her pain. "Hush now Hel. We will try and try until you can do it."

Hel then looks at Masiken. Hel places her hand to Masiken chest and her other to his face.

"This is why I love you dear"

Masiken then hold her closer. Hel nears her head to Masiken for a kiss to the lips.

THUD! She felt a large pain in her stomach. Masiken kneed her so hard in her stomach that she collapsed on the floor.

"You disrespect her, devil!" Masiken readies himself to a battle stance and charges his staff with magic for a battle against the devil.

Hel then transformed into the devil and laughs as he is withering on the floor with pain.

"And you almost kissed me Masiken! Wait till Hel heard about this!"

"You are mistaken. I knew you were not Hel when you said "dear". That's why I held you closer so I can hit you hard!"

The devil stands up and raises his hand. "Hey! Okay! I give up okay? I just need to speak with the lady. Is she at her pond?"

"She is busy with training Hel" he raised his staff to prevent the devil's approach.

Then Mebuyan walks from the mist with Hel beside her. "Leave us Hel and go with Masiken. Your test will resume later. I got an important meeting today with the devil."

Masiken and the devil bows to give their respect. Hel and Masiken walked away and left Hel and the devil alone.

"Heh, Masiken is easy to tease" the devil walks toward Mebuyan.

"Go easy on him. He is in love" Mebuyan turns around and leads them to the pond.

"Ah yes. The most powerful thing in this world" the devil replies mockingly.

As they approached the pond an angel is there playing with the children by the pool. Other kids are clinging and climbing his wings while the other flocks beside him to see his splendor.

"Iophiel, the angel of wisdom and other titles you angels love. How doing today?" the devil asked the angel.

"I was stressed out watching your act with the Chronicler. I really thought you're going to kill them all and I was ready to step in for a . . . divine intervention"

"Iblis, how did it go? Did you manage to get it?" Mebuyan asked the devil.

"Yeah, I put her in one of my games and enough pressure awaken the White Chronicle's power"

The three then share a moment of celebration. "Good. Good to hear that. We need to push her to the limit. She might be new but she needs to reach her potential the soonest" Mebuyan says as she sits beside her pool.

"I agree. Whatever the reason why the previous Chronicler hid from us this information is not anymore our concern. What is we need to guide the new one to her destiny" the angel replies.

"Yeah, I hate to say this but if all living things die, no more fresh souls will arrive in the devil's realm." The devil says as he sits reluctantly by the pool with the other two.

The two nod as they share the same sentiment of the devil: they need to preserve the balance or all life will cease to exist on the world.

The Iophiel looks at the devil and she giggles. "When was the last time we were working together Iblis?"

"Before the Exile of course, but yeah, I miss those days." He chuckles a bit and continues his reply. "It seems the Chronicler is doing her job, she is kinda bringing us together again huh?"

"In a way she does" the angel replies as she looks at her once friend.

Mebuyan then asked the two if there is any news from their respective realms. Both angel and devil replied more souls are coming just as well as Mebuyan's realm.

The devil then informs them that some lesser devils around the world are rebelling and started working with some leaders. Those leaders are again serpent related.

The angel then also agrees. She visited different regions of the world and saw a different kind of cults and following for serpents like gods.

"The Chronicler was terrified when I enter her head and I used this white huge serpent that eats the moon. You heard of this Bakunawa before?" the devil asked others and the two shook their head.

"All I heard was this was told by her grandfather and can eat the moon. Bathala help us all if this thing is real" Mebuyan says.

"All we can do now is to support her from behind the scenes. We cannot meddle or interfere with the action of the living. Only to guide them" Iophiel reminds them.

"Oh, I forgot one thing." The devil jumps in excitement. "I forget to tell you guys that the piece of Bathala was found!"

The two looked at the devil in disbelief but the devil continues "Apparently it is in the possession of the Lord Orochimaru, the Snake Shogunate"

"Oh no! I won't visit Yama on his realm. That drunken bastard knows nothing but torture and booze!" Mebuyan yells.

"Then we visit him together. It's been awhile since I visit their realm. Trees of pink beauty are always a sight to see" Iophiel replies as she stands up.

"Right, we need to ask him what he knows about Lord Orochimaru before he can use Bathala's body part for something sinister" the devil says.

"Or worse, reach Divinity and rule over us all." Mebuyan says as the three leaps into her pond