Oath of A Friend

Macreo summons the three other creatures at their base. Macreo calls Macabro and speaks. “Macabro, what happened? Why had the caliginous gateway been destroyed?” Macabro bows and responds. “Forgive me my lord. But I think we have underestimated the Novel Blue Soul Blood.”

Macreo sharpens his eyes as he speaks. “Explain.” Macabro explains. “The Novel Blue Soul Blood have different powers and abilities. They are different from the Blue Soul Blood that exiled us. Even with their little powers, if they are together, I don’t think we can stand a chance in our weak state right now. With the weapon made from the death tree, we will surely be defeated easily.”

Macreo thinks deeply after hearing Macabro. He knows that Macabro is right. With their weaker power right now, they can be defeated by the Novel Blue Soul Blood. Then Macreo speaks. “What do you suggest then?” Macabro answers. “I think, we should make them feel weak too.”

Macreo understands a little of what Macabro is trying to say. He asks. “How?” Macabro continues. “They are powerful when they are together. But if we separate them, then we may be able to destroy them.”

Mico, one of the creatures interrupted. He speaks. “The last time you have encountered them, why did you not take the opportunity to destroy them when you had the chance?” Macabro responds to Mico. “Ah Mico. I didn’t know that you were spying on me.” Mico grins. Macabro continues to talk. “I didn’t want to make the same mistake as Morgan did. He is nearly killed on his last encounter with the Novel Blue Soul Blood. The Novel Blue Soul Blood can resist our powers. If we are that powerful to destroy them, how come Morgan failed?”

The female creature joins the conversation too. She speaks. “I think Macabro is right. But what is your plan? How will you separate them if they are, most of the time, together?” Macabro responds to the questions. “Humans are powerful because they have faith and they have what they call as friendship. The two of our enemies are friends. If we destroy their friendship, they will be separated with each other. Human emotions are very eccentric things. This will be their down fall.”

Macreo does not completely understand what Macabro wants to insinuate. But he likes the plan. He speaks to Macabro. “Macabro, do what you think is best. But you have to open another caliginous gateway. It does not only feed the possession demon, but when it remains open, the essence of the devil world that is coming out from it energizes us too. It is slow but before the Eye of Hell opens, we will sure regain our strength through those caliginous gateways and nothing can ever stop us.” The other three creatures reply. “Yes, my lord.”

Morning, in their classroom, Joed tells everything that he knows about to Ken. “But we have to make it a secret. Only the three of us know that: you, me and Tatang.” Ken agrees. “Okay Jo. But we have to find the other Novel Blue Soul Blood as soon as possible.” Joed responds. “Yes, you are right. I think our enemies are getting more powerful every day. The last possession demon did not stun when it came out from the man it possessed. And those little demons, they are small but they can hurt us badly.”

Suddenly, a voice is heard all over the classroom. ”Hey! The two of you, Ken and John Edward. Are you done with your seat works?”

Ken and Joed are surprised. They quickly return to their books and answer. Joed replies. “Not yet Ms. Gong.” Ms. Gong continues. “Stop talking, the two you! You are very noisy especially you John Edward.”

Joed is surprised when he heard that. “What? Me? I’m already answering Ma’am.” Ms. Gong looks at Joed like he is a notorious boy. Then, she speaks. “One more! I will send you to the principal’s office.”

Joed did not speak anymore. He continues answering the book. Ms. Gong seats and chats with her favorite students again.

Orly and Keelye make fun of Joed. First, Keelye throws a crumpled paper on Joed’s head. Then, Orly hits Joed’s head with his hand. Joed gets annoyed. He speaks. “What is your problem Orly?” Ms. Gong hears the noise and shouts again. “Hey John Edward! I’ve warned you.” Joed reacts. “I didn’t do anything ma’am. It was Orly and Keelye.”

Orly reacts, pretending that he is innocent. “Me?” Ken cannot control anymore. He speaks. “Yes. You.” Orly is astonished when Ken sided Joed. He never expected that he would side him, rather than them. Ms. Gong warns the students involved. “Hey! Enough of that.” Orly did not speak anymore, and, Ken and Joed continue their answering.

It is lunch time and the bell rings. Joed speaks to Ken. “Thank you, Ken! But you shouldn’t have done that. They might get angry at you.” Ken smiles and replies. “Don’t worry about it. Sometimes, they need to know that they are already crossing the line.” Joed smiles. He never knew someone who would care like that of Ken’s.

On their way downstairs, Ken asks Joed. “Do you like Minnie? I’ve noticed that you’ve been staring at her since yesterday.” Joed replies reluctantly. “I think she stole my heart. Look at her, she is tall, she is beautiful, she is intelligent. What more can you ask for?”

Ken laughs and responds. “I knew it. Hahaha… Come on.” Ken grabs Joed near Minnie and speaks to her. “Hey Minnie! Joed has something to say to you.”

Ken whispers to Joed. “Do a pickup line.” Joed does his stuff and speaks to Minnie. “Hey Minnie, are you a star?” Minnie is hiding her emotions and replies “Why?” Joed continues “Because you are getting farther and farther, and all I can do is to stare at you.”

Minnie smiles after hearing Joed’s pickup line as she continues her walking downstairs. Ken is laughing behind and touches Joed. “Nice one Joed!” Joed smiles although he knew that he made a terrible act.

While they are eating their lunch, Ken brings out some sort of a gadget. It looks like an old phone and shows it to Joed. Joed asks. “What is this? It looks like Nokia 5110.”

Ken shakes his head and pulls a hair from Joeds eyebrows. Joed reacts. “Awtsss… What is that for?” Ken replies. “Just look.”

Ken opens a little compartment at the back of the gadget and puts the hair of Joed inside. Then he presses a button. Joed is amazed of what he discovers. A red ray of light is coming out of the gadget and goes to him. It emits another light after five seconds.

Joed is amazed as he asks. “Wow! What is that?” Ken answers. “This will help you to locate a person’s position with a one-kilometer radius from this gadget. You just need a part of that person like a strand of hair, nail, and anything that comes from that person’s body.”

Joed is fascinated. He praises Ken as he speaks. “Ken you are a genius!” Ken responds. “But don’t tell anyone about this.” Joed agrees.

Joed and Ken continue their conversation and they share their personal life experiences with each other. Ken speaks. “Joed, promise me, you are the only one to know those things I’ve told you. I told you those because I trust you. Please don’t let others know.” Joed smiles and replies “Sure! Like I will keep your secret that you snore when you are sleeping. Hehehe…” Ken laughs and responds “Tinapa! Hahaha…”

The next day, somewhere in San Marcelino Street, in a warehouse, Macabro has controlled all the workers. He already has opened a caliginous gateway somewhere near outside the warehouse. A possessed demon already has possessed the owner of the warehouse. The possessed man has summoned many little demons. Each looks like a black tennis ball, with one eye, a beak of crow and tentacles like of that jellyfish. They do not have wings like the last time. They move by jumping using their tentacles.

Macabro speaks to one of the little demons. “Go to the school of the Novel Blue Soul Blood. Find out anything about them.” The little demon complies and goes. In Macabro’s mind, “I have a plan to separate the two of you. Hehehe…”

Suddenly, from behind him, a creature appears. It is Mico. He speaks to Macabro. “Would you want me to help you?” Macabro smiles and responds. “You should have not wasted your energy coming here. I appreciate your offer but I will do it on my own.” Mico disappears like a popping bubble.

The bell rings in PCAF. It means that t is already recess time. Joed, Ken, Mateo and Mariana, a short girl student who also stopped for one year but in different school year as Joed, talk about their activity in TLE (Technology and Home Economics) while going downstairs.

Mateo speaks. “Hey Ken! We need to buy ingredients for our menu later. Annie will be pissed if we won’t have ingredients and utensils for tomorrow.” Ken replies. “Okay. Later we shall buy.” Mariana interrupts. “Later, it is our group to cook our menu. Luckily I’ve brought the utensils needed for our main dish because Joed forgot to bring what were assigned to him.”

Embarrassed, Joed apologizes. “Sorry! I thought I’d already put those in my bag.” But the truth is, Joed really forgot to bring those utensils and only he and Ken knew that.

When they reach the first floor, Ken suddenly sneezes. “Hatching!” There are mucus and saliva spread on his hand. Joed reacts. “Yuckk Ken. That is disgusting.”

Ken notices that Joed’s handkerchief is partly out from his pocket. He grabs it and wipes his hand. Joed gets annoyed as he speaks. “Ken! Tinapa! That hanky was given to me by my cousin.” Ken laughs while returning the handkerchief. “Hehe…” Then, he speaks. “Sorry. At least you are lucky to have my royal mucus hahaha.”

Joed gets pissed and he goes to the canteen by himself, leaving the three behind. Mateo, since he is already hungry, he followed Joed to the canteen. Ken speaks to Mariana. “Don’t worry about them. Joed will get use to me.” Mariana just smile. No one notices the little demon that has been following the movements of Ken and Joed.

After the recess, the group of Joed proceeds to the TLE room, and the remaining students return to their classroom. Joed did not talk to Ken because he is still pissed.

Before going to their classroom, Mateo goes to comfort room to wash his face. Only he is there when he enters. He washes his face with water. When he looks at the mirror, he is shocked of what he sees. It is Macabro. Before he could shout, Macabro’s eyes spark. He hypnotized Mateo. Macabro whispers to Mateo’s ear. Then, Mateo returns to his classroom.

Because their teacher is supervising the group that is cooking in the TLE room, the remaining students are answering questions in their book. Only few remain in the classroom including Ken and Mateo. Mateo goes beside Ken and talks. “You know Ken, did you tell Joed your secrets?”

Ken is surprised when Mateo asks about that. He replies. “Why?” Mateo answers. “Because, a while ago, in the canteen, he was very angry with you. He told every classmate of us about your secrets. He broadcasted it to everyone.”

Ken cannot believe of what Mateo just said. Of all the people, he trusted Joed. He speaks in anger. “How could he do that to me? I was just making fun with him so he would get use to me.” Mateo responds. “Yah. I really can’t believe that he would do that after all the things that you do for him.”

The anger in Ken’s heart is rising. In his mind, those thoughts are bothering him. “I thought he was my friend. I trusted him because I considered him my friend. Then with that simple joke he broke his promise. I won’t forgive him for what he has done.”

Mateo grins while staring at Ken because Ken cannot hide his disappointment and anger to Joed. Suddenly, Mariana comes in. She left something in her bag. She sees that Ken and Mateo are talking with each other. She cannot hear them but she notices the anger in Ken’s face. After getting the thing from her bag, she leaves and returns to the TLE room.

The group of Joed just finished right before the last ring of the bell. On their way upstairs to their classroom, the bell rings. That means it is the end of the last subject. After a few steps up, they see Ken going down together with Mateo. Joed smiles to Ken because he has forgiven Ken already of what he has done and he knows that Ken was just making fun of him. But when they get near each other, Ken just went through and hit Joed’s shoulder with his shoulder.

Joed is surprised as he reacts. “Awwww… What is wrong with you?” He feels the pain of the impact. Ken just continues walking downstairs. Mateo walks with Ken too.

Puzzled, Joed returns to their classroom together with his other classmates in the group. Mariana tells Joed what she saw before lunch. Joed is surprised. He speaks. “Really? What could be their conversation all about?” Marian responds. “I don’t know but I think they were talking about you.”

Joed thinks deeply. Mariana bids goodbye to Joed as she waves her hand. “Okay Jo, I will go first.“

Joed, still puzzled, puts his materials and book in his bag. Then he noticed that Ken left his lunch bag. He is about to get it but he gets surprised when he sees the little demon beside the lunch bag of Ken. He reacts. “What?! A little demon.”

The little demon jumps out of the classroom and then jumps out of the small window. Then. it jumps out of the building. Joed grabs Ken’s lunch bag and he runs to follow the demon, but it is already gone.

Worried, Joed rushes downstairs. He sees Mariana who is waiting for Minnie in the quadrangle. Joed asks Mariana. “Hey do you know where Ken and Mateo be going?” Mariana replies. “They said a while ago that they would be buying ingredients for their cooking menu for tomorrow.” Joed continues asking. “Do you know where?” Mariana moves her head left and right and speaks. “No, I don’t.”

Joed gets more worried especially that he knew that Ken does not have cellular phone. He feels that the little demon has something to do with Ken’s reaction.

Meanwhile, in the street, Mateo and Ken are walking towards San Marcelino Street. Mateo is talking while they are walking. “I knew a warehouse where we can buy cheap and fresh ingredients. Just follow me.”

Ken is following Mateo but his mind is all about what Mateo told him about Joed. After a long walk, they have reached the warehouse that Mateo is talking about. Mateo speaks. “Okay, this is it.”

The two enter the warehouse and when they are in the middle of the hall, people come out by the pillars and other places inside. Ken is surprised. The people are being controlled by the little demons and Ken can see them. Angry, he asks Mateo. “What is the meaning of this Mateo?”

Mateo stops walking and faces Ken. His eyes have no response. Then a black smoke appears at the back of Mateo. When the smoke fades, it reveals Macabro together with the owner of the warehouse who is being possessed by the possession demon.

Ken grins as he looks at Macabros eyes. Macabro touches the shoulder of Mateo and speaks. “Don’t blame your classmate here. He is under my spell. I am Macabro by the way. It is nice to meet you.” Ken responds while scratching his head. “I should have known.” Macabro continues speaking. “Everything your classmate told you are all my doings.”

Ken grins again and quickly runs and dodges to the door. But Macabro anticipated Ken’s action. He waves his hand and the door closes. Ken turns back to Macabro and grins again. Macabro laughs and speaks. “Hahaha… Are you really going to abandon your friend here?”

Then, from Ken’s left and right sides, the controlled workers jump to him and grab his hands. They tie his hand and bring him to Macabro. Macabro wave his hands again. Ropes come out from nowhere and tie Ken and Mateo. The controlled workers bring both of them to a room and lock them. Mateo is still subtle and unconscious.

Even though Ken is terrified, he cannot help to smile. This time, he knew that Joed did not really betray him. Then, he remembers his wrist watch. It was not removed when he was being tied. He pulls something from his watch. It is a razor blade. He started to cut the rope that is tied to him.

In the school, Joed is so worried about Ken. He is thinking on how to contact him. Because of worriedness, he drops the lunch bag of Ken. It is not completely sealed so it opens and something is thrown out, the gadget that Ken showed Joed yesterday, the one that can find the location of a person.

Joed picks it up and thinks. “How can I use this? I don’t have something that comes from Ken’s body.” Then, suddenly he remembers something. He brings out his handkerchief where Ken wiped his hand with saliva and mucus. Joed felt happy as he speaks. “Yes! Ken’s ewww yuckkk… Saliva and mucus came from him.”

He puts his handkerchief inside the compartment of the gadget. Then he presses the button. Just a few seconds, it emits light going away from him. He quickly follows the direction of the light. Luckily, no one notices it but him.

When he gets out of the gate of the school a man calls him. “John Edward.” He finds the owner of the voice and suddenly feels happier as he speaks. “Tatang!”

Tatang smiles. But his happiness is just for a while. Joed grabs Tatang’s hand and runs towards the direction of the light. Tatang is confused. He asks. “What’s going on? Are you not going to welcome me back first?” Joed replies while still running, pulling Tatang. “No time for that now. I need your help. Ken is in danger.” Tatang, catching his breath, asks. “Who is Ken?” Joed responds, still running. “He is a Novel Blue Soul Blood too. But I think he is in danger.” Tatang is surprised after hearing it.

The two keep on running following the direction pointed by the light, and they reach the warehouse where Ken and Mateo are detained. Joed speaks. “This is it. The gadget indicates that Ken is here.”

Coming from everywhere, the controlled workers attack the two. One jumps towards them and is about to hit them with a thick wooden stick. When it is about to get near Joed, Tatang pushes Joed and kick the hand of the worker. The worker drops the thick wooden stick. Tatang tosses his cane to Joed and speaks. “Go! Find Ken. I will handle these people.” Joed turns invisible and sneaks to the door of the warehouse.

In the meantime, Ken has cut the rope. He also cut the rope that ties Mateo. He returns the razor blade in his wrist watch and pulls another thing from it. It is a lock pick. He quickly unlocks the door. Then when the door is open, he carries Mateo who is still unconscious. When they reach the middle of the hall, many controlled workers come in and surround Ken and Mateo.

Ken lays down Mateo and prepares himself for a fight. But Macabro and the possessed man appear before him. Macabro speaks. “Do you really think you can escape?” Ken grins and replies. “Yes, I do.”

Then, from behind someone hits the possessed man at his back. He yells. ”Ahhhh…” Macabro felt the danger so he jumps away from Ken. Then, Joed appears holding the cane of Tatang.

Ken could see Joed in his invisible state as outlines. Joed asks Ken. “Are you alright Ken?” Ken replies. “Yes. I’m sorry about what happened in the school.” Joed looks at Ken and smiles. “I didn’t betray your trust Ken.” Ken just smile.

Joed and Ken face Macabro. Ken speaks. “Macabro, if you think you can play with human emotion just to separate us, you are wrong. You will never know what I am talking about because you are a demon. You do not know about friendship. And I pity you.”

Macabro gets insulted so he tries to attack the two but Joed pointed the cane to him and threatens him. “Go on! You know what happened to your comrade Morgan when got hit by this cane.”

Macabro gets scared. He knew that Joed is right. He will be burned when being touched by the cane. He steps back.

Suddenly, the possessed man just got recovered and jumps to Joed. But before he could hit Joed, Ken quickly runs towards the man and holds his hair. Then Ken punches him in the middle abdomen. The man reacts in pain. “Ahhh…”

The possessed man is pushed backward due to the heavy impact of Ken’s punch. Macabro takes the opportunity to summon the little demons from the controlled workers. When the little demons left their hosts, the workers passed out and fell on the ground.

The little demons gather together and as Joed and Ken get surprised, the little demons become one big heavy black monster like a big octopus. It tries to attack Joed and Ken by its tentacles but they dodge the attack.

The possessed man feels weak. He needs to feed on the caliginous gateway, so he runs through the door. When he gets out, the big octopus-like monster blocks the door and simultaneously attacks Joed and Ken. Joed’s left foot is caught by one of the tentacles of the monster, while Ken’s left hand is caught too.

The monster reveals its wide mouth with sharp teeth as it is pulling Ken and Joed. Joed quickly uses the cane and hits the tentacle that grabs his foot. The tentacle burns and the monster felt its pain. Joed stands up and tosses the cane to Ken. Ken catches it and hits the tentacle that grabs his arm. It burns as well and it releases Ken’s arm.

Macabro really feels the danger when he witnessed what the cane can do. He decided to escape. A black smoke engulfs him then he is gone.

The monster is still feeling the pain caused by the cane. Ken throws the cane into the mouth of the monster while it is open. When the cane hits the monster’s mouth, it burns in an instant. The other parts of the monster follow. Then the monster turns to ashes.

Joed breathes deeply, gets the cane and speaks. “Nice throw Ken!” Ken replies as he jokes “Thanks! I thought I was throwing you because your body and the cane looks the same. Hahaha” Joed laughs too. Then he remembers. He speaks. “Oh no! The possessed man!”

Ken worries as well. Then he remembers something. When he grabs the hair of the possessed man, he has gotten few strand of hair. He asks Joed. “Hey Joed! Do you have the gadget that finds the persons location?” Joed replies as he brings out the gadget. “Yes. Here it is.”

Joed gives the gadget to Ken. He opens its compartment and found Joed’s handkerchief. He removes it as he speaks. “Ewww… Joed, why did you put my mucus in here?” Joed responds. “Hahaha… If I didn’t do that, how would I be able to find you?” Ken smiles and responds. “See I told you. My mucus and saliva have massive uses hahaha…”

Ken puts the strand of hair in to the compartment. Then he presses the button. It emits a light, showing the direction to where the possessed man is. They follow the light and after a while, they found the man feeding on the caliginous gateway. The man is surprised to see the two as he speaks. “What? You’ve defeated my minions?”

Ken and Joed grins. Then, Joed responds. “It is like dust in the wind now.” The man feels angry and attacks the two. He punches Ken. But before it landed on Ken’s face, Ken holds the man’s fist and he twists his arm to his back.

Joed runs to the caliginous gateway and grabs it. Then after a few seconds, the gateway closes and the light from the gateway hits the possessed man. The possession demon comes out. It looks like a giant snake. It is not stunned just like the last possession demon, but it is corporeal. It tries to escape but suddenly, a big wooden stick hits the demon. It is staggered after the hit.

It was Mateo who hits the demon. Since it is corporeal, anyone can see it even ordinary people. Joed rushes to the demon and hit it with the cane in the body. The demon feels the pain. Then, Ken goes in front of the demon and punches the stone on its forehead. The stone breaks and the demon disappeared.

Mateo, surprised, asks the two. “What was it?” Ken and Joed look at each other. But before they could answer, Mateo collapses because of the exhaustion of being hypnotized. The two carry Mateo to a safe place and wait for him to recover. Ken speaks to Joed. “Hey Joed since I doubted you, let me treat you. Let’s go tomorrow to Robinson’s Place Otis.” Joed responds. “Hmmm… I don’t think it is necessary Ken.” Ken replies. “Minnie’s house is near Robinson’s Otis.” When Joed heard that, he responds. “Okay! What time are we going there?” The two laughs as they wait for Mateo to get conscious.

Joed returns the cane to Tatang the next day. After class, Joed, Ken, Mateo and Mariana go to Robinson’s Place Otis. They play first in the amusement center then they eat at Mc Donalds. While eating Mateo cannot help but to ask. “What really happened yesterday?” Joed replies. “You faded. You must be tired yesterday, you collapsed while finding some ingredients for your main dish in TLE.” Mateo cannot remember anything. Suddenly, Ken sneezes. “Hatching…” Then, he wipes his hand in Joed’s shirt. Joed gets annoyed. “Ahhhhh… KEN TINAPA!” Mateo and Mariana laughs, so as Ken.