Chapter 18: Cliffhanger

Korean food was truly food made for the soul, and Lumi left the place with longing in her eyes. Matthos felt sorry for her and promised takeout. Barney, on the other hand, found it funny and tried to tease her. Keyword: tried. Lumi didn't take the teasing about her eating habits well, especially the way her cheeks puffed up like a chipmunk, and she gave Barney a light tap on the shoulder.

Barney still felt that light tap as they went their way to Sirena's cliff.

Sirena, the Philippine mermaid creature found in the Philippine archipelago and the islands said to be created by the gods' tantrums. Physma was one of them. Why was it named Sirena's cliff when it was so high? It was about 300 meters above land, but Physma was full of legends about it.

Lumi felt sorrow the moment she walked onto the boundaries of Sirena's cliff. Matthos being an islander, was already used to the feeling.

"Why is it so suffocating?" She felt like her lungs were about to pop out as the pressure in her ears continued to ring. It was as if it wanted to release air, the way your body adjusts from high to low-temperature places when traveling. Her chest tightened, her ribs acting like jail bars trying to contain her organs as they tried to escape. It only meant one thing, something was guarding the place.

"Kayu kayu, bari bari," Matthos words took an immediate effect, and Lumi felt her ears pop. Her body adjusted to her environment, but it didn't feel like normal above-ground breathing. It was as if-

"Welcome to Sirena's cliff," Matthos introduced as he sat near the edge. Barney followed suit while Lumi looked at them, hesitant to do anything with what she felt a while ago. "Sirena's cliff is named after a tale of a mermaid that fell in love with a Babaylan. Because it was the age of colonization, she protected this cliff for the shaman and the other members of the tribes. Beings sought shelter from then on in this cliff," he looked at the sky. The sun was beginning to set. The purple color continued to devour the sun's orange rays, a fight that will end in surrender.

Lumi cautiously sat behind Matthos, a meter away from the ends of the cliff. She was amazed at how Matthos and Barney let their feet dangle in mid-air. It was just too scary in her eyes.

"What happened to the mermaid?" Lumi was interested in the tale but disappointed when Barney answered

"We knew that the colonizers were able to penetrate Physma. However, people don't really talk about what happened to the certain Sirena of Sirena's cliff and the Babaylan she fell in love with, but their story was far from fiction. At least, to people who can see and sense."

"This place, it has a guardian," Lumi said as she took a breath. It was as if the rest of her body was submerged in water, and only her head was above. There was some sort of restriction, making her ribs constrict. It wasn't painful but a bit uncomfortable.

"Guardians," Barney corrected as he glanced at the corner where he saw a Nuno sa Punso and a Diwata fighting over a mushroom. He looked at them, and Lumi saw them too. She was immediately interested in the sight of the creatures.

One creature was beautiful, with elfish ears, and her braided hair had a crown of leaves. She wore a beautiful white gown, and her skin shimmered in the sun. In contrast, the other one was small, goblin-like with its wrinkly skin and long, hooked nose. It had a long white beard, and he held a staff in his hand that he used to hit the ground with anger.

"That doesn't look too well," Matthos commented as he looked in the direction Barney and Lumi were watching, "One aura is almost black, and the other is red."

The beings felt the presence of the trio and immediately looked at them. With that, they disappeared.

"Aww, what a cliffhanger," Barney sighed.

Lumi was also disappointed. She wanted to know who would get the mushroom. But it's true. The place had several guardians. However, the power of this place was not connected to them. Those creatures are land-borne, and Sirena's place emanated the sea. It was so strange to her.

"Why did you say 'Kayu kayu, bari bari?'" Lumi queried.

"We need to avoid offending beings, so we often greet them and say we're only here to visit," Matthos responded, "Saying simple greetings will make them less wary of us."

"Matthos, do you think, the curse of the Wren, will it enter this island?" Lumi blurted. She wanted to bite her tongue when she said that, but at the same time, it felt like the right time. It was as if the cliff wanted her to say it.

Matthos only smiled. He knew that it was the effect of this place. Sirena's cliff stood for justice, truth, and comfort. Barney finally got why his friend took Lumi here.

"I'm not sure," he confessed, "But if it does, your knowledge is enough to add protection to the borders."

"What about my curse? Can we find out why I'm being hunted? Without you being hunted?" Lumi was scared they'd leave her, that they'd change their mind. It was the first time she felt hope, and she didn't want to let it go.

"Lumi, Matthos comes from a family of curse breakers," Barney's revelation basically boggled her mind, "Most probably, when he saw you, he decided to take you in his arms and vow to protect you with his whole life. It's a Grisham thing."

"Curse breaker?"

"Yes, Lumi. I'm a descendant of people who study beings and break curses."

"So you knew that I'm cursed from the first sight?" Her heart fluttered, and a flame that never was finally existed. Was this fate?

"Yep, I knew," he replied, "and you need to stop fearing that I'd leave you. It is Grisham's legacy to have a calling. This is mine."

"But you can't see beings?"

"I can't, but that doesn't mean I can't find answers. People aren't blessed with everything," Matthos watched as the velvet sky finally won. It was nighttime, and the beings are finally active.

"What will you do now? With me, I mean?"

"Help you adjust in this time, and prepare you. As we study things to find what curse you have, since you don't know much about it, let's find a way to give you a normal life," Matthos explained. This was a lesson he learned from Leonard, that cursed people need to adjust to the time, the current age. That at least, they should have a taste of normal life because no one deserves to be an experiment.

"But my curse can hurt you," Lumi warned.

"This isn't his first rodeo, Lumi," Barney clarified, "this isn't his first time. Matthos has broken several curses during the years he worked under the organization. If there's anyone I know who has a chance in breaking your curse, it's him. I'm confident."

"What about the Curse of the Wren?"

"Let's work on the talismans first before working on the answer. We need to buy ourselves time for it," Matthos pondered, "it's not the first time people went into hysteria over hearing sounds. To think that the cities always had this as a problem means that the place has great spiritual power that's not used correctly."

"Wrens are messenger birds too, so to think that they're also bringing devastation, there must be a source," Barney brainstormed.

"To think though, that the way these birds can affect people is through sounds, I'm amazed and terrified," Matthos uttered, "How does it affect the senses to the point of madness?"

"It starts with sadness, Matthos," Lumi explained, "The women started hearing voices, crying, they said, until they believed it was them. They said their children were gone, and that slowly turned to madness. We thought it was depression at that time, as we also were affected by a tribe war, but then, the women, and eventually men, went into hysterics that no one can stop."

"What did they do exactly that got them burned?"

"They started singing themselves, and the children got sick as they did."

"What do you mean sick?" Barney felt his gut stir at Lumi's next words, and Matthos felt a familiarity with it

"The children, they never woke up."

*Nuno sa punso - elderly dwarf that guards a mound

*Diwata - a beautiful elfish creature that will take you to their world inside the forest. They live in trees and are a bit mischievous in nature.

*Kayu kayu, bari bari - words uttered by people to tell spirits that they are going to pass through a spirit's territory. It is a way to tell spirits that the passerby means no harm. The phrase "kayu kayu, bari bari" originated from the Ilocano ethnic group in the Philippines.