Chapter 20: Banana Milk and Barney’s Burgers

Lumi wasn't having the best night. In her pajamas, she laid in bed, which she loved as, in her time, women weren't allowed to wear pants. Now that she wore these flannel sleeves that hugged her legs, the comfort was undeniable. She was on cloud 9. But her mind?

Whenever she closed her eyes, she could hear a voice calling out of her. The background was blurry, and something was chasing her. She couldn't make out the shape of it or even what creature it was. All she knew was that it was after her, and it craved for her blood.

'But why?' she twisted in her sleep. She didn't know that downstairs, Matthos can sense that she couldn't sleep. With banana milk, he went up and knocked on her door.

Lumi was startled by the knock and ended up sitting immediately. That made her see black spots in her vision, and her head felt heavy as she sat abruptly that her body wasn't able to cope.

She slowly stepped out of her bed and opened the door, relieved when she saw Matthos with a weird-looking thing.

"What is that?"

The yellow tetra-pack already had the straw in it, and it was new to her sight.

"It's banana milk. The milk is inside, and the package keeps it cool." Matthos handed it to her.

Lumi took a cautious sip. Her eyes widened at the taste of it.

'Banana milk?' she repeated inside her mind and drank it all, happily.

"Matthos, I love this drink. This banana milk. Where do you get this? Did the banana being and cow make a baby?"

"Sadly, no," Matthos wanted to laugh. Was this what people who believed chocolate milk comes from brown cows thought of? "They add banana to the milk. That's it."

"How dull. Well, the taste is great so I don't mind," she grinned then frowned, "but who made it?" She was suddenly suspicious.

"People from factories make it. Do not worry, I'll show you to a place when we go to a tour outside the island."

"A tour?"

"Travelling outside the island and into other destinations," he expounded, "That way, you'd understand that the world now doesn't simply operate in small businesses as it did back then."

"How many is many?" Lumi asked warily.

"Let's say one to five hundred," Matthos's nonchalant answer only made Lumi's forehead crease more.

"That's too much! Are the buildings as big as the supermarket?"

"Bigger than that, much bigger."

Lumi couldn't grasp the idea that the modern world operated at a larger capacity due to the massive demand.

"The world now is amazing," she exclaimed.

"Not that much," Matthos responded. In the eyes of a researcher, Matthos has seen the world at its best and its worst. That is why as much as he would love to please Lumi, he had to keep her expectations at a reasonable level. Otherwise, she'd get hurt in the future. After all, if there's something that hasn't changed in this world, it's the presence of cruelty and how humanity can improve on ways to implement it.

"Matthos, I can't sleep. Can we talk about souls and spirits?"

"Sure," Matthos stepped into the room and, with Lumi's permission, sat on the edge of the bed while Lumi sat near him, cross-legged.

"Matthos, Old Man talked about the barrier here. Is there truly a council that governs the island's spirits?"

"No, we can't govern the island's spirits," Matthos clarified, "Evocation and summoning are prohibited within the grounds and territory of Physma. Also, spirits can never be controlled without a price. They have free will that we need to respect. Otherwise, they'd wreak havoc on other sentient beings in this island."

"Then what does the barrier do?"

"Keep bad spirits out and protect the spirits inside the dome. Several curses also make rounds. Colonizers brought some due to their sins of bloodlust. That is why the Filipino settlers, along with other immigrants, had their respective shamans create a barrier that will protect the beings in the island."

"Does the barrier affect the souls of the dead?"

"No, it doesn't. The barrier doesn't affect the passageway to the respective afterlife. It only aims to ensure that the endangered spirits are safe, and that the place can remain a sanctuary for all."

"I want a burger."

Lumi and Matthos almost jumped out of the bed when they saw Barney at the doorway, looking haggard and obviously hungry.

"I want burger. I'm cooking burger. Do you want some?"

"Yes, please," Matthos offered his hand and helped Lumi stand. Together, they followed a grumpy Barney, who started to prepare ingredients for smash burgers.

"Matthos, did you try to summon a spirit?" he stared accusingly, and Lumi raised her eyes in question at the guy that only sighed in resignation.

"It wasn't evocation so it doesn't count," he argued, "And I ended up comforting Rufus. He lost his dog Fufu."

"A dog has a spirit?"

"Yes, that's why we say that they pass the rainbow bridge," Barney heated the cast iron, "Lumi, evocation is not allowed due to the barrier and, of course, how demons and mischievous spirits act. So don't follow Matthos and his idiotic tendencies in trying to contact the dead. The dead will contact you if it wants to say something, and it will do anything to do so."

"Fine, I'm sorry for trying to talk to the dead," Matthos relented. "On a serious note, I do have to work tomorrow to search for leads on the current case on City A and B. If it truly is the curse that Lumi thinks it is, maybe the answer to breaking it lies on the source, not just the cause."

"You mean on a spiritual note, we're entering the supernatural realm? We're not just breaking the effect on the superficial earth. You want us to find the source? Matthos Trem, do you want to die?"

"So this is what Barney meant when he said you're an idiot," Lumi commented, and Barney laughed.

"Yeah, Lumi. In most curses, we just break the binds, and the curse backfires to the source. But if you did burnings and that didn't work, then there must be something at the source that's keeping the curse in motion even when the people are inactive."

"Don't tell me you plan to go out of Physma to search for clues. Remember what the cards showed, Matthos. We're not sure if it's on your side," Barney warned.