Chapter 26: An Unusual Wedding

Matthos fell asleep on the couch of the library. Lumi took the rocking chair and dozed off. For some reason, they all felt exhausted that day. So it was no surprise that they all woke up past noon. Barney suddenly sat up when he heard thunder. He slept with his curtains open, so he expected that lightning hit a tree near the house due to how loud it was.

That was not the case. He wished that it was the case.

Outside, the sun was shining brightly. It was really bright. However, the sky was grey, and the downpour was strong. Nevertheless, lightning kept on striking areas near Physma island. It was strange, and it can only mean one thing.

He went to Matthos's room and didn't find him there. In fact, no one was downstairs.

'Was it a lazy day, or did he sleep late?' he asked himself and proceeded to go upstairs. He was about to knock on Lumi's door, but it was already open. Scratching his head, he went to the library and found the two sleeping on the opposite side of the room. Matthos was barely hanging onto the sofa. Lumi, on the other hand, was sleeping serenely, with her hands on her chest. Her shawl covered her shoulders and made her look like a granny, except her face was decades younger.

"Why didn't you guys invite me to this slumber party?" Barney barked, and that was enough to cause Matthos to fall. Lumi opened her eyes and glared at Barney, who was grinning at a cursing Matthos.

"You really know how to wake people up," she commented sarcastically, rolling her ember eyes, nose flaring in irritation.

"Barney at your service," he bowed, humoring her more as Matthos stood and massaged his shoulder that hit the floor.

"One day, Barney, someone will beat you up for me," he smiled as his bone popped, "When that happens, I will watch in glee."

"I'll drink cola while I watch," Lumi remarked.

"You two really know how to gang up on me," he expressed in a baby voice that got him a pillow from Lumi's direction.

"Anyways, I wanted to tell the both of you that something's wrong with the weather," remembering what he was there about, Barney's face became serious.

"Why, what happened?" Matthos sat on the office chair, reading his notes from hours ago.

"Well, the weather. There's a storm, and the sun is shining at the same time. I haven't seen this in a long time. Isn't this some sort of anomaly?"

"Wait, don't beings get married here?"

Both boys gave her questioning looks.

"I'm serious!" she insisted, "When it rains and the sun shines, two beings are getting married."

"Let me guess," Barney deduced sarcastically, "Since there's a storm and the sun is shining strongly, these beings have high standing in their society?"

"Yes!"

That surprised them.

"A tikbalang and a diwata are getting married!" she said dreamily, "Wait—beings don't get married so easily without reason, though. Huh, that is very weird indeed. But romantic!"

"You lost me at romantic," Matthos deadpanned, "Lumi, those are two different species of supernatural beings. What would their offspring look like? Half dryad-half demon?"

"No! You don't get it," Lumi insisted, "When two beings get married, the weather becomes different. The sun shines, and it also rains. The offsprings only take after one parent, I believe. But other than that, yes there are instances when beings get married."

"Okay, two beings get married today, how do we confirm that this is the case?" Barney was curious.

"Simple, here," Lumi opened the window and whistled. A round shield-like thing made of letters, similar to Alibata, appeared in front of them. "See? It's a wedding!" she confirmed gleefully, but her smile was wiped off when she saw how serious Matthos was.

"Lumi, what did you do?"

"I whistled," she said, suddenly uncertain.

Matthos realized that he might be looking too harsh. "When you whistle, what happens?"

"Oh, simple!" she bounced back, "I don't know how but when I whistle, I hear voices that answer my query," she explained.

"Wait, that's how you talk to beings?"

"Not really, no," she frowned, "Sometimes it doesn't work. I'm surprised it did." Then, she snapped her fingers, and purple sparks came out of her hands. For that short time, the room felt pleasant, and it almost felt like somebody was tickling their ears.

"Lumi, for someone not gifted with the voice of an angel, you seriously have powers I haven't encountered in my whole life," Barney gulped.

"Not only your whole life, there might never be anyone like you in anyone's lifetime but ours."

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" she asked.

Matthos smiled, unhesitant and genuine, "It's not a bad thing."

The thunder distracted them once more and Lumi said, "What an unusual wedding."

*Tikbalang - a tikbalang has the upper body of a horse and the lower body of a human. The lower body is unusually long. They are also called horse demons.

*Diwata - Dryads, forest guardians.