Proposed by Angela Vargas
Rael is an Engkanto hybrid living on the streets of Biringan City. Possessing dull, dark colors for an Engkanto, he lives as a recluse from the scrutinizing common Engkanto society. He gets glared at, kicked out, refused common courtesy, and even has two other Engkantos that mock him daily. He learned that if he doesn’t partake at all, the community would only then tolerate his existence. At least for the most part.
The lowly Engkanto delegates his waking hours tending to a network of fungi poisonous to humans and animals--A secluded place uninhabited by Engkanto magic nor modern structure. Propped against the makeshift walls backing his little mossy bed is an old monochrome photograph of his late parents.
News ring out. News in Biringan City is telepathically casted through brain waves that echo through the entire city. Major news often pop up in people’s heads only at a certain hour of the day but this one is special. Breaking news: a high-standing Engkanto princess had gone missing! It had been a couple of days since last sighting, and professionals speculate she had left the city. Authorities are now weighing whether the risk of bringing a large group of Engkantos outside is worth the possibility of breaking the Veil Barrier.
Such an idea hadn’t entered his mind before. For Biringan, the only place he’s ever been in and ever known, to not be the only place on earth. A stupidly simple fact that one had never seriously considered. Rael starts to daydream of what that might be. Never did television nor telepathic radio have described what it is outside. He starts to fantasize of a prettier world in total isolation over his deadly fungi.
In the midst of his daydreaming, Rael spots a human child in his nursery.
He hurriedly brushes and cleanse himself of all spores and toxins with his magic and carries the child away from his deadly garden. Recalling the prejudice he and his parents faced for being “illegal”, he fears for the life of the child. He must get this child outside of the borders. He pretty much can’t trust anyone let alone the nobles to handle it fairly.
That would mean Rael has to get out there and show more of himself. His insecurities plus the heavy burdens society place on him would make him nothing but the least optimal candidate for this job. But maybe getting to the borders isn’t all that bad? Maybe he could then leave it all behind.
Lost at pretty much the first step of getting there, they turn to this mystical, ancient diwata who had been cut off from the rest of nobility for being very old. Despite being incomprehensible and mumbly, she was the one who gave him the photograph of his parents shortly after he came into being. She addresses him, pointing out how much he had taken after his mother.
The Ancient Diwata suddenly notices the human child and, in the middle of her nonsensical blabber, tells Rael directions to the nearest border. She enchants a new anting-anting, waving it around and cursing it with “Conformity”, then places it around the child’s neck. With this, no one can suspect the child of being human. Rael asks for another anting-anting for himself but gets bopped on the back of his head. The Diwata scolds him to be grateful of his complexities, for he carries the memory of his admirable parents deep within his appearance.
With child piggyback-ing under a backpack disguise, they traverse through the area until they land themselves in the middle of the slums. Rael is a bit lost, terrified for himself even. But foremost his heart is burning with excitement and a hungry curiosity. He asks the child about what their family is like. The child describes it in a very simple way, full of positivity and bright with the perspective of someone very young. He then sings to the child tunes of the rainforest.
Shifty figures appear before them, holding them up on their journey. A mixture of the elderly and the younge, they provoke Rael of their trespassing, even poking the “bag” on his shoulders. The anting-anting might have worked too well that he just seemed to be a dark figure carrying a lot on himself. He caught on and starts to peacefully ask for them to be on their way, catching himself using plural nouns. The figures pester again and flips open a balisong to his face. This startles the child and causes them to cry. The disguise falls apart.
The figures become disoriented, mistaking the child to be his at first, but then they notice the really beautiful amulet around their neck which they sense holds great power. The sight of these figures holding the child’s arm and shirt jolts Rael’s senses wide awake. A mixture of fur and feather appear at his extremities and a pair of bat-bird(?) hybrid wings sprout behind his back. Just like that, Rael and the child were high amidst the tree branches. For a moment he falters at the peak, but he quickly gets a hold of the act of gliding.
He learned something new about himself at that moment but epiphanies must wait later. They land someplace private, a solemn branch on a tall, apartment tree. He hurries to hide them both, checking if anyone saw all of that. He looks back at the child and is shocked to see that the anting-anting is missing. It probably got cut in the escape.
He hears the city start to kerfuffle over an aswang sighting. Alarms start to blare. The telepathic radio reaches him. They saw the child.
A surveillance alitaptap shines a spotlight by the branch they stand on. Using his newfound swiftness, he carries the child through the illogical space made of a nonsensical density of tree and power – The Veil Barrier. He approaches the tree tops as he nears the end of The Veil, further and further, higher and higher, in altitudes he’s never been at before.
Break through. Rael and the child are enveloped by the true sky. For him, it’s his first time seeing it unbroken like this; free of tree, debris, or magical structure. Everything that had kept him small is gone. The world is big, and he feels he can grow unto it without it ever pushing back against his being.
Officially out of Biringan City and into the human world, the child leads him to the rural little village which she lives in. It’s impossible she would’ve wandered that far after all. Acres of farmland and a humble bamboo hut comes into view. He sets the child down gently, then perches somewhere afar, watching them reunite with their parents. A beautiful sight leaves him tearful until it fully blossoms into a stream of tears. In a single flap he flees in an instant when the child starts to point in his direction.
He returns to Biringan City, flying his way through the forest roof camouflaging with the leaves that sway against each other. He lands before the Ancient Diwata’s abode.
A group of Enkantos jump from the brush and ambush him. They seal his wings and extremities with magic, rendering him immobile. He wakes up within confinement of a dead tree. Beside him is the Ancient Diwata who helped them. In an emotional state of catharsis, peace, and acceptance he relays the journey and his new wings. He could be persecuted under the tense of treachery, introduction of humans, abducting a human, or just by being an aswang in one way or another. Regardless, he does not regret a single thing about what he did, for it was the best thing he’s ever done during his existence.
They’re both led to The Core of Biringan: a mass of pure plasma and power that annihilates and reconverts anything it consumes into power for The Veil. The Diwata states that his parents were executed the same way.
A royal Engkanto, guarded by two more, states his crimes with no due process. The integrity of the barrier relies on residents staying out and not mingling with the world outside. Biringan had already offered him mercy the moment he came into being, and it cannot house someone like him anymore. Furthermore, a hunt for the child will start as she might endanger the City further.
He explains what happened and tries to reason. Neither the child that stumbled here nor whoever citizen would find them first should suffer from something incidental. We don’t know enough of the world outside to even tell if this punishment is justified to ourselves. He saw the human world and it was nice.
The execution halts. They found a village of humans entering the border. The moment Rael heard this, the muscles in his wings tensed and started to flap against the seal. With enough repeated flaps the frantic sheer power of his wings overloaded the seal with raw emotion. He shot straight up high and darted to the place of most commotion. A crowd of magical citizens surround a singular spot. Upon closer look, they surround a huge group of people. At the front, the family of the child and what seems to be their captain hold their weapons up and ready. An extreme protective magic radiates around them from an unknown source. Rael shouts for the authorities to not harm the humans as they are innocent.
They recognized the power that surrounds them, leaving them in a state of confusion. The Head Engkanto commands the guards to freeze. Someone within the crowd of humans makes their way to the front. Before them, a Diwata reveals herself. It’s the missing princess.
The Princess returns in protest of the harsh walls that surround Biringan City. The barrier is unnecessary, and any senseless persecution brought by it is a waste of spirit and power. No matter if human, Engkanto, or Aswang, they can live in harmonious symbiosis with each other. Greater protective power can be found in this harmony, and she states that the Bathala may have even first designed it as such to prevent the development of black spirits, which are already rampant within the city.
Rael lets out a sigh of relief and lands in front. The child runs to him and demands a ride on his back. The Princess approaches. Apparently, she was lost in the human world when she tried to explore it herself. Being a land invisible from outside she only found her way when he flew to the human village and back.
The Head Engkanto, with his highest respect for the curious Princess, grieves this notion. He later steps down on the position as a quiet act of remorse and gives his position to the Princess.
End.
