“Paglaom, once again, please save us,” the cat-eyed Sirena pleaded. “The others are in the Med Bay. They need healing.”

 

Calla understood right away, she headed to one of the caves. The Sirenas crawled and followed her.

 

These caves were like rooms in the Domain. The caves’ entrances varied in size based on functionality: the living quarters were naturally smaller, the other function rooms were much larger, and the widest one was situated in the middlemost part, and it appeared to be the main function hall - much like the function hall in the group’s Base.

 

Calla and the others entered the cave right beside the main function hall.

 

A very disheartening situation welcomed Calla as they reached the interior of Med Bay. Tears streamed down on her face as Calla witnessed the heart-wrenching condition of her family and friends.

 

Almost a hundred ailing Sirenas and Shokoys were lined up together on stone slabs that served as the beds of the Med Bay.

 

“Lae, could you help us please?” Calla requested.

 

Lae knew what to do right away. One by one, she started using her Words to heal the Sirenas and purify their weakening bodies.

 

Calla started administering Primordial Water to the other Sirenas, slowly cleansing them from the magic residues.

 

Triggs and Zaine also helped in the best way they could, providing comfort to the agonized Sirenas.

 

It took them 2 hours and more to aid most of the ailing Sirenas and Shokoys. 

 

Suddenly, one very peculiar Shokoy came inside the Med Bay. Looking at the Shokoy, one could assume that he was in the same age range as Aki and Urig.

 

But what made this particular Shokoy unique from the others was he didn’t have the feet of the Shokoys. Instead, he had the tail of a Sirena - but it was obvious in his facial features that he was a male. He came carrying a weak Sirena kid behind him. 

 

“Gamgam, it’s you!” Calla uttered after seeing the peculiar Shokoy.

 

“Ate Paglaom, you’re finally back!” Gamgam greeted back, also with a smile.

 

Triggs and Zaine helped Gamgam with the Sirena kid. They put the Sirena on the available stone slab.

 

“Long time no see, Ate Paglaom!” Gamgam said as he hugged Calla.

 

“It’s good to see you healthy, Gamgam,” Calla replied.

 

The cat-eyed Sirena spoke, “Gamgam, you need to rest. Your body might suffer too.”

 

“No, Ate Ikos. I can’t rest. I’m the only one who can move swiftly in the water,” Gamgam replied to the cat-eyed Sirena. “Others might still be in trouble.”

 

“I know. But you…”

 

Just before Ikos could complete her warning, Gamgam left to continue his rescue mission.

 

“That naughty kid,” Ikos uttered.

 

“Just let him be, Ate Ikos. He might be different from the others, but his heart is very strong,” said Calla.

 

Ikos had no choice but to listen to Calla.

 

“Ggguuuhh…” one of the ailing Shokoy men groaned as he forced himself to leave his bed.

 

Calla quickly rushed to the Shokoy man.

 

“Kuya Batbat, you’re body is still weak. You still need to rest,” Calla said.

 

“I couldn’t just lie here and let the kids tire themselves doing our job,” Batbat replied.

 

Aki came in to console his father, “Don’t worry Papa, we can handle it!”

 

Urig also affirmed, “Yes, Tito! We’re big boys already!”

 

Batbat couldn’t help but smile at the youngsters’ determination.

 

“By the way, where’s Dakula?” Batbat asked.

 

“I’m here!” On one of the slabs in the Med Bay lies a buffed Shokoy. The said man was like the Shokoy version of Otto with a muscular body and beefy figure.

 

“Papa! You’re finally awake!” Urig expressed as he rushed to his father.

 

“Urig, my son, have you been maintaining your diet even while I was asleep?” Dakula questioned his son.

 

Urig couldn’t answer his father.

 

Aki mischievously exposed Urig to Dakula, “No, Tito* Dakula. Urig has been munching on lots of shrimp and crabs instead of sticking to tuna and salmon like you told him.”

 

“Is that true, my son?”

 

“Ugh… Uhh…” 

 

“Come on, Dakula. He’s just a kid. Maybe he just doesn’t want to be an Ogre like you,” Batbat joked.

 

“Man! This body is the reason why those Sirena baddies go crazy over me,” Dakula replied while flexing his muscles.

 

“Looks like he’s telling the truth,” Triggs murmured as he saw the group of Sirenas blushing over Dakula’s display of hunkness.

 

Dakula leaned closer to Urig and told him some advice. “Son, if you want to be a heartthrob like me, you should always follow my advice.”

 

“But, Pa. I don’t want to be a womanizer like you,” Urig replied.

 

The others laughed at what Urig said.

 

Dakula was pretty embarrassed.

 

Clearly, the atmosphere inside the Med Bay lightened significantly compared to when they first arrived.

 

Calla was so happy to see her family recovering and having fun again.

 

“Krr… rrr… rraa~”

 

“Lady Isha?... Lady Isha is finally awake!!” one of the Sirenas noticed.

 

Hearing the news, Calla rushed to Isha. “Ohh, Isha. Sorry, I was too busy helping our family I forgot about you.”

 

“Krr… rrr… rraa~”

 

Calla hugged her turtle friend.

 

“Paglaom, I believe Lady Isha still needs to recover. Lola Bonging can give the proper treatment for her,” Ikos said. “We could take her if you want so you can continue helping the others.”

 

“Sure, please,” Calla replied. “By the way, how is she? Is Lola Bonging doing okay?”

 

“Actually, her body is also affected by what’s happening with the water. But you know her; she wouldn’t admit it because she doesn’t want us to worry about her.”

 

“Typical Lola Bonging,” Calla mumbled. “We’ll visit her later once we’re done here.”

 

“Sure. She’ll definitely be happy to see you again,” Ikos replied. “We’ll take Lady Isha there first.”

 

Calla agreed. “I’ll see you later, Isha. Please recover for us, okay?” she said to the turtle.

 

“Kraaaa~”

 

Ikos and some Sirenas took Isha outside of the Med Bay, going to the main function room.

 

Calla and the others stayed inside the Med Bay to aid the other remaining patients.

 

Another hour had passed. They finally aided all the Sirenas and Shokoys. Although some were still weak and conscious, most had already regained their strength.

 

While the team was resting, Calla chatted with her Shokoy friends. She interrogated them about the events that led to the current situation of the Domain.

 

“Kuya Batbat, could you tell us what really happened here?”

 

“It started when one Inner Bangus suddenly died. At first, we didn’t know what happened, we assumed that the fish was just old. So, we just replaced it with another Bangus.

 

Days later, another one died again. That time, we were alarmed, we examined the water. To our surprise, the magic residue was not at the normal level. 

 

We found out that the root cause was the Relic itself. It was releasing unusual amounts of magic residue that even the Bangus couldn’t handle.

 

The Relic became more unstable throughout the days. The Bangus kept dying even though we replaced them with new ones. By then, we decided not to put new fish anymore, as they would just die right away when we put them into the water.

 

The water condition deteriorated, becoming so contaminated that it also started affecting us Shokoys and Sirenas. We couldn’t do anything.”

 

The narration made Calla and the others think. 

 

Lae questioned, “Did you find out what caused the Relic to become unstable?”

 

“We haven’t yet,” Batbat answered. 

 

Dakula added something to the discussion, “However, the abnormal behavior of the Relic started when that ‘thing’ happened.”

 

Intrigued, Calla asked. “What was that ‘thing’, Kuya Dakula?”

 

“Before the first Inner Bangus died, we heard some sort of boom outside the Domain. Seemed like a shockwave. It was so loud that it made the Moon Stalactite flicker its lights.

 

Days after that, we just kept hearing loud booms, and the Relic became more unstable.”

 

The team bowed their head, trying to come up with their own speculations.

 

“Hmm… What could it be?” Calla murmured. “It was the first time that happened here. Right, Kuya Dakula?”

 

Dakula affirmed.

 

“Could it be the local fishermen?” Triggs suggested. “I mean, dynamite fishing is running rampant these days. It could be also the cause of death of the Bangus in the Lagoon.”

 

“No. That couldn’t be,” Calla’s straight answer. “The locals respect the serenity of the Island. They wouldn’t go that far.”

 

“That’s true,” Batbat agreed. “Like us, the local humans also help in conserving the purity of the Island. They know that tarnishing this place will give misfortune to them.”

 

“Hmm… If that’s the case. Could it be that there are other unknown parties responsible for the shockwaves?” Triggs uttered.

 

“We still don’t know,” Calla replied.

 

“We need to dig deeper into this investigation,” Lae urged.

 

Their discussion was interrupted when one Shokoy came back.

 

“Finally! I have searched every corner of the underwater caverns. No Sirenas nor Shokoys were left behind! Everyone is safe now!” Gamgam announced as he entered the Med Bay.

 

His body was burning with fervor when he made the announcement, like a child bragging his achievements to his friends. But the accumulated fatigue started to take its toll on his youthful body.

 

“GAMGAM!!” Calla screamed as she the Shokoy collapsed to the floor.

 

 

 

 

 

-TERMINOLOGIES-

*Tito - a Filipino term which means ‘Uncle’. The female counterpart (Auntie) is ‘Tita’