Calla and the others rushed to aid Gamgam. They placed the unconscious body of the young Shokoy onto one of the stone slabs.
“What a stubborn kid,” Dakula uttered, but in a commendatory way.
“Oh, Gamgam… You don't have to push yourself too hard every time,” Calla murmured to the unconscious Gamgam.
“I believe the intense magic residue in the water finally took its toll on his body,” Batbat said.
Calla concurred. Using her Words, she forced Gamgam to drink Primordial Water.
“This will help neutralize the magic residues in his body. But he still needs to rest,” Calla stated.
She, then, requested something from Lae, “Lae, I need to go purify the waters. Can you please stay here to watch over my family? Some of them still need your healing.”
“Sure. Just do what you need to do,” Lae replied.
Calla left the Med Bay and went to the shorelines. She dipped her palms into the water to examine its condition.
“The magic residues are increasing rapidly,” she observed.
Without further ado, she chanted a Word to purify the water.
“LUTUM REMOTIONEM!”
Her hands shimmered like a shiny pearl underwater.
“This will do for a while,” she murmured as she wiped the sweat on her forehead.
Suddenly, when she was about to move, she felt her legs weakening. She felt lightheadedness as her body experienced a cold rush.
Her body wobbled as she forced her wavering steps. Calla was about to collapse, but luckily, Triggs came to catch her body.
“Calla, are you okay!?”
“It’s okay, Triggs. I’m fine. It’s just the aftereffects of using my Words,” Calla replied with a weak voice.
“How can I help you? Should I bring you to the Med Bay?”
“No. No need. I can handle it myself,” Calla said with an assuring tone.
Calla cupped her hands together. She chanted,
“AQUA PURIFICA!”
Water condensed on her palms. Instantly, Calla restored her strength after drinking the conjured water.
“Triggs, you still remember when we talked about the Giyas’ conditions to their Favored Ones, right?”
“Yes. What about it?”
“You see, Ate Panee gives me a condition every time I use a Word. I need to exchange my body’s energy depending on how strong the Word is,” Calla explained.
“However, I can solve it just by drinking Primordial Water,” Calla added. “It’s funny, right? The solution for the drawback of using a Word is also using another Word.”
“Pretty convenient if you ask me,” Triggs commented. “By the way, I’m still wondering. You kept talking about Primordial Water; you even let me consume it a while ago. What is it really?”
“Oh! Primordial Water is Ate Panee’s greatest gift to this world! It is water in its purest form - there is nothing more pure than it. It can replenish our body and like the Hanziel Fruit, it could also cleanse our soul.”
“I see…”
“It is very rare to find it in nature. And I am the only one on Earth that can conjure it,” Calla bragged like a child.
“That’s pretty cool,” Triggs replied. “But are you okay now, Calla? I think you need to rest.”
“No. There’s no time to rest. I only purified the inner waters for a while. But if the Relic keeps releasing high amounts of residues, the water will turn back to being harmful again.”
“I understand. Just tell us what we need to do.”
“For now, we need to go to the Fish Hatchery. I think it’s now safe to add new Bangus to the water,” Calla stated.
Suddenly, she became enthusiastic, as if she thought of something exciting. “Oh! Oh! I will introduce you to her!”
“Uhm… Who?”
Calla didn’t answer the question. She just grabbed Triggs’ hand as she led the way to one of the Domain’s caves.
…
…
…
The Fish Hatchery was a chamber much bigger than the Med Bay. Like the other areas in the Domain, glowing stalactites also illuminated the room.
In the middle of the Hatchery was a pond the size of an Olympic swimming pool. Swimming in the pond were Bangus with different sizes.
Inside the room were 2 distinct Sirenas: one of them had fiery-red hair, and the other black as a shadow.
Judging by the human features of the Sirena, it could be assumed that they were slightly more mature than Triggs and Calla. However, their beauty was prestigious, surpassing the Sirenas they met a while ago.
“Mama Hamis! Tita Laad!” Calla greeted the 2 Sirenas.
“My, my… If it isn’t my sweet baby,” the Sirena with black hair replied with a soothing voice.
They hugged each other at their reunion.
Calla introduced her family to Triggs.
“Triggs, this is Mama Hamis…” as she introduced the Sirena with black hair. “... she was the one who took care of me when I was still living here.”
“Oh, Paglaom. Please don’t call me ‘Mama’. It makes me feel old,” Hamis said with her sweet voice.
“And this is Tita Laad,” Calla introduced the red-haired Sirena. “She was the one who found me and Isha on the Island. She was the one who took me here.”
Triggs also introduced himself, “Hello po. My name is Triggs.”
“What a handsome young man!” Laad complimented Triggs.
Triggs was flattered. He just scratched his head with a blushing face.
“Hmm…. Is he your boyfriend, Paglaom?” Laad asked.
Calla was caught off guard. Her face turned red like a cherry.
“My, my… My Paglaom is not a baby anymore,” Hamis teased.
Embarrassed, Calla denied it. “N-No! You-You’re getting it all wrong!”
The 2 Sirenas giggled.
To save herself from embarrassment, Calla hurriedly walked to the edge of the pond to see the swimming Bangus. She tried to change the topic by asking, “Ho-How are the fishies?”
“I believe they’re doing well,” Laad said. “The water here is cleaner and safer. The Bangus thrived well.”
“That’s good to hear,” Calla replied. “Triggs, this is what I was talking about a while ago. All of the Bangus came from this Hatchery.”
Triggs was fascinated.
“All of these Bangus are descendants of the Two Original Bangus,” Calla added.
Triggs was intrigued. “‘Original Bangus’?”
“Mmm-hmm! I think this legend is popular with the locals of Caramoan,” Calla replied. She started narrating,
“A long long time ago, a fisherman fell in love with each other. However, the fisherman’s family was against their relationship. When the town folks knew about their relationship, they became furious, seeing it as bad luck.
The couple prayed to the gods - all they wanted was to love each other in peace. They just wanted to live a happy life together. The gods saw the purity of their love, so they granted the couple’s wish. The gods turned them into Enchanted Bangus.
The Bangus lived together peacefully. The gods swore to protect them, cursing whoever would go against their love. From then on, they propagated until they bore many baby fishies.
This legend is true. It was testified by Lola Bonging herself.”
Laad started teasing Calla again, “Good thing you and Triggs are both humans; you don’t need to transform into Bangus to love each other peacefully.”
“Titaaaaaaaa!!” Calla squeaked.
ZAABOOOOOOMMM!!!
A thunderous shockwave shook the Domain. The walls trembled and the lights in the stalactites flickered like a burnt-out light bulb.
The source of the thunderous boom was outside the Domain, but the rumbling echoed in the place.
“It’s happening again,” Hamis said.
“This one is louder than the previous ones,” Laad stated.
Triggs and Calla, together with the 2 Sirenas, rushed outside the Hatchery.
Already outside were crowds of Sirenas lined up on the shores of the Bay. The Sirenas were chattering with one another as they set their gaze at the now turbulent Water Sphere.
Unlike a while ago, the Water Sphere looked very chaotic: the swirling of water had become stronger and unstable, and the Relic inside seemed to emit an unusual glow.
Lae and Zaine also came out of the Med Bay, accompanied by Urig and Aki.
“The Relic is becoming unstable again!” Urig screamed.
Triggs and the team huddled together to discuss the situation.
“You felt it too, right? What can you say? What do you think it was?” Triggs’ questions.
“It felt like thunder,” Calla said.
“But the sky was clear when we entered the Domain. There was no storm forecasted in this area,” Lae’s sentiments.
The mystery made the team think deeply.
ZABOOOOOMMMMM!!
Another shockwave was felt, and it was much stronger than the previous one. Some stalactites fell from the ceiling because of the strong impact of the wave.
Terrified noises filled the Domain as the Sirenas and Shokoys scuffled their way to safety.
“Well, there’s one way to find out what it is,” Triggs uttered.
Lae agreed. “With an impact this strong, I’m sure the source is still on the Island.”
Zaine and Calla also agreed.
The team rushed as they prepared what they needed for their departure: weapons, equipment, and everything needed for battle. They left the Domain with the goal of hunting the source of the destructive shockwaves.
