Tall mountain ranges that prostrated how mighty they are,

Surrounded by the cold breeze of ocean waves.

The lush, green, and vibrant forest made its trail towards a tiny pack of tents.

There stood quiet grounds for slaves...

A barricade of wooden spikes and high towering woods as outpost embraced the whole grounds.

At its entrance,

A thick-red-banner made from red threads and golden linings is seen.

With some mysterious pattern drawn to it: It was the Banner of Lumin's Tribe.

Inside of one of the numerous tents, Miguel whose now inside of a frail, young boy is gasping for breath, drenched in a cold sweat all over his body.

"Hang in there buddy. or whatever that new word you told me. I still have to learn from you."

Toto faintly whispers towards Miguel worriedly.

The tent inside was lit with two torches. Miguel's body was neatly placed in a stack of hay while the dirty ground nestled beneath the hay.

Looking at Miguel, Toto couldn't help but notice how different he looked compared to them.

He mumbles...

"Look how different you are, but the way you treated me was like of that of a brother..."

He had a slightly sharper feature, like how his nose bridge is higher that made his nose sharper. His skin is much more pale compared to them, unlike Miguel who had a light brown complexion.

Because generally, the people here are brown but darker. Also, his fingers were longer compared to their robust, short fingers and probably Toto thinks that Miguel is taller compared to the usual height of kids around their age.

Then, Toto was startled with a sudden voice!

[5] "Evil Spirit! Leave immediately! Leave this boy's body! Under the influence of the great Anito of Lumin's Tribe, I cleanse this boy's body!"

An old woman impassioned by her chant spoke fervently.

Her eyes were closed while slapping Miguel's body with a stalk of leaves.

She wore a dark robe with golden swirly patterns as its linings and she was covered with different kinds of stones as her accessories.

When you see her, you can probably tell from a glance that she was very old.

Because of her hair that is all white and her wrinkled skin.

Toto observed the old woman for a while, as he began to feel intrigued by why the old woman is slapping Miguel.

"Won't that hurt him instead?" He thought.

Nevertheless, the guard brought her here so she probably could help Miguel.

"Great Shaman, please heal Argus" Toto pleaded.

In Miguel's drowsy fare, he had a bizarre experience as he began seeing different images.

Toto has been nervous the whole time and after many breaths, he finally mustered the courage to speak "Hey! Old woman, stop hitting him! I don't care if they respect you as a shaman but you better heal him. or else..."

The old woman shrugged her head helplessly by this sudden display of disrespect.

"Patience young man, do not interfere. The evil spirit had started invading this boy's body. If I fail to focus my energy, in a few short breaths I won't be able to dispel this evil force."

Toto sighed, he could only mumble unto himself "Well you look like you're hitting him"

And slightly nodded helplessly.

Suddenly, the Miguel who had been unconscious for quite some time, drenched in sweat all over his body opened his eyes. And with a trembling voice, he uttered slowly...

"Lia!"

Toto and the Shaman alternately looked at each other.

Then a burst of exclaims escaped their breaths.

"Argus!"

"Finally!"

Miguel stared at the Shaman in front of him, this woman stopped spanking his body with that foul odored, stalk of leaves. The Shaman stared Miguel deeply, examining him with great curiosity.

Her brows knitted closely and could not help but to utter... "That's strange..."

Then after some thought the Shaman spoke:

"Well, it is a Success. I successfully dispelled that strong evil force, but somehow it looks like the threat did not vanish yet."

Argus who had just woken up was confused with furrowed brows he angrily asked Toto

"Eyy! Toto! What the heck did this old woman did to my body?"

Toto could only timidly reply and was helpless to even explain to Miguel what just happened.

Miguel observed for a while, then calmed himself. After gnashing his teeth, he came to understand what just happened.

While drinking the water inside the barrel, he collapsed; afterward, he experienced pain while those images and scenes were being portrayed in rapid succession.

Those scenes and images he saw were all the memories of the previous owner of the body, Argus.

Inaudibly, Miguel experienced pain, joy, bliss, and suffering that is close to hell.

All at once, those emotions came at him in a flood!

He also could not forget the Agony that Argus must have felt during his last years of living.

But those details were still insufficient to grasp his current place because of the intense emotions that Argus left him, especially pertaining to that girl named Lia.

Argus died one day, due to excessive labor by that crooked robust man who ordered Miguel in the morning.

After General Miguel was executed publicly, his soul and memories transcended to find another body and luckily he found the body of Argus. Who knows how it happened? But one thing is for sure, General Miguel is now the 15-year-old boy who wears tattered clothes and with deep bruises named Argus.

After thinking deeply-extremely deep, Miguel whose name now is Argus thanked the old woman.

"Thanks, old woman." Miguel smiled.

"The ancestral spirits warned me of this incident. I did not expect that it was you." The Shaman mysteriously said.

"Well, Call me Elder Shana. I am one of the Shaman's this tribe has." Then The Shaman introduced herself.

"Elder Shana? Shaman? Tribe? Where am I?" Miguel began firing questions.

The Shaman smiled. "This must be fate. I was once a  member of your tribe, but due to some reasons... I had to flee. And the former Grand Elder of the group of Shamans here accepted me. Lumin Tribe did not have any Alipin's Grounds before..."

The Shaman made a sorrowful look, you can see the flash of experiences that her eyes expressed.

After a long sigh, the Shaman suddenly opened the back of her robe.

Miguel stared at Toto in confusion, which Toto answered back with a shrug.

Miguel thought...

"Damn you old woman! I did not ask you to strip! Hell no!"

As the Shaman opened her robe's back, engraved markings were seen.

Her bareback skin was explicitly exposed.

"Damn this old woman, who wants a stinky wrinkled old woman? did she gotten senile to suddenly do this?" Miguel thought. But began noticing the mysterious carvings on the Shaman's back.

"What is that?" Miguel asked.

Upon noticing the marks, Toto was awed and gawking. His mouth was stretched widely.

"Those are... the Khalip's Tribal mark!" Toto frantically screamed.

"Khalip?"

Then, the Shaman closed her robes. She looked both of her sideways and she even sneaked a peek outside the tent, making sure there was nobody outside. And he faced Toto and Miguel with a faint smile.

[6] "Yes, those are the mark of my former tribe which now had fallen due to Lumin's continuous attacks and invasion. How are you, our dearest young Ranoan?"

"Ranoan?" Miguel was confused at first, then he remembered that Argus is actually a member of some sort of royalty and Ranoan seems to be what they call to a Chieftain's son. But in this place the chieftain seems to be regarded as a King by their fellow tribes, then the Ranoan seems to be regarded as a Prince.

With his newly found knowledge. Miguel replied with a smile towards the Shaman while giving a glance to Toto.

Toto scratched his head, the only thought he has now is that Argus really seemed weird today.

Looking perplexed Toto glanced at Argus and then he said...

"We are at the era of Conquest, the tribe who conquers plenty of islands guarantees its people's survival"

Miguel's brows knitted closely, he was confused.

"What era are you talking about? All the available land was all now conquered by the collaboration of three nations!" Miguel shouted.

Upon hearing what Miguel said, it was now Toto's turn to become confused.

He can't help but ask "Argus are you alright?"

"No! What era of Conquest? What year are we now? What Calendar are you using? Answer me!"

Miguel felt a tingly sense of nervousness as if another mystery crawled into him.

Until now, he still could not believe that he is now inside of the body of a 15-year-old kid named Argus, yet he tried stabilizing his emotions and tried really hard to appear calm. But right at this moment, he does not even know what to feel anymore.

Seeing the sharp, menacing glare from Miguel, it was the first time Toto saw this side of Argus.

He meekly replied "Calendar? is that a new word?"

Then, Miguel lost it. He alternately stared towards Toto and then to the Shaman.

And like a cue, the Shaman immediately picked up.

"What is troubling you, my dearest Ranoan?" The Shaman asked.

At that moment, Miguel had an unexplainable burst of emotions. First, it was grief, then it was madness, then it gradually turned sorrowful. Remembering his past, he can't help but form a conclusion. Joining the pieces together since awakening this morning, although he had promised to himself to throw every worry at the back of his head away; his mind could not help but think.

"That explains everything. Their backward way of doing things. And why this place looked eerily familiar to the old Danao which I knew before our land got destroyed..."

He murmured like crazy, this action of his made the Shaman and Toto worried.

Then, Miguel calmed down while a tear slowly poured at his right eye which he immediately wiped clean. He smiled towards the Shaman.

"May I ask you whenever I am troubled?" Miguel asked.

The Shaman sighed "I am sorry. Our dearest Ranoan, you are now a lowly Alipin. you do not have any freedom." And with a sorrowful look, the Shaman could not contain her pity anymore as she bowed her head.

After a brief pause, the Shaman added "I'll go sneak here sometimes."

Hearing this from the Shaman, Miguel faintly nodded. Toto saw how sad Miguel was, right at that moment. He sympathized with Miguel as his fellow Alipin and that of a brother.

"You may now leave. My sincerest gratitude again, Elder Shana..." Miguel bid the Shaman a farewell.

"I'll go inform the guards." The Shaman walked out of the tent.

"So this was Millennium years, past before my age..."

Miguel softly whispered and his words drifted through the cold breeze of the night's eve.

 

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[5]Anito = Totem, Also spelled Anitu, refers to ancestral spirits, nature spirits, or deities in the indigenous animistic religions before colonial/pre-colonial Ophir.

[6]Ranoan = Title or name called for the son of a Datu.

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To Be Continued...