The Talisman Of Bathala

CHAPTER 1- FUN FIELD TRIP! not.

I GROANED into my hands, thinking, 'why me?'

It was the annual "Educational Field Trip Day!" which meant being in a museum the whole day, listening to tour guides talk about the national and our history and culture and blah blah blah. As you can tell, what I am trying to convey is that this was going to be boring.

The only thing that made this worth it is the fact that they gave free food after this, 'cause who doesn't love free food?

"Okay, class! Time to get in the Museum of Philippine History. No pushing!" One of the teachers, Maya said.

At least she was also here.

Maya is an albino Filipino like me and my mom, also pretty mischievous with bright blue eyes with a few flecks of orange. Also, there's one thing that you know about her: she can only see in one eye. How? No one knows. Oooh. Mysterious.

So, all of us went into the museum. It was actually pretty cool looking, with all the bolos*[1], statues, and tameng*[2] inside.

"Now, as you all know, there are lots of mythologies were studied and taught to us by our ancestors, the most famous one being Greek mythology. But little did they know, we Filipinos also have our own mythology. Currently, the most known god in Philippine mythology is Bathala*[3], who had 3 beautiful daughters." Ms. Maya said, with a hint of smugness.

"As if we're gonna use this in real life," Ryan, one of the best (note sarcasm) students said smugly, making the whole class laugh.

"Well, Ryan." Ms. Maya said coldly, pointedly looking at him. "It may not be useful in real life, but it's in your exam. So, if you would like to pass, I suggest you shut up."

That wiped the smile off his face. And made the class, including me, laugh.

"Now, as I was saying, Bathala was the highest-ranking god who fell in love with a mortal woman and had 3 daughters. Can any of you tell me their names?" Maya said.

Silence...........

"Anyone?"

......

"You know what, forget it. I know that all of you are dumb. Bathala had 3 daughters: Mayari, Hanan, and Tala."

I don't know why, but I felt a sense of familiarity in the back of my mind when she said that sentence like I know those names from somewhere, but I don't know where I heard it.

.......Maybe I heard it in a TV show. Yeah, that explains it.

"Now, the three daughters were also made into deities. Mayari, the deity of the moon, Hanan, the goddess of dawn, and Tala, the goddess of sta-"

She was suddenly interrupted by a ringing sound from her pocket. She grumbled and answered it.

"Hello, this is Maya. I'm sorry, I'm a little busy at the moment- wait for what?" Ms. Maya's expression turned from irritation to concern.

"He did what? So he knows? Okay, don't panic. I'll be right there." She ended the call and looked at the class, looking tense.

"Okay class, there seems to be a problem in the school, so I'll leave you to Mr. Kevin here, one of the tour guides that graciously agreed to help us, while I go and fix the problem. Someone get him. I think he's in the eastern wing."

Everyone groaned, even me.

But I wonder, what was so important that it made Ms. Maya rush out? And that conversation Ms. Maya had was pretty weird.....

......Meh. I'm too young for stress.

"Class, get moving! NOW!" Ms. Maya said so scarily that it made all of us go to the eastern wing.

Well, after that, the tour guide explained everything happily, not leaving a single detail about anything, yadda yadda.

After a few hours (felt more like days) all of us sat on our seats on the bus. With the food, of course.

When the driver started driving, his spa music playlist, (a thing that actually exists) started playing.

And the bus driver was singing along to it too. And he was a sintonado*[4]

"La-la-la-la-la la-la-la-la-la!" The bus driver said while tapping his fingers to the beat.

I groaned. Well, at least this day couldn't get any wor-

"Hoy*[5], Talia!" A familiar snobby voice said beside me.

I cringed, looked at my left, and made eye contact with my first hate, Ryan.

I sighed. "Ano*[6], Ryan?"

"Can I borrow your phone?" Then he smirked. "Oh wait, you're too poor to have one."

I smiled innocently at him. "Oh, sorry, what did you say? I was too distracted by your ugly face."

After I said that, the whole bus, even the bus driver, said oooh. Then the bus driver started singing again.

He turned into a tomato, (which BTW, makin people do that is my best talent) then leaned in dangerously close to my face, scowling. "Why you LITTL-"

"RYAN CRUZ!" a voice said, full of authority.

All of the students instinctively turned to the source, and when everyone, including me, saw who said that, all of us paled.

Why?

Well, that was Mr. Leon, the strictest teacher at Pilina High School.

The reason why he was so respected out of fear was that he worked in the military for 5 years. I guess old attitudes die hard.

"Ryan Cruz, for breaking the great harmony of silence inside this bus, you will suffer after-school detention. Am I clear?" Mr. Leon said icily.

Ryan faked a smile, and said, "Yes, Sir Leon!"

"Good. And Ms. Balatik?" He said, robotically turning his head to my direction.

I gulped. "Yes, Sir Leon?"

He smirked at me. "Nice comeback."

I sighed in relief. Looks like Mr. Leon woke up in a great mood.

But there's only one thing.

The driver changed the spa music to Zumba music.

In a nutshell, the next hours on that bus was very excruciating.

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GLOSSARY

[1] Bolos: A large knife. It is very similar to a machete. In the past, it was used as a weapon for fighting. Nowadays, it's just used for cutting bamboo and coconuts. DA COCONUT NUT IS A BIG BIG NUT- *cough* sorry. It happens sometimes.

[2] Tameng: Art thoust a woodenth shield. Th.

[3] Bathala: You know how in Greek mythology they have Zeus Angrypants and in Norse, they have One-eyed Jack- I mean Odin? Well, jokes on you, we Filipinos have one too! ......he has a weird sense of fashion.

[4] Sintonado: A very common kind of species across the world. Their special attack: Singing. Weakness: They baaaad at special attack.

[4] Hoy: Hey! or Psst! I guarantee that saying this over and over will be a successful way to annoy someone. And it would only cost you a hard slap!

[5] Ano: What? Whatwhatwhatwhatwhatwhatwhatwhat-
But seriously. It means wut.