Eternal Promise: Fragments Of Us

SIDAPA

WHEN we arrived, the creature was in awe when he saw my tree. The tree that I used to carve all the lifelines of every soul was about 20 feet tall. To someone else’s perspective, it looked lifeless and ugly. It was all black and had no single leaf growing on its branches. Even its glow was dim. I was the only one who appreciated its beauty.

It was purposely designed to look that way. Before I decided to live on this mountain, I was told by Kaptan-God of the Heavens and Skies-that human hearts were fragile. If they were to face something that was beyond what they could acquire in this world, they would do anything in their power to possess it. They were easily fooled by beauty and disregarded the hideous.

In order to protect my tree and for me to continue guiding souls in the afterlife, the tree had to become something repulsive to the sight.

“You live here?” the creature asked. He was still sitting comfortably in my arms. He didn’t really mind all the oozing darkness that surrounded me. My true form was something no one would want to see in their dreams.

“He is a very large creature standing 12 foot tall. He has 10 golden brass horns on his head that intertwine against each other, resembling a crown. He has a body that shouts ‘death’ when somebody sees him, his spine protruding on his back. The graphite color of his skin is something you can’t adore. A black material is growing out of his arms and it extends up to his shoulders. From his waist down is the color of darkness. He has deep, black eyes with white pupils, and sometimes they glow. Lastly, his face will haunt you in your dreams forever,” I recited.

My companion lifted his head up to meet my eyes. “Are you referring to yourself, Mister?” he asked. Not a hint of fear was shown on his face.

“Aren’t you afraid?” I asked in a low voice. “Please say that you are,” I begged.

“Why?” he asked in confusion. Then, he stretched out his arms and he gently cupped my cheeks with both of his hands. “You are handsome, Mister,” he uttered, before smiling earnestly. He wasn’t lying. I could tell from the look in his eyes.

That was the first time that someone complimented me. It was unbelievable, but it warmed me up inside.

“I’m going to drop you,” I said, and I covered my face with black smoke to hide my embarrassment.

“Huh?! Why?!” he squealed. “You meanie!” He threw several punches on my chest, and it felt like I was getting hit by a tiny bird. I put him down on the ground. He still threw a fit but soon stopped when I no longer spoke and distanced myself a little. “Um… Do you have anything that I can use to disinfect my injury?” he suddenly asked. He was calmer now.

I gasped when I remembered about it, and I quickly left to find some herbal plants nearby. It didn’t take me that long to find one. I handed over some leaves and vines to the guy, and he accepted them.

“Wrap them around your leg. It will ease the swelling,” I told him, and he just stared at the leaves. “What? You don’t know how?” I raised an eyebrow. I laughed when he shook his head.

“Don’t laugh at me, Mister! I am not from here, so I really have no idea about these… these things you gave me,” he admitted. “What are these for?” he asked with teary eyes, before showing me the vines.

“Use that to tie the leaves together so they won’t fall off when you move,” I said, and he looked more confused.

“Please put the leaves for me,” he pleaded.

“What?” I exclaimed. “My claws… I might hurt you,” I refused.

He sat down and sighed. He felt hopeless. “Can I ask you something?” he opened up while trying to figure out how to apply the leaves on his injury at the same time.

“What is it?” I said.

“Who are you, Mister?” he asked. He got frustrated when some of the leaves kept falling off while he was trying to wrap the vine around them. “Ouch.” He flinched when he tied it too tight.

“Sidapa. That’s my name,” I replied.

He stopped what he was doing and faced me. looking amazed. “Sidapa, the God of Death?” he exclaimed.

“Y-Yes,” I confirmed hesitantly. He didn’t have to sound so excited about it. “What happened to you, anyway? Where did you come from?” I confronted him.

“I was hiding from Bakunawa,” he simply replied.

“Bakunawa? The sea serpent?” I reaffirmed. He nodded in return. “Why were you hiding from him?” I asked in curiosity.

“He tried to eat me!” he half yelled. “Bakunawa is a meanie! He also tried to eat my brothers but none of them were afraid of him, so he was unsuccessful everytime,” he added.

“Eat? Why would Bakunawa eat you? And brothers? What are you talking about? Didn’t you say you fell off? Bakunawa lives in the sea. Where were you anyway?” I asked consecutively. He was giving me a headache.

“I live up there,” he said, and casually pointed his finger to the sky.

I looked up to the sky. “The 7 moons…” I uttered to myself. “Are you one of the 7 moons?” I asked him, and he nodded.

“Yes. I am Libulan,” he confirmed.

“Everything makes sense now,” I said, before sighing and sat next to him. “No wonder you had such glow in you.”

“Glow?” he asked. I saw the leaves on his leg poorly positioned. Even the vine wasn’t tied properly. I came closer to fix it. My claws were sharp so I was extra careful, and hoped that I wouldn’t accidentally break his bone or something. Libulan silently watched me and waited for me to finish.

“The moons illuminate the evening sky. Your light guides people that travel at night and helps them see where they are going,” I said. “Which one are you?”

“I am the waning crescent,” he shyly revealed.

“So you were that moon that’s almost invisible!” I exclaimed, then smiled faintly. “I was always fascinated by your light. You emitted the least glow up there and I thought that somehow it was almost the same as the glow of my tree,” I told him.

He smirked playfully before saying, “Were you stalking me, Mister?”

I got embarrassed right away and averted my eyes. “Please, just call me ‘Sidapa’,” I begged. I heard him chuckle. Then, he forced himself to stand up and walked towards my tree. I got nervous and asked him, “Where are you going?” He didn’t respond and just kept walking.

He stopped right in front of it. He stared at it for some time before asking me for permission to touch it. “Can I?”

I was not comfortable. It was the first time that someone took interest in my tree. But he looked like he really wanted to know what it felt like so I allowed him. “Go ahead.”

Libulan gently pressed his right palm on the trunk of the tree. I heard him inhale then he ran his fingers on the marks that I left on its surface, carefully tracing them while staring at them intently. While he took his time appreciating my tree, I found myself staring at him, mesmerized by his beauty and overwhelming presence.

?What’s this feeling?」 I thought to myself. I suddenly felt ticklish all over my body.

“These marks…” Libulan softly uttered, and I was pulled back to reality. “Did you make them?”

“Yes,” I confirmed. “Those marks represent the lifeline of every human that was born. Each one of them leads to a branch. When it’s time for one to die, I cut that branch off. The branch will eventually grow back,” I explained.

“Don’t you feel sad?” he asked with a hurt expression.

“Sad?” I asked back in confusion.

Libulan traced the marks again before answering. “Don’t you think that death is such a sad thing?” I saw a droplet of tear fall from the corner of his eyes.

For thousands of years, I had never thought of such a thing. Sad? What was sad about it? Living was more cruel than death. A lot of mortals had suffered just by living alone. When I cut off their branches and sent them to their final destinations, I felt relieved that they didn’t have to go through that kind of pain anymore. Those who wanted to correct their mistakes were given second chances to be reborn into another body. Some only took one chance to redeem themselves, but others took more than five reincarnations before they found their salvation.

It was hard for me to watch it happen. For someone who never experienced death, I might sound like a hypocrite. But I saw how mortals evolved through time. I wouldn’t be surprised if a mere human killed a God one of these days.

“I can’t die so I don’t think I understand what you mean,” I said to him.

“You’re right,” he chuckled. “Us, Gods, can’t die. Only a fellow God can kill us,” he uttered. If you watched closely, Libulan had a very sad look on his face, but I didn’t notice it yet at that time. “Sidapa, can I come by again?” That took me by surprise, but I was thrilled that I met someone who didn’t fear me despite seeing my true form.

I looked at the sky once more before facing Libulan with a smile. “Absolutely.”

I, Sidapa, God of Death, made a friend.

*salakab – hand woven basket used to store fish. In this story, the salakab is used as storage for souls that have undecided fates

?to be continued」