Notorious Nightingale

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Kumain agad kami nang dumating ang aming hapunan. Pagkatapos ay natulog kami agad habang si Shinigami naman ay nanatiling gising upang manipulahin ang kaniyang mga alagang gumagala sa siyudad. Hindi ko alam kung anong oras na siya natulog kasama sina Enzo at Lilith.

Paggising namin ay umaga na, agad naman kaming naghanda para sa araw na ito. Tiningnan ko ang kalendaryong nakapaskil sa pader ng lobi—13 Hunyo 1892. It’s been more than a month already since my life has changed. Hindi ko inakala na ganito ang magiging takbo ng kuwento ng buhay ko. Everything was going well for me, until Pope Mateo Xavier III happened.

Habang naglalakad kami sa kalye ng Encora City ay maraming mga tao ang pumapasyal din. Naalala ko ang sinabi ng guwardiya kagabi sa entrada ng lugar na ito na tuwing araw ng pista at pagdiriwang dito ay marami talagang naglalakbay upang manood sa pagpapalabas ng mga kapwa salamangkero. It so happened that we will perform too. We just got our ticket to play at the Magical Stage thanks to the gold plate that Marshall gave. It was very useful as we were treated as VIPs too.

“Did your beasts find the sirens?” I asked Shinigami as we walked at the streets. May napansin naman akong tindahan na nagtitinda ng mga subenir. Agad akong naglakad papunta roon. There were a lot of keychains of magical creatures, ngunit ang napansin ko na karamihan sa mga disenyong binebenta nila ay mga sirena.

Naglakad ako papasok sa tindahan at nakita ang mga salamin. They reflected me—I was disguised, ang tanging makikita lang ay ang aking mga mata. I was wearing a colorful veil with some jewelries attached on it, this is in preparation for the performance tonight. There is also a maroon cloth that covered my nose down, it was hanging so that if I was to play the flute, hindi ko na kailangang ibaba pa ang maskara.

Thank God as well that there are only select-few people who knows about the God’s Eyes, according to Marshall himself. Since it is a very old myth. Not even the best scholars in the world have the slightest idea of it. Ang mga taong malapit lang talaga sa pamilyang Nightingale ang nakakaalam, at ang aking Night Court.

Also, since Enzo and Shinigami are blacklisted and Lilith is a real magical creature that is forbidden by the Church, kami nina Marayuka at Wynonah lang ang puwedeng mag-perform sa entablado. I decided to have the others who won’t perform to guard the place in case of unusual activities. Nararamdaman ko pa rin ang mabigat na tensyon sa siyudad na ito sa kabila ng kasiglahan ng mga tao rito. Alam kong nararamdaman din ng mga kasama ko ang pagkabahalang nakatago sa mga kulay ng Encora City.

Naglibot ako sa loob ng tindahan habang hinahanap ang may-ari. Habang naglalakad naman ay sinagot ni Shinigami ang tanong ko.

“My beasts did not find them. There is no clue... Pero may narinig ang isa sa mga alaga ko na usapan.”

“And that is?” I asked. Hindi ko magawang tumingin sa kaniyang mga mata. Pakiramdam ko ay kakabahan ako kapag harapin ko siya, o basta makita ang kaniyang mukha. Kaya nauuna lagi akong maglakad. Ang ibang mga kasama naman namin ay tumungo sa ibang mga lugar. Some bought things, while Wynonah busied herself trying to figure out where in the place is the pearl leading her.

So, it was just Shinigami and I.

“Gaya ng sinabi ng tagapagsilbi sa tinuluyan natin, there will be an auction that will be the highlight of the festival. I heard from some people that they’re going to sell actual sirens.” Tumingin ako sa paligid—kaya pala karamihan sa mga disenyo at dekorasyon ay may koneksyon sa tubig at mga sirena.

It all makes sense to me now.

“Hindi ko lang maintindihan kung paano nangyari iyon? Matagal nang tinago ng Church ang katotohanan, that there are magical creatures as well in the world, they also branded these creatures as reincarnations of evil and purely fictional. Just legends and myths. If they were going to sell actual sirens, they’d go against the Church as sirens are magical creatures.”

Nagulat ako nang may isang babae agad ang nakatayo sa pagitan namin ni Shinigami. Ngumiti ito. She seems to be the store-owner. “Hindi ko maiwasang marinig ang inyong usapan. Tama ka sa mga sinabi mo—the church has branded these magical creatures as evil and also, fictional. But the Church, in the name of Pope-King Mateo Xavier III, has also announced by a decree that ever since the death of the late princess, Zendaya Zandeyi Nightingale, who cursed the kingdom and perhaps the whole Terra Forma with her evil magic, magical creatures have started to roam around the world. They must have come alive thanks to her... Of course, the idea is frightening. So, the Church allowed the capture of magical creatures and for them to be tamed and sold in order to assert our dominance over these creatures and to avoid panic. This is to tell people that we are still in control despite the damages that Zendaya has done to the land. May mga totoong sirena ang nahuli... Kaya ang tema ng Magical Festival ngayon ay Waters & Sirens, dahil may mga totoong sirena ang maibebenta bilang sentro ng selebrasyon pagkatapos ng performance ng mga magicians.” Mahabang pagpapaliwanag ng babae.

Hindi ko maiwasang magalit dahil sa aking nalaman. “Thank you for the information.” I told the woman, lumabas na agad kami ni Shinigami sa tindahan. Pagkatapos ay bumuntonghininga ako. “The Church has used the magical creatures as scapegoats... Ginawa ng Church na tila mga hayop ang mga magical creatures na tulad nina Lilith at ng kapamilya ni Wynonah.” Hindi ko maiwasang magalit dahil sa aking nalaman. The Church is too sick, especially the head who leads it. “Also, for them to distort the truth... Blaming me once more for this. I am losing my faith to humanity, but I have to keep going because there are still a few people I need to protect.”

Nagulat ako nang hawakan ni Shinigami ang aking kamay. His hands were warm and rough, they gave me the sense of comfort... As if in his actions, he was telling me that I am not alone.

Agad kong binawi ang aking kamay mula sa kaniya kasabay ng pagpintig ng aking puso, “u-uhm... Since we know now that the sirens will be auctioned tonight, we’ll prepare a good amount of money to buy them all. Then, we’ll set them free to be with their new queen, Wynonah. As much as possible, we have to avoid making a commotion. We have to stay lowkey until the day we are prepared.” Tumingin ako sa mga nagpapatrol na mga holy knights sa paligid. “Also, the place will be full of innocent lives. So, if we ever make trouble here due to unexpected circumstances, we have to minimize the casualty... We cannot give out ourselves too and reveal our identity. Until the day that we are ready to strike, that is the time we will finally show ourselves. For now, we have to handle this matter peacefully.”

Chapter 54

“I’ll inform the others, then.” Sagot ni Shinigami. We walked back to the inn after walking around the place to inspect. Sapat na ang impormasyon na nakuha namin upang gawin ang plano na sinabi ko.

I hope everything will be well.

While waiting the time out after my Night Court was fed with the necessary information, Marayuka, Wynonah, and I practiced our performance.

I played a magical music with my flute while they used their magic to create beautiful things. Wynonah used her water magic to create magical creatures and Marayuka seemed to give life to these beautiful creatures with her light magic—a glow formed on the eyes of the creatures with the body of water. They danced along my music. It was beautiful. Dahil pinakilala namin ang aming mga sarili bilang mga tagapagpalabas, we had to see through it to avoid suspicion.

“Okay, sorry to ruin your practice, but we saw this posted at the Hunters Guild Board.” Pumasok sina Enzo at Lilith sa silid dahilan upang matigil ang aming pag-ensayo. Lumipad si Lilith at pinakita sa amin ang isang papel.

Marayuka Arada. Bounty on head: 500,000 gold coins. Light magician, accomplice of the killer of Archbishop Francis Rosini. The main killer is already hanged, the only one left is this woman.

“Walang hiya.” Kumuyom ang aking kamao. “They’ve already set up an innocent person for a crime he or she never committed. And now Marayuka is branded as a criminal too.”

“Well, it is suspicious that she suddenly went missing on the day that the said priest died along with other holy knights.” Sagot naman ni Shinigami na kakapasok lang din sa silid. “Anyway, I already told you about this. Get used to it.”

“I can’t and I won’t. I have to do something about it.”

“At the right time, Zendaya.” Lilith said, “anyways, kayong dalawa na lang ni Wynonah ang maaaring mag-perform.”

Halata naman ang kalungkutan sa mukha ni Marayuka pagkatapos. When these two were in the academy, they also used to perform in the said festival. So, this was easy for them as they have already experiences. Iyon ang kuwento nila sa akin kanina.

“Also, Marayuka, you need to disguise yourself already. It’s saddening that the Church did not brand you as dead, you would have been freer.” Umiling pa si Lilith, “but we cannot do anything about it anymore. You’ll be with us tonight.”

Tumango naman si Marayuka.

“Mabuti na lang talaga at pumasyal kami sa sentro at nakita ito.” Enzo said after a few seconds of silence, he then looked at me and smiled, “how’s your date with Shinigami?”

Agad namang namula ang tenga ni Shinigami dahil sa sinabi ni Enzo. Ako naman ay nataranta.

“W-What? Anong date?” I stuttered.

Lilith just chuckled and looked at Enzo, “you can fool everyone but not me.” Umiling pa ito sa kaniya.

We were all left clueless with what she said. Muli naman kaming bumalik ni Wynonah sa aming pag-practice while Marayuka pouted and sat down to just watch us instead.

I looked at Enzo who was watching me intently as I played the flute, beside him was Shinigami as well who seems to be enjoying the music along with the others.

We were at our room at the inn. Humarap ako sa nakabukas na pintuan ng beranda kung saan matatanaw ang siyudad. Habang tumutugtog ako ng musika at ginagamit ni Wynonah ang kaniyang kapangyarihan upang bumuo ng mga nilalang sa anyong tubig na sumasayaw ay pinagmasdan ko lang ang tanawin.

When I stopped playing the flute, everyone was already looking at me weirdly.

“What?”

“We were just mesmerized. Your music is soothing and calming for the soul.” Shinigami replied and they all agreed.

~*~

Question: Will everything go well for Zendaya and her Night Court when they save the sirens?