The Talisman Of Bathala

Chapter 16- Eldar the...Ermitanyo??

WHAT WAS REAL AND WHAT WAS FAKE?

This was a question that Ribu found difficult to answer, especially after finding out that he was a god.

After a while, he was able to sort all the supernatural nonsense into three types: myth, legend, and fiction.

Myths were the stories about divine beings, like him. With that logic, yes. Most of the myths were real.

A legend is known to be an extremely exaggerated and somewhat true story. But then again, the gods were real. So there was a fifty-fifty chance that the legends were also real, and not exaggerated.

On the other hand, fiction was...fiction. It was a made-up story meant for entertainment.

He found out that he was the deity of thunder and lightning. He had fought mythical creatures. He had seen the greatest deity die.

But never in his life did he think that something like this would be true.

"Eldar the wizard...you exist??!?"

"Ermitanyo, but yes. I exist." He smiled at them. "Before anything, I'd just like to say that it is an honor to be in your presence."

Eldar...looked like Santa Claus as a wizard. He was a wrinkly old man with a thick white beard and twisty white mustache. He wore a purple robe embroidered with big stars, a pointy hat, and a pair of spectacles.

He was very kind, as he confronted them and led them to his office, saying that he might be able to help with their predicament.

"Aren't ermitanyos supposed to be secluded from society?"

"Yes, and I did live like that for a long time. But then someone came and thought I was a wizard, and decided that he had to create an amusement park here and make me one of his mascots.

Of course, I wasn't the one going around and greeting people. They hired others to do that, so technically, I was still living as an ermitanyo.

It was a stretch, but in this way, I was able to be remembered by society, no matter how faulty the legend was."

"But enough about me," he leaned forward eagerly. "If I may ask, how is everything? How is our Dear Creator?"

Ribu looked down. "Bathala...is dead."

"Oh." Eldar's smile disappeared. "Pray tell, what happened?"

They explained to him what happened so far: how they found Talia, Apol's betrayal, their meeting with Maria Makiling, and Talia's...predicament.

"We were hoping you would be able to help us," Talia finished. "With you being somewhat new, we thought you would be able to give us some advice."

"Of course, anything to help." Eldar straightened his posture. "To the matter at hand: Talia here obtained some of Bathala's power, yes? She might be able to permit all of you, but it would have to happen somewhere that has a connection with that realm, just to be safe, somewhere like...Batala! It is a sacred place in the Tagalog pantheon."

Maya cringed. "That place isn't available at the moment. It's...complicated."

"Well then," Eldar shifted in his seat, "We can't go to the Underworld either, for obvious reasons, so where else could Kaluwalhatian be linked to..."