HISTORIA

ACT 2. PAGE 15: A NEW ERA

It happened in a blink of an eye.

Del laid frozen on the ground, clutching the pendant in his hand as he panted heavily when the bullet came and created such a loud bang, he swore he had gone deaf. There was a faint ringing in his ears when he sat up and tried looking around, vision blurred by the tears that swelled in his eyes.

With shaky hands, he slowly loosened his grip on the pendant, noticing a heavy weight on top of him and a horrible, pungent smell. He shifted and tried to see what- no, who was on top of him.

Martial was laying directly on Del, unmoving. At first glance, it wouldn't seem like anything has went wrong until you took a closer look and noticed how still Martial was. Del shook Martial by his arm, anxiety bubbling within his stomach when Martial doesn't immediately respond to his shaking.

"Mar...?" Del called out to him this time. If shaking him didn't work, then he had to hear him speak. If not, then...

Hukbalahap stood there, with wide eyes that were threatening to spill with tears. She took a hesitant step back when Del called to Martial, but the latter didn't respond. Hukbalahap's eyes darted to the two fishermen brothers from a while ago. She could no longer hear any of their cries as one brother mourned for the other. There was no sign of movement, no resistance against uncomfortable sand, which is where they laid.

And then she looked at Martial, who was nowhere different from them. Not a single sound or movement from the younger boy that could convince her that he was okay, that he was still breathing. She would give anything- absolutely anything for Martial to respond to Del when he calls him. Prayers and wishes were silently being chanted in her mind, but there was only one thing that seemed to linger within the deepest parts of her consciousness.

Death is axiomatic.

She finally screamed when golden blood began to leak from Martial's clothes. It stained the sand, Del's own clothes, and Hukbalahap's own hands when she falls onto her knees, the blood greeting her with a sinister smile.

.

.

.

"Hey... Did you guys hear that?"

"I heard it too! It sounded like a gunshot! It came from the South-West part of the coastline!"

The smell of fear and uncertainty lingered in the air as the crowd began conspiring, hushed whispers and mumbles when the sudden sound of a gunshot was heard from afar. The crowd was just about to have another lunch banquet under the supervision of Urduja and Magdiwang when they heard what was unmistakably the burst of a gun, the discharge of a bullet.

Children were in the area, being kept close to their parents and guardians when the adults began to whisper in panicked voices among themselves. They were trembling, casting worried glances at their playmates and siblings when their parents began whispering something about escape.

However, the people weren't the only ones alarmed. Urduja and Magdiwang, who were both sitting at the farthest end of the table, heard the loud bang as well. Urduja was the first to stand up between the two, eyes wide and body tense while Magdiwang kept a straight face and eyed his sister from the side.

The Maharlikan warriors that guarded their sides stared at the two Superior Masters as well, anxiously awaiting their next order with their hands itching to grab the swords at their sides and run off to wherever the sound came from. Urduja grit her teeth and gave Magdiwang a glance before she turns around to face her people.

"Do not panic," Urduja declared in an unwavering voice, trying her best to sound unworried infront of her people, "Everyone, please enter your homes until further notice. Our guards will escort you there."