Anito Anarchy (The Chaos of the Spirits)

Chapter 25: A Peculiar Oddity

After a short moment of confusion, a majestic image of my brother flashed in my head. He was skillfully swinging a pair of glowing blades, illuminating the vast darkness surrounding him. Built into the hilt of each sword were magnificent-looking images of stallions in different colors — black and white.

"Are these what I think they are?" I curiously asked.

"Those two belong to your brother," Mayari replied. "Those were his Agimat and he called it Tikbalang. I'd been keeping that here since we parted ways that night, but I know it will be better if you keep it yourself."

Then, I remembered that my brother's chess box, the one retrieved from his dorm room, had been missing two important pieces, a black and a white knight. Looking at the two wooden pieces, everything suddenly made perfect sense. Also, Tikbalang is a well-known creature in ancient mythology that refers to a powerful creature with a horse's upper body, mostly its head, and a human's lower body. A name that was very fitting for this weapon. Then, I asked, "Are these the ones that he used to turn into a pair of sundangs?"

"Yes, that is his weapon of combat," Mayari answered. "Tikbalang, the twin sundangs."

"Thank you for entrusting them to me, Mayari," I gratefully said. "I will take good care of them. And hopefully, I'll be able to personally return these to my brother soon."

Mayari nodded and continued with her earlier dialogue. "Aside from an attack inflected by diwa and an Agimat, there is a third and final way to effectively combat a Phantom. It's through using a Soulmancer power against them. To help you understand this more, I think I need to talk more about the second bubble under the Whispered, the Babaylan, or a Soulmancer."

"If Phantom is considered a temporary possession, Soulmancer is the other way around. It's more of a permanent possession," Mayari continued. "This happens when an Anito and a Whispered have a very high level of compatibility. If this condition is met, an Anito can inhabit the Whispered's body and merge with it permanently. The Whispered will gain additional powers and abilities, making it a Soulmancer. But this one is a bit more complicated. Though an Anito and a Whispered can be very compatible, that doesn't mean the Anito can control or overpower the Soulmaner's body completely like a Phantom. Most Anitos that inhabit a Soulmancer can stay inside their host's body in a dormant state for a long time, even after the host perishes. Because of this, most Soulmancer still have complete control of their powers and can even use the abilities and skills of the Anito lying within them as an alternative source of power. Once a Soulmancer learns to harness the Anito's power within them, they can use it to do different things, most commonly for fighting. And among all the three ways to combat a Phantom or other Whispered, this is the most effective and powerful."