The Hidden Ones

The Return

It has been a few hours since Rich and Bryan parted ways and having all that time to himself, Rich did exactly what Byran told him to do. He went so see a couple of movies which he really did not like, some slapstick comedy and formulaic rom-com which for him lacked any form of substance but strangely enough, those were the movies that the locals were queuing up to watch. He thought that these people were so weird in their taste for movies, you would would end up nuts after watching a few of these movies but to them they were a blockbuster hit! 

"Look at this place." Rich thought "It's barely even recognizable. When I left, it was just a collection of villages with only the walled city of Manila being the biggest structure here, but now it is a metropolitan area of millions of people with a population density higher than New York. And I thought New York was already crowded. I would literally bump into people walking the sidewalks here. And the pollution is over the top. The Pasig river was clean and teeming with fish when he left, it was the lifeblood of the city, but now he doubts if there's still a fish living in the muddy, murky waters of the river..." "Mr. Richard Sinclair?" Called out the attendant in the spa that he went to in order to get some rest and relaxation. "Yes, that's me." Rich answered. Richard Sinclair was the identity that he has assumed in this generation, a Wall Street investment banker from New York, American of French-Filipino descent, 28 years old, single. "Here is your card, sir. Thank you and please come again." the attendant said. "Thanks, I had a great time." Rich replied. He can't help but feel that everyone was looking at him, at the corner of his eyes he saw some attendants whispering and giggling at each other and that was not the first time today, the same thing happened in the restaurant in even on the street. "It must be the jacket, I think I should really do some shopping." he told himself. 

It was past 4:00 p.m. when he received a call from Bryan. "Hey where are you? it's already past 4:00 p.m." He told Bryan over the phone. "Yeah I know, I'm sorry. Something came up so I'm running late. Where are you?" Bryan asked "I'm here in Greenbelt."Rich replied. "Alright, I'll be there soon. Let's just meet at the Greenbelt park." Bryan said "Alright, just call me once you're there."

A good thirty minutes has passed when Bryan arrived at the park and just as he was about to call Rich on his phone, he saw the tall figure figure of a man wearing a simple blue shirt hugging his thin yet muscular body and capri pants. He knew even from the back that it was Rich, and when the man turned his head he was sure that it was his friend. Rich was really a handsome man, all those models in Paris and Milan would look average when compared to Rich. If it were the days of old prior to the Great Loss, he would have been worshiped by a cult of maidens, that's the effect that he has on women. 

"You're finally here. I've waited for you for ages." Rich said. "It's only a few hours, you can live through that. You've even waited hundreds of years to return here." Bryan rebutted "Well shall we go? How will we  go there? Will we fly?" Rich asked "You just returned here, now you want to be banished again? You know that we're not supposed to use our powers unless it was really necessary. You'll blow our cover if you do that." Bryan countered "Well, how are we supposed to go there then?" Rich asked. "Well, we'll take a cab." Bryan answered. "I have a better idea, come with me..." Rich said dragging Bryan like a kid to the parking lot. "Here, catch." rich said as he threw a set of keys to Bryan's direction which the latter caught. "What's this?"Bryan asked "Just press the key-chain" Rich replied. As soon as Bryan pressed the button on the key-chain, a red 2013 Ferrari 458 Italia came alive. "What the hell, Ricardo! You know how much this car costs? It's worth five times my house!" Bryan said in surprise. "Exactly the reaction I was expecting from a cheapskate like you. I can afford it so I bought it. Anyway, enough of your yapping let's go. You'll be my chauffeur since you know the place better." Rich smiled and said "By the way, you'll be the first to drive this car, so don't scratch it." Bryan was in awe because he has been living like a normal person for a long time and every incarnation that he assumes, he donates to charity whatever material possessions that he accumulates. Never in his life had he imagined that he would be driving a car that can only be afforded by the upper one percent of human society. He could not even dream of purchasing a car on his meager salary as a correspondent. "Don't just stand there Bry, we mustn't keep the elders waiting especially with the horrendous traffic here, you'll need plenty of time just to keep your appointments."