Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter and any of its characters, settings and the like, as well as Neil Gaiman's creations in the Sandman comics. Also, I don't own Trese by Budjette Tan and Kajo Baldisimo, which is by the way a absolutely engrossing graphic novel read.
A/N: I apologize if this one took longer than usual, real life managed to sidetrack me with my start up business and at the moment, still doing my damndest to not let my current lack of wanted results deter me from pushing forward. Thus, it also applies for the Hunter and The Hunted and The Face of Vengeance, in doing my damndest to finish it.
A/N 2: Again, thanks to frustratedstudent for doing beta and reminding me that this chapter and all succeeding chapters are being looked forward to.
Legends:
"Words" – Speech
"Words" – Thought Speech
'Words' – Thoughts
Chapter 2: Isla del Fuego
In the Philippine Archipelago, nothing shouts mystery and the occult more than the Island of Siquijor. It has been that way even before the Spanish Times. The small community of magic practitioners in the country treats the island with respect and awe, while encouraging the superstitious beliefs and fear of their normal brethren to keep the muggles from breaching the International Statue of Secrecy.
A sudden gust of wind spins around a clearing in the middle of the mountainous jungles of Siquijor. A moment later, two women and a man appeared out of thin air in the middle of the clearing just near dawn. An old woman came out of the jungle and met the three, her walking staff guiding her to the destination. The torches lit up around the clearing as the woman came towards them
"It is an honor and a pleasure to be graced by your visit, Mistress Sidapa. Lino and Ishmael have just approached me for an idea they have and require your approval." The old lady said, giving a slow bow to Death, before adding "It is an honor to finally see Harry Potter and Luna Lovegood, although it is regretful that you are accompanying the Goddess. I did not expect the tales of your untimely demise from the Bristish Isles to be true. My apologies to both of you."
With a strong tap from the bottom end of her staff, the veil around the clearing disappeared and an entire city was visible. It was a treetop community, the grounds given freely for the various creatures Newt Scamander had never recorded in his book along with some stores managed by magical people like them.
Death smiled at her two companions and whispered "Stay close to me and you'll be under my aegis. As you now learn, young Harry, Death comes in different forms and names. To you, I look like Neil Gaiman's death. To Luna, I am the Grim Reaper. To our host and this country known as the Philippines, I am the Mistress Sidapa, at least to those who still read up on 'Philippine Mythology'."
The three were lead up to the treetops through a spiral staircase by the old lady ahead of them, who wore a loose floral dress. She gestured to the ground and remarked "I believe Ms. Lovegood would find it interesting to have a look around the grounds while I rest my legs." The lady sat down on one of the higher steps and Death talked to her in earnest, motioning Harry and Luna to look below on the makeshift balcony.
Luna closed her eyes and smelled the fresh mix of sea and mountain as she stepped out then opened it. Below them was a whole city of magical creatures they've never seen or heard about before. There were forest giants playing basketball on one side while tall horse-headed men played football. Mud men walking through with small fairy sized beings guiding them to buy chocolates from a store managed by a young brown skinned witch.
Harry placed a hand on her shoulder and asked "So have you ever found the Crumple Horned Snorkack?"
Luna looked into his eyes for a moment, the twinkle lost for a moment before hiding again in her wonder at the place. "I was about to go to a new expedition to Sweden the day after my last visit to your place, but my passing stopped me from having that one attempt. Until now, I thought I'd never see have a chance to prove my father right, but now after seeing this…" Luna gestured to the sight below them "the world is bigger than I ever imagined. The Snorkack is definitely out there." She smiled and looked into Harry's eyes then shook her head.
"But I'll never have the chance to publish the write ups for the entire existence of the Crumple Horned Snorkack. I will never be able to clear my father name, or share the real code behind the Quibbler to you, Ron, Hermione and Neville. I will never finish my mother's last work, a ritual meant to revive people who have just died, even if they were hit by the Avada Kedavra. That's why I did my very best to stay in the mortal coil, to save you from being the one to exterminate Ginerva, but I failed that too."
Silent tears were on Luna's face as she muttered the last sentence, her resolve keeping her from screaming to the top of her lungs of the promised vengeance she would unleash upon her ex-bestfriend. Harry wrapped his arms around her as did she and it was perfectly tranquil those few moments.
Luna broke off from the hug, looked into Harry's eyes again and a raging fire could be seen from her eyes. "Promise me one thing Harry." She said. Harry nodded and Luna continued "that I will be the one to finish her and remove her from this mortal coil. You can have Zacharias Smith or Anthony Goldstein, but only I should have the right to make Ginerva Weasley's last few moments on this planet agonizing enough for her to wish it to end." Looking into Luna's eyes, Harry could see the absolute hatred and coldness embodied on her request and the hair on the back of his neck stood up from her words. 'Back then I would have tried my very best to dissuade her, but right now, I can't help but agree with her request.' He thought, noting that Death and the old woman they were with are done with their conversation and are heading towards them.
"Let's hurry up, you will have time to see our humble world. I admit, Diagon Alley is organized compared to our kagubatan, but this is home." The old lady remarked, again leading the three behind her towards the top of one of the ancient trees. Upon reaching the top, there was a beautiful view of the islands on the north and west and the clear blue ocean to the east and south. The old lady who guided them disappeared into one of the nipa huts for a moment or two before an attractive young brown-skinned lady of around twenty years old, wearing a fitted shirt and jeans, along with flip flops. She had flowing silky smooth black hair flowing freely up to her upper back and her hazel brown eyes had a tinge of blood red on it.
"I apologize for the cloak and dagger scheme, I can't have anyone recognize my younger appearance, especially since the normals here in Siquijor are very wary of sorcery plus a couple of old ladies still recognize my youthful self. I am Rosa Blanco, the Babaylan or Chieftain – Priestess of the Philippine Islands. Of course, the people in this Island would have known me as Boscia Bulongon a couple of decades back before I faked my death at the hands of one of my squib sons." The lady said, offering a quick handshake for Harry and Luna.
"I have lived since the end of the Spanish Era, rendered my assistance to the Americans instead of my countrymen since Emilio Aguinaldo would have lead the country to ruin, replacing tyranny with a monarchy, absolutely bad idea from that Caviteño and his revolution. Foiled the Japanese from winning the battle of Leyte Gulf and have led the magical community of my country to keep our presence as hidden as possible by throwing confusion and superstition at every turn and myth. I of course, kept an eye to the mundane government and sadly, I think I have to intercede once more."
Luna's eyes lit up upon realizing who she was really talking to. With a cheerful voice, she asked "Are you really Rosa Blanco, the current representative of the East Indies to the International Confederation of Wizards? My father had always speculated you coming from the American Colonial period. And did Magsaysay really want to reveal the true existence of the magical world?"
At the hearing of the name Magsaysay, her eyes turned from lively to melancholic. "And I have always wondered if making his plane crash was the wisest choice." She paused, biting her lower lip before taking a deep breath to continue. "Although I would fault him for spoiling and babying our countrymen, he was a good man, an honest to Merlin leader in every sense of the word. But during our third talk after introducing myself, as I had for the presidents of the Commonwealth and Second Republic , he was hell bent on breaking the Statue of Secrecy. I argued that the normals would only think he was crazy, but the Confederation would not be moved. I had no choice but to resort to that drastic measure and killed a good friend. After that, I had stopped helping my beloved country, save that one time I cured Mrs. Marcos of the fish scale problem she had that was cast against her by a sea dwelling hag after the construction of the San Juanico Bridge ruined the hag's house." She paused once more and took out two wooden bracelets with glowing blue engravings on them.
The sun was casting a calming light as dawn broke through and the breeze flowed through Rosa's hair. She turned away from the two after handing the two a bracelet each. "Harry Potter, the mistress instructed me to teach you the true abilities of the Hallows and why the Peverells were allowed to enchant them. It would help you in your quest to bring balance to our world, as you have years ago."
Harry and Luna wore the bracelets and thought about her words. 'It isn't just about justice, as Death had said. At least there are no surprises from her end.' Harry thought, seeing Rosa turn away from them.
Rosa took a deep breath and stared into the horizon, "The bracelets enable to you to interact with my countrymen without any problems. Translators if you will. And at least I can keep track of you two so you will not be lost or do something to offend my people accidentally. Do have fun, you both deserve it."
The two walked down the tree towards the activities below and as they were gone, Rosa closed her eyes and said "I wish I could set things right like what they will do for England. While I don't regret that bastard Roxas' heart attack, perhaps Sergio, Ramon or Ferdinand might have done a better job than the cowardly elitist pigs now if I had helped them and the country more. Maybe my countrymen wouldn't be treated by the world like shit…"
As she spoke these words, Death placed a gentle hand on her shoulder and shook her head, "It is balance, Rosa. It's someone else's turn to be on the lead. Your people will have their chance for glory and gold in the future, be patient."
x-x-x-x-x-x
Making their way to the makeshift stalls and various creatures living side by side with the magical populace, Harry and Luna took their time to have a feel about their surroundings and the beings in it. While walking, Luna saw a sketchpad and some charcoal pencils, but she when she got there, she remembered that she didn't have any galleons on her.
"It's alright Luna, don't worry. I remember your painting in your room." Harry said, placing a comforting arm on her shoulder and slowly moved her away.
However, the lady manning the stall spoke, saying "You are the guests of our dearest friend Ms. Rosa. For her guests, everything from our stalls are free for you. We just write it up for her tab and your pretty friend may have these." She gave the sketchpad and charcoal pencils to Luna with a beaming smile. "Besides, you're Harry Potter and Luna Lovegood. If it wasn't for you, Voldemort would have been banging in our shores by now."
Luna smiled back and whispered a soft thanks before turning her attention to Harry. "Harry, let us see the whole new world right here."
It took the most of the day, but they finished cataloging most of the beings they've found. "So, we're done interviewing the tikbalang which are the horse-headed men. We'll have to emphasize don't try beating them on a race or riding on them, just so they won't have to give out those three wishes. The kapre are the forest giants that can cloak themselves on trees. The lamang lupa are the mud men we saw that are actually golem controlled by the fairy sized beings who are actually the lamang lupa. The Wind people have tribes such as the Amihan Tribe and Habagat Tribe. Also, we've talked couple of peaceful aswang apparently who hunt stray dogs instead of humans. And Liksi, the tikbalang colt, did tell us that it's just scratching the surface of the beings in the Philippines, even if some of them like the mananangal and batibat are hostile if Liksi is to be believed. Even their gods are wandering around, like Death whom is worshiped here as the Mistress Sidapa."
Rosa appeared behind the two, saying "Are you both having fun?" She was on her younger facade, looking like a young gypsy girl with a shawl and a colorful patterned dress. Her hazel eyes looked unfocused, but Harry wasn't fooled with that because she kept an eye on all of the visitors.
"We did a cataloging of the different beings here, maybe add them on the Fantastic Beasts and where to find them through Rolf Scamander if given the chance." Luna said with a soft smile on her face.
Rosa smiled back and winked in approval. "Good thinking. However, not all the creatures of my country are as welcoming to strangers as my guests here. Best stick with me for now, the sun is setting and I wanted for you to enjoy the view, showing why Siquijor is known as Isla Del Fuego."
Rosa showed them around, offering some street foods like Kwek-kwek (hardboiled quail eggs covered in batter) and laughing softly at Harry when he ate one balut then made a grim wince.
"So much for Gryffindor courage, Harry?" Luna joked, her eyes twinkling from the entire experience together with him, while keeping a straight face after eating her balut. She rather enjoyed it.
Harry only shook his head at her and Rosa signaled to the both of them to hold her hand. Both did and they levitated off the ground, zooming off towards the highest peak of the mountains.
As the sky darkened, the stars lit up around them and Rosa pointed down. The two looked at the jungle below them and fireflies were plentiful, flying around in different patterns and formations to the delight of the beings viewing the display. "The Spaniards called this island Isla Del Fuego, the island of fire because of the fireflies. But there was a more sinister development in why. For the longest time, it was thought that the Muslims had the fiercest resistance to the Spanish invasion. However, they were wrong. The Babaylans of the islands of Siquijor and Antique had fought their magicals, never being conquered by them. Whenever the green light of the Avada Kedavra flies out from one of the Spanish wands, the fireflies flock to them and immolate them in seconds. That's the real reason why we are called Isla Del Fuego. We've provided sanctuary to our people and our siblings under Bathala and Sidapa through any means possible, even if it is some of the darkest and most unforgivable of magics."
Harry shook his head at this and looked at Rosa coldly, "But there has to be other ways? They're wizards and witches like us. They have families like us."
Rosa looked at Harry intensely, the hazel of her eyes all lost, replaced by blood red. She retorted "Hence the reason you died. For once, the Mistress brought me to teach you, yet you are unwilling to listen. Listen to me Harry James Potter because I am only saying this once. I am a dark witch by your standards, but I only adhere to these gifts simply because it is the quickest and simplest means to reach balance and justice. It doesn't matter what the means are because if you suddenly put your own morality to something that would cost the lives of millions of people, then you are being unfair to those people. Tomorrow, I expect you to never question me again. I have sacrificed much more than you can imagine for the security and peace of everyone here." With those words, she disappeared.
Luna wrapped her hands around Harry's waist and whispered "I will never dictate on you Harry. Where you go, I will go." She kissed his shoulder and urged him to just watch the fireflies and be under the stars as they both think about the price of Harry's justice and Luna's revenge.