Muse of The River Chapter 9, a mai hime fanfic

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

I asked my friend to create this little pinup for us as a guide to the traditional apparel of the ancient Filipinos. So yeah…I guess you guys will now know if what you were imagining was correct Just remove the parenthesis:

(http://))(i301.)photobucket(.com)/albums/nn55/lovecraft21/charpinMOFTR(.jpg)

The artist has also left you mates with a little note:

"Hello, do forgive me if my style of drawing does not seem to be fit for the mai hime universe. At least this drawing will give you an idea of how they dress like and clarify some of the terms that will be used over and over again in the next chapters of Kampilan's story. Maraming salamat!

PS. I noticed that I have tons of typos on the descriptions so…sorry! Replace DONATE on the C. Tattoo with 'show'"

---

HAN DJ: Yes! Si Kuya Andres! Haha! The true Indio Bravo (well at least for me…Rizal had a trickle of Chinese Blood in him and Andy is pure, pure Pinoy) And yes, one of Emilio's men killed Kuya Andy and his brother in Bundok Buntis. And yes, he was amongst the greatest revolutionary leaders who defied American tyranny. I;ve tried editing Wikipedia…pero nakakainis kasi balik ng balik yung maling info.

UROOJ: Oooh no..haha! If the Spanish people are talking to one another, it's Spanish. If it's Spanish and a Filipino and of course, Filipino and Filipino, the language is Filipino. Thanks for reading!

SHIZNATS: Salamat! Thank you very much!

DREAMSHADOWER: Come on now. Use that awesome logic and think of how secret weapons work :3. Or…just keep on reading. Haha! Chie WILL get her ass kicked off towards Mars. Salamat for reading and for commenting.

FIRELARC: Thank you very much :3. I hope you'll continue to enjoy this story as much as I enjoyed writing it.

E.M PRAETORIAN: I've edited the last chapter. Haha! I did go overboard with the 'philosopher' thing. Once again, maraming salamat elder-master! I look forward to reading more of your awesome fics.

KIELI: If you are reading this now, I'd like to thank you from the bottom of my heart for everything. Bathala bless you.

CHAPTER 9

NAUGHTY! NAUGHTY! (PILYA! PILYA!)

Soaring is comparable to swimming. Birds seem to swim through the air in flight while fishes seem to soar the depths of the sea. And if one were to be immersed in an element one is not familiar with, if one were to move rapidly across some void of either air or water; then a person cannot possible tell if he/she is soaring or swimming.

And now she was soaring through the darkness or perhaps swimming in it – she could not tell. Whether it was the starlit firmament or the starlit depths of the sea – she could not tell either. Perhaps she was soaring and swimming through a black void of glittering embers at the same time. She was surpassing the speed of sound or perhaps the speed of light - Ah! The confusion was too much and she failed to perceive the place, the setting, of her glorious flight and swim.

Through the glittering lights a golden hue arose and she began to swim and soar across the void towards the moon boat.

"Natsuki!" she called out. The muse did not answer her.

"Natsuki!" she cried even louder. But the apparition was unfeeling; unmoved by her pleas for attention, and so the muse disappeared with a flash of gold.

She was left alone and the urge and the ability to fly or swim no longer lingered in her body. Suddenly they were there again; a million hands stretching out from the waves – reaching out to her and crying out with gurgled voices.

The moon began to shine again – Caramba! Such sinister light it was indeed! And the breeze began to blow; creating criss cross patterns as the dark waters of the river waved under its caress. The noises subdued, the hands sank to the bottom of the water. And Shizuru ascended up into the firmament and into the hellish darkness that tainted it! And it was from there that she saw; she realized; that the Pasig seemed to be a long black serpent, slithering across the plains of Maynila.

The waves were its scales and the reflection of the moon – That wicked, wicked moon! Aye! That sinister light! – It was the serpent's eye. And the river gazed at her! 'Serpyente!' Its jaws wide as if ready to devour its prey!

With a flash of golden light; she found herself lying still. And she felt peculiarly drenched in cold river water and she was being stretched painlessly – and my God! Such a stretching it was that it seemed endless! And she stretched to marvelous lengths! And then she realized that she was not being stretched - She was FLOWING. Flowing like the undying waters of the mother river: her skin was criss crossing as it waved under the sea breeze's caress. To her horror; she realized – That she had become the Pasig River herself. She tried to cry out, but what came out were the sounds of gushing liquid and the thousand gurgled cries of drowning men.

Then she felt that her liquid body was penetrated by a hand and its slightly calloused fingers. She looked up to see; to find with her moon eye – Natsuki, the muse herself, in moonlight splendor!

"Pasig" Natsuki said as she slit her wrists open and let the blood gush out and join the dark running waters of the river. And it flowed towards Shizuru's jaw, towards the fangs on her open mouth and she tasted it! My god! What sweet, sweet blood! What sacredly delicious blood!

And then the scent of freshly baked pandesal and kape barako filled the air.

She woke up to find herself surrounded by the four wooden walls of her room.

Natsuki ran across the cobbled stone streets, passing crowd after crowd of turning faceless heads. It was seven thirty and she was late! 'meet me at exactly seven o'clock!'. She growled as the soft voice echoed through her head 'Seven o'clock! Seven o'clock' until the scent of Dama de Noches entered her nose and she found the very beautiful Shizuru Viola standing outside of her cal y canto house.

"Oi! Shizuru!" She greeted happily as she walked briskly towards her friend/

"Magandang umaga, Narcissa! Have you eaten breakfast?"

"Yeah. Where are you off to? Your classes start at nine o'clock right?"

"Yes, and they end at five o'clock. I'm off to nowhere so I might just go wherever Narcissa wishes to go."

And they walked side by side towards the little pond, a few meters away from the Violas' house, where the purple colored lilies blossomed brilliantly under the touch of the morning light.

"Listen Shizuru, I have something to ask you."

"What is it?" But Natsuki was silent; hesitant to answer the question. "Please, Narcissa, ask me anything." Shizuru said with an assuring smile on her face. 'Please ask me if I love you… '

"Why do you hang out with me?"

"Because I like you. We're friends, aren't we?"

"B-but I'm one of them…I'm an Indio and you're-"

"A mestiza. And does it really matter, Narcissa? And do you admit that you are indeed, an Indio? An inferior human being? A creature bordering between a man and a dog?"

"No!" She said in a distressed fashion.

"There you have it."

"Damn it…you're really good at this aren't you?"

"Good at what, Narcissa? At making you blush?"

"Well yeah…that's included but…you're really sly."

"And you're good at blushing." Shizuru giggled.

"NO I AM NOT!" Natsuki spat out as her fists clenched and unclenched.

"Ara…your face begs to differ." And Shizuru leaned towards her to plant a sweet kiss on her right cheek. Natsuki jumped away; shivering at the feeling of soft, moist, lips that lingered on her skin.

"Oi! Stop that! Why do keep kissing me on the damn cheek?! Stop that! Kisses should be reserved for…well you shouldn't just keep kissing people on their cheeks! It's very coquettish!" She growled as she blushed a deep shade of red.

"It's called a beso, Narcissa, and it's a sign of endearment. It's different from what we all consider as 'romantic kisses'." Shizuru explained calmly as she covered her mouth with her lacey handkerchief to hide her impish smile.

"Well j-just don't, alright?" Natsuki said, clasping her right cheek. And then she felt it again – that peculiar feeling that made her knees weaken; that sweet, electrifying sensation that crawled up from her toes towards her reddening cheeks. And she could not help herself from staring at the pert, luscious lips that pressed themselves against her cheeks a while ago– ay! Those lips! And she shook her head in an attempt to shake the uneasy feeling off of her head but it lingered there! It lingered there like the moist, satin feeling that those lips left on her cheek! And she closed her eyes and sought of another topic to remove the strange, strange but undeniably sweet sensations that vibrated through her head.

"Shizuru, where have you been when I found you at Malapad na Bato two nights ago?"

"I visited an old friend in Buayang Bato." She replied as she removed some of the dark brown bangs that fell on her left eye. 'Ah…so Malapad na bato is the name of that cave.'

"Did you see the effigy of the crocodile?" Natsuki asked with a wide smile.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Well that's why the place is called Buwayang Bato – Stone Crocodile. There's a huge rock there that is shaped like a crocodile. You should see it on your next visit. I'm sure it'll amaze you." She explained.

"Perhaps you would like to accompany me?" She asked as with puppy dogs.

"If I'm free, I will." Natsuki replied with a smirk. "I won't be able to meet you at the gates of La Concordia later. I'm going to see Nao, alright?" She continued as she flicked her hair with right hand.

Nao… My god! The very mention of the name was enough to send her into a fit! But she drank down the venomous envy that gathered in her throat. She wanted to ask – to roar out the single, angry, interrogative pronoun that she kept screaming at the back of her head: WHY?!!?!?!!?!!!!

"That's perfect fine. Off to Nao's place for a friendly chat?"

"Sort of." Natsuki replied with a sad look on her face. "What do you think will happen to those detainees at Fort Santiago?" She continued whilst flicking the raven hair that fell on her face with her right hand.

"Ara…the ones who were captured during the inspection? I'm not sure, Narcissa."

"I couldn't sleep all night just thinking about them. Their fate greatly concerns me…they are my country men after all." Natsuki said this dully as Shizuru continued to stare at her with concerned eyes.

"If only I knew what would happen to them…and when that 'whatever' will happen…then I can be at peace." She continued with a sigh as she tucked her hands in her pants' pockets and shook her head drearily.

...

Silence.

...

"I'll go ask father."

"Will you?"

"I will, for Natsuki."

"Salamat…Shizuru." Natsuki said with a coy smile on her face.

They continued to talk to each other until it was eight o'clock – time to bid each other fare thee well. 'Paalam, Shizuru' Natsuki said ungracefully and this earned her another kiss on the cheek as they began to walk back towards the cal y canto houses, to the Dama de noche's and the red, brick house beside it.

The waves parted from each other as the San Constantino glided through the sea-green waters of Manila bay. It was a sunny afternoon and the metal railings of the ship glowed under the sun's scorching touch. The passengers on the board had become restless: running through the ship's deck, towards the railings were they took of their sombreros and waved – waved at the crowd of people: the multitude of familiar gleeful faces that awaited their arrival at the nearby port while the air was filled smelled of the sea, the sun, and of sweat. And hundreds of names escaped hundreds of lips as the ship approached the sea-swept ports.

Brown hands chicken-plucked the nylon strings of the guitar; creating sweet, sweet music. The high pitched notes faintly rose up in the air as the waves rolled in tune with the player's fingers.

"Ese lunar que tienes, cielito lindo junto a la boca
No se lo des a nadie, cielito lindo que a mi me toca"

The wind blew over his hair; parting its spiky ends like just as it separated the fleeting, foamy waves from one another.

'It was terrible! Terrible I tell you! People were dying from chicken pox everyday and still the Espanyols continued to make us work in the mines.' 'Five of them jumped at the poor girl and raped her! Dogs! Dogs! They are all dogs!' 'They were all drunk and they pushed my friends off of the Sierra Morena!' 'They raped many of the woman in our village, amigo!'

He continued to sing, ignoring the atrocious tales of the Mexican and Filipino passengers.

"Ay ay ay ay
Canta y no llores
Porque cantando se alegran
Cielito lindo los corazones."

He was off tune. He did not mind though. He was too happy, too grateful to be able to escape the clutches of the Spaniards, too overjoyed to finally be free, be far, far away from Acapulco – that wretched, wretched place! Ahay! So many friends dying, so many friends being sold off as slaves! Terrible! Terrible place! Bathala help the ones left to rot there! And he sang even louder and he played with much gusto as the ship dropped its anchor with a loud THUD! The ships' doors opened and the crowds cheered wildly for the return of their loved ones; waving handkerchiefs in the air just as the ship's sails waved under the wind's caress.

The brown passengers formed two straight lines while the white passengers left the docks without delay. The ship's purser stood in front of the lines; monotonously asking for the farers' identification papers.

"Identificación, por pabor." Rolando Villamor Esguerra - FREED "Welcome to Manila."

"Identificación, por pabor." Dionisio Porforio De Guzman -FREED "Welcome to Manila."

"Identificación, por pabor." Artemio Godofredo Cruz - FREED "Welcome to Manila."

"Identificación, por pabor." Carlos Carriaga Latundan - FREED "Welcome to Manila."

"Identificación, por pabor." Nothing.

"Hijo de Puta! Give me your Identification papers!" But the man would not give him his papers. Instead, the guitar-played lowered the sombrero on his face, pushed the purser away and dashed towards the crowds where the masses cheered for him loudly.

"Stop that Indio!" He screamed out as he tumbled into the sandy ground face-first; tasting the blood and sand on his lips. The crowds ecstatically jeered at the guwardiya sibils who ran after the man. He was everywhere! To their right – running and pushing his way through the crowd of rejoicing Indios! Behind them – running back towards the port! "OVER THER!" and they jumped at the man wearing a white shirt to find out that it was someone else! And they spotted him again – the sombrero, the white shirt, the ragged grey pants, the guitar! And they stood up, not caring to straighten their blue uniforms and ran like beasts in search of prey!

But he was too fast! The crowds were too many! The people were too noisy! And so they returned to the port, all six of them panting like dogs and sweating like pigs as they spitted away the bitter taste of defeat in between Spanish curses.

Pleasant dreams may wander off into the recesses of man's brain and there they slowly rot and fade away into oblivion. But nightmarish visions linger within the conscious mind – haunting and tormenting the being even though the night has passed; the sun has awakened; and a new day awaits the dreamer. And so she sat alone in the school library; turning the tattered pages of the old document she had borrowed from the reserved section, while the visions of last night continued to torment her.

She was exempted from her class in arithmetic so she decided to go the school's library to search for books about the old religion. To her dismay, she found but one. And it was not a book at all. It was a thesis written by the Franciscan priests during their first arrival in the Pearl of the Orient. They had studied the ancient religion for the sole purpose of making the Indios' conversion into Christianity much easier.

Word after word, paragraph after paragraph, page after page – BAH! Useless! Until she had reached the end of the book – and there! Scribbled in fading black ink was something that caught her fancy.

She kept scribbling the same word on the page of her notebook over and over again just as the librarian kept ringing and ringing the bell to make the noisy girls shut up.

Naga Naga Naga Naga Naga Naga Naga Naga Naga Naga Naga Naga Naga Naga NagaNaga Naga Naga Naga Naga Naga Naga Naga Naga Naga Naga NagaNaga Naga Naga Naga Naga Naga Naga Naga Naga Naga Naga Naga

She stopped and began to draw a snake in the middle of the page.

Naga – a deity or class of entity or being, taking the form of a very large snake-like creature/dragons.

She read the description in her mind: over and over again until she memorized every single word written on the rotting page of the book. She then wrote it underneath the drawing that she made a few seconds ago.

The bells of the chapel rang for it was now five o'clock and the rapturous cheers of the young students echoed through the whole school. They rushed out of their classrooms while the nun's chased them with useless criticisms.

Oh! Goodness! I'm dreaming my life away! She closed the book and returned it to the smiling old librarian who took it in with shaking, veined hands. She curtsied and left the library while straightening her slightly wrinkled Filipiniana, the hills of her shoes clicking as she went walked through the cream colored corridors of the school.

And then it all came crashing back into her head: the hands – the darkness. And she covered her face with her abaniko to hide her frown. Recovering from the vision, she descended from the marble stairs of the establishment while her mind drifted off towards the Pasig River and then towards the cave were the phantom hands brooded.

She passed the chapel where the model of the Lady of the miraculous medal stood erect with rays of light on the tips of her fingers and her head crowned by the stars – just like the Muse of the River.

My, my, what a lovely little heretic she truly was! Why, Anita was right all along! She was indeed amongst the perversions of natures that roamed during the night! And she bit her lower lip to suppress the laughter that begged to be released from her slender throat, where a silver crucifix dangled helplessly. And she tried to remove such heretic thoughts off of her head! But still, the statue in front of her continued to remind her of Natsuki whom she loved!…love? Why! She was already admitting to herself, confessing to herself that she was indeed, passionately and truly in love with another woman – ANOTHER WOMAN! Lecherous! Sinful! My God! She was the embodiment of Sodom and Gomorra!

Such improper thoughts! Such sinful, sinful desires! And she clasped the crucifix that was dangling from her neck and began to pray the Ave Maria to drive the cruel, cruel thoughts away. But she thought about it as she walked towards the school's quadrangle. And began to ponder on whatever it is that differentiates true love from sinful love, and why is it so sinful to love another woman? Is she truly damned for possessing this false love? And when was love ever false? Why, in the old religion of the Filipinos it was not considered a sin at all! And to love someone of the same sex was completely acceptable! Then if such a love is truly sinful and if such love was truly false: are these Filipinos being burned in hell as we speak? Are they being tortured mercilessly for love that they did not consider sinful?

"Is something wrong, Señorita Viola?" Elvira's voice broke her train of thought. Shizuru raised her head and smiled at the old woman.

"Nothing is wrong, Manang Elvira."

"Oh. Then you should go home now. The sun will set soon."

"Manang Elvira, have you ever been to the cave near the Pasig River?"

"You mean Malapad na Bato? You know child…when I was very, very young, my mother and I used to go to Malapad na Bato just to give offerings to the diwatas. It is the sacred grove and many good anitos dwell in that cave." Elvira said as she swept the dusty floors of the quadrangle with her broom.

"But when the Spanish forbade the people from entering the cave, the diwatas left the sacred grove and in their absence, the evil spirits entered the cave and it then became their dwelling place." The old woman stood up straight and looked at Shizuru sternly.

"Do not venture into the cave, child. Do not be fooled by the crystals that sparkle in the darkness for what awaits you inside is truly, truly vicious! And they shall spare you not!"

But they did spare me…

Binondo.

The exotic scent of incenses from the East floated in the air as the light reflected by the blue ceramics showered the room, causing the Buddhas and the Chinese talismans to glow in cerulean hue.

"I don't enjoy being called stupid." Natsuki said with gritted teeth.

"The truth is pretty hard to swallow." Nao remarked wickedly.

"Look, I'm really grateful for the gunpowder, Nao, but I swear to Bathala – I will kill you! I will kill you if you don't shut up!"

"Is the guilt too much pup? I'm pretty sure you're slowly transforming from the lone wolf into some white chick's lap dog." And Nao's shrill laughter filled the room. Natsuki on the other hand, did not find this humorous at all and she grunted audibly in repugnance. She restrained herself from banging Nao's head on the wall by repeating the chant that she had formulized three hours ago: 'Be grateful for the gunpowder…be grateful for the gunpowder.'

"Look mutt. This is for your own good. Stop fucking her. Right. Now." The tone of Nao's voice had dropped from sarcasm into concern.

"I am not fucking anyone, you bitch!" Natsuki snapped at Nao with clenched fists.

"What's her part in this war anyway? She's our goddamn enemy and you know it!"

"And she IS!"

"Then why the hell are you befriending her?"

"Excuse me bitch – She befriended me." She replied with a husky laugh.

"Then why the fuck did you accept her friendship?!"

"Peste Nao! Basta! I have my reasons! Now just give me the fucking package! I have to visit one of my men at Fort Santiago!"

"I'm only concerned about you, Kuga. I've known you for years now and I don't want to see you get hurt." And Nao walked towards the dark corner of the room where the statue of Buddha looked like a Hindu God, thanks to the bluish light of the room. Natsuki inspected the foreign, fat statues for a few moments, until Nao arose from the darkness of the corner; back towards the blue light with a small purple box in her hand.

"I'm not going to get hurt." Natsuki said as she took the box from Nao's hand before replacing the velvet, purple cube with twelve golden coins.

"Salamat Nao…for everything."

"Whatever! Just get the hell out of here."

Natsuki was gone and she was alone! Alone in the temple were everything was blue. The mind-boggling irony of it all! For truly, the most sarcastic being of all is fate! And fate walks upon everyman and plays cruel jokes on him for her own, twisted entertainment! For blue was indeed the color of loneliness as many would say and insist! And she glowed a bluish glow as the azure Ming dynasty ceramics smiled at the sun in his slow descent. And she felt alone – so cold, so lonely, so helpless and so…so! Piao Si! She hated to admit it and if only words would solidify and glue themselves upon the walls so that she may erase them! But she was regretful, and she wanted to take back all the harsh words that escaped her dirty mouth like flies! She felt so…so blue! Bluer than the room and its alienish azure hue! Bluer than the Ming Dynasty ceramics on the cabinets in front of her.

And she needed warmth – comfort! And she immediately removed herself from the temple: out, out into the reddening, warm sky and away from the blue, cold walls of the temple.

A kalesa trotted through the uneven streets of Binondo. She gazed at it; wondering who the passenger was and to her horror - To her shock! God, my god! How she wished she never had left the temple! How she wanted to run back, close the huge doors, and lock herself from the monster! The fiend! That slithering bitch of a-

"Magandang umaga, señorita Zhang." Shizuru greeted her with a smile.

"Oh…hell it's you. What do you want?"

"I was just wondering if you've seen my Natsuki?"

"Well Kuga isn't here so you might as well buzz off."

"Ara…and she told me she was off to see you."

"Well she must've been lying so why don't you just go home and give her sorry ass a whipping, fine?"

"Hmmm…how can I if she isn't there? Perhaps Zhang can show her to me so that I may proceed with this whipping that she speaks of." The smile did not fade from Shizuru's lips and Nao stood up quickly, defiantly while shouting out in a piercing voice: "Listen you little –"

But Shizuru exited the kalesa and stood up straight before her with questioning, crimson eyes. And she stopped in her speech, realizing that she committed a grave mistake by using the adjective 'little' when in fact, Shizuru was quite tall - taller than her.

"Okay, if you think I don't see through that mask of yours I suggest you think again you pale piece of shit."

"Ara, now, now, what mask are talking about?" Shizuru replied with a pout; mocking Nao with her cool demeanor.

"I know what you're up to! And you aren't going to lay even your smallest fucking finger on Kuga. Do you get that?"

"Ara ara…intimidated aren't we?" She scoffed at the red-head.

"What! Why the hell would I be intimidated by you?!"

"You should know why señorita Zhang, since it is you who is intimidated and not me. Mind you, but I will be late for the mass at Binondo Church." And Shizuru turned away from her; leaving Nao to grit her teeth behind her back.

"Oh and another thing…" She stopped in her tracks; opened the abaniko, placed it on her lips and fanned gently. "I'm afraid…I've already laid more than a finger on my Natsuki. Good day, Nao Zhang"

Nao was stunned and shocked to the core of her being that she was not able to muster out a proper comeback and she shivered as she sought the solace of the bluish halls and the company of the azure ceramics while Shizuru returned to the kalesa; fanning herself gently with a contented smile on her face.

'To Intramuros, please.'

The sun had completely retired from his throne in the heavens. And his wife, the moon, along with their children, the stars, had now replaced him. But tonight, the moon was meek and she hid half of her face behind the night's veil of darkness. Meanwhile, the stars did not shine as brightly as they ought to.

The kalesa stopped near the garden of Dama de Noches, just beside the Violas' brick house. Shizuru gracefully departed from the vehicle when suddenly Natsuki's deep voice sudden boomed through the cobble stone streets.

"Ohoy! Shizuru!" She was running towards Shizuru again.

"Natsuki!" She called out happily. After a day of sheer confusion and bad-mouthing, she needed some of her Natsuki's 'loving'.

"Where have you been?"

"Working. How about you?"

"Binondo." And they began to walk away from the house.

"And I had the most pleasant chat with the very courteous Nao Zhang. Mhmm...Very pleasant indeed." Natsuki turned pale.

"W-what did you talk about?" She sputtered out as suddenly turned cold.

"Well...we talked about the most beautiful creature ever to exist on earth – Natsuki Kuga."

...

Silence.

...

"Ara…why the blush? You were the one that aske-"

"Oi…Shizuru stop teasing me!"

"Things." Shizuru replied with a sigh.

"Things?" Natsuki inquired with a confused look on her face.

"Yes! Things." Shizuru said with a nod. Soon, they were once again standing by the edge of the pond. Shizuru took this opportunity to look at Natsuki: the splendidly long, black hair that framed that short face perfectly, the viridian eyes that seemed so otherwordly, the pinkish lips that…Che! There she goes again! And she removed her eyes from the lips and traveled downwards towards the… 'Oh dear God…is that what I think it is?'

"Is that a book by Rosseau? The Social Contract? My! And father said they had burned all the copies of it. I believe having that book in one's possession is considered to be a crime."

"Um! Well I-I found it on the sidewalk near the music shop! I-I'm sorry Shizuru I-"

"Oh dear…how dreadful this truly is! What to do…what to do…" And she placed the placey abaniko under her chin and twisted her beautiful face in a manner that seemed as if she was thinking very deeply.

"Shizuru please! I'll burn this right now if you want me to!"

"Or Natsuki can do something else for me…" That dread in Natsuki's heart and head was too much! And she did not even notice the sudden drop of tone in Shizuru's voice, that she replied in panic: "I'll do anything just…just please don't tell anyone that I have a copy of it."

"Kiss me." The reply was short and quick and she was stared at Shizuru with widening green eyes and mouth agape. "Wha-"

"You heard me, my naughty, naughty Natsuki Kuga…kiss me."

'Kiss me.' It was an order and she knew it. She was under threat! What was she to do? Run away?! Preposterous! A datu never runs away from an enemy! She gazed into Shizuru's crimson eyes – 'She's serious!' and realized that there were only two options: a. Obey and b. kill Shizuru. But of course, letter B. was out of the question and so she was rendered powerless! For power also lies in the number of choices – the more choices, the more powerful a man is! But now she had but one – indeed! She was helpless! And as of this very moment, she saw Shizuru as the most powerful being on earth – possessing limitless, an infinite number of choices!

And seeing that as of this very moment, she was indeed a slave made to obey Shizuru's whim; curled her toes to raise herself a little for she was smaller than the mestiza, leaned closer to Shizuru until her breath was touching the pale cheeks, and with trembling lips…

"There."

"My lips are sealed!" Shizuru replied happily with a clap.

And though this night may not be as beautiful as all the other nights that came and go before her eyes, to Shizuru Viola, tonight was indeed, amongst the greatest, the grandest, the most spectacular nights she had in her entire life.

And she refused to wash her face. For it had been kissed by a goddess

And as lay in her bed. A living artwork resting on white lacey sheets.

She sighed contentedly, reminiscing the sweet two seconds – the sweetest two seconds of her entire life. And she kissed the moon goodnight and wished for pleasant dreams…and by pleasant, she meant of dreams were Natsuki's kisses were more than mere pecks…

Ara! There she goes again! Naught, naughty girl!

DICTIONARY:

Identificación, por pabor - Spanish: Identification, please

Magandang Umaga- Filpino: Good morning!

Piao Si - Chinese: Son of a bitch!

abaniko - lacey fan

*The San Constantino is a ship from Acapulco, Mexico and the passengers are poloistas who have been granted 'VISAS' to enter Manila. Some are Filipinos whose contracts have already been terminated while some are Mexican merchants. The Polo Y Servicios is forced labor for the male natives between 16-60 years old. It was terrible to be a poloista – you are literally a SLAVE to the Spanish authorities. And so many Mexicans and Filipinos died from abuse and hard work, while the more fortunate ones were able to escape or reach the end of their four year contracts. In truth, the 4 year contract was not followed by the Spanish. Many of the poloistas were made to work for more than 4 years and some were even sold as slaves for life.

*The man is singing CIELITO LINDO, a traditional Mexican song. This goes to show that he has spent years and years working in the Acapulco slave trade.

*The social contract, as well as other books that spoke of Nationalism and HUMAN RIGHTS were banned in the Philippines because the Spanish authorities were fearful that these books may ignite the revolution. Possession of these illegal books was considered a crime and it was enough reason for one to get tortured in Fort Santiago. Little did they know that the local literary works would be the one to finally end their tyranny.

*Filipinos, Thais, Malaysians, Indonesians, Borneans, Hawaiiwans, and some Indians (particularly those living in Madagascar) came from one stock of sea-faring ancient people called the AUSTRONESIANS. For reasons that we still aren't able to find out, the Austronesians migrated from SUNDALAND towards different parts of the world. So do not be surprised that there are similarities in the culture of the mentioned ethnicities.

Next chapter: more shiznat loving of course! and who is the strange man from Acapulco? And Shizuru gets to face her greatest rival yet: NATSUKI'S SWORN LOVER.