a/n: Or, the simpler Filipino translation for the title: TAYA. This is just a lil BTR Halloween fic for kicks, and my very first one too :") Since we don't exactly celebrate the holiday here (and everyone's seen their fair share of Western monsters in fics) I thought it would be an interesting idea to use my country's extensive roster of supernatural characters instead, and incorporate themes of PH folklore, traditions, and culture with it. I know it's not the most conventional of spooky fics, but I still had fun writing this and I could only hope that there's a thing or two to be learned in between all the silly shenanigans and overly-contrived plot points. I didn't really take it too seriously tbh so take this rep with a whole bag of msg lmao. ik no one's gonna read this dumb story anyway bc it's vv boring and stupid but oh well

Firstly, some few things to note: the most common Filipino word for 'uncle' is actually 'tito', but I used 'tío' anyway, since Carlos is the one saying it so it makes more sense—and since our language heavily derives from Spanish, 'tiyo' is also an accepted word. And yes, I know US Americans don't normally use uncle as a respectful term towards unrelated older gentlemen, but my lame excuse is that the boys got closely familiar enough to get used to it, so *sad raspberry noises* The village of San Lorenzo is also fictional and not based on any singular IRL town/location, though there is a tradition of naming villages (or 'barangays', as we call them) after Catholic saints, so there are probably dozens of San Lorenzos littered around the country anyway.

Just few more loose ends: this fic was actually written last year and now I'm speedrunning editing it, so any mistakes are fully mine to own. There's also a fair amount of Filipino/Tagalog dialogue and words, so I've included translations for it (they're the ones enclosed in parentheses and bold + italicised, like this). Although I am Big Dumb and not a linguistics expert neither in English nor my own native language(s), so please excuse any awkward transliterations, missed nuances, and syntax errors. And lastly, there are a lot of things to be explained, but I tried not to make this too much of an expositional infodump so apologies for any confusions. Anyway, sorry for the rambly note and if anyone ever feels up for reading this, thank you so much and I hope you enjoy. Salamat ❤


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There was only one bus on the way to the small village where Carlos and his four companions were headed off to. It was an island in the Philippines located somewhere in Luzon—the biggest of all three island groups in the country—yet the actual place itself was barely a visible dot easily covered by a fingertip when Crispin Del Rosario pointed it out to Carlos and his best friends on the map.

A few hours prior, the plane they boarded from Minnesota had reached its ultimate destination after some layovers and finally landed at the NAIA airport in Manila City. And several taxi stops, a quick bumpy jeepney ride (where everyone bought fragrant sampaguita leis peddled by children from the nearby church), and a very crammed journey in a couple of colourful motorised tricycles and pedal rickshaws (called 'pedicabs') later, the travelling group managed to find their place at a bus station, where the repatriated citizen and acting tour guide got the younger newcomers on the right scheduled bus just before it departed for the town of San Lorenzo.

Tío Crispin was dozing off somewhere at the very back of the bus, his feet propped up on the back of the seats and the dusty trucker's cap on his face not doing much to muffle the loud snoring that rivalled even the noisy rumbling of the vehicle. A few seats in front sat a giddy Carlos, whose entire face was practically glued to the window as he wondrously gazed upon the vast mountainous scenery and occasionally interjected with an excited comment about it. Right next to him was Logan, comfortable in a neck pillow and microfleece travel blanket as he intently perused a small guidebook he had taken upon himself to purchase back at one of the souvenir shops in the bus station (and caused quite a lot of fumbling for bills and dropped change and mild confusion over currency conversion).

On their other side, Kendall was steadfastly on James' side, trying his best to console the horribly motion-sick boy while James white-knuckled the armrests and tried not to lurch out his candy bar-fueled lunch with every abrupt turn the driver made, as the bus precariously weaved its way past the narrow upland roads.

"J-man, look at how freaking high up we are!" Carlos gushed, pointing to some unseen faraway view that was lightly enveloped in gossamer fog. "That awesome cliff is soooo rocky and steep—I feel like if I accidentally fell there, it'd take me a whole week to get to the bottom!"

"I'd...rather...not..." James muttered through gritted teeth, and Kendall sighed while rubbing James' back as gently as possible to soothe him. "Even just the awful sight of Hortense over there speeding past his tourist word pages is enough to churn my stomach and roll my eyes to the back of my skull..." he squinched his eyes shut and swallowed back another disgusting heave.

"I'm sure it's a very high and lovely ravine to go Evil Knievel and crack every single bone in your body in, Carlitos," Kendall assuaged.

"About 7,400 feet or 2,300 meters above sea level, actually, according to this book," Logan said without looking up, seemingly more enthusiastic about the printed factoids of the landscape than the actual landscape itself. "Ooh, here's another supertastic fun fact too: did you guys know that this is actually one of the highest altitude highways in this country, aaand it's also one of the most dangerous roads especially during the rainy season—which just so perfectly happens to be around this time of the year, hey whodathunk it?—due to the severe risk of slippery asphalt and landslides? Cool, right?"

"Yes, thank you mister bore guide," James groaned out, throwing a crumpled wad of used tissues at Logan's head. "That's really not—just not helping at all! Like seriously, out of all the places in the world to build roads in, why'd it have to be—ugh, have to be on a frigging scary mountain?!"

"Well, uncle Crispin said we just need to go across this mountain, and after that, we'll be right back on ground level," Kendall assured. "Whether that means safely...or like Carlos said, one week afterwards on a crashed bus at the bottom with our burning mangled bodies."

"DUDE!"

"Okay, sorry, sorry, I just couldn't resist," Kendall laughed as he ducked away, narrowly avoiding the indignant boy trying to whack him with his half-filled vomit bag. "I'm sure we're gonna be totally fine, James."

The bus gave another big jolt as it forged ahead in the bumpy sunbaked terrain, possibly running over a cracked pothole or perhaps a sizable rock, making Carlos whoop out and throw his hands up as if on a rollercoaster ride, while Logan let go of his book and grabbed the front seat to steady himself, and James yelped out a mini-scream and gripped Kendall's arm with such desperate ferocity that Kendall himself was also starting to grit his teeth. He hissed back at James in protest and tried shaking his friend's painful hold off, without much success.

All the ensuing commotion between the boys made their older companion slowly rouse awake.

"Tío, tío, are we there yet?" Carlos momentarily wrenched his gaze away from the window to ask his uncle, before taking an impulsive sniff at the tiny white flowers hanging from his neck and grinning. Crispin rubbed his eyes, stared out the window, and gave the hopeful boy a bleary smile.

"Kinda hard to say, Los. It's honestly been a good while since I've been here, so everything looks the same old trees and hills and boulders to me. Or heck, maybe I'm not entirely awake yet. But whatever the case, we better ask someone who knows," he replied, before shaking himself off with a small stretch and standing up to approach the seat just behind the driver. Crispin cleared his throat and politely tapped at the elderly man's shoulder.

"Mawalang galang na 'ho manong, pero saang banda na po ba tayo?" (Excuse me mister, but whereabouts are we now?) Crispin asked.

"Malapit na, boss," (Real close, boss,) the driver replied cheerily. He wiped off a sheen of sweat from the laugh lines on his forehead using the white towelcloth hanging off his shoulders. "Mga kalahating oras pa siguro bago makarating sa San Lorenzo. Bandang dulo na kasi iyon ng bayan, napakalayo na sa kabisera—at ayan na nga, medyo delikado i-maniobra. Huling destino ko na rin ang barangay na 'yon, eh. Kung matanong ko lang, bakit 'ho kayo napabisita? At sa ganitong panahon ng taon pa..." (Maybe about half an hour before we reach San Lorenzo. It's already at the very edge of town, very far away from the capital—and a bit precarious to manouvre, as you can see. That village is also my last destination, too. But if I may ask, why the visit? And at this time of the year, too...)

"Ay, taga-roon din po ako. Kaso medyo matagal-tagal nang hindi nakakauwi. Ngayon lang nakapagpahinga sa trabaho, eh. Napakahirap na lalo ngayon, pero uusad pa rin." (Oh, I'm actually from there as well. But I just haven't gone home in a long time. I've only managed to get a break from work now. It's been rather difficult, especially in these times, but we still carry on.)

"Ganoon na nga 'ho. At naku, maligayang pagbabalik, kabayan!" (That's how it really is. And hey, a joyous welcome back, compatriot!)

Crispin thanked the driver, who glanced at the large overhead mirror and respectfully nodded back with a smile. Turning to his awaiting companions, Crispin told everyone, "We're almost there, boys. Only about half an hour to go, and then we're gonna be able to stretch our legs, eat some hearty meals, and finally have a proper rest. You've endured very long days of breakneck traveling so I know you're all tired by now, but I hope you can be a little more patient. I promise we'll catch a break soon enough."

"It's okay, tío!" Carlos assured him, slapping at his helmet twice. "I just think it's super cool of you to bring me and the guys to your very own home country—it's like a super cool adventure!"

"Yeah, uncle Crispin...I honestly don't know how you managed to convince our moms—and especially my mom to let us actually go with you, but thank you for taking care of us so far," Kendall said earnestly.

"Aww, you're welcome, Kendall," Crispin replied, fondly patting the boy on the shoulder. "And the journey is far from over, so hopefully I can continue to abide by my important duties of looking out for all of you. Can't have four angry moms sending me to my early grave if any of you somehow get lost or fall into some kind of trouble. Even the thought of having to face off with Sylvia and her deadly cucharón is enough to keep me right on my toes..." he pretended to shiver from fright, making the four boys chuckle.

"It's a shame my baby sis couldn't come with us though. Katie would've been just as excited as everyone—" An ungodly retching sound to Kendall's right interrupted him and he shuddered, "Okay, maybe just Carlos and Logan are for this trip." He paused, glancing at their luggage thoughtfully. "Actually, let me just check if she didn't smuggle herself in our duffel bags again..."

"Ay, sandali nga pala...speaking of, I better send Mrs. Knight and the rest of your parents a quick message about how we're doing before the phone signals completely disappear." Crispin said, clapping his hands to catch everyone's attention. "And I'm gonna be straightforward with you right now boys, I've already said this before and I'll say it again: we're going to stay in a more secluded and rural area, so I hope you won't mind sparing out the technological stuff and having simpler commodities for a few days."

Logan quietly glanced at his backpack. "No laptops or iSlabs or other smart gizmos?"

"No wifi, steady stocks of 'Cuda Super Slick and Shine shampoo, ultra-ionised Sanyoid hairdryers, or airconditioning?" It was James looked the most crestfallen at this revelation.

"Lots of fresh air and warm sun and beautiful nature for sightseeing and endlessly roaming around in, though. Or, hopefully still, from what I remember. I've been living with Carlos's aunt Emilia in South America ever since we got married and this is the first time in so many years that I've gone home." Crispin sighed wistfully. "I've really missed it here too, you know. It's just hard to find the time and opportunity to return, and I'm glad to have you along for the ride. I just hope you boys will enjoy this little sabbatical, even if it's not the most conventional vacation to have."

"Yeah...'cause we're way out," Carlos observed. "Like, waaaaay out from the crazy city life!"

Kendall smiled softly at his best friend's contagious enthusiasm. "Well, maybe a break from the crazy city life is just exactly what we need, right?"

"I'm definitely with you on that, Ken. Although staying in touch with my family is very difficult to deal with, unfortunately. I've informed a few of the folks over at the town centre to pass the message along in advance, so everyone should be pretty prepped and ready for our arrival," Crispin said. "Even with the speedy rise of phones and computers and the internet in today's age, it's still quite hard to reach out here—but on the other hand, all those giant communication towers and tangled electrical poles haven't quite spoiled the pretty view yet, so thank God for that."

Spotting Carlos making a strenuous pull at the windows, Kendall helped him manage the creaky latches until they popped up and the lower panel freely slid open, and Logan finally looked up from his guidebook and took a moment to catch a deep breath of the sweet rushing wind. Even James reluctantly peeked over his friends' shoulders as the bus slowed down and made a gentler descent down the sloping road, feeling significantly comforted by the warm sunshine and unfolding forest scenery.

"Well..." he said faintly, smiling for the very first time since they boarded the bus. "It does kinda look pretty dazzling out there."

"Yeah, yeah it does, James," Tío Crispin replied. "I suppose that's why a lot of my relatives ultimately chose to stay in the province instead. Lives are simpler, the air is cleaner and good for your health, the labour's more accustomed and less stressful and whatnot. I mean, it's still no easy feat and it does come with its fair share of challenges and complexities, but it's certainly a lot more peaceful than the exhausting nonstop hustle and bustle of the city, that's for sure. And everyone already knows everyone here anyway, which is also fantastic."

He beamed at the teenagers. "I really can't wait for you boys to meet the family."

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thanks for reading so far! ~Σ(Φ人Φ|||)︴and yes this is also kinda late already but idk i'm investing in it now i guess (← hubris)