Chapter 102 - Somewhere

Siquijor, Philippines

A mansion.

In the master's bedroom.

Despite the bedroom crowded by 6 people, it is very somber and quiet.

At the center of the northern wall, is a queen-sized bed where a very old man, who has already passed his 100th birthday, and looks to be in his last days, is lying unconscious and hooked to two medical equipment on his bedside, a doctor and a nurse silently monitoring his state.

From the wall opposite the bed, are two couches facing each other. On one couch are two women who are in their 70s, dressed in quality blouses and pantsuits, and are softly chatting with each other. Seated on the couch across them is a 40 something year old man dressed in a brown suit reviewing files through the spectacles rested on his nose.

*knock* *knock*

A soft knock on the door interrupts the mundane atmosphere, shortly followed by the door being opened by a tan-skinned old man who looks to be in his 60s.

The newcomer enters the room and "How's father?", asks to no one in particular before closing the door behind him.

"Still stable, sir." The doctor answers automatically. 

"Looks like I'm the last to arrive, I'm sorry. A long way from Manila." The newcomer apologizes as he joins the group.

"I informed you a week ago, Reynante." Nimfa, the older of the two women admonishes Reynante.

"Relax, big sis. You know his situation." Marites, younger woman scoffs at her sister as she sips on her coffee.

"Hn…" Nimfa simply acknowledges.

"It's been a while since I've seen you two, my dear big sisters. You can scold me all you want tomorrow, sister." Reynante says as he sits beside the only man in the group.

"Hello. You must be father's new lawyer." He acknowledges the 40 something year old lawyer, beside him.

"Yes sir. I'm Fermin Cuenco, at your service." The lawyer introduces himself and offers his hand for a handshake.

Reynante raises his brows and shakes the lawyer's hand.

"Cuenco? How are you related to Mrs. Cuenco?" He asks Fermin.

"She was my mother, sir." Fermin answers.

"I see. How's your mother, by the way? I don't remember the last time I saw her." Reynante asks.

"She has passed, sir." Fermin breaks the news.

"Huh…" Reynante is taken aback. "I'm sorry to hear that."

"It's fine. It's been six years. Mr. Tabal is kind enough to let me take over mother's responsibilities with his estate." Fermin explains.

"I see. If it's father himself who chose you, then you must be exceptional." Reynante nods.

"Okay. Now that Reynante's here, should we wake father?" Marites moves things along.

"Yes. Mr. Tabal requested to wake him up as soon as all his children arrive." Fermin nods.

With that, the siblings and the lawyer stand up to approach their father's bed.

After the doctor injected something in his patient's IV line, the three's father slowly opens his eyes.

"Mr. Tabal. Can you hear me?" The doctor asks.

The people in the room get nervous as the centenarian is silent, his eyes are dazed.

"Father?" Reynante asks.

Fortunately, "O-oh… You're all here." Mr. Tabal answers, recognizing his children immediately, making the room sigh in relief.

"I still got some left in me. You all think I'd die lying down like this?" Mr. Tabal scoffs at them.

"Then you still have time to gather all your grandchildren and your great grandchildren." Marites is glad to see her father's mental state solid.

"Nah. After the stories you told them about me? 'The Hero of Siquijor'? I don't want to be remembered by my grandchildren as a weak old man." Mr. Tabal, Gener Tabal, was an A-Class Superioris who conquered the island of Siquijor from pirates and supervillains who populated it during the 1960s.

"I always hated the embellishments myself." Reynante smirks.

"Heh. Of course, you did." Gener smirks back in approval at the only child who shares his opinion about the matter.

"So, Fermin. Let's get my bequeathments out of the way so I can chat with my children before I go." He then orders Fermin.

"As you wish, sir."

<>

A few hours later, Gener and his children are the only ones left in the room.

For the past few hours, after the bequeathments are arranged, they have been chatting about random things and Gener reminiscing his stories to his children. 

"Ohhh.. I feel death calling to me." Gener says lightheartedly, an ominous feeling suddenly dawning upon him.

His children meanwhile, while sad, understand their father very well so they are not feeling devastated.

"So… What else do I want to say?" Gener ponders.

"Any of you wanna ask something?" He asks his children instead, after figuring that he has ran out of what to talk about.

"Father." Marites speaks up.

"About your necklace. It's the only necklace I saw you wear. Where did the necklaces and pendants I gave you?" She asks.

"I'll give them back to you, don't worry." Gener smiles at his daughter.

"It's not that." Marites gets embarrassed. "I just wonder why you're wearing that necklace if you can wear the ones I gave you, which obviously look better."

"I'm curious too, father. Where'd you get it? There must be a story behind it." Nimfa asks.

"Ah…" Gener then fiddles with the necklace he is wearing with a reminiscing smile. His actions attract his children's undivided attention.

The necklace is as simple as it gets, even unassuming. It is after all, a simple necklace that is just comprised of a string tied around what looks like a random wood chip that came out of a tree being axed by a lumberjack.

"From a friend. He died in battle while wearing it. It was before any of you were born." Gener explains.

His children immediately feel the sentimental value of the thing.

"It has become my lucky charm since then." He adds.

"Huh… well. I won't call something a lucky charm if the one who wore it previously died wearing it …" Reynante is amused.

"Fighting to death against pirates and criminals on a day-to-day basis for years, and surviving with but a few scars? I can't help but become superstitious." Gener explains.

"And. This is not exactly an ordinary piece of wood." He takes off his necklace and passes it to Reynante.

"Bite it. See if you can leave a mark." He requests.

Reynante frowns, but the request coming from a man who will not live past the day, he humors it.

As soon as he bites down however, he immediately feels like he is not biting wood, but stone, or even a gem.

"Bite harder." Gener requests again, and Reynante does so.

The next moment however, *click* Reynante feels the joint of his jaw pop.

"Yeah… Whatever that is, it's a very hard wood." He does not want to damage his teeth and passes the necklace to his sisters.

"It smells like wood." Nimfa shrugs after taking a sniff.

"But it's older than us. Wood fragrance lasts a few years at most." Marites argues.

"It smells like wood." Nimfa insists.

"Yeah. Tastes like it too." Reynante supports, tasting the aftertaste.

"Mysterious, isn't it?" Gener asks.

"Yes." His children agree.

"For years, I've wondered what type of wood it is. There was even this one man from the Brotherhood of Adam who tried stealing it from me." He recounts.

"And? Did he tell you what it is?" Marites asks as she hands Gener back the necklace.

"No. Too bad he tried killing me, so I killed him first. I should have kept him alive to ask." Gener shakes his head.

"I dared to keep wearing it in public, hoping someone might be able to identify it, but since that man, no one else has taken interest in it. 

"It is one of my few regrets in this life. Not being able to find out what it is. Maybe you all can find out. 

"So. Who wants it?" He asks his children.

"I'll take it." "May I?" Reynante and Marites express their interest.

"Sure, but I have to warn you both. You two are no longer in your primes and are now top-tier C-Class at best. That man who tried to take it from me was a high-tier B-Class. Who knows who else from Brotherhood of Adam knows what it is? Or wants it? That organization have influence all over the world, they are not simple." Gener wants to make sure that his children understand the risk.

"Well… If an A-Class tries to take it from me, I'll just give it up. I'll just beg them to tell me what it is." Marites chuckles.

"…" This gets stunned looks from her siblings and her father.

The next moment however, "Hahaha…" Gener softly chuckles. He would laugh out loud if he can.

"I like it. Yes. Do that. No matter how valuable this thing is, you are more valuable to me." He nods in approval as he tosses the necklace to Marites.

"Hey. Tell what you find out about it." Reyante is not bothered by his father's decision.

"I will." Marites says.

Suddenly, the necklace, or more precisely, the wood chip, levitates in front of everybody at a vertical position.

Then, it slowly angles to a horizontal position. It then rotates further until it locks on a certain position.

"What… the fuck?" Gener is beyond stunned at what he is seeing.

"Father?..." Maritess asks in wonder, her siblings sharing what she is feeling.

"I don't know. This is the first time this happened!" Gener says in exasperation.

"Let's just watch." He requests as he keeps his eyes on the wood chip.

"Yes." His children proceed to observe with him.

The next moment however, the wood chip falls back down, and Marites is quick to catch it.

She then hands it to Gener.

"Ah… damn this thing. I hope you're just trying to send me away. Because if you're not, then I really hate you for doing this on my last day on earth." Gener tells the necklace.

His children meanwhile can feel the bitterness in his voice.

Before they can start to talk about what happened, Gener feels the necklace move from his grasp, so he lets it go.

The group see the necklace float up once again, replaying its earlier display.

"Huh…" Nimfa notices something.

The rest of the group get curious at her tone.

"What is it?" Gener asks.

"It's floating at the exact angle and position as before." Nimfa tells them.

"Huh…"

"It kinda is."

The others realize and confirm Nimfa's observation.

Shortly after, the necklace falls back down again.

The family wait again, and they are not disappointed. The necklace floats again, and just before, it is suspended in the air at the same angle and the same position as it did earlier.

"Hey… What if it's pointing to somewhere?" Reynante guesses.

"Hopefully." Gener says, hoping to have his questions about the thing he wore on his neck for the vast majority of his life, answered.

A few minutes later, "why's it not coming back down?" Nimfa wonders aloud, but as soon as she said her words, the necklace starts to move horizontally to the direction of its largest side.

"Where does it want to go?" Gener's eyes glisten.

Unfortunately for him, the wood chip is stopped from flying further by the bedroom wall. The chip tries to fly up, but it is also stopped by the ceiling.

"Help me up. Let's take it outside." Gener orders his children.

"Father, I'll take it." Reynante volunteers.

"No! I have to see more of this before I die." Gener argues.

"Fine…" Reynante does not want to argue.

"Doctor!" Marites calls for the doctor's assistance.