“It’s my turn! Gimme the crown!”
“No way! It looks better on me!”
The girls were being a handful again and it was getting on Lola Nena’s nerves. There was no reason for Aina and Alisa to be fighting this much over something as silly as being a princess.
“Give it back,” Alisa screamed, “the crown belongs to me!”
“No, fair is fair, now it’s my turn to be the princess, and I’m going to be the best princess ever!” Aina stuck her tongue out at Alisa and that just made her angrier.
“You can’t be the best princess, you don’t even know how to rule! You’re just gonna make your kingdom suck.” Alisa tried to tackle her sister, but she was too fast and Alisa stumbled through empty air.
“Now girls watch your language! We don’t say ‘sucks’ to each other,” said Lola Nena, trying to inject a measure of civility into the fight.
“It’s mine!” Aina deftly dodged her sister sending Alisa right into the path of a very expensive vase.
The crash could be heard throughout the house. The sisters didn’t even notice the chaos that they caused, continuing to play their game of catch the crown.
Lola Nena had enough.
“That’s it! Both of you to your room!” Lola Nena may have been old but she was fast. She snatched the crown from Aina’s head and grasped it tight. “If you two won’t behave then no one gets to be the princess.” And with that Lola Nena broke the crown in two.
There isn’t a word to describe the sound of two girl’s hearts breaking, but ‘crestfallen’ comes pretty close. The girls were disconsolate and Lola Nena would not budge. They cried all the way to their room, burying themselves in their sheets, trying to forget what had happened.
“This is all your fault stupid!” Alisa muffled scream forced its way through her blankets. “If it wasn’t for you one of us would still be the princess.”
“Ha shows what you know! You don’t need a crown to be a princess,” Aina said, haughtily.
“Stupid! How else will people know you’re royalty? The crown is a symbol of your power!” Alisa replied.
“A crown is just a crown; real royalty doesn’t need fancy jewelry. You just know what you are.”
Silence followed. Aina took this as a sign that she had won the argument and readied herself for sleep. It was so childish the way Alisa kept trying to get the crown. Even though they were twins Aina always thought that she was the more mature one, it paid to have been born five minutes earlier.
Aina switched off the lamp and put her blanket over her head, trying to get some sleep.
And outside the window a golden figure hovered.
He was half a man, with wings of gold, peering through the windows the human homes.
The hour was late and he was getting hungry. He had decided on a particularly mousey girl to be his dinner, but a noise in the distance interrupted his plans.
Curious, he flew towards the sound.
And he listened.
It had been decades since he had last taken a princess to be his prisoner. Not since…
Not since her.
He closed his eyes and thought to the past.
The storm gods were angry that day and rain battered an unnamed village by the coast. The people of the village tried to hide from the rain in their huts, but it was of no use. Waves, tripling in size, threatened to drown the villagers.
It seemed like there was nothing they could do, nothing until she walked out towards the rain.
She shouted to the heavens in a voice that not even gods could ignore.
“Spare this village and take me instead! I will be your servant!”
The winds carried her prayer and what else could he do but answer?
“Are you a god?” she asked.
“To some,” he answered.
“Will you spare my people from this storm?”
“In exchange for you? I will.”
He took her hand and with his power the storm ceased to be. They did not fly towards the heavens as she expected, instead diving to the bottom of the ocean. His home.
Their days were spent in story and song. She had a voice that would make angels flush with envy and her beauty was matched by her quick wit.
She told tales of far off lands, magical beasts and those that sought to tame them.
In time he felt comfortable enough that he took his true form, his human shape.
But all things come to an end. No matter how hard he tried to keep her alive, humans were fragile beings. The sands of time fell not in her favor and she was lost to dust.
He shook off the past and remembered that his prey was waiting.
He would have his princess.
“Wha—?” Aina rubbed her eyes and saw a large, golden bird knocking at her window.
She thought she was still dreaming and opened the window.
“Are you the princess?” the bird asked.
“I—-”
“No she’s not!” Alisa screamed. “I’m the only princess here!”
“Well, it is a pleasure to meet your acquaintance, your majesty,” said the bird.
“Alisa, stay back.” Something wasn’t right, this didn’t feel like a dream. A spark traveled through Aina’s spine and lingered.
“See? Here’s someone that knows how to treat royalty!” Alisa sprang up from her bed and stood in front of the golden bird.
“Will you come with me to my palace, your majesty?”
“No Alisa! Don’t—-this isn’t——”
“Quiet! All my life all you do is stop me from doing things, I don’t care if you’re five minutes older, we’re still the same age and you can’t tell me how to live my life!”
“Alisa listen to me, this is dangerous—-”
“I don’t care, for once in my life I’m finally going to be treated the way I deserve.”
“And what is a princess without her crown?” From his wings the bird produced a tiara of glistening gold, enveloping the room in a soft glow.
“Yes, now we’re talking! Give it to me!”
“Alisa! Stop!”
But it was too late. The young girl greedily snatched the crown from the claws of the bird and before she knew it she was being carried away.
Aina tried to call for help. She told Lola Nena what had happened, but would you believe that a golden bird came out of nowhere and offered your granddaughter a crown?
Alisa’s picture was spread through social media and the newspapers. A sizable reward was put forward for information on her whereabouts, but they would never find her. They were looking in the wrong places.
And Aina?
She knew what monster took her sister and she prepared herself. Nothing was going to stop her from rescuing her twin. The years were hard for her, putting herself through the most physically demanding training and diving through books until she found what she was looking for.
Garuda.
She swore that she would find her sister.
But that’s a story for another time.
Written by Karl Gaverza
Copyright © Karl Gaverza
Inspired by the Garuda description in Creatures of Philippine Lower Mythology. Ramos. 1971.
Garuda Illustration by Paul Medalla
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