One night, the heavens churned. A great spirit fell to the ground and was defeated.
It retreated to the mountains, keenly aware that this had happened a hundred—no, a thousand times before.
All it wanted to do was rest until the next moon would come.
But that night had something else in store.
The spirit huddled beside a cave and closed its eyes, hoping for the sweet tranquility of sleep.
And it would have succeeded if not for a voice that jolted it awake.
“Excuse me?”
The spirit looked around for the source of the noise. It was not accustomed to looking for things smaller than the moon.
It bellowed, “Who is there?! Show yourself!”
“You don’t need to shout. I am right here.”
The spirit tuned its head and at the entrance of the cave was a beautiful man.
Sigh, the spirit thought. One of them.
The spirit had nothing against the beautiful ones, they were beneath him, both literally and metaphorically. They also knew better than to engage with the spirit, lest they suffer its wrath.
“You’re blocking my cave,” the beautiful one said.
“Are you demanding that I leave?” the great spirit eyed this inconvenience.
“I’m asking you to go somewhere else, you can move through the sky as easily as a bird. Please do not block my cave.”
“And why would I go elsewhere? What makes you think that an insignificant spirit such as yourself has any right to tell Kedu where to go.”
“Please, I would just like to be left alone.”
“Don’t we all.”
“So, will you move?”
“No, I don’t think I will.”
The beautiful spirit sighed. He knew there was no way he could win. He was also surprised that Kedu let him speak this long. With its enormous power it could destroy the beautiful spirit in an instant. There was nothing left to lose for the beautiful spirit anyway so he decided to sit on a nearby rock and have a conversation with the great spirit.
“Why did you choose this place to rest?”
“I saw it from above and it looked comfortable, why else would I go here?”
“You seem very tired.”
“I am.”
“What happened?”
“The same as always. I caught the moon but could not hold it.”
“Why couldn’t you?”
“What difference does it make?”
“I would like to know.”
Kedu sighed and realized he had not told that story for many moons. The beautiful spirit was brash enough to ask, might as well humor it.
“It started in the time before times. Where spirits greater than you or I held dominion over everything that was, is, and will be.”
“You mean that you were not from this land?”
“No, small spirit, I was not.”
The beautiful spirit was surprised. In their realms origins did not matter. It was assumed that, whatever spirit you are, you had always been a part of this land. His curiosity was piqued and he wanted to know more.
Kedu continued, “There were many gods then as well as demons. Their battles were fierce and much blood was spilt. Though it was not any better when they decided to work together. I sometimes wonder what would have happened if I had made different choices. Maybe then I would still be complete.”
“Complete?”
“Know your place. Let me tell my story.”
“I apologize great spirit, please continue.”
“We were enticed by the promise of immortality. And fools we were for believing their lies. By the great ocean we stood, tossing the waves as violent as our powers allowed. The eternities passed by, until our prize rose from the depths. The Amrita.”
“Amrita?”
“The nectar of immortality. The only reason why we would ever work with them.”
“What happened then?”
“They denied us of our share. Anger flowed through our veins as we planned our revenge. Though I chose a different ploy.”
Silence blanketed the spirits like dew settling on leaves.
“Great spirit? Is there something wrong?”
“I—” Kedu let out a chuckle. “I don’t even remember what my name was.”
“What do you mean?”
“Names do not matter. It was a different time. I was complete then. While others of my kind planned, I set out into action. I disguised myself as one of them, taking in the nectar and achieving my goal.”
“You became immortal.”
“For whatever good that did. The two had seen through my ruse and warned the most powerful of their kind.”
“The two?”
“The sun and the moon, of course.”
The beautiful spirit nodded. He had always assumed that the Kedu and the moon were reflections of nature, an endless dance in the cloak of the sky. It was surprising to find out it was so personal.
Kedu carried on, “What else is there to say? My head was severed and now I am what I am, a body left incomplete.”
“And why did you come to this land?”
“I follow the sun and moon wherever they shine their light. In some lands it is my head that hunts the moon, in others what is left of our body pursues those fools. But we cannot hold them, the two had also imbibed the nectar. Maybe we are forever destined to carry out this charade.”
“Thank you for your story, great spirit. I feel honored to have heard it.”
“Good, then you will die with that honor.”
In a split second Kedu’s massive tail crashed onto the beautiful spirit’s form.
In the silence that followed Kedu curled up in front of the cave, finally able to get the rest that he sought.
Written by Karl Gaverza
Copyright © Karl Gaverza
Inspired by the Ketu/ Kedu descriptions in Tagalog Borrowings and Cognates by Jean Paul Potet (2016) and Diccionario mitológico de Filipinas in
Volume 2 of Retana, W.E. Archivo del bibliófilo filipino by Ferdinand Blumentritt, trans Marcaida D. (2019)
Kedu Illustration by Yuriko Yoshida
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