The flutter of wings breaks the stillness as the maya birds scatter from their fountain perch.

Alberto always liked to see the birds fly away. He would point at their wings and shout “Fly!” at the top of his lungs, which is the way he would usually say things.

“Neni can we go… mall?”

The bleary look on the young woman’s face was apparent, but she smiled through it all the same.

“Alberto first we have to be—“

“Have to be—“

“We have to be—“

“Good, good. Have to be good.”

“Good job Alberto. We can go to the mall later, let’s enjoy the park. The birds are over there—“

And with that the boy raced off and shouted as if he wanted the whole world to hear him. No, not a boy anymore, at least not to an outward observer, Neni had to remind herself. She took out her phone and took a few photos of Alberto chasing his feathered friends.

His mom would always ask for pictures, Neni thought it was because she wanted to be reminded that she had a son, but Neni brushed those sentiments away. Worn, that’s what she remembered from the faces of Alberto’s parents when they hired her. She didn’t think she had a right to judge their parenting, especially since she wasn’t in their shoes.

“Neni! Fly!” She laughed with Alberto as they spent the day disturbing the birds.

As they were leaving the park, they passed a young couple. Before she could say anything Alberto stepped in front of the girl.

“Hi what’s your name?”

Neni had enough practice to know that this was unavoidable. She started with the usual apologies, but Alberto had a one track mind.

“Hi what’s your name?”

Neni apologized again, but it seemed that the young lady understood. She said her name was Raina and gave a comforting smile to both of them.

“Raina. R-A-I-N-A.”

The man then introduced himself as Oscar and Alberto gave a warm greeting. To their credit they were more understanding than most others of Alberto. Neni gave a hurried goodbye as she led Alberto to the car, she wasn’t about to be late for dinner.
————————–————————–————————–———-

Alberto finished getting ready for bed. The evening ritual of taking a shower, changing his clothes and brushing his teeth was one of the most enjoyable parts of his day. It was something he could do all by himself and that made him proud.

After he was done he looked around the room. It was a room just like any other. Four walls, a big window, a bed. And of course there was the horse.

Now, this was no ordinary horse. True, it had hooves, four legs and the kind of face that would make passers by undoubtful of its horse-ness, but it also had the kind of feathers that would make a swan flush with envy.

Alberto knew that the horse was a horse, of course. The horse was his horse, and seeing it in his room meant that he was about to embark on another journey.

The grin on Alberto’s face matched the horse’s, after their last daring escape from the dragon trapped in the stars, the rush of adventure was still fresh in his heart.

Alberto climbed up his horse’s back and they flew out the window. There was no time to waste, and he wanted to make sure he was back in time for breakfast.

————————–————————–————————–————————––

“Aray!” Neni thought she was getting good at avoiding Alberto’s Legos, but there was always one that would sneak under her foot.

She picked the offending piece up and put it next to the others in a neat pile. She gave up on trying to organize the Legos a long time ago, Alberto had his own system that never coincided with hers.

“Neni! Clouds!”

Alberto was finishing up his next masterpiece. Neni could never figure out what he was building, to her they all looked like mish mashed columns strung together randomly.

“Neni! Look!”

He was proud of his work, and Neni was just happy he was happy.

“It’s very good Alberto, what is it?”

“Fly! Clouds!”

“Good job Alberto, but we have to get ready for lunch. Go wash up.”

As Alberto ran towards the bathroom, a brown feather dropped from his pocket. Neni sighed. She thought she cleaned up all the mess from the park. “Oh well,” she thought, “At least it’s only one feather this time.”

————————–————————–————————–

Written by Karl Gaverza
Copyright © Karl Gaverza

Inspired by the Bentohangin description in ‘The Soul Book’ by Demetrio & Cordero-Fernando 1991.

Bentohangin Illustration by Kurt Prieto
Behance: https://www.behance.net/KurtPrieto

Colors by Alexa Garde
Website: Lexa.us

“Alberto it’s time for bed!” Neni shouted from the hallway. She checked Alberto’s bedroom and was surprised to find him already under the covers.

She had noticed that he was less energetic than usual and she was worried that he wasn’t sleeping well.

“Neni I’m going to sleep!” Alberto said from under his blanket.
There wasn’t much she could do. Neni switched the lights off and told Alberto to have good dreams.

“I’ll see you in the morning. We’ll go to the park tomorrow okay?” She said as she walked out of his room.

“Neni! Time to sleep!” was Alberto’s reply.

Alberto yawned as he rode his winged steed through the clouds. It felt like only yesterday when one of the princesses of Kahangian*asked Alberto and his horse to stave off an invasion.

Alberto knew he couldn’t say no. When adventure calls he only had one answer.

But Alberto wished this adventure would end soon. Victory seemed out of reach as the endless onslaught of birds came wave after wave.

These were no ordinary birds. They flew like umbrellas along the clouds of Kahangian. The princess told Alberto that the birds would usually keep to themselves, but something must have happened to rile them up. She was afraid that this was only the beginning of a larger assault on her realm.

Alberto and his horse spent the last few weeks rerouting the birds away from the kingdom. As much as the princess wanted him to use force, Alberto could not bring himself to harm the birds.

After redirecting the latest wave of birds Alberto was summoned to the princess’ chambers.

She told him that it was time to end this. Redirecting the birds was a waste of time if they just kept coming back. She gave Alberto a box and told him to go to the king of the birds and slay him.

Alberto opened the box and was surprised to find a sword with his name engraved on it. It felt heavy in his hands and he looked at the princess and shook his head.

He would not do as she asked. Violence wasn’t the answer, at least not to him. He left the box in the princess’ chambers and went to his horse.

This would end, but on his terms.

Alberto’s horse smiled. As a horse he was used to keeping his opinions to himself but today he couldn’t help it.
He was proud that he made the right choice in Alberto. The birds weren’t violent, at most they were a nuisance to the princess’ kingdom.

They flew through the clouds with as much grace as the horse could muster. As adept as he was with galloping, the horse was clumsy with his wings. They barreled through the surge of birds ahead of them, Alberto had to spit out a few feathers, but eventually they came upon the roost of the king of birds.

Alberto’s horse bowed his head. As much as he was a horse, he was also part bird, and there were certain rules that you had to follow to make sure the other birds wouldn’t get mad at you.
The king of birds was enormous, his large frame almost blacking out the sun. He took one look at Alberto and his horse and said, “Who are you and why are you here?!”

Alberto’s horse was still looking at the ground when he heard Alberto answer.

“Why you attack the kingdom?”

“Strange human, I attack nothing. I am just trying to get back what belongs to me.”

Alberto’s brow creased in confusion.

“But princess said you attack!”

“The princess was the one that started this. She and her kingdom stole my crown! I’ve been sending my birds to her kingdom to get it back.”

“But princess said—-“

The king of birds whirled around and put his beak up to Alberto’s face.

“I’ve heard of you, human. You and your bentohangin have made quite a name for yourselves in this realm. And I am asking you, please, get my crown back and I will tell my birds to stop.”

Alberto looked at his horse and they nodded in unison.

The princess stared at her mirror as her servants brushed her hair. She had not calculated that the human would reject her gift, but no matter. A few bats of her eyelashes and some tears would certainly do the job the next time.

She bade her servants to leave her alone and walked to a hidden door in her chambers. In it was a chest and in that chest was her prize.

It was the most beautiful headpiece in all of Kahangian, inlaid with fallen stars and made from gold straight from Ginton’s forges. Such beauty should only belong to her, the fairest princess in the clouds.

“L—-I—-A—-R!” Alberto’s voice rang through the princess’ chambers.

The princess managed to catch the crown as it fell through her fingers. She had not expected the human to be back so soon.
“You’re a liar!” Alberto shouted again.

“I’m so glad you’re here! The birds have been trying to steal from me!” It was time for the tears. The princess was familiar with this tactic, many heroes had fallen for her charms and this one would be no different.

“That’s not your crown!” Alberto and his horse moved towards the princess.

“This is my father’s! The birds are jealous of its beauty and keep trying to take it from me, but you won’t let them will you? Please help me!” Tears were flowing down her cheeks as she looked into Alberto’s eyes.

“L—–I—–A—–R!” Alberto grabbed the crown from the princess and ran towards his horse.

“Guards! Get them!”

Alberto and his horse were experts and running away. The guards tried to catch up to the pair but once you’ve escaped from the flying serpents guarding Ulilankalulua’s grave everything seems like a turtle in comparison.

“You are not welcome here!” The princess shouted through the clouds, “We will hunt you down!”

The birds flocked Alberto and his horse. They were overjoyed at the sight of the crown and accompanied them to their king’s throne.

“You have made yourself an enemy of the princess’ kingdom.” The king of birds said to Alberto.

“Yes.”

“Thank you, know that the kingdom of birds will help you, whenever you will need it.”

“Yes.”

Alberto looked at his horse and smiled. Alberto’s horse hugged his companion and neighed. They knew they made the right choice, even if it meant making a powerful enemy.

“Neni! I’m tired!”

“Okay Alberto, you can take a nap soon. Let’s clean up your crayons okay?”

“Okay.”

Today Alberto woke up early and even got ready for breakfast in time. Neni was still worried that he wasn’t getting enough sleep but that was nothing a good nap couldn’t fix.

She helped him clear his crayons and wondered why he kept drawing umbrellas.

“Neni! Bird!” He showed a drawing that was like the other umbrellas but bigger than the rest.

“It looks great Alberto! Let’s clean up and you can take a nap, okay?”

“Okay!”

Continued from the Bentohangin’s tale

*Kahangian is the fifth layer of the universe

Written by Karl Gaverza
Copyright © Karl Gaverza

Inspired by the Hubot description in The Soul Book. Demetrio & Cordero-Fernando 1991.

Hubot Illustration by Edrian Paolo T. Baydo

Color by Alexa Garde
Website: Lexa.us

Part 1 of Alberto’s Adventures in the Skyworld

The flutter of wings breaks the stillness as the maya birds scatter from their fountain perch.

Alberto always liked to see the birds fly away. He would point at their wings and shout “Fly!” at the top of his lungs, which is the way he would usually say things.

“Neni can we go… mall?”

The bleary look on the young woman’s face was apparent, but she smiled through it all the same.

“Alberto first we have to be—“

“Have to be—“

“We have to be—“

“Good, good. Have to be good.”

“Good job Alberto. We can go to the mall later, let’s enjoy the park. The birds are over there—“

And with that the boy raced off and shouted as if he wanted the whole world to hear him. No, not a boy anymore, at least not to an outward observer, Neni had to remind herself. She took out her phone and took a few photos of Alberto chasing his feathered friends.

His mom would always ask for pictures, Neni thought it was because she wanted to be reminded that she had a son, but Neni brushed those sentiments away. Worn, that’s what she remembered from the faces of Alberto’s parents when they hired her. She didn’t think she had a right to judge their parenting, especially since she wasn’t in their shoes.

“Neni! Fly!” She laughed with Alberto as they spent the day disturbing the birds.

As they were leaving the park, they passed a young couple. Before she could say anything Alberto stepped in front of the girl.

“Hi what’s your name?”

Neni had enough practice to know that this was unavoidable. She started with the usual apologies, but Alberto had a one track mind.

“Hi what’s your name?”

Neni apologized again, but it seemed that the young lady understood. She said her name was Raina and gave a comforting smile to both of them.

“Raina. R-A-I-N-A.”

The man then introduced himself as Oscar and Alberto gave a warm greeting. To their credit they were more understanding than most others of Alberto. Neni gave a hurried goodbye as she led Alberto to the car, she wasn’t about to be late for dinner.
————————–————————–————————–———-

Alberto finished getting ready for bed. The evening ritual of taking a shower, changing his clothes and brushing his teeth was one of the most enjoyable parts of his day. It was something he could do all by himself and that made him proud.

After he was done he looked around the room. It was a room just like any other. Four walls, a big window, a bed. And of course there was the horse.

Now, this was no ordinary horse. True, it had hooves, four legs and the kind of face that would make passers by undoubtful of its horse-ness, but it also had the kind of feathers that would make a swan flush with envy.

Alberto knew that the horse was a horse, of course. The horse was his horse, and seeing it in his room meant that he was about to embark on another journey.

The grin on Alberto’s face matched the horse’s, after their last daring escape from the dragon trapped in the stars, the rush of adventure was still fresh in his heart.

Alberto climbed up his horse’s back and they flew out the window. There was no time to waste, and he wanted to make sure he was back in time for breakfast.

————————–————————–————————–————————––

“Aray!” Neni thought she was getting good at avoiding Alberto’s Legos, but there was always one that would sneak under her foot.

She picked the offending piece up and put it next to the others in a neat pile. She gave up on trying to organize the Legos a long time ago, Alberto had his own system that never coincided with hers.

“Neni! Clouds!”

Alberto was finishing up his next masterpiece. Neni could never figure out what he was building, to her they all looked like mish mashed columns strung together randomly.

“Neni! Look!”

He was proud of his work, and Neni was just happy he was happy.

“It’s very good Alberto, what is it?”

“Fly! Clouds!”

“Good job Alberto, but we have to get ready for lunch. Go wash up.”

As Alberto ran towards the bathroom, a brown feather dropped from his pocket. Neni sighed. She thought she cleaned up all the mess from the park. “Oh well,” she thought, “At least it’s only one feather this time.”

————————–————————–————————–

Written by Karl Gaverza
Copyright © Karl Gaverza

Inspired by the Bentohangin description in ‘The Soul Book’ by Demetrio & Cordero-Fernando 1991.

Bentohangin Illustration by Kurt Prieto
Behance: https://www.behance.net/KurtPrieto

Colors by Alexa Garde
Website: Lexa.us

Tonight, Regina was a queen. She held her court in the flowery isles and stood before her subjects with her crown and scepter.

“O queen of the flowery isles, please regale us with your wisdom,” said her handmaiden.

“What do you ask of me?”

“The queen of the clouds has taken this subject’s daughter,” the handmaiden pointed to an old woman kneeling nearby “she said that the queen of the clouds had heard a rumor of the daughter’s great beauty and took her so that she would be the loveliest in all the islands.”

“That cannot stand!” Regina rose from her throne.

“Handmaiden send my for my chariot, I will handle this personally.”

Her handmaiden fetched the queen’s golden chariot. The chariot itself was a grand sight, the wheels studded with diamonds, the gold shining brilliantly in the sun and it was drawn by five winged horses, the bentohangin of kahangian.

Regina was accompanied by her handmaiden and flew towards the castle of the queen of clouds. The guards knelt at her approach. Everyone had known who the queen of the flowery isles was, known for her wisdom and strength. She was quickly rushed to the chamber of the queen of clouds to hold a private audience.

“Well, we meet again.” The queen of clouds reclined on her throne. She was lovely, in her own way. Jet black hair cascaded down her shoulders and her face almost seemed like it was made to catch the sunset, though this was marred by her demeanor. For all her beauty, the queen of clouds had a perpetually cruel look on her face.

Regina would not be intimidated. She had come here to rescue her subject’s daughter and she reminded herself that was what needed to be done.

“What have you done with the girl?” Regina asked in a dignified but assertive tone.

“Now what are you talking about my dear? “ The queen of clouds almost looked bored.

“You know very well what I am talking about. Release the girl immediately, the court of the clouds has no control over the subjects of the flowery isles.”

“I have no idea what you mean, you must be tired from your trip dear, let me get you some refreshments,” the queen of the clouds clapped her hands, “Guards! Fetch the queen some wine.”

“I am not thirsty,” Regina said. “I am sovereign of my lands as you are yours. I do not want unnecessary bloodshed to happen because of this.”

“Well then what do you propose?” The queen of the clouds stared haughtily.

“I have heard that you have an interest in games, my fellow queen. Perhaps we should settle this matter through that?”
“You would risk the lives of one of your subjects in a game?”

“No, I would risk my own. If I lose then you shall have me in place of the girl.” The queen’s handmaiden gasped.

“Well, well. This day just became a lot more interesting,” the queen of the clouds smiled wryly, “I accept your terms. What game shall we play?”

“The oldest one, my fellow queen.”

The handmaiden had heard of this game before. There were only two players; each would ask a question that the other would have to answer with another question. One would lose if they could not think of a question to answer with.

“I shall start,” The queen of the clouds said, “What pierces the heavens with her loveliness?”

“What is only beautiful on the exterior?” Regina knew what the queen of clouds was trying to do, and she would not give her opponent the satisfaction.

“What is beauty but the reflection of the soul?” The queen of the clouds had a brief look of resentment on her face, but she would not allow herself to be distracted either.

“Will beauty matter when all is lost?” Regina looked the queen dead in the eye.

“Will all be lost when beauty endures?” The queen of the clouds shot back with a tense stare.

“Will beauty not fade with the passing of the suns?” Regina was trying a new tactic, getting the queen to lower her guard.

“If beauty will fade then is that not more reason to preserve it?” The queen of the clouds was sweating now, trying her best to keep up.

“How will beauty be known when there is no one left to know it?” This was no longer a mere game to Regina, she knew she had to prove something to her opponent.

“Will not beauty be all that is left?” The queen of the clouds was trembling on her throne.

“What about love?”

Regina stared at the tears streaming down her opponent’s cheeks. Even in sadness, her loveliness shined through.
“Take the girl and never enter my court again,” The queen of the clouds covered her face with her arms, “Everyone leave me be!” she shouted as the guards raced away from the throne room.

“It is never easy to lose someone you love,” said Regina
“How did you know?” The queen of the clouds said through her tears.

“The tales of your beauty were not exaggerated, neither were the tales of your kindness,” Regina walked towards the queen. “The queen of the clouds was always known to me as a beautiful face, and a beautiful soul.”

Regina sat next to the queen and said “No one is ever ready to lose someone they love, but trying to hold on to what we can’t control is never the way to live a life. One day your beauty will fade, as will mine, as will the girl’s. Time will take everything we have from us if we let it.”

“Everything?” The queen of the clouds stared into Regina’s eyes.

“Don’t let it take love away from you.” Regina smiled.

Regina stood up and left the throne room. The girl was sitting by her handmaiden on her chariot, ready to leave.

“What did you tell her my queen?” Her handmaiden asked.

“What she needed to hear,” Regina commanded the five bentohangin to fly to her palace as they were chased away by the last rays of sunset.
————————–————————–————————–————

Today, Regina had to wake up early for her chemotherapy treatment. She stared into her mirror and tried to brush what was left of her hair.

She stared at the strands of hair that was left on her brush and sighed. It was time. It wasn’t an easy decision to make, but she just couldn’t ignore what was happening in front of her.

She borrowed her brother’s electric shaver and did the deed herself. Regina stared at the girl in the mirror and repeated the mantra her mother taught her. Her mother always said that she had a guardian angel watching over her, but Regina thought that that was something mothers tell all of their daughters.

As she walked into the hospital, she bumped into a woman rushing to walk outside. The woman apologized before walking away.

Regina couldn’t help but have a faint feeling of familiarity from the woman. She was sure she had seen that face before. Maybe as a handmaiden? Or a guard? Or a Queen?

She shrugged and continued on towards her therapy. Regina breathed in and hoped that everything would turn out okay.

————————–————————–————————–——

Written by Karl Gaverza
Copyright © Karl Gaverza

Diwata Illustration by Patricia Ramos
FB: The Art of Patricia Ramos

Color by Yanna Gemora
FB: Yannami

Inspired by the Diwata myths.