Anakdatu

It was a cold night, and I cannot sleep. I keep turning on my bed around and around asking why do I feel like someone is watching me, and us and our family and our house and everything. This night, I was really uncomfortable, not just because of the very tropical weather of the Philippines, but it's like a gut feeling, not just because of the weird temperature or weather stuff and so on, but I do feel something is wrong. Well then, I decided to take a walk.

I went out of my bedroom, and have a walk around the corridors of our house, well, our house isn't really that glamorous, just a normal bungalow, with lots of Philippine relics, weapons such as blowguns, bows and arrows, you know, the kind of weapons that ancient prehistoric guys use and some baybayin script around the house and so on. I do not know but this environment makes me feel more at ease than being on that clammy bedroom, as if I feel more protected and that I belong. I sat here on the sofa for a while. Maybe just the pressure of an upcoming thesis defense within two days and I am really pressured. How do papers even make a man crumble and bow down to it like it is some kind of god? The nerve.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot, Hi there! I am Ramil, silly old name for a generation like what we are having now right now with names like Bruno Mars or what not, I am Ramil Liwayway (don't laugh, please), a Filipino, living somewhere near Makati, the only son of Hernan and Valerie, I am a 15-year-old guy who is still at high school, a laughingstock for my name (yes, still don't laugh) and for that, I am a super introverted kind of guy and I tell you, I have no friends, none, as in like I am just a loner who never cares for the world. I love reading books; I know quite a lot of languages, in Tagalog, madami akong alam na lengwahe, in Spanish, Se muchos idiomas, in German, Ich kenne viele Sprachen, in Greek, gnorizzo polles glosses, and so on. My dad taught me lots when I was young and so I was young then so I see everything as interesting so I learned quick, as I remembered, I was 4 years old and I can speak 4 languages already. I have no idea why my dad knows a lot of languages, I thought for those things, he is a spy and stuffs but it's just a loud thought but maybe… He even taught me all kinds of martial arts! Cool dad.

So as I introduced myself well, then I'll just chill here on the sofa, maybe meditate and so on. Or maybe just absorb the very good aura and feeling of just looking at these weird Philippine weapons of war where blood was stained and cursed amongst these blades, awesome, no, creepily awesome.

After a weird momentarily silence, the phone rang for 3 seconds and then there was a loud knock on the door.

"What the", as I looked on our wall clock, it's 12:34 am, who the hell could that be at this very unholy hour?

I was pushed far away from the door because explosion, and I just realized whoah, my body is full of shrapnel, I am bleeding so much. Awesome.

"DAD! MOM!" I shouted.

And here is where weird things happened; the guys who blew our doorway out, you know who Splinter Cell is? That old video game where the main guy there wears this weird green eye mask thingy? Just look it up on Google, that is what the guys look like who infiltrated our home and there were six of them holding some kind of glowing modified M-16s and some futuristic things.

My dad appeared, wearing some kind of a suit, no, not that kind of suit like who is going to some place like a cocktail party, but it is like Metal Gear Solid Snake's Sneaking suit (What a video game nerd) and also wearing some kind of glasses and holding a kind of a wooden stick/cane on his left hand, he appeared behind the splinter cell guys.

"My God, I hardly expected a breach this hour, good thing I was ready." My dad said in a very casual manner. As the splinter cell guys turned around and pointed their guns to my dad.

"DAD, You stupid, it's not time for you to do your businessman things! I am goddamned bleeding and you are so calm right there! Help!" I shouted

My dad, seriously, he just smirked, "My Dad used to tell me and I used to tell this to my son right Ram? Knock on the door properly, I hate people who just barge in our home."

What a badass. Hashtag #CoolDad. I know he's got some mad martial art skills but he is just a businessman at Taguig.

And suddenly, my dad swung his stick on the nearest splinter cell guy and locked the hook/handle of the cane to his neck and he tweaked some things in his awesome stick and the handle suddenly released some kind of blade and slit the throat of one of them.

"Are we going to stand here all night, or are we going to bust our guts of?" My dad said, regaining his composure. He faced us and barked some orders "Valerie, bring Ramil and go to Room Code Red, stay safe and know that I love you, both of you, GO."

My mom, hoisted me up and supported me as we hobbled to the wall near the relics and my mom said some kind of words of deep Tagalog that my brain slowly registered and I took one last look to my Dad fighting for his life with his mighty umbrella and then suddenly, I am dead, clinging to my dear consciousness and life.

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While I was for the meantime unconscious, I had these weird dream, I was back in time, long ago wherein guys wear bahags, no, if you know some Philippine history, just look at Lapu-lapu, these are what the guys look like.

I am in some sort of council; this council was more of like done on a hut, a huge kind of hut then inside, there are some animal skins hanged, some pikes, spears for storage and weapons I saw on the walls of our home, it is a round hut and on this round hut sat cross-legged on the floor are 10 guys who look like the Lapu Lapu guy, then I suddenly realized, the guy in the middle is speaking some kind of ritual for all of them, here is what I heard in Tagalog but no worries, I will translate it into English : "We are the Anakdatu, we are here to serve till the last of out kin, till the last drop of our blood. We are sired to protect the islands of the Philippines with all our greatest might. We are trained to work in animosity and darkness in order to serve the people to have their light. We give without conditions, we work without tire, we fight for the love of our People and of our Country."

Exactly after the last word, a large explosion was heard outside the hut, then there is another guy, more likely a warrior who barged in the hut.

The warrior, out of breath, panting said "The Portuguese guy and his weird comrades, well, just started a battle outside with their ships, fired a weird black coconut from their vessels on the house of our babaylan, what are your orders, Datu Lapu-Lapu?"

The guy speaking the ritual stood up and also his comrades, got his weapons and said: "We fight."

They all charged outside the hut, to the broad daylight and I heard one of the 10 guys saying "Portuguese kang bata ka!" or in English, "You are a Portuguese kid!", and realizing that maybe that is where that Philippine phrase originated and suddenly, I felt like falling and the dream is turning to black, the scene faded and I heard only blood splats on the sand, cries and I am so scared, I wanted to help those guys, but what can I do? My body was even full of shrapnel.

And suddenly, after the scene turned black, my dream did some kind of rewind from my life, I was on the day of my birth, mom and dad looked so happy, I looked like a very innocent kid. And then the scene moved fast showing the scenes from my life to now and I noticed things I haven't noticed before, like when I was on my first field trip with my dad, and we are in the Luneta Park, roaming around and I remembered seeing a balloon vendor with glowing eyes and I told my dad that look, I want a balloon from that cool guy and My dad smiled while holding his cane tight and saying "Okay son, no worries, I'll be back okay? I'll get you that balloon." And he came back and I saw that the glowing eyes guy was missing too. And some scenes like that, were those glowing eye guys have been following us? I don't know, I have lots of unanswered questions. And the scene turned back to black.