Hold On

My Fantasia fantasizing was interrupted last March 10 by a far more pleasant matter, a fantasy-turned-reality, so to speak. This activity was so compelling that for the first time in months, I woke up earlier than eight in the morning, just to make sure I wouldn't be left behind even if I knew from past experience that things like these follow an extreme form of Filipino time. However, it turned out well and good that I woke up early; since, to my surprise, everyone had also been up and ready early enough, enabling the trip to commence in record time by eight. After a hurried breakfast and a few minutes wait by the C5 road, I was all smiles when the rented van approached, and, once inside, I chatted with dear friends I had not seen for a while. The places whizzed by: South Luzon Expressway, Star Toll Way, Lipa City, Padre Garcia town, San Juan town, Laiya Beach. In a little less than four hours (another record time, thanks to a driver who's too fast, too eager for comfort), I was back at the Casa Remo Apartelle.

Now approaching its first year in business, the apartelle had maintained the no-frills approach that would appeal to tourists simply in need of a clean and safe place to sleep, eat and leave their things while they explore the beach and the sea. Why bother with amenities like cable TV, which are supposed to be left behind in the city? Doing away with these fancy stuffs to lower the room rate would be far more reasonable for me. Besides, the real priceless treasure would be the warm service provided by the caretakers.

Speaking of the beach and the sea, Laiya had staved off at least for this year the commercialization plaguing other more famous beaches in the Philippines. There was still none of those in-your-face beachside rows of restaurants and videoke bars. Heck, there's even a 10 pm moratorium from the videoke-induced ear torture, at least in Casa Remo. Also, the boats ferrying people to snorkel sites were still occupying a small stretch of beach; thus, they bother only those who swim within their territory. I was able to take one such boat ride and finally saw fishes, colored yellow, silver and blue, swim up close to feed from the bread crumbs we offered. I was even more delighted that two shortcomings I had pointed out in my Laiya post last year were somehow absent this time around: the sea was cleaner now while the stronger pressure of the plumbing system provided enough flowing water for me to have a decent shower.

Curiously, I am giving Laiya and Casa Remo a rare all-glowing review. Perhaps it is due to the timing of our outing; since, this time we got there before the end of classes and the Holy Week vacation. Meaning, we arrived weeks before hordes of tourists from Metro Manila spoil the place with their wasteful habits (city-dwellers, bah!). Furthermore, unlike last year, there was no typhoon the week before to mess up the area.

I think, though, that I tend to gloss over trifles simply because I was in good company last weekend. As I had said in my post last year, if I wanted to make a pilgrimage reliving all those exhilarating emotional memories of college friendship, I should have done it so with these friends. Well whaddya know, good things do happen if one fervently wishes for them to happen.

I was with my friends from the college organization we fondly refer to as DS. There were only six of us in that outing: Maan, Malen, Niña, Ruth, Jacob and I. Others have been tied up with other commitments in home, school or office, on matters that were either scheduled way beforehand or cropped up at the last minute. Due to a routine overtime, even I almost didn't make it if not for a change in the outing's schedule.

From about twenty or more potential attendees, the fact that only six made it is admittedly disappointing for me somewhat, but I do acknowledge, reluctantly, that ever since graduating and being entrenched in our respective work or further education, it is inevitable that we would part ways. It has been two to three years since dispersing to pursue our individual careers. Although we do meet up once in a while, it would never be the same like in college, where every day we would drop by our little org room either to fulfill our "shifting" for our various services or simply to seek amiable company. Gone, too, would be those weekly meetings where we discussed, in no particular order, organization stuff, the latest gossip or what gimik we would do afterwards. When once we thought that the different schedules of classes and locations classrooms already make meeting up quite challenging, even more varied schedules and locations of the different companies and schools we are in now make meeting up almost impossible. Ah, I remember myself one March morning two years ago, also here in Casa Remo. We were wrapping up our penultimate official activity for DS, all huddled in prayer. It was at the point when I contemplated this impending prospect of separation that I was driven to tears: bittersweet tears they were.

Though unavoidable the drifting away would be, I hope we do so with the ties still intact, in such a way that when the call for a reunion such as this arrives, and barring no conflict in schedules nor logistical concerns, almost everyone would attend.

In this outing, one thing reminded me why these are great friends beyond sharing common interests, beyond sharing common opinions, beyond sharing fun moments together. The fact that we can express our misgivings of each other, without the ill feelings is, I think, proof of a mature and strong friendship. More than acceptance, there is that desire to make friends grow. Being on the receiving end of constructive criticism from friends like these have made me aware of weaknesses, an awareness that is more acute than if the remark is coming from, say my boss or even my parents.

It was amusing that even until now, there can still be new things we discover from one another: from confidential interrogations, discussions on love and friendship, and actuations by the beach we got to know of changes, intrigues and the like. Among the discoveries, the most striking and at the same time comforting for me, in the sense that they resonated with my own sentiments, were that we share the gratitude of how this companionship had contributed to our growth to the better as well as the desire to preserve the friendship for the rest of our lives.

The outing was only an overnight stay, and our reunion ended too soon. With a sigh, our present commitments crept into our consciousness. We traveled to Manila in silence, to each his or her own thoughts. We were going back to the "real world" and wallow there until the next fantasy-turned-reality.

-oOo-

Apologies for the delay of this write-up. Immediately after the outing, instead of resting for the week of work ahead, my laptop and me myself was commandeered in the preparations for another journey, this time to a big destination come May, and when I say big I mean literally and figuratively big. To avoid being jinxed however, I won't mention it yet, just stay tuned folks!

(Pictures from Ruth)

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Fantasia (Part 3)

Picture credits: The images below are sample characters from the MMORPG Ragnarok Online of the company Level Up!. I don't actually play it, but the game was what I had in mind as a loose template of this story (template only, so it's not Ragnarok canon), not to mention images of its characters do provide a cute effect, hehe. Pictures nixed from the Ragnarok online website (screenshots and mage skills).

Part 1
Part 2

Scrolls were scattered all around Daniel's desk at his home, one October night three years later. Some of them were partially unrolled, others still closed, while others were full of scribbles. At the middle, fully opened, brightly illuminated by candelabra, was the scroll for Codix formulae that Daniel had been furiously reviewing for more than an hour. In the particular team formed for an upcoming tournament, only Daniel was good at Codix (the others were quite fearful of its power and mystery), so he should better focus on it while he would let his teammates focus on their own expertise. After a few more minutes, Daniel decided he was through with the scroll.

Along with fifteen other Knights, Daniel was preparing for another tournament. Having been in other mostly victorious jousts of the intellect since Second, Third to now Fourth Group R--about three years of fierce mental dueling--this should be a breeze, but in truth, Daniel was distracted.

This never happened before. Back in his stint in Second Group R, thanks to their able mentor and coach, Master Dionysus of the Crafts of Healing, Herbology and Animalism, they dominated other academies in Ceres: a teammate, Romulus was the champion while Daniel got the second prize. The next year in Alchemy, it was Daniel's turn to be the champion. In fact, it was through Alchemy that he was able to go to the City of Legacy, and although it was a losing tournament, he managed to get a glimpse of the Citadel of Aqueaon. It appeared that being able to withstand what his fellow wards jokingly refer to as "lethargic side-effect of the potions" would provide him great opportunities.

It was in Fourth Group R that Daniel truly demonstrated his vast understanding of the Codix and Magic and his skillful handling of enchanted artifacts. First up was a contest on controlling Master Artifacts, also called Enchanters, exquisite large crystals that were adaptable to various uses due to its being highly responsive to all of the known Codix formulations. This contest was held in the City of Manille, Imperial Capital of Fralippolippi, and in facing off against the best of the Capital, Daniel and his team was found wanting. But that never deterred Daniel: back in EveAlone, he participated in even more duels of Magic, the Codix, and general knowledge, where he was most successful. For the latter he thus found himself battling it out in the Challenge of the Intellects, the most well-known contest of its kind in EveAlone due to its being shown in Heraldic Mirrors across the land. These mirrors were enchanted artifacts that show moving images as if peering through a window. Here he battled together with Romulus, who was more knowledgeable in the Arts, and they had surmounted two rounds, the first through a stunning rout of lesser academies while the second through a nerve-wracking close fight against two beautiful ladies from the Lair of the Greyhound. It was in light of this two victories and one more upcoming round before the championships that Daniel was preparing for a "practice" tournament prepared by older youths of EveAlone who were now undergoing apprenticeship in Manille the Imperial Capital.

Although this tournament was troubling Daniel, it was not due to the fact that he had other commitments, like the main scholastic work, as well as in various activities of interest like the regular literary scroll A Merry Land (wherein his first writing was a pathetic and sappy retelling of his misfortune in the dance), the annual chronicles Tagumpay, the mini-guild of Magic and another mini-guild for Codix. Certainly it was not due to his minimal participation in acolyte training, which he joined upon the influence of Dominic who was the lead acolyte trainee. Their friendship started when Daniel realized that Dominic's steadfastness led credence to his wise advice, and when Dominic as well had realized that he should be more open to the realities of the world rather than impose his ideals. In fact, in contrast to his previous aloof stance, Dominic had been more personally involved with Kirsten, a guest from the Citadel, since their meeting in Second Group R. Distance was not a barrier as both maintained correspondence through letters and an occasional chat through the Box of Conversation, an enchanted device that sends to the air one's voice to be captured and spoken in another Box thus enabling a conversation through great distances.

Now what could have stopped Daniel from maintaining a similar correspondence with Helen? He had known her address through that piece of paper that he, in a fit of obsession, snitched from public display, had he not? Well, Daniel chose to concede and forget, and in a selfless gesture (possibly influenced by Dominic) handed the paper over to Mervin to bolster the latter's chances with Helen, since other admirers have been going to Legacy to personally visit her. Mervin, on the other hand, was interested more on the identifier the paper provided for the Box of Conversation in Helen's residence. The two talked of sweet nothings until the elders in Mervin's house noticed how this rampant utilization of their Box was disrupting them from doing business.

It appeared to be weeks of fruitless courting for Helen's admirers. As with Daniel and all the others, distance made forgetting easier for Mervin. It was back to the good old days with Daniel where they'd walk together on the way home and poke fun at anything that amused them (they were joined by Dominic on some occasions). Mervin realized that aside from Helen, he had a lot in common with Daniel. He also joined A Merry Land and Tagumpay to hone his writing skill. And he was also influenced by Dominic to undergo acolyte training. But if Daniel was good enough to compete in Magic and the Codix, Mervin would train and fight as a Knight, the original skill their school was known for. He started out with the humble role of a drummer in the marching band. This developed his musical inclinations that, together with Daniel (who plays the harpsichord albeit clumsily) and other minstrel hopefuls, they tried to form a musical troupe. Later on, Mervin underwent the more rigorous training for officership. Daniel tried to join as well, but found himself physically incapable of performing the most demanding of tasks that any officer must perform with ease. He returned to training for the contests in Magic and the Codix.

Daniel jolted himself from his reverie. What was he wasting his time for? With a sigh, he unscrolled the Book of Enchanted Artifacts. There was no time to be distracted, he had made his choice. Besides he already had a plan, hopefully it would work. No, he had thought about it a lot of times, and had considered the things that were at stake: it had to work. "Helen," he sneered at himself, "I thought I've forgotten her. Now she's back, and, funny thing is, I am allowing her to mess with my life again."

(To be continued)

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