Father Thomas has agreed to meet Peter Daligdig. However, he has not agreed to bringing a Dalakitnon, a Palesekan, and a Santelmo along with him.
"But what about me? You're dragging me into this without my permission?" Virgil Mata asserts.
You have to remember that although Virgil is a halfling son, he is still the son of Makanduk, the Visayan deity of War and Plunder. Unfortunately, no matter how powerful he is, Virgil still cannot do anything to go against Father Thomas' curse. Besides, of course, to complain and be absolutely insufferable about it. Trust me, he is a tively generating a plan as we speak. For now, he will just have to at least make whatever journey Father Thomas is going for a bit more unenjoyable.
Virgil continues to pester Father Thomas with his queries.
"How'd you know my name? Have we met before?"
"The registration at the game. Your name was on the leader board."
"Fair," Virgil nods. He seems proud at this answer. It reminds him of his glory days...
...that should not have ended so quickly had it not been for Father Thomas!
"Okay, now it's your turn. Who are you? And what do you need to curse me for?"
"I'm Father Thomas of The Church of Divine Order."
"You're a priest?" Helmar asks in awe.
"Why is that surprising?" Xun voices.
"Is that not the most obvious thing in the world, Helmar?" Keres chastises the Santelmo.
"No. I just thought he was a hardcore Goth."
They arrive at the Canary Motel parking lot. The sorry sight of the singular Yamaha YZF-R1 greets them. It stops them in their tracks.
"How do you plan on travelling with all of us in that stupid bike?" Virgil prods.
"I don't. You three are not supposed to be here."
Father Thomas points at the rest.
"Well, we're here now. What are you going to do about it?" Xun asks.
"What do you plan on doing in general? Church duty? Are you planning to kill us all? That's what you do, right? Kill and banish our kind. Some holy man you are..." Keres adds.
"Wait, how'd you know that?" Helmar butts in.
"He's such a know-it-all," Virgil unobtrusively whispers beside him.
"I heard that." Keres retorts, huge ears twitching.
Father Thomas hesitates. He weighs his options. By now, CODO would have caught wind of what he'd been preoccupied with the last few days. His life as he knew it slowly counts down to its imminent end. His duty with the church that he had shaped his life and purpose around ultimately culminates into an abrupt and pathetic conclusion. All the years he has spent in the church, most parts of his life belonging in the Divine Order, and yet, he has to throw it all away to know who he truly is. The people who took him in and the role that gave his existence meaning begin to slip away like sand through his fingers. There is no going around it anymore for Father Thomas. He needs to come clean.
"My last mission," Father Thomas confesses. "I'm here to collect my father's price."
There is a secret portal located in the looping Old Zigzag Road in Atimonan, Quezon more popularly called the Bitukang Manok. Some say you have to travel the entire journey from end to end in a specific time, starting at 3:33 at midnight, for its mystical doors to open for you. Others say you have to perform a ritual to seek for clearance from its guide entities to enter the portal. But for the most part, you just have to know the right people who have the ability to let you in.
Inside this portal is where Crisanto and the rest have kept Peter Daligdig hostage. As an Enktanto King, he had the most knowledge around disappearing cities and invisible portals. Knowing where to look and which door to access is the same difference to him as knowing which door led to the bathroom and which one led to the primary bedroom inside his own house.
"Do I know you from somewhere?" Crisanto asks Peter.
There is a hotel lodge inside the loop. It's the same one you can find outside the portal, in the regular "demystified" version of the road, the one normal human beings dwell on. Inside the loop, it is abandoned and dilapidated. Much like the true form of an Enkanto, the truth behind the facade is ominous and vacant.
The five of them are on their way to the lodge after looping endlessly on the zigzag road. Mino drives the car with Crisanto at the passenger. The rest sit at the backseat.
"I don't know." Peter responds, terror evident from his shaking voice. Crisanto inspects him from the rearview mirror.
"Lying," Mino points out in a sing-song voice. "Let me try this. Do you know Michael Domingo? Hmm? Ring any bell?"
"Oh...that's where I know you from. You're that man's friend."
"Wait, who's that guy? Michael?" Elias asks.
"Does that have something to do with the priest?" Crisanto pries.
Peter doesn't respond.
"Call him. Tell him where to find you."
Crisanto dials the phone he had taken from Peter. He was holding it when they had ambushed him at the church. After Crisanto pressed the call button and held up the phone in front of Peter's face, he reluctantly spoke into the receiver.
Father Thomas immediately answers as soon as the call connects.
"Peter? Where are you? We're here at the church. They said you'd gone somewhere but you didn't tell where."
"I'm," Peter stutters, "I'm in Atimonan right now..."
"What? Why?"
Crisanto snatches the phone back. Tony puts a hand over Peter's mouth to prevent him from making any more noise. He couldn't counter in any way with his hand and feet tied behind his back. He can't even see who is covering his mouth because he also has his eyes blindfolded.
Crisanto holds the phone to his face. "We'll meet you there, Father Thomas. You'll figure it out."
And then, he hangs up.
Father Thomas looks at Virgil. And then he looks at Brother Mateo, who had welcomed them when they arrived. He was the one who informed Father Thomas that Peter the groundskeeper left with four suspicious-looking men. They were able to confirm that Tony was involved when he asked Brother Mateo if one of the men had angry-looking eyebrows, and if that man seemed like he had just woken up from an anesthesia-induced sleep. Brother Mateo said yes. He also revealed that the rest of the men were just as...memorable. One of them was extremely tan, brawny, and had bird features (rounded eyes, a small mouth, and a beak-like nose)—this is Mino; the other was extremely good-looking, sophisticated, and regal, like a prince—which of course is Crisanto; and while the last one didn't have much of a distinguishable physical feature, he instead had on a red headwrap with intricate gold weaving that Brother Mateo was able to mark him with—and this, as we know, is Lakan Elias.
"Looks like we're going to have to commute again. This time, down South. Quezon Province."
"What?! That's another, what, 9 hours?" Helmar whines.
Xun wants to complain with Helmar. But he had a better idea. Instead, he goes to Virgil to taunt him. To rile him up, and see if he can awaken the savage beast that used to throw an entire motorcycle unit overhead straight into Xun. "Aren't you going to do anything?"
"He can't. He'll die if he tries to put up a resistance."
"That's not fair, Father," Xun tries to argue.
"Nothing is fair. I've put the Ventriloquist Curse on him. He can't do anything to go against me."
"Hey, what? You put the what curse on him?" Helmar presses on.
"Hmm. I'm surprised you know something for a change. What is this curse?" Keres teases Helmar.
"It's this curse..." Helmar begins, "...that was said to have started with a Ventriloquist died in a huge fire. His soul was trapped inside it, which begged for help for years and years and years. Unable to escape, he had accidentally gave birth to a demon, which was thought to have Santelmo-like qualities. But no, it was simply a cursed soul trapped inside an endless fire. This undying soul was able to create a Santelmo dummy, almost. A fire puppet, if you will. It's not a real Santelmo, that's why I couldn't identify it at first. And this puppet can only be invoked by the Ventriloquist's chant. His curse...
"...How did you know about that curse, Father?"
"Will you tell them?" A voice interrupts Helmar's storytelling and the group's huddle. It is an older woman's voice, much older and wiser than everyone.
Father Thomas instantly fixes his posture and smooths invisible wrinkles on his robe. He clears his throat.
"Mother Socorro."
The woman, The Church of Divine Order's Mother Superior and one of the three parish vicars that leads their church, is also Father Thomas' old mentor. He assisted her for his first mission. She has taught him everything he knows. She filled the role of the mother figure he never had.
Mother Socorro continues. "So, will you tell them what you've gotten yourself into?"