Quezon Memorial Circle, Quezon City

“Why did you call me here Nestor, and where are the others?”

Nestor and Joseph stood at the edge of the spires of the Quezon Memorial Circle. The towering white monolith dwarfed everything around it. Three spires jutted from the tower, 66 meters into the sky. The height equal to the age that the honored president died. His remains lie here now, surrounded by the park and the daily pedestrians and commuters that loop around the elliptical road.

Nestor replied.

“I wanted to speak with you alone. I did not broadcast through soul link so only you heard my call.”

Joseph eyed his eldest brother quizzically.

Nestor continued.

“You were always one to calculate all our actions, always the first to question if our ways are right, if our methods are the best for the nation. Yes. I know we have agreed to step back and let the people carry out the civilization while we accept our fate and slowly fade away. But I, but we, did not anticipate Carlos.”

Joseph looked out into the bustling city. The monument stood as an epicenter to a wide network of avenues spreading out in different directions. Joseph quickly wondered how different this place would be if the original plan to make this site as the nation’s capital pushed through. It would have been less quiet. He thought.

“You are right of course Nestor. And I am certain that you are also aware of the abductions. 3 potentials have already been kidnapped, or feared dead.” Said Joseph.

“Carlos is brewing trouble.” Nestor replied. “But he knows our ways, he is also inexorably tied to the same rules as we are.”

“But I see the fear in you Kuya, and I feel it too. We both know how Kali gets when too much strain is put on the earth. She is Carlos’ twin after all. We are reflections of the people, of the land. When forests are decimated and oceans are stained Kali shakes in pain, she loses her light. And when people give in to hate, to anger and to darkness, Carlos becomes darker, even more than he already is.”

The eldest god of the land turned his eyes toward the sky.

“That is my fear Joseph, as I am beginning to feel the weight and the decay of the country upon my body, I believe that Carlos is also being twisted malevolently. You know that we also exist to keep the balance among each other. All of us playing a part so that the system does not break. That is also why we agreed to force Carlos to sleep. We could not have destroyed him, it would have resulted in a total collapse of the system.”

Joseph knew this. He remembered ages ago when it was him and Julian who stood at odds against each other. A struggle between power and peace. If it was not for the threat of foreign rule that united them, maybe it would be him or his twin that would have been the villain.

“What should we do Nestor?” Joseph asked.

“Dan.” The eldest replied. “We need him. And his son.”