Miguel looks up to the beautiful black sky with twinkling stars up above him. His eyes sparkled upon the sight of the beautiful and bountiful meteor shower that dripped from the cold black spiral of space, bringing light into the misty black waters. Miguel smiles, looking up to see Anna’s face. “Like I said… It feels iconic…”

  Anna, who allowed Miguel’s head to rest on her lap, giggles softly. “Promise me, Miguel… If I’m not around… You’d do the right thing in the end.” She brushes his hair, feeling the warm touch of his hair. He smelled like cologne. She liked it. Quite a luxurious day, was it? Not really. Miguel was just in a fight in Prom. He’s tired… Beaten… and bruised… “How much more fights could you handle… would you handle…? Just to protect us…?”

  “I found hope… I didn’t mean anything… Back then… People bullied me, called me slurs… Called me an animal for being a monster, an Aswang.”

  “Is that bad?”

  “Did you want me to embrace it?”

  “I wanted you to keep fighting against it. That’s always been what God’s been telling you to do. To fight against cruelty. For Satan loves reaping in the shadows.”

  “Humans suck,” said Miguel, feeling like he’s suffocating.

  “They’re not all bad. Tyrone saved your ass out there.”

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  “Mhm.” Miguel tilts his head away from Anna’s face, looking at the beautiful city of glowing lights this time. Crickets chirped around their farmhouse, but he looked south and saw the city of which they lived in the outskirts of. It was bustling. It was beautiful. Burnham City was a beautiful place, filled with trash and stray cats, but something that felt like home. He smelled the scents from the distance. Balut Vendors in the suburbs. Prostitute men and women laughing, sharing a good time before the darkness of their later hours come. Students drinking in a bar above a hotel. Men and women dancing in a rave. Jeepneys were everywhere, delivering people to their homes and their jobs. Some people smoked, ignoring Prometheus’ latest ordinance or worked around it by vaping. Kids, who were foolish, walked around in the streets playing an augmented reality video game. Miguel smelled the homeless, who were starving and sleeping under the overpass bridges of the city/ But some were kind enough to give a coin. Others would eat rotten fruit and vegetables to survive, but at least they prayed that evening. The Cathedral was jam-packed with people. The Priest humorously read from the pages of the script rather than delivering a proper homily.

  “Sensory overload?” asked Anna

  “Yeah…” said Miguel, with his eyes furiously trying to look for an answer, twitching and looking around, before staring with immediate nonsense in his pupils. “Sensory overload.” He stares into nothingness… Staring blankly… As if his eyes had no function at all.

  “Lock into one thing, Miguel. One at a time.” Anna looked at the city as well. She smiles, seeing lights. “The lights are pretty.”

  “Good for you. I can see beyond that. It’s terrifying.”

  “Yeah. That’s why we’re training to be something more…”

  Miguel gives a soft sigh as a spark of flames leave his mouth. “Alright.”

  5… Years… Later…

  Miguel sobbed, silently, carrying Anna’s body. Everyone was horrified and in disarray from Morningstar Prime’s attack. Miguel roars angrily, crying.

  Prime backs away, in horror. “I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry.”

  Meanwhile…

  Myrmex pants in pain, bleeding on the ground of Mars. She is bruised and is shown to have been beaten to a near pulp. The coarse sand burning her skin began shaking, and something, no, someone, landed before her.

  She closes her eyes as a looming threat begins to approach her.