“Husband, what’s wrong? You seemed angry when you returned.” A female voice echoed throughout Kaptan’s throne room as the god sat down. Searching for the source of the voice, Kaptan sees a familiar divinity dressed in divine black rags. “Maguayen, my love.” The god greeted. Maguayen is the wife of Kaptan, the goddess of the sea and the ferrywoman of souls. The two had been closer than ever since the fight that made Kaptan create mortals.
“The other gods wanted to have our lands,” Kaptan explained, clenching his fists as he felt anger begin to take over. He glanced at the goddess, taking note of the worried look on her face. Not wanting to harm his wife, he took a deep breath before continuing. “I have declared war with the land above us and below us.”
“I hope you know what you did.” Maguayen worriedly said.
Kaptan nodded in response and stood up. “My wife, I will go and gather the gods to break this news.” And with that, the god left.
“Ynaguinid.” Kaptan greeted as he approached the female deity. Ynaguinid is the goddess of war and poisons and one of the trinity of war gods. The goddess was standing over an army of warriors, watching their technique as they trained.
“Kaptan.” Ynaguinid greeted back without taking her eyes off the mortals. “What brings you here?”
“I need to talk to you, Makanduk, and Balangaw. Go to my throne room as soon as you can. I must talk to Saragnayan first.” The god spoke with authority. Not waiting for a response, Kaptan nodded toward the goddess before leaving her to her duties once again.
Without a hint of fear, Kaptan swiftly entered the Kasakitan region, where he knew he’d find the god he was looking for. It didn’t take long before a dark man with glowing red eyes entered his vision. “Saragnayan, god of darkness,” Kaptan greeted. “It is just me.”
Saragnayan, upon recognizing the voice, immediately shifted back into his original appearance- a handsome man decorated with tattoos. Saragnayan is the god of darkness and the leader of the creatures of the night. “Kaptan!” The god greeted in return. “I am good, my brother. Say, what brings you here to the underworld?”
“I must ask of you to meet me in Kahilwayan. There is something you must know.”
“Perhaps it is possible to talk to them,” Sappia suggested. Sappia is the goddess of mercy, who overheard the conversation of Kaptan and Maguayen and insisted that she is to be included in the meeting. A gentle yet worried look adorned her face as she thought about the safety of the mortals if war was to occur.
“That damned god Bathala insisted on his terms. Talking to a wall is more effective.” Kaptan responded. “This war was bound to happen.”
“I suppose we’ll need all the strength we can get then.” Saragnayan spoke as he stood up from his seat. “I will gather my creatures and talk to the spirits of the land.”
Kaptan nodded and dismissed the deities. One by one, they left to carry out the tasks that were given to them by their supreme deity. Maguayen, who had no task, stayed beside Kaptan to comfort him, knowing how troubled the god was.
When Pamulak Manobo returned to his kingdom, he was immediately greeted by his deities, who were all excited to hear about the other kingdoms. However, seeing the sour look on the god’s face, they grew quiet. They all stared expectantly at Pamulak Manobo, awaiting the god’s narrative about the meeting.
“My brothers and sisters, war is upon us.” Pamulak Manobo started. “We are against four other kingdoms that want our land.”
“Why do they want our land?” Darago asked. Darago is one of the patrons of men-of-war, and with him is his wife, Mandaragan. The couple lived and often stayed in the depth of Mt. Apo, but like the other deities, they were curious about the other gods that lived outside of the kingdom of Pamulak Manobo.
“Perhaps they want to be the ones to be the sole ruler of the world.” Mebuyan, the goddess of the underworld, spoke. Many deities refer to her as the mother of dead spirits as her body is decorated with breasts which she uses to care for the souls of mortals that died young.
“Do you really want those gods to take what you’ve worked so hard for?” A sir’ing teased amidst the crowd. Sir’ings are spirits that are known to harm mortals by abducting the women and the young and feeding them to the snakes and worms whom they live with. Often, the deities would ignore the words of Sir’ings. However, hearing what it said, anger began to take over the minds of the deities.
Seeing this, another sir’ing that was present grinned mischievously before speaking up, “Taking the credits of your work? That’s disrespectful.” Now, the gods were angered, even Pamulak Manobo. They began to shout in anger about the different ways they would punish the other gods. Triumphant, the sir’ings swiftly sneaked out of Pamulak Manobo’s kingdom.
“Are you okay?” Baitpandi asked. She is a deity of the court of Pamulak Manobo, who was known for her kindness. She also taught the mortal women to weave as approved by the supreme god. While the other gods left to prepare for the war, Baitpandi stayed, taking notice of the god’s frustration.
“I worry about this war.” Pamulak Manobo replied. “What will be of the mortals during the war?”
Baitpandi pondered for a moment. During the outburst of the deities, she, too, was wondering about the safety of the mortals. A war between many kingdoms would lead to massive destruction, which could eliminate the existence of mortals. Alas, an idea entered her mind. “I can talk to them. If I do not show any aggression, they will not harm me.” Baitpandi responded.
Hearing the words of the goddess, Pamulak Manobo grew worried. He knew the goddess would not be able to defend herself if Bathala were to strike her. “Do not go alone.” He said, giving the goddess the permission that she wanted.
Mayari was not surprised to see the three deities enter the throne room at the same time. She quietly addresses them before returning to her duties. Beside her was a rigid Sitan, the god of the underworld. Seeing the unexpected god, Bathala looked at Mayari expectantly as if waiting for an explanation.
“I told Tala about the war, and she called Sitan,” Mayari explained. Even she could not understand how the sweet Tala could’ve been on good terms with the god of the underworld. The god of the underworld shifted uncomfortably as the gaze of the three gods flew to him.
After a moment, Bathala sighed and made his way to the table in the middle of the throne room. “Sit.” He ordered the other gods, who swiftly followed. “I am sure that all of you are now aware of the war.” He said. The other gods mumbled expressions of agreement, urging Bathala to continue.
“We are not sure of their capabilities.” Apolaki butted in, uncertainty lacing his voice.
“We are sure of our own,” Amanikabli affirmed. “That is enough, yes?”
As the night stretched on, the three gods continued to discuss while Mayari listened in. At first, the gods had decided that the female deities would not partake in the war, much to Mayari’s disliking. However, the goddess had found a way to convince the gods to allow the goddesses to decide. Eventually, the meeting ended on a good note with a strong plan embedded into the minds of all who attended the meeting.
The following day, Bathala gathered all of his deities to find those who are willing to fight. All of the gods were willing to fight, regardless of the lack of experience most of them have when it comes to war. Satisfied, Bathala dismissed the gods to continue with their duties.