LUSUNG: THE LOST KINGDOM

AMEMORI SOUMA

pg. 1
 LUSUNG: THE LOST KINGDOM
AMEMORI SOUMA

Table of Contents
Chapter 1:
Dreams and the Dreamer
………………………………………………………. pg. 3 - 5
Chapter 2:
The Balete Tree ……………………………………………………….pg. 3
Chapter 3:
Inside the Balete Tree
……………………………………………………….pg. 3
Chapter 4:
……………………………………………………….pg. 3

pg. 2
 LUSUNG: THE LOST KINGDOM
AMEMORI SOUMA

Chapter 1: Dreams and the Dreamer

"Kali! Have you watched TV? We are on a lockdown, they said." A young teenager sounded
through the phone.

"I haven't. You know me, I'm too tired of watching those uninteresting drama plots. Those
dramas are just repeatedly reskinned and retitled anyway." Kali, a 19-year-old boy who seems
to be annoyed with his friend's question.

"So, what's the matter?" Kali asked Mike, after thinking for a while.

"The news said we're on a lockdown." Mike shared the information he got after watching the
news. Just a few minutes earlier.

"Huh? What? Lockdown? What is that?" Kali asked with apparent confusion.

"They said that we are under Enhanced Community Quarantine or a lockdown in short. It
basically means we aren't allowed to go out of our houses." Mike answered.

"But why? Didn't they say that we have yet to have an infection case anywhere in the country?"
Kali asked once more as he can't understand what is happening.

"Uhh... bro... I bet you haven't watched much news. We already have infection cases in the
thousands." Mike replied to his ignorant friend.

"Ahhh... is that so? Then what shall we do now? We promised Jenna that we would come over
to her house." Kali asked as he still can't accept that the government locked them to their
houses.

"Well, that will be postponed. I also called you for that. Jenna said that we should stay home for
now. Her cousins are particularly disappointed that you aren't coming over. I'm jealous! How
come you get all the girls?" Mike answered Kali with an obvious complaint in his voice.

"That's because you already have a girlfriend, dumbass! Anyway, if that's all you've got to say,
then I shall drop the call now." Kali told Mike.

"Okay. See you when we can."

"See you!"

After conversing with his friend, Kali went to browse his phone to look at the latest news.

pg. 3
 LUSUNG: THE LOST KINGDOM
AMEMORI SOUMA
...

2 months later.

Ahhh. This quarantine sucks! Lying in his bed, Kali thought while looking at the ceiling. I shall
call Mike. It's been two months since our last call. This lockdown lifestyle is boring me down.

"Hey, bro! Wassup?" was what Kali heard when the call connected to Mike.

"Nothing much. I've done nothing for the past two months except wake up, eat, browse the
phone, and sleep. What about you?" Kali asked Mike, wondering what his best friend is up to.

"Not much different to you. I do sneak on to Jean's room whenever there's a chance. She's just
right next to our house after all." Mike said, intent on making Kali envious with his numerous
baby-making sessions.

"Okay, Mike, fine. It's you who got an exciting life. You don't need to brag to me about that. I
just hope you don't run crying to me saying you've got Jean pregnant." Kali joked, not taking
Mike's provocation to heart at all.

"Hey, hey, don't say that. You'll curse me to hell!" Mike exclaimed.

"Yeah, okay, whatever. I just called to see if you're fine, but since you've got overwhelming
energy every night, I see that you're more than fine. I'll end the call now. Bye!" Kali jokingly
replied.

After ending the call, Kali contemplated what he shall do once more. Until unknowingly, he fell
asleep.

Oh... I'm sure you must have seen a 19-year-old, right? 170cm high, weighs 60kg, black hair,
black iris, face with the golden ratio, high but rounded nose, red and full lips, thick eyebrows,
long eyelashes, and a thin body build. Yes, that's me, that's the boy named Kali.

You may be wondering why I'm describing myself.

Well, that is because I'm looking at myself right now, though not in the mirror. I'm currently
sleeping, you see, so I can't use a mirror.

If you still can't visualize what is happening, I am currently floating in the air looking at myself.
That's right. I'm in a state called lakbay-diwa right now. I think this is what most people call an
OBE or out-of-the-body experience.

pg. 4
 LUSUNG: THE LOST KINGDOM
AMEMORI SOUMA
In my country, we have this notion that dreaming of walking or running around in a place you
haven't been to means your soul is wandering around. And what you dreamt of is what your
soul experienced out of your body.

In my native tongue, we call it paglalakbay-diwa it means soul wandering. This should not be
confused with Galang-kaluluwa or wandering souls in English. It seems the same, but it's
different.

The difference is that paglalakbay-diwa uses lakbay and diwa that translates to wander and soul
(essence). While Galang-kaluluwa uses gala and kaluluwa, which translates to wander
(aimlessly) and soul (spirit).

Now that you understand. Let's get back to the topic.

So, I fell asleep and suddenly saw myself still lying in my bed, deep in my sleep. I panicked at
first because I thought that I died. But I found out that I could wake up if I willed to do so.

I suddenly remembered my mother telling me when I was a child that when we sleep, our souls
wander. I thought this might be it. Yes, this should be it.

Being in a lockdown is boring, and with this ability that I somehow gained, I should be able to go
outside to play. Though the one thing to note is that I can't interact with anything.

After a few hours of wandering around, I started to feel bored again, so I went back to my body
to wake up. That was my plan. But after trying hard to go back to my body, I gave up. My body
seems to be rejecting me.

I checked, and there aren't any spirits possessing my body, but I still can't enter. I was about to
cry and mourn for my eventual death since I'm essentially in a coma when I felt a tugging
sensation. It feels as if it wants to drag me somewhere, so I followed it.

I don't know what it will lead me to, but since I can't go back anyway, I might as well explore
first before wracking my brain off, thinking how to go back to my body.

pg. 5
 LUSUNG: THE LOST KINGDOM
AMEMORI SOUMA

Chapter 2: The Balete Tree

I walked around in circles trying to find the direction of the pull. It took me a while to find the
general direction of that pull.

The sky is starting to get dark, and the street lamps are starting to light up.

Because of the quarantine, the once lively streets are now devoid of life. As I walk towards the
direction of that mysterious pull, I reminisce about the past. How fast the world can change. I
thought. It feels like it was just yesterday when the streets are filled with vendors, pedestrians,
kids playing tag, and vehicles passing by.

You won't imagine that a few months have already passed.

Now you can't even see a single soul.

Or so I thought...

When I thought that there isn't even a single soul, I started to feel something weird. It feels as if
someone is staring at me. So I looked back and saw something horrifying. An old man, who
seems to be in his 80's is looking straight at me, smiling.

I thought it was just my imagination, but he suddenly moved towards me.

"Hey boy! Is it your first time?" The old man asked.

"Who are you? What first time?" Kali asked warily.

"Me? I'm a wandering soul. Just like you." the old man uttered.

"A wandering soul?!!?" Kali exclaimed.

"Yes. You seem to be confused. I suppose it is your first time. Why didn't you ascend?" The old
man asked.

Kali realized what the old man just said. The old man must have mistaken him as a dead person.
After all, he is just a soul right now.

"I'm not yet dead. I'm still alive." Kali denied the old man's claim.

"Oh? But that is what those who just died always say. Would you now tell me why didn't you
ascend?" The old man asked insistently.

"Ascend to where exactly?" Kali asked, curious as to where it is he didn't ascend to.

pg. 6
 LUSUNG: THE LOST KINGDOM
AMEMORI SOUMA
"To Kaluwalhatian, what you people call the heaven..., well it isn't exactly heaven, but that is
where dalisay na nu goes to." The old man said.

"Kaluwalhatian? Dalisay na nu? What?" Kali seems to get more confused with what the old man
said.

"You don't need to ask. You'll know it soon enough, once you go there, to the place where your
soul is begging you to go. Though I just want to remind you, there isn't just me in here. There
are other souls and other creatures that can see and do harm to you. You must take care.
Farewell now." The old man told Kali.

"Huh? Ah- Ahhh..." Kali wanted to speak, but the old man suddenly vanished from his sight.

Unable to understand what just happened, Kali ruminated over the old man's last word as he
continued his way to the source of the mysterious pull.

Kali was walking further out of the view. The old man who mysteriously vanished re-appeared
at the same spot Kali saw him. The old man quietly spoke, "A new manlalakbay-diwa
(dimensional traveler) has appeared." "I wonder if he can survive the malignos (evil spirits) on
his way." He added.

...

A few minutes later, as Kali continuously threaded forward while feeling the mysterious guiding
force far in the distance, he heard a screeching sound from his left. Alerted by the sound, Kali
stopped and peered into the dark alleyway to his left.

Kacha! Kacha! Kacha! What is that? Kali thought, shocked by what he saw. He saw a bloody and
disfigured creature, reminiscent of a human being and a demon. Kali didn't know that what he
encountered is a maligno, an evil spirit that feeds on the soul of humans. Kali as a soul is
drastically vulnerable to its attacks.

A maligno can morph into any form, but usually, they are seen as just like humans. As such, Kali
didn't know what the creature is, but it radiates extremely sinister energy. Kali felt an
instinctual danger.

"Oh, fucking Jesus Christ! You evil thing surprised me!" Kali unknowingly exclaimed as he was
overwhelmed by shock when the maligno abruptly moved towards him. Thinking of what he
needs to do, Kali didn't realize that the maligno was already upfront to his face.

The maligno raised its claws then slashed towards Kali's neck. The cold, gleaming, and blade-like
sharp claws appeared as if they were trying to rip his head off of his neck.

pg. 7
 LUSUNG: THE LOST KINGDOM
AMEMORI SOUMA
Cold shivers run upon Kali's soul body. Driven by instinct to escape, he somehow blinked out
100 meters away from the maligno.

Kali realized what just happened. Terrified of the maligno's claw attack, Kali stood rooted on the
spot for a second before quickly running away as fast as he could. Kali knows that it is not the
time for questions as he saw more and more malignos hurrying towards him from all directions.

Three whole hours later, Kali saw a luminescent tree 5 meters ahead of him. It seems as if a
dome of light encompassed his severely injured soul. Injuries he acquired from fending off
numerous malignos that surrounded and attacked him.

The tree is big, tall, and spacious. Lush green leaves adorned the tree with long and soft vine-
like structures extending from its branches. At the bottom-center of the trunk, a massive and
door-like hole can be seen emanating a gentle but warm and sacred aura, making it an eye-
catching sight.

The dome-like light that encapsulated Kali seemed to heal his wearied and injured soul. The one
thing that Kali didn't understand is, why did this tree change? This tree is the famous balete
tree. Kali always passes by balete drive, and he never saw the entrance-like hole in the tree nor
the light radiating from it.

It's weird, Kali thought. He often hears about the balete tree and the balete drive haunted by a
white lady. Spirit of a woman died of r*pe, often haunting theirs and other rapists, traveling
within the balete drive. With such cases and rumors going around, the balete was supposed to
be the evil spirit's hide-out.

Now that Kali is standing in front of the tree himself, he found such notions ridiculous. How
would such a sacred tree for souls be evil?

pg. 8
 LUSUNG: THE LOST KINGDOM
AMEMORI SOUMA

Chapter 3: Inside the Balete Tree

After four hours, Kali's soul injury is already completely healed. He started to head over the
balete tree. The tree was the mysterious force tugging on his soul earlier. Now that he thinks
about it, the tree must have wanted to protect him from the forces of evil like the ones
attacking him earlier.

After knowing that he is safe here, he had time to ponder about what happened earlier. The old
man must have known that evil creatures were lurking around the corner and that the balete
tree is mystical and sacred.

Branding the old man's face into his mind, he proceeded to think about how he was able to
teleport a hundred meters away from where he was. Kali noticed that when he blinked, he
seemed to lose some kind of substance within his soul body.

Not paying any more attention to it, Kali recalled what had transpired with his encounter with
the old man once more. The old man said he will know the answer to Kaluwalhatian and dalisay
na nu once he got here. He must be pertaining not outside the tree but inside of it.

Kali is already within the vicinity of the tree, but there seems to be no one he can ask of, so he
just assumed that the answer is inside the balete tree. He slowly paced forward. Walking with
inconceivable tranquility, he felt the majestic atmosphere surrounding the entrance of the tree.

Arriving at the front of the balete tree, Kali immediately noticed the beautiful engravings of
what seemed to be his native tongue's long-lost writing script. If what he can recall is correct,
the writing script is supposed to be called Baybayin.

Even though Kali can recall what it was, he can't understand a single thing. After intensely
looking at the symbols for a few minutes straight, Kali approached the entrance that is vaguely
emanating a soft glow.

Kali contemplated for a second before he decided to set foot inside the balete tree. Once he
was in, he immediately noticed that the space inside is actually pretty big. To his surprise, the
inside of the tree doesn't look like the inside of a tree at all.

Kali saw a field full of grasses instead of seeing nothing but darkness brought by the shade of
the tree. The inside of the tree looks like a meadow. There's sunlight which Kali doesn't know
where it is coming from.

pg. 9
 LUSUNG: THE LOST KINGDOM
AMEMORI SOUMA
There are also land and air animals like deers, birds, and butterflies roaming across the prairie.
The beautiful and colorful flowers, which emit a pleasant scent, alongside the grass drifted
within the breeze of the wind. Kali took in a mouthful of fresh air before exhaling in relaxation.

...

Kali is appreciating the beauty inside of the balete tree. While his phone is ringing non-stop
back at his house since last night. If you look at his phone, you will see five people calling him,
with at the very least a hundred missed calls.

Mike put down his phone with a frown on his face. Worry flashed across his face as his call
failed to connect once more.

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING? KALI?" Mike shouted, panicking as he doesn't know what to
do anymore.

"Shall I call the police now? Jenna and the others have been contacting him to no avail as
well..." Mike mumbled as he contemplated on what he is supposed to do with his best friend.

Mike dialed 911 on his phone, planning to call the authorities. As he was doing so, he suddenly
got a call from Kali. Excited, Mike quickly answered the phone.

"YOW KALI, YOU BASTARD! Why aren't you answering your phone?" Mike asked, not knowing if
he should feel angry or feel relieved.

"Umm... Mike, this isn't Kali." Kali answered.

"Huh? Isn't this Kali's phone?" Mike replied in confusion.

"Yes, this is his phone. This is Kali's aunt Mayu. Kali is in the hospital now." Aunt Mayu replied.

"What happened to Kali? Why is he in the hospital, auntie?" Mike asked.

"We found him unconscious in his room this morning. At first, we thought he was just asleep,
but we can't wake him up. We brought him to the hospital. The doctors said that his body
doesn't seem to have any fatal injuries, but..." Aunt Mayu hesitated to continue what she was
going to say.

"But what, auntie? Is there something wrong?" Mike inquired worriedly.

"The doctors said he is in a coma. Right now, we don't know how he went into comatose. The
doctors aren't sure when Kali will wake up. The doctors said that he might not even wake up.
He is basically dead at this point. The machines are the only thing that keeps him alive." Aunt

pg. 10
 LUSUNG: THE LOST KINGDOM
AMEMORI SOUMA
Mayu said with evident throbbing in her throat, possibly brought by reigning in her emotions
before she bawls out.

"Thank you for informing me, auntie. I'll go visit him when the quarantine is lifted." Mike
replied. Right after dropping down the call, he wailed.

...

Kali, not knowing what had transpired, is still looking around the inside of the balete tree. He
didn't know that he was already considered semi-dead.

"Wow! This place is a paradise! Am I in heaven? Did I just ascend to... umm... what did the old
man call it? Kaluwalhatian? Ah yes, that's it. Kaluwalhatian must be this. This place is just
unparalleled in beauty!" Kali uttered as he roams around the place.

Unbeknownst to Kali, the balete tree is actually listening to his murmur.

After a few hours of going around from one end to the other, Kali found a majestic boat. It is a
long boat made of planks, lightweight with sails and oars. The balangay is also characterized by
having an eastern-style dragon at its nose. Kali remembered that this boat is called balangay.

Why is there an ancient boat anchored here on this river's harbor? Kali thought to himself.

"This place is weird!" Kali said to himself.

The creatures around here look similar to those outside, but they have noticeable differences as
well. I have seen one bird who sings beautifully, it sings seven sweet songs, and although I'm far
away, I found myself almost falling asleep.

The feathers of this bird also change in color depending on the song it sings. The colors can
range from pearl, bronze, diamond, emerald, crystal, gold, or copper alloy. The bird also has a
dark red garnet. It defecated after singing, and to my horror, it turned a golden deer into a
stone.

Wait..... isn't that a bird from the story Ibong Adarna? Kali thought to himself. Yeah, that's right!
That is the ibong adarna! I always thought it to be a kathang-isip (fantasy/fiction) but to think it
is real! Kali almost lost his mind.

"Where am I? This place has mythical creatures and now this ancient boat. What is this place?
Is this really the inside of the balete tree?" Kali thought out loud.

In the act of Kali voicing out his thoughts, he didn't notice that he reached the end of the
daungan (harbor). Just when he was one step away from stepping into the balangay, a loud
boom of voice echoed across the surroundings.

pg. 11
 LUSUNG: THE LOST KINGDOM
AMEMORI SOUMA
"You seemed absent-minded. Watch where you walk. Once you step into the balangay, there is
no going back. It's not as if you can go back anyway." The voice said.

"AH- Who are you?" Kali immediately stopped after coming out of his stupor. He asked aloud,
searching where the owner of the voice that woke him up is coming from.

"I am where you are." The voice said.

"Huh? I don't understand." Kali said.

"This place you are in is me. I am this place." The voice said.

"YOU-- YOU ARE THE BALETE TREE?" Kali blurted out.

pg. 12
 LUSUNG: THE LOST KINGDOM
AMEMORI SOUMA

Chapter 4: Kabilang-buhay (Afterlife)

Kali was shocked to find that the voice he heard was from the balete tree itself. He didn't
expect that a tree can actually speak.

//all from nature has a soul (from the source nu).

//balete as the bridge and carrier of the river of destiny

//sanctuary of mythical creatures once roaming the earth

//old man as an agent of kaluwalhatian

//diwata

//souls don't ascend heaven but are carried by boats to the other life.

//maligno and agents of kasamaan

pg. 13