The Master and Sulayman
"Hey! Hey! Hey! Ray, don't do this to me!" Sulayman said as he bitch slapped me on my beautiful face.
"Hey, Master I need some help out here!" Sulayman cried to the proprietor of the diner who happened to be in the kitchen. "What's going on out there!" the 'master' of the diner said in a thick foreign accent completely different from the welcoming vibe he exuded earlier upon greeting his customers.
"Give him some air!" the master exclaimed and rolled his sleeves revealing intricate tattoo designs on his arms. Sulayman pursed his lips to initiate CPR, his face inching closer to mine. "Wait! Wait! I'm awa-" I tried to scream, but was interrupted by the master.
"Not like that you moron!" the master shoved Sulayman out of the way, raised his big hand that could easily crush a watermelon and bitch slapped me back into unconsciousness. "Oh, that looks stronger!" Sulayman said in awe at the strength of the master "He's still not awake!" The master said gritting his teeth in frustration
"Maybe we should dunk his head in cold water like in those movies!" Sulay said as if a light bulb just went off in his head. "No. that's too cliché." Said the master as he looked at an empty wall [1]
"You're finally awake!" said the still shirtless Sulayman "I can understand why my face is swollen like a pig's head, but why am I wet?" I said while glaring at Sulayman and the Master. They looked at each other and both shrugged their shoulders. "Did I hallucinate you having a horse head?" I asked while rubbing what used to be my face, which looked like a group of lumps that grew a face and pointing at Sulayman.
Sulayman broke into a smile as his face was shrouded by a thick mist with hints of silver. As soon as the mist appeared to cover his face, it disappeared to reveal a horse's head with long, black, flowing mane. "Bojack?!" [2] I exclaimed in surprise. "Sulayman de Legaspi, last Tikbalang heir to the fallen Kingdom of Maynilad, at your service!" he bows his majestic mane following suit and his hooves clip-clopping on the tiled floor of the diner
I froze at the sight of the creature that was my friend in front of me "You're half horse like those beastmen in the novels and anime!" those words were the most coherent string of words I could have come up with at the time, at least it wasn't the first thing that came up in my head which was about how people like him procreate. "Huh, surprisingly better reaction compared to the first time" Sulayman said as he flashed his signature pearly white teeth at me and gave a thumbs up. "Uhm, so the big reveal is this" I gesture to his current form "and not you really being gay?" I asked
"No. I am very gay." Sulayman said in a firm and resolute tone. The master who has been quiet throughout the conversation coughs and says "I don't mean to interrupt, but that is not the explanation he needs right now."
"Master should be the one to give the explanation to Ray, since he's been here longer!" Sulayman said enthusiastically. The master coughs again and introduces himself "The name's Apolaki, but the people call me 'Master' here, since I own the place." He chuckles.
"So uhm, you're a hors- I mean Tikbalang too?" I asked to prepare myself, mostly my eyes on another muscular horse person. "No, I'm human like you. I mean I was. I'm dead, I'm nothing but an apparition. A remnant of the past if you may." His voice echoes within the diner and slowly fades away similar to that of an elderly warrior reminiscing his glory days. The master, Apolaki, breathes in and heaves a sigh as if his worries will go away with that one sigh. His brown, almost golden features, clearer with wrinkles over his forehead and cheeks, a light stubble, and extremely rough hands. Yes the same hands which bitch slapped me into unconsciousness.
"I was a 'pintado' [3] when I was alive, with each stroke and pattern tattooed on my body equal to the number of individuals that have fallen to my spear and sword." The master brandishes his tattooed arms and legs, and slightly lifts his shirt to reveal an intricate pattern of zigzags and triangles on his entire torso.
"Why are you telling me all this? It's great that you guys are unique and that the bedtime stories being told by grandparents aren't all a bunch of baloney." I asked with one of my eyebrows raised. He waves with his hand and mists surrounds both his and Sulayman's bodies, bringing them back to their regular form. "We call this form, the common." Said the master and the mists appear again to surround them and they revert to their true forms again "and this one is our true form. You know how humans are killing and fearing those they cannot comprehend." Sulayman said, "And yes, kill first before fearing something is what humans generally do, I have been alive for about 230-something years so I know what I'm talking about from experience." He added
"The kid is right. The humans' approach toward unknown creatures are to kill first and fear later. No questions asked." The master paused for a bit before continuing "That's what we did, but I already atoned for mine throughout the centuries." Visible strain due to remembering the bitter past is shown in the master's face.