Family

                  There is a scene in Aeneid where in Creusa asks Aeneas not to join the battle between the Greeks and just lead his family to safety has a bit of a similarity to the scene in Iliad and Odyssey. The scene in Iliad and Odyssey was when Andromache asks Hector not to join the battle and just think of what will happen to their family.

                The difference is that Aeneas agreed to Creusa and fled to safety. This does not show that he is a coward and did not care for his country but it showed that he cares enough for his family and will do anything so that they would be safe. Hector did the opposite of this. Hector refused to leave and wanted to fight for his country. It may show courage and bravery but it looks as if he didn’t care that much for his family. 

Sacrifices

                The theme ultimate victory through a terrible loss is one of the main themes of the epic, The Aeneid. Since, Aeneas has sailed through lots of hardships before he attained his victory.

                One of the terrible losses that he had been was when his city, Troy, was destroyed during the Trojan War and his comrades didn’t even know where to go. As the leader of the Trojans, he had to find a way for his people to be in a much secure and safer place.

                Another one was when his wife died. Imagine going through a very tough journey without the person you love? Well, that would be dreadful.

                Another was when his father died. His father was one of those people who fully understand Aeneas and he gives lots of advices that Aeneas really needs at that time.

                But even if there were many sacrifices and hardships, he stuck to his goal and this had made him the victor. 

The Trojan War

                                             Actually, I never thought that the Greeks had a bad side. I always thought that the Trojans are the enemies and they were the ones who did something wrong. That was before I read the Aeneid. I have such a big respect for the Greek people. Maybe it was because I read about them first and I thought of the Trojans as somewhat bad, self-centered people thirsty of power.

                                When I was reading the Aeneid, I was actually surprised when I read that the Greeks were the ones who started the whole fight in the book.  I never thought of them as war freaks and people that wanted to be number one or something like that. The book got me very confused and I didn’t know what to believe in.  The Greek’s level of understanding is really very high and I admire their wisdom and they’re contributions to our society today. But since, they waged war against the Trojans with such a small matter. I started to doubt that they actually cared for the people that will get hurt and the families that will be broken.

                                I felt great sympathy and pity. The Trojans didn’t deserve this faith. They did it because of their care and sympathy to the people and their respect to the gods that they believe in. 

The City of Hell

Hell

Hell

Hell

                Well, I never envisioned Hell as somewhat like in the story books that it is in flames. I envisioned it as a big city, somewhat like the old cities of Babylonia or Manchu Picchu for example. I thought of it as a city wherein at the side of it there lies the River Styx and connected to the River Styx is the sea of lost memories and lies.  Hell is really dark and very scary. You will not see even just the smallest ray of light. The souls there are dark and void. The souls would never remember their past lives so they wander helplessly in the dark abyss of Hell. At the center of Hell lies the palace of Hades or Pluto, the God of the Underworld.  There are lost souls also, souls that didn’t deserve to die but their past lives wasn’t good enough for them to go to Elysium. They wander around being tormented by the devils in this huge city.

               The River Styx is at the other end of Hell, it is closest to the mortal world. River Styx is where mortal’s lost dreams are thrown into. It is littered by so many lost dreams of mortals. And like Achilles, if you dive into the River Styx and stick to a memory that you will never forget even though you dived there, you will attain invulnerability. But there is a catch; you will have a weak spot that will instantly kill you by the slightest stab. This weak spot should have some sort of significance on that memory that you treasure the most. This connects to the Sea; this shows that mortal’s have so many lost dreams, dreams that were never recovered or attained.

                At the gates of Hell, there lies Thanatos, the God of Death. He judges the souls that come in and out of Hell. Thanatos is nothing like the reaper in the movies. His skin was the color of teakwood, dark and glistening. His eyes were colored just like honey. He was lean and muscular, with a regal face and black hair rolling down his shoulders. His wings glimmered in the shades of blue, black and purple. He looks almost like Eros. Death has more in common to Love than anything you could imagine.

                Farther in the city, there are different towers that represent a different category of the sins of mortals. For example, Tower of Major Sins, Tower of something like that. Each tower has seven levels. Each level of the towers represents a sin and there lies the sinners of such sin.

                Standing tall at the other end of the city lies the Tower Studiosum Peccatum. It is one of the closest towers to purgatory because it is not that big of a sin.

First level:

THE CUNCTANTIS

From the Latin word cunctantis which means tardy. Here lie the students that sinned of being late. They are punished by moving through one point or another in constant and lightning fast speed. They move like the clock hands. They follow a clockwise motion as they move from the 12^th position to the 3^rd position to the 6^th position and so on. Here, Chronos, the god of time is the one who manages the sinners here. He constantly whips them so that they will move faster.

Second Level:

THE PIGER

From the latin word piger which means lazy. Here lie the students that were sinned of being lazy at school.  They are turned into slaves by the demons. They are supposed to do the bidding of the demons that are their masters. 

Third level:

 The SOMNOLENTUS

From the latin word somnolentus which means sleepy. Here lie the students that were sinned of being very sleepy in class. They are being tortured by looking directly at the sun without blinking. Here lies the Greek God Hypnos. He manages the sinners there. Hypnos is the Greek God of Sleep.

Fourth Level:

THE SONANTIS

From the latin word sonantis which means noisy. Here lie the students that were sinned of being very noisy in class. Their vocal chords are removed and their mouth is sewn with heated iron. Here lies Echo, the nymph. She is known to have a very beautiful voice and even captivated Zeus himself. She fell inlove to Narcissus but he did not want her so she stabbed herself. 

Fifth Level:

THE IACTANTIOR

From the latin word iactantior which means boastful. Here lie the students that were sinned of being too boastful about what they achieve. They are forced to bow their heads and walk in fours. Here lies Agamemnon who was sinned of insulting Artemis. He boasted that he was a better hunter than the Goddess herself. He was assigned to lead the Greek ships to Troy where his brother, Menelaus, was currently king. Artemis did not let the ships to reach Greece. She commanded the winds to not let the ships to reach Greece.

Sixth Level:

THE SYCOPHANTA

From the latin word Sycophanta which means cheater. Here lie the students that were sinned of cheating. This is the last level of the tower and the highest point. They are forced to jump at the top of the tower.  They cannot stop jumping, if they do, the demons will incinerate them and their souls will go to Tartarus, the dark abyss of Hell. Sometimes, Hermes, the messenger of the Gods goes here to check on the souls. Hermes is also known to be the God of cheaters and thieves because of his impulse to steal everything he sees and cheat.

The City of Hell

BLOG#4

The Elixir of life that feeds my life is slowly fading. The wrinkles in my face are starting to go deeper. My vision is starting to fade and my bones are slowly aching.  I have nearly a week to live.

The twins, Sophie and Josh, both of them are awakened. I have thought them all of the known elemental magic and they need to learn the art of combat. Joan of Arc and Scathach the warrior are still missing. They are still trapped in the Jurassic Period because of Niccolo Machiavelli’s trap using the ley gates.  I was hoping they would help me train the twins but Saint-Germain still cannot rescue them.

And my wife, Perenelle, I haven’t found her current location. Palamedes said it is somewhere in South East Asia. I don’t know, maybe in the Philippines. Who knows? I am worried, very worried.

At these desperate times, I cannot trust anyone only those who I know are most loyal to me. There is only one person I can trust in Asia, my old friend and my fellow immortal, Allysa.

We will go there as fast as we can and train the twins of legend to be the ones who will put a stop to the war of the Elders.

                                                                                From the Day Booke of Nicholas Flamel, Alchemyst

Writ this day,  on the birth of our Lord

In San Francisco, my adopted city

 The prophecy of the Twins of Legend is slowly starting.

I have been informed that the Book of Abraham the Mage is in the hands of the Dark Elders. In the wrong hands, this book will give massive destruction not just to the world but also to the shadow realms. The book has the power to reverse time itself. It can make a new world out of this world and it can give massive chaos to the whole planet. It has the power to cure all diseases, help the poor, and give hope to those who do not have the will to live. This book is one of the most powerful things in this world and no one must give it to the wrong hands.

Just yesterday, Dr. John Dee called me and asked for my assistance. I never wanted to take sides. I never needed to, I readily said to him NO. Dr. John Dee knows me. He knows he can never change my mind no matter what happens.  He hung up the phone and I slowly smiled in delight. Dr. John Dee will never ask me for help if it wasn’t a serious situation. I thought to myself that it is starting to get exciting. Whatever Flamel is planning, well, it is working. Dr. John Dee is panicking. If you are in such a hurry you are bound to make a mistake. Dr. Dee always does that. He will never please the his Dark Elders like this.

Fortunately, I don’t have an Elder to follow. Thank God for that. My immortality is from a very  secret place. I am Asian, we love to keep secrets. Not even Flamel knows such things.

I have lived through different eras and dynasties. I am known to be one of the most ancient and amazing fighters in my time. And still am.  I gained immortality when I was about 15 years old, I am not sure. I’ m currently 846 years old. I am far older than most countries.

While I was day dreaming, I heard panting from a distance. I have heightened senses so I can easily hear 

this. I also recognized a voice. Nicholas Flamel, I thought. I was right. I opened the door before they even knocked. My hunch was right. Flamel it was. A different Flamel though, he looks a bit older.

“Hello, Old Friend”, Flamel greeted with an exhausted smile

“Yes, VERY old”, I answered and smiled back

I raised my eyebrows at the two kids beside Flamel. I looked at him and I pointed my head at them. He nodded. It was as if we were reading our minds and the two kids looked puzzled. But I really was.

It was my earliest gifts. The gift of having the power to control my aura and focus it on my brain to hear people’s thoughts. I can hear their thoughts and I can feel what they are feeling. It is an annoying gift. I’m lucky I figured out how to control it when there are a lot of people around. That would be a headache. Imagine, thousands of people talking in your head at the same time. It could make you mad, seriously.

I knew what they were thinking, how can a small girl be a warrior and attain immortality.

“I am not just a simple girl, I have lived through worlds, defeated enemies that you could not even imagine and I am the only one that could help you at this time. Nicholas, Dee called for my help.” I said to the lot of them.

“And you said no, nothing different about that.” He answered smiling

“Of course, I hate that guy. And I think I know where your wife is.” I answered with no pity in my voice

He looked at me surprised and I laughed

“I know everything, Nicholas.”  I smiled at him

I went to the kitchen and didn’t wait for his answer. He followed me and I knew he was hungry. These things require a lot of aura and a lot of aura requires a lot of energy and a lot of energy requires a lot of food. Good thing I have food. I prepared them their food and there they ate like pigs. It’s been a while since I’ve been with friends.

I told them to go upstairs and change. I gave them a fresh set of clothes and they slept like bears. I didn’t even bother to wake them. I thought it must have been a very tough day. They slept for like 12 hours. I thought to myself. How the heck could people sleep like that?

They finally woke up. I told Flamel that we have to train them now. We went to the back of the house. It had such an amazing view. I have lived here for about a decade and I never got sick of the view. Living on a mountain beside a cliff may seem dangerous but actually it was the most peaceful thing. There were training gears everywhere and a small peace place at the corner for meditation. I may be Christian but I need to calm myself most of the time. I am a peaceful person. I hate war.

I looked at the twins and looked at Flamel with an expression like what the heck did you do to these kids. I gave the boy a Spatha, a short Roman Sword. And gave the girl a dagger made out of Celestial Bronze. They looked at me in awe and I winked.

I told them to destroy the monsters and looked at me like I was the craziest girl on earth. I and Flamel sat on comfortable chairs, sipping tea and watched them look for enemies. We acted as if we attained Nirvana. Okay, I’ m acting like a Buddhist. Josh got punched in the face out of thin air and Sophie somehow became upside down. Flamel and I clanked our cups together and smiled.

“Torc Upra, classic”  Flamel told me

“ I command them now” I answered

“What the-?!” Josh shouted

“These creatures are just like Torc Alta” I told them

“You mean like wereboars?”  Sophie said and I nodded

“What are they?” Josh said then suddenly a Torc Upra punched him.

“Were-chameleons” I smirked

Torc Upra  are creatures of Hecate. They have the power to turn into human form, just like those werewolves in the movies but those things are just stereotypes. You cannot be a Were-chameleon just by biting. These things are clans and you could only attain this by blood. The Torc clan are one of the most ancient clans of them all. They’ve lived in this world just before the earth began. Torc Upra are like chameleons. They adapt themselves to their habitat and avoid being seen. They don’t really look like chameleons. They are giant chameleons when they are in animal form. If they are in human form, they have the structure of humans but not fully human.

They were so surprised that they dropped their weapons. The Torc Upra looked as if they were playing around with the kids.

They battled like a couple of morons. Nicholas then ran out of patience after half an hour of running. He told them to feel not look. To use their heightened senses and to concentrate. They did so and after a bit of a struggle, they finally defeated the Torc Upra. After that, I gave them a cup of tea and a plate of rice cakes. They ate as if they’ve never eaten for a week. I was amazed of what I saw and felt. I finally felt care. I want to help these children in every way that I can.

I told them to play or something and they smiled at me and nodded. I walked to Nicholas and smiled at him. 

I read his mind and nodded. We sat together and talked about things we never talked about before. The view was really amazing. The blue sky, the beautiful clouds and nature. It was such a beautiful and peaceful sight. I told him I finally picked a side. I pick his and I will help him find his wife. He was very happy about what he heard.

“Welcome back, my friend.” Nicholas said.

We sipped some more tea and we readied our stuff for the trip to Manila, where his wife is being kept hostage at Intramuros.

We set course to Manila and here starts the greatest adventure of my life.

To You

Dear Kuya Thogie,

                  It has been a while since the day you've left CavSci and get to your college school. How are you? I hope you are doing good. What's your course? Are you doing good? Uh, where are you studying? Before there were lots of questions in my mind. For almost a year, it was you who became my reason to go to school and strive harder in studying. I didn't care about what will my friends say if they found out. I've been fine of loving you alone. I got used to hiding it to myself because I was afraid. You do not know me.  Sometimes, I do wonder if you know I exist. Right, until now. I was very sad when I learned that you got a girlfriend. That was the time I cried to my friends. I couldn't contain the feelings. I feel like exploding. And honestly I felt some kind of anger to you and to myself. It was mistake for loving you more than you could ever love me. I'm still here, in the place you've left me. I don't want to wait anymore. But I just want to tell you the feelings I once had, thought it was real, but then it just became a part of my high school journey. Thank you for inspiring me to work harder. I've realized greater things to do in life. Don't worry. I'm fine. Take care always. :)

Love,
Allysa Mae

My Teacher My Hero

                                       
                       Teachers are an inspiration to all of us. They give unconditional care and love to the students that they are teaching. Even though, Their job is very hard, they still do their best in everything that they do.

                       The teacher that inspired me the most was my Grade 6 teacher, Ms. Anita P. Ilog. She is very strict but I know that she just cares so much for her students. She helped me push my self and give more efforts in my studies. She knew that I can do more, so much more. She gave me inspiration and a new outlook in life. Before, I was very very shy. I barely talk in classes and didn't have any friends. Ms. Ilog helped me get out of my shell and make the most of my life.

                       We must appreciate teachers and enjoy the time that we have with them. They maybe strict but this is for us also. We must learn to be responsible for them and be something in the future.