One thing that sets mortals apart from all the living beings in the world is that they are the only ones allowed to choose their destiny as bestowed by the god of Kaluwalhatian.

The freedom to have their own will.

They have the choice to decide for themselves, and whatever path they have chosen will form another chance, another choice for them to ponder over.

But this is not the case for the deities; they must follow the purpose that has been given to them from the moment they were created.

They may be allowed to live their own lives, but to escape fate is a taboo they cannot avoid.

A deity who goes against the flow of fate will receive severe wounds on their flesh as a sign of their stubbornness against the deities of fate.

Bakunawa is one of the few who experienced this.

"You gained new wounds, Your Grace; I already asked Aswang to find herbs in the forest," Nuno told him as he sat beside the quiet and bleeding serpent god, who did not even act like he had been receiving punishment from fate itself.

"I know, I can see them. You need not keep treating them like regular wounds. These are otherworldly touches—the punishment of the divine, the mark of the fates, one may call it," Bakunawa lazily replied as he sat near the lake, watching the mermaids enjoy their blissful hour of lullabies while the other mythical creatures were having fun altogether.

Nuno and Bakunawa sat far from the others; the elder creature knew something was up with the serpent he raised and nurtured for a thousand years.

"If you feel pain, then it should be taken care of nonetheless," Nuno hushed him, slightly tapping his open wound with his stick, which made the serpent god wince.

The slightest curve on his lips could tell Nuno that the latter was either happy or up to something. The king of all duwendes felt that Bakunawa did something that he should not have done.

"You did not do what fate has told you to do, again," Nuno sighed, holding his elemental staff and glancing beside the troubled serpent who busied himself with wine and tobacco. The serpent god could not reply to anything; it was evident from the wounds he got today that he denied fate.

He denied whatever was written for him, all for the reason that he needed to. Since he is a mythical being who devoured the moons but decided not to be one.

"It was never wrong to feel such things whenever you find yourself in a frustrating situation. No need to hide it or even complicate it. Let it flow, like how Laya taught you to do so," Nuno told him as he pointed to the crystal-clear lake that flows quietly to the ocean and never makes a rustling sound.

"I can never escape my destiny, and how I wish I could ever change it," Bakunawa scoffed, puffing out some smoke. "But I know they want something in return; they want me to sacrifice something I hold dear for a temporary happiness I yearn for. Fate never plays fair."

"How can you be so sure?" Nuno sighed.

Nuno only chuckled at the statement that Bakunawa told him; though he may have lived long, he still sounds like a child whenever he hears him complain.

"I am eternally bound to them. To duty. To Bathala. I am a weapon, bound to a duty. I have already killed more than I see them live. So I am truly sure, Nuno."

"You are one of the rare beings who ever cared for my kin, and that says a lot about who you really are now," Nuno argued back, chuckling at how the serpent looks and behaves right now.

He used to see him as someone who doesn't care about other gods, someone who would cause trouble, and someone who would do anything to kill.

But it changed; he changed.

The existence of Libulan created a harmonious bridge between Bakunawa's sanity and his god-self. Nuno knew that Bakunawa was meant to be loved and cherished.

By someone of his kind, and that he deserves it so much.

"He will no longer remember me, Nuno. I cast a spell where whenever he sees me, he can never see my face nor remember how I sound. In his world, I am nothing more than a distant memory or a far-away dream," Bakunawa drunkenly confessed, his eyes bloodshot as he struggled to let out the tears he had been holding back.

Nuno couldn't help but sigh in amusement, patting the serpent god's head with his staff; he took a drink from the wine he was drinking and sat beside him. Bakunawa was slowly drifting away to slumber; he had drunk too much wine for this night, so Nuno had to watch over him as he slept.

"You deserve to be happy for once, Your Grace. You have done everything to protect and give us the happiness we all need; it is time we do the same for you." Nuno gently smiled as he watched Bakunawa shift into a tiny serpent, snore a little, and then be picked up and placed into the lake to rest.

"I got his herbs! Oh... where is he now?"

"Sleeping below the waters, let us tend to him tomorrow."

Aswang was worried, but she knew the lake could also heal the wounds their master would receive every day, so she entrusted her faith to it.

"Heal his heart, Laya," Aswang sincerely prayed.