The Search for Pandora's Box

Chapter 1

The sun was rising on the horizon, and in a few hours, the temperature in the Manila Crystal Desert will rise to fatal levels. Anyone not inside any closed and solid structure dies of skin burns and dehydration in a matter of minutes. This was the danger Jonah and Angelica face whenever they were out on the field. Hence, a rule between them was to head home before dawn breaks, seldom broken except for an unexpected finding.

It was on such a day when they noticed a glimmer nearby. Without delay, they jumped from their four-by-four and assembled their customized tent to shield them from the rising heat. As soon as their gear were in place, Jonah examined their discovery straightaway.

Upon his first look at the silver object it he surmised it to be thirty by thirty-three centimeters. Whoever crafted it used a strong alloy he has not seen before yet its thinness of around two centimeters made it flexible as paper, but not foldable. A scroll, not a tablet.

Careful as he ever could, he brushed the crystal sands away, revealing what appeared to be glyphs engraved on it. At once recognizing it having studied Philippine history and its languages.

"Angel, check this out," pointing to the glyphs. "What do you think?"

Angelica squatted next to him and examined the inscriptions, "Jon, it's baybayin, right?"

Jonah nodded, "Let's get started."

She stood and left him to it.

He checked his navigation unit and noted where they found it, the former location of Barangay Namayan, Mandaluyong City, today in the middle of nowhere. Date of discovery: 10 A.C. October the 4th.

"Ma. Bu. Hay," he read the glyphs beginning on the left most side column of the silver scroll.

"Jon, lest you want to die here, get it out of the sand now," Angelica told him. "We need to leave soon."

Jonah waved his hand to her, "You worry too much."

She rolled her eyes.

"According to this, wherever the Spanish conquerors invaded, an onslaught of death and plagues fell upon the unsuspecting kingdom. For example, when the Spaniards Martin de Goiti and Miguel Lopez de Legazpi arrived, the kingdoms of Namayan, Tondo, and Maynila surrendered to saved their peoples."

Angelica sat beside him on the banig, a brown mat made from dried palm leaves, careful not to disturb his thoughts.

"My professor once told me a story, passed on through generations, of a history no one wants to remember," Jonah began. "On a cloudless morning during the war, the people were sick all of a sudden. Their skins boiled and their eyes red. Whenever they fetched water, it turned to blood. Later that evening, screams woke the downhearted and weary citizens when the dead rose and devoured the living."

She raised her eyebrows at him.

"A new dawn arrived. Without delay, their respective Lakan and Rajah joined Legazpi on his flagship where they signed to an agreement recognizing the sovereignty of Spain. When they returned, they passed on to the maginoo and maharlika clans of what transpired, since then people whispered of a secret weapon."

"Impossible," she stood while dusting her clothes covered with sands. "Stories, Jon. Stories told to little children."

Jonah replied, "As usual but sooner or later it turns out to be true."

While he was picking up the scroll with his steady hands, Angelica's flash shone, and he stopped. "Dear, could you take one more photo?"

She rolled her eyes and did as he asks.

"Did you see that?"

"What?"

Pointing to a section of the scroll, "Another, please."

Angelica leaned in closer and pressed the shutter.

The metal scroll shimmered, and they glimpsed a different set of glyphs.

"I have an idea."

When he turned, he saw her in front of their makeshift table setting up their camcorder. In the center of it was a stand where he placed the scroll. Next, he looked at her notebook screen and to his surprise, there it was, the glyphs floating.

"Sweet," Jonah said. "The scroll of Dayang Kaylangitan."

"Now it's the scroll of Dayang Kaylangitan, Jon?" She scanned the skies and the desert, "I want to point out, our window of safety is fast closing. Let's go home."

"Now it's the scroll of Dayang Kaylangitan, Jon?" She scanned the skies and the desert, "I want to point out, our window of safety is fast closing. Let's go home."