At last, with enough magic built up in them, Mathoyl Vathall laid his hands– ever so slowly, so carefully– onto Bayani’s chest. His touch felt like something comforting and familiar to the young Filipino teen, and he could not help but invite it into himself. He felt the blue and green electric light flow over him, then absorb into him. It seemed like something that was hard to explain, because he wanted to say that it was static, but not all like a shock, which did not make sense to him. It was not something that he felt he had to fear might harm him, but it definitely a certain energy to it.

The shaman went on chanting, his hands pressed against Bayani’s chest, and the magic continue to glow. It wrapped around Bayani’s body, spreading from his chest up to his head, and down to his fingers and toes, where it slowly soaked into his being and settled in.

Bayani opened his eyes, only then realizing that he had closed them at all, and looked up at Peter. His boyfriend looked back down at him.

“You always did say you wished you had blue eyes,” Peter told him.

“What?” Bayani asked, blinking several times and feeling as though he had just missed an important detail.

“Your eyes were always brown up until now,” Peter explained. Then he looked to the shaman. “Did the magic change him?”

“Magic does such thing often,” Mathoyl Vathall replied. “Do not let it trouble you, dear friends of the forest.”

“Hmph, what do you know,” Peter sighed. “Share a little magic, and suddenly you are a friend of the forest.”

“Not to worry, lads. Once his body lets the magic settle in, his eye color should return to what you are used to.” Mathoyl got to his feet before saying, “For now, though, why don’t I take yo back to the girls? I am sure that all of you are anxious to bed down for the night.”

“Maybe we should,” Bayani agreed as he sat up. “I’ll bet Nashtra plans to wake us up early in order to get us back on the road.”

Peter nodded, and together they followed Mathoyl Vathall out of his home and across the village to another hut. Nashtra and his mother crouched beside a fire of blue flames outside, speaking softly to one another. He stood up as soon as he saw Bayani and Peter approaching.

“At last,” Nashtra said, holding his arms out towards the boys.