THE UNION 2: DARK AGES

Two months after defeating the villainous Essence, the team are still trapped in the painting with no way of getting back to the real world after trying so many experiments they couldn’t escape only thing they were able to learn was anything thrown directly to the painting from the outside world goes inside the painting and stays there too but they couldn’t just figure out how get out of the place, being stuck together for months has been terrible for the team especially after they figured out what happened about Papa everything wasn’t the same again Ayo and Tolu especially distanced themselves from the team both still processing everything that had happened while Ngozi, Richard and Gboyega were more of the moral support to everyone especially Richard he wanted everyone to stay together has a family he knew they were all they had, Mashee’a on the other hand was still oblivious about everything that Papa did and the team didn’t tell her too not wanting to cause any drama or problem. The team all gather outside each member had a tent that they slept in and most times they only come out to get food from Linda. “Where is she?” Ayo says aggressively wanting to leave the presence of Papa before he got anymore angry, just seeing Papa live without facing any regrets made him so angry he wanted to hurt him but deep inside him he still cared about the old man. “Give her time.” Gboyega quickly claps back, everyone looked grumpy and tired it was quite easy to see that they were all tired of staying here, minutes later Linda shows up with a trail filled with foods on separate plates on top of the food are names of each person she quickly throws it into the painting and Ayo runs to catch it. “Sorry it took me sometime to make it, I had school stuffs to handle and................,” The team didn’t allow Linda to finish what she was saying, they all grabbed their foods and gently walked back to their tents except Gboyega who was always intrigued to know her day went. “Don’t pay attention to them, everyone is just tired of this shit.” Gboyega says softly to her but Linda understood perfectly even her was tired of constantly cooking everyday and getting stuffs for the team. “I get it, I have to use the magic sticks to get back home now my aunt might show up anytime soon.” She says gently she wanted to spend more time with Gboyega about how it has been tough for her since she moved back home but there was no time, Gboyega also wanted to spend more time with her but knew she had to leave. “You take care of yourself okay.” Gboyega tells her gently, grabs his food and walks to his tent preparing to start the whole thing over and over again. Meanwhile, Papa and Mashee’a both munch on their meals with their baby sleeping on the tiny bed they both always cracked jokes while they ate but Mashee’a wasn’t giving him a friendly look tonight. “Are you okay dear?” Papa says swiftly and moved closer to her, he didn’t joke about his wife. “Yeah................... From being trapped in the Talekitan village to being trapped at a house for more than thirty years and now I’m stuck here too, I just want to be free and roam this world with our son.” Mashee’a says sadly her voice sounded so low she couldn’t take it anymore. “And even your people are making it much more worse, they don’t want to associate with me or anything it’s just bad.” Mashee’a says thinking of how she had tried so many times to relate with the others but they just ignored her, she had asked Papa twice why they were so cold but he always came up with some kind of excuse. “Nothing, you know everyone is just stressed about being here we just need to hold on together I’m sure something will come up.” Papa assured her, he had something in mind to do but wanted to be sure that they had no other option. Ngozi in her tent eats her food with Huffpuff who has been the only person she has been able to summon, her other imaginary friends have refused to come out and she has no idea why. “If I knew how to use this stupid amulet maybe I could have figured out a way to get all of us out of here.” Ngozi laments on the fact that she can’t still figure out how to use her amulet, Huffcupp was more conflicted about the imaginary friends. “I’m sure you’ll figure it out soon, you always do.” Huffcupp quickly came up with something even though he had no idea what to do next. “How are the imaginary friends? I’ve you been able to figure out what’s wrong with them?” Ngozi says gently her too was bothered why they didn’t come out but being trapped in here had taken so much of her time that she couldn’t bother anymore. “No but if something comes up I’ll make sure I let you know.” Huffcupp lied to her there was clearly something happened inside the amulet but he didn’t want her to be bothered about it since he knew she was so stressed. “If only there was a way.......... I could go inside the amulet like that other time.” Ngozi wondered she just knew to herself that everything would be better if she actually knew how to use this powerful power she possessed. “Maybe they might be a way.” Huffcupp says gently thinking of something, they both stopped talking and began to munch on their foods they got even closer since they’ve been trapped in the painting they will talk throughout the night whether it was something funny, sad, joyous and so on. In London, Linda was in her room she had moved back with her aunt a week after the team were trapped in the painting but she had the magical stick to teleport to them from time to time to help out she wasn’t comfortable staying with her aunt anymore being able to experience some kind of freedom in Nigeria made her tired of being locked up in a room this severely damaged her and her aunt already broken relationship. Linda also started joining multiple groups online so she could make friends around London and while she is currently chatting with new people they ask for her name. “My name? What is my name?” Linda thought to herself, she was conflicted about which name she wanted to put down she really wanted to start accepting her real name after her conversation with Ngozi and everything that had happened to her. “My......... Name is Temi.” She slowly typed it and gulps on her saliva, she quickly turns off her phone wondering what will be the reaction of the people and she didn’t want to know. The next day very early still all trapped in the painting, Richard rushes out of his tent calling out everyone’s name except for Ayo who he still didn’t talk to. “Come out guys! Breakfast is almost here and I’m sure we don’t want to miss it! Ngozi! Gboyega! Tolu!.............” He went on shouting at the top of his voice minutes later everyone slowly started leaving their tents they all looked tired. “You can’t keep on.......... Doing this.” Gboyega says slowly, they all just started at each other looking drained. “We just have to try our best to remain in our best moods, let’s try and smile.” Richard says to all of them happily, he made sure he kept a smile cause even he was tired about everything that was happening. “Who’s bringing food today?” Ngozi says softly. “Dayo!” Richard says loudly this quickly made all of them murmur Dayo was a terrible cook and always came late with the food. “Maybe we should just go back to bed then instead of eating that piece of shit.” Ayo says arrogantly, everyone all turned around to go to their individual tents but Mashee’a who wanted to be close with the team quickly says something. “Richard is right! We should all try to have fun and relate with each other, let’s think of the positive.” Mashee’a cries out Papa couldn’t stop her from talking, he knew most of them didn’t like her because of him. “Maybe we’re just tired of life.” Tolu says with a very low voice but you could feel the anger in her voice too, Mashee’a couldn’t catch what she said. “See we’re getting better! Tolu finally talked even though it took her a month and what she said wasn’t really something we were expecting to hear.” Richard was just saying anything at this point but out of everyone Tolu was actually the one who went cold she couldn’t stand the fact that she couldn’t help her best friend when he probably needed him the most and waking up everyday seeing the man who killed him happy with his family got her much more angry. “Don’t give up Tolu.” Mashee’a tries to comfort her but this just got her more angry. “Oh I know you’re not talking cause the only reason why were stuck here is because we had to save your nasty ass.” Tolu faces her and says it with so much anger like she had been keeping it inside her for a long time. “Woah! Let’s all calm down.” Gboyega says swiftly knowing the tension was raising. “Let her speak, isn’t that what Mashee’a wanted.” Ayo says with a devilish smile he too has been waiting for the right time to attack Mashee’a. “You’re always trying to talk with us but don’t understand that none of us like you, some of use even despise you for getting us stuck here if you want to be useful you’ll find a way to get us out of this s**t hope.” Tolu says aggressively and moved closer to a vulnerable Mashee’a who was shocked that this what they all thought about her, Papa kept quiet cause he knew if he said a single thing one of them might reveal the terrible things he has done to his wife. The tension was high in the painting and everyone was just starting at each other until luckily Dayo shows up with the food. “What’s going on here?” Dayo says in the real world looking at everyone tensed faces wondering what transpired. In her tent, Tolu munches on her meal which was rice and vegetable stew for the first time Deji food didn’t taste so bad she actually enjoyed it she had so many thoughts on her mind and didn’t know how to process most of them. “Can I come in?” Says the voice of Ayo but Tolu couldn’t tell who it was she had really distanced herself from them. In a flashback a week after the team were trapped in the painting, the group except Papa , Ayo and Mashee’a constantly came to Tolu knocking on her tent to check how she was doing but she always kept quiet she felt so much pain, shame and misery inside of her but out of all of them Gboyega was the one who was constantly checking on her, wanting to make sure she was fine one particular night he comes at her door again and tries to talk to her again. “Hey Tolu................ It’s me again I know you’re probably tired of hearing my voice constantly and I’m also sure you’re wondering why I won’t stop trying to get you out of your room but....... I feel you need to just come out, I understand how it feels to lose someone you love and blame yourself for not being able to save them it’s not your fault okay?” Gboyega says swiftly he waited there expecting to just hear her talk or make some kind of sound but after standing for minutes and not getting anything he gave up. “I know you’re not ready to talk now and I’ll stop disturbing you but just know that I’m always here if you need anyone to cry on.” Gboyega says softly and walks away. Back in the present not wanting to make another mistake Tolu quickly responds. “Come in.” She says softly and Ayo gently enters everything felt so strange to both of them cause they weren’t really close and they haven’t spoken to each other for months but Ayo quickly started the conversation. “The food is kinda nice............ Today.” Ayo says softly.r “Yeah but let’s not tell Dayo that before he gets over his head.” Tolu responds with a very nice tone surprisingly, they both chuckle for awhile and nothing is said again they both just went quiet like the other time. “Stupid Papa!” Ayo yells out hoping she would understand how angry he is and she did. “f**k him!” Tolu responds furiously too unlike the others they were hurt and someone they really cared about was hurt too. “Now we have to spend all our lives here pretending everything is fine cause of his wife.” Ayo says annoyingly. “He’ll pay for what he did to Chong, I’ll make sure of it.” Tolu actually meant it she was filled with so much hatred for him. “That’s if we ever get out of here........ What’s your plan by the way? Going back to the station after all of these.” Ayo says softly, he also had things he wanted to sort out once he was out of here. “Honestly I don’t know there was a point in my life where I was so intrigued about being a officer but I don’t think I want that anymore.” Tolu says sadly she was a confused human being just trying to live. “I understand that, you know what starting from today let’s just blame any bad thing that happens to us on Papa.” Ayo says jokingly and they both busted out laughing, Tolu nods to the positive agreeing with what he said but the fun is cut short when they hear Gboyega voice from outside. “Hmmm Tolu................ Dayo said he’s leaving and he needs to see you.” Says Gboyega. “They’re starting to question the s**t I say at the station, they want to speak to you themselves and ask how you’re doing but I’m still trying my best to keep it clean.” Dayo tells her from the real world, he looked so stress and tired the whole team began to wonder what was wrong with him except Mashee’a who was still in the tent feeling sorrowful about everything Tolu said. “And I’m sorry about not getting any newspaper for you, these past few weeks at the station have been terrible.” Dayo says sadly, he drags a chair and sits on it then breathes out heavily he was so stressed. “What is happening?” Papa says curiously he was so out of the world and didn’t like the idea of that. “War is what’s happening............ Between the Supernaturals and Humans, weeks ago some Supernaturals suddenly started attacking the humans it was scary and dangerous never saw something like this.” Dayo says stressed thinking of how much stress he had went through in the past weeks. “That’s strange, has this ever happened before most times I just came to the conclusion that everyone just lived perfectly.” Ayo says to himself but loudly, the others who were quite vast with history knew it wasn’t like that. “Oh don’t ever say that, back in the days there was a massive war between the Supernaturals and Humans.” Tolu says swiftly. “It wasn’t only massive, it was terrible and life changing it affected everyone lives.” Papa says calmly but in a very alarming tone, he knew everything about the war cause he lived through that lifetime and he began to wonder if he was going to live through it again. “These Supernaturals that are attacking, have you people been able to capture any? What are they like?” Papa says swiftly. “They’re powerful, skilled and trained to handle any situation luckily we were able to capture one of them.......... A man but so far he hasn’t said anything but he has a tiny skull tattoo on his neck.............” Before Dayo could go on he receives a call that he is needed at work and it sounded urgent. “Guys I have to go, I’m needed.” Dayo says swiftly and runs off without properly saying bye to them. What Dayo said left the team in a very complicated situation cause they felt so useless not being able to do anything, they remained quiet and we’re planning to head to their respective tent but Mashee’a quickly rushes out of her tent looking a bit too excited. “I know how we can get out of here.” Mashee’a says excitedly and confidently but to her surprise the team didn’t look excited they’ve all spent the last months having high hopes that they could get out of here. “I thought everyone reception would’ve been better.” Mashee’a says forcing a smile out of her face. “Mashee’a how can I put this in the nicest way.............. We’ve spent months believing we’ll get out of here, we all did all the craziest s**t that Papa told us to do.........” Richard says gently he had a soft spot for Mashee’a unlike the others. “Like when he made us drink grinded leaf, eww.” Ngozi says with a disgusted face thinking about it brought so many horrid moments. “Well this doesn’t have to do with any leaf........... The reason we’re stuck here is because of my son right his powers went crazy but I and him share the same source of power, lately I’ve been getting better and if I’m able to tap out of Ji’kur power I might just be able to get us out of here.” Mashee’a says swiftly and then breathes out, the name of their son was Ji’kur which in her home meant hope her idea didn’t sound bad to the team it actually sounded like something that might work but Papa wasn’t sure about this mainly because of the safety of Mashee’a. “That actually sounded like something that might work.” Tolu says with a smile, she had hope something that everyone thought had faded from her. “Yeah it sounds better than all of Papa plans months ago.” Ayo says mockingly the team began to discuss when to start but Papa quickly drags his wife to a corner to discuss. “Are you sure about this dear?” Papa says carefully wanting her to rethink this decision. “Yes.” She responds boldly. “I want you to think about this properly, are you sure you want to go through with this?” Papa says again this time much more louder than the other time which got Mashee’a angry. “Will you stop treating me like I’m a child, I’m a grown woman and I can do what I want to do. These people blame me for why they’re here and I’ve known they did for a very long time but Tolu saying it just........... Just hit me different this time, I have to get them out of here so my guilty conscience could just set me free!” Mashee’a lashes out she knew what she was doing might be dangerous but wasn’t going to back down especially after explaining the plan to the team who were already having little hope that they could escape. The next day Mashee’a slowly breathes in and out in her tent, she felt a huge pulse of energy coming out of her. She was scared not wanting to ruin this and was also scared that if she doesn’t do it she might end up losing her life, she didn’t want to die she looked forward to seeing how the world . She thought of backing down but everyone was already waiting for her outside, she couldn’t say no now when everyone were already looking up to her she had this habit of seeking validation from other people. “Where is she?” Ayo ponders as the team all wait outside her tent, he really didn’t have a problem with her cause she seemed nice and all but because she was Papa wife he loved to transfer the hatred he had towards the man to her. “Give her time.” Ngozi responds boldly, after waiting for awhile Mashee’a slowly walks out they could all tell that she was frightened, her body shivered and her face just gave one scary expression. “You know you don’t have to do this.” Richard says what everyone was thinking but she was persistent. “I’m ready.” She responds boldly, Mashee’a stands at the middle of the camp while gently carrying her baby she slowly turns her head to look at Papa who wasn’t in the right state of mind he worried about her and wanted to just jump in and tell her to stop but he knew the team will hold him back. Mashee’a closes her eyes trying to tap into her power but wasn’t feeling anything, the team began to murmur and she could audibly hear what they were saying, some of them were mocking her especially Ayo and Tolu this really triggered her and as she opened her eyes it began to glow blue again same for her child. She could feel the energy coming back again and she began to slowly float in the air. “She’s doing it?” Ayo says astonished by how marvelous she looked in the air, Papa couldn’t believe his eyes could it be possible that she could get them out of here? Mashee’a stretches her left arm and a wave of blue energy gushes out of it, the ground begins to shake they could feel the painting cracking but as usual things don’t go as planned for this bunch of weirdos. Ji’kur begins to react and causes a tantrum this causes the blue beam to stop working and massive power wave hits everyone. “Fuck.” Richard says as he grabs his head, he slowly gets up wondering what had just happened he looked around and to his surprise he was in the sitting room and no longer in the painting. “We did it guys!” Richard jumps excitedly but when he looks at the painting the others are still there with a fainted Mashee’a and Ji’kur on the floor. “What happened?” Richard says confused as the rest of the team are. “What happened is that she could only free one of us, I told you guys not to do this but no one listens to me anymore! What the f**k is all your problem?” Papa throws a heavy tantrum as he sits beside his wife and child, the team had never seen Papa care for someone like this before. The old man knew that once Mashee’a got up she was going to try it again he thought of what to do and that’s when a idea popped up in his head. “I’ve a plan.. I’ll need you to go see someone for me Richard.” Papa says boldly. “I’m begging you, just help us out.” Richard pleads in front of Madaniyah at the Gok house, he was sent by Papa the old man knew he messed up badly but he also knew that Mr and Mrs Mind could use their powers to get out but Madaniyah won’t listen. “No I’m not going to help you with that, we had a deal Richard I tell you where that dumb powerful being was and you bring Papa to me by the way nice job on killing him.” Madaniyah says briefly and turns around walking out on him but Richard follows her. “Wait how do you know we killed him?” Richard asked curiously. “Haven’t you been watching the news? Oh yeah I forgot, millions of people from different parts of the world have been coming out talking about the horrors you know who did to them they suddenly remember, people who were separated from their homes have been found, people who were sick cause of you know who are also feeling better.” Mashee’a explains. “Shouldn’t that mean your parents should be alright now?” Richard says as they both slowly walk to the doorstep Mr and Mrs Mind who both looked young again. “Yeah I thought that was going to happen but they still aren’t fine, he f****d up their mind.” Mashee’a says sadly as she looked at her parents thinking of what next to do, Richard felt her pain and slowly puts his hand on her shoulder. “What if Papa could come up with something? I mean we could make a deal with him, I’m pretty sure that man always has something up his sleeve that could cure them.” Richard says softly, Madaniyah wanted to deny it but she slowly thought of it and how it was a smart idea Papa was known as one of the smartest man and if there’s one person that could saved her parents it was him. In the real world at the middle of a large stadium the area is filled different people both supernaturals and normal people especially normal people as they all worry about the war going on and the supernaturals going on a rampage killing people, a bulky black man wearing a suit slowly walks towards the podium with multiple organizations men following him from behind and another black man that’s a clergy he grabs the mic, clears his throat and speaks to the troubled crowd. “Hello people it’s me again and let me just say we finally have a solution to your problems.” The man says softly.