One at Each Corner
2145 Words
The doors of my cell suddenly open. Through it, the guard nods at me. I guess they are freeing us now. As soon as I exit, I see Darius leaving his cell. He looks like he just woke up. And we haven't talked for a long time.
“You look horrible,” I say to him.
“Say that to yourself,” he responds.
Mila approaches us from the darkness of the hallway. “You guys are released,” she says.
“We can see that,” says Darius. “It took too long and I almost felt like I would've busted myself out. Where's Guiria?”
“She's fine and she's with your uncle.”
“That dude is not my uncle!” he grunts.
“Gee, anyway,” She looks at me. “get dressed properly. I'll show both of you to your new room.”
We follow her and there's no talk between the three of us. Darius seems to be fine about it. He just shows an unmotivated face. I can't see Mila's face because we're behind her. Maybe it's only me that's feeling awkward about the silence.
“How are the two of you?” she asks minutes later.
I answer, “I'm fi-”
“Ready to beat up those stupid House Leaders!!” roars Darius.
I learned to let him be because he won't listen but Mila should be alarmed, right? Those House Leaders have high senses of pride. If they hear him shouting this, they'll throw him back to his cell. But Mila is calm. Why is that?
“Here's your room,” she says. Her face is serene unlike before.
Darius opens it for himself and barges in. “It's ugly,” he complains but I see it a little better than the cell.
I nod at her before entering. Looking around, I notice four cameras at each corner. “What are those for?” I ask.
She sighs before uttering, “Darius, Leo, please understand the reason for this.” Her face is looking very concerned and regretful. “The House Leaders want to monitor your actions.”
“Through these ugly cameras?!!” yells Darius. He looks at them as if they will get crushed by his frown alone. “We will use Immunity then!”
“And that's another thing,” she says. “both of you are f*******n to use it without permission.”
“WHAT?!!!” he screams.
“Wait, my lady,” I say, being calm as I can. “what about our privacy?”
“I asked them that too but they insisted. And that Cairo…” She grits her teeth, looking at the side.
“He convinced them?”
She nods. “And Shui went along with him.”
Darius clenches his fist and growls, “I'm going to crush that jerk when I see him!”
“Also, another misbehavior, both of you will be sent back to the cells again.”
“Those imbeciles!” he lets out, walking away to vent his anger somewhere in the room far from us.
“I'm sorry, Leo,” she says, not looking at me.
“As long as you tried to convince them otherwise, my lady,” I tell her. “That means something for us.”
Without turning her head, she looks at me with her eyes, smiling. “You're sure?”
That was a genuine smile. “Yes,” I nod. I'm not in the mood to be angry anyway. Somehow, my patience improved in my time in that cell. “Don't stress about us, my lady. You have other things much more important to do.”
“Alright,” she agrees, looking at my chest.
“So,” She looks at me. “have you found Hera, my lady?”
The worrying comes back to sit on her face. “I'm sorry, Leo. Aurelia found no trace.”
I expected that so I'm not disappointed. “She searched the whole Olympus Capital?”
“Yes.”
“Then maybe she's not there.”
“I'm going to ask the Demigod Clans about her if she happens to be in one of them.”
I can't help but smile. She's so dependable. “Thank you, my lady.”
She just nods and doesn't look at me. She shouldn't be like that. Why is she looking like she's ashamed? She's helping me and I couldn't do any better than her. I must make her feel that I'm not forcing her to do it. It's my obligation after all, and she does me a favor.
“But if you don't want to do it, it's okay, my lady. I can't put more burden on you.”
“No. I care about her too. I'll help you find her.”
I just nod. I realize I don't have to worry after all. If she wants to do it, I'm still glad.
After a second or so, she says, “Lastly, I have something to tell both of you that I know you're not gonna like.” She is worrying even more about our reaction.
Darius comes to join us again. “What is it?” he asks.
“Just promise me both of you will behave.”
I can promise that but I don't know with Darius. “We will,” I answer.
“Darius?” she asks him to make sure.
“Fine,” he sighs.
“Alright.” She takes a breath before saying, “From now on, you will be under Shui's command.”
“What?!!” he screams but I just sigh in frustration.
Of all the people, why him? I'm not confident about fulfilling what we swore.
“That's the worst!” shouts Darius. “I won't agree to that!”
I hold his shoulder. He glares at me. “We promised,” I remind him.
Scratching his head, he says, “Crap.”
“Don't worry,” says Mila. “I'll find a way for both of you to fall into my command. But I'm not sure when and how yet.”
“We're putting too many things on your shoulders, my lady,” I point out. “It's fine, Darius and I bear it.”
“If you say so,” she nods.
-
*
In the south where an icy sea separates Asgard and Olympus, a giant polar bear is swimming across. On it are Gwen and Jack riding. The polar bear is Oso.
“I see the coast,” says Jack, standing and squinting behind his mask. He is in front of Gwen as she sits.
His prosthetic limbs are replaced by civilian-grade ones. All he has for defending himself is a huge rifle. His prosthetic limbs are rusty, have many dents, and the frost is creeping on them.
Looking down, Gwen is feeling sick of the ocean. This is her first crossing one. Venus has but does not have large oceans like the earth after all.
“Damn…,” she says, gagging. “I regret coming to Earth. I realize I don't like seas.”
“Hang on, we are near,” he says.
She looks forward and frowns. “That's your meaning of near? Earthians are weird.”
He looks around, scanning the horizon to watch out for enemies. All he sees are icebergs and debris. Then something intrigues him. He sees a ship moving in a curve that will soon come to them. It is very far away in the east.
“Enemies!” he shouts.
Oso swims faster. Gwen stands up and her seasickness is gone. She watches the ship as it becomes closer and closer.
“I can handle them!” She bumps her first against her palm.
“Wait,” says Oso with a bear voice. “Make sure they're enemies first.”
“Just be on guard,” says Jack. He pulls out his rifle from his back and c***s it.
Meter by meter, the ship gets near them but now it is behind them, following them to the north. Oso continues to swim while Gwen and Jack stand guard. To their confusion, the ship turns to the east like it is seeking to go in circles.
“What are they up to?” asks Jack. “Maybe someone there needs help. We should check.”
Oso nods his giant polar bear head and turns to the left where the ship is turning to. They catch up and Gwen gives Jack a boost under his right foot. She lunches him upwards and he boards the ship. He crouches and looks around with his rifle. His finger is on the trigger. Gwen jumps onboard after him. Then Oso transforms into himself and climbs up the side of the hull. To climb, he punctures the hull with his fingers. Finally, he climbs up and they move quietly. The bridge of the ship is their destination.
Sniffing with his partially bear nose, Oso tries to smell any presence. He did not catch any, however. This makes them be on guard more since demigods and gods can hide their presence. From when they enter the first door and finally through the door to the bridge, they found no one but corpses.
“There's no one here,” says Jack, sighing for a little bit as he lowers down his rifle. “The helm is busted.” He refers to the helm that is in shambles.
“Some people have been here,” says Oso. “I can smell them.”
“They must've abandoned it.”
“Maybe there's still supplies here. We must search fast before the ship turns to the south.”
They nod and leave while Gwen looks around. Everything is foreign to her. Alien, actually. She shakes the thought off of her mind and leaves the bridge. A few minutes later, they meet up on the deck, right in time when the ship turns fully to the east.
“I found nothing,” says Gwen.
“Us too,” says Oso. “Let's just leave.”
They leave the ship starting with Oso turning into a polar bear just as he meets the water. Gwen and Jack jumped on his back. She frowns again, feeling the seasickness returning to her. Jack looks back once more. He feels he has missed something on that ship.
On the rocky mountainous terrain of Asgard, hundreds of turrets and thousands of men stand guard around the stronghold. Jasper watches from afar, lying prone to hide behind the small rock hill. Only his redhead and eyes are showing.
“It's lively here, alright, ” he remarks.
Prisha peeks beside him. “I can't believe they have this remarkable defense! How did they manage to get these many resources?”
“They have Seok with them, after all. He's a hundred times smarter than me.”
“Oh… the God of Wisdom.”
“Both of you,” whispers Hiroki. “get down here or we'll get caught!”
They crawl down and look at Hiroki. “Chill, Hiroki,” says Jasper. “Must be a pain having him as a boyfriend, Prisha.”
“Nah, it's fine,” she smiles and Hiroki looks away, blushing.
Both of them climb down where the rest of their comrades are waiting. Sayuri is sitting on a boulder with her legs crossed and her arms folded. Jasper goes putting his arms around the flustered Hiroki.
“So, what is our plan?” asks Hyun.
Inhaling, Jasper prepares to speak. His comrades are expecting this to be an elaborate plan since they saw how well-defended the place is.
He says, “We wait.” All of them are startled.
“That's all?” asks Hiroki.
“You're damn right, my man,” he confirms, poking Hiroki on the chest. “Well, we got to find a place to stay and hide, prepare our rations for a long wait. I don't think Dragunov will barge in without a brilliant plan.” As if his smirk is gathering all of the darkness in the world. “And brilliant plans, take time to brew.”
*
-
I couldn't help but scoff. Lying on my bed with my hands behind my head, I sense them from miles away: Jasper, Philip, the goddess, and others. What are they planning? Should I report this? No. It's not like I want to do anything for those stupid House Leaders. After all, they are even doubting us so they put these stupid cameras in every corner of our room. We're still in a prison. It's eligible that we should act accordingly to their “expectations.” I will not tell them. Besides, Jasper and his allies are good people although I don't know them that much.
- Writer
