Hidden Paradise

Don't worry about it, they're just ~allergies~

"We scheduled yesterday for the appointment. Where? We come from different planets and how. When we entered Paraiso and was assigned to a mission that involved talking to Chroma Leaders" The screen disappeared and I let out a heavy sigh.

y'all can't handle this situation yourselves as Lords and have to gather a bunch of kids with no combat experience to do some island hopping

I was sure Elena would have gotten mad at me...I felt like she would have but she didn't. She stood still in front of the gate, Elena looked both dead and cold.

"Come in" A voice came as the gates opened

"I have a feeling Elena already met Lord Klever before" Alex whispers beside me again. Yeah, obviously they've met before...they're past lovers. "I have a feeling this won't go too well"

Their path on the way was filled with farms, left on right. "There's a lot of berries and veggies...I feel like I wanna be a green" Diana joked as she looks around.

"I feel like there's no traps today" Alex looked around. CCTV s were down low without any red blinking light; they were turned off. Either Klever trusts us, make it seem like he trusts us, or just respecting our privacy as guests for the moment.

Nothing seemed suspicious as the air was fresh with the scent from the farms. People were also in the farm. Everything was the opposite of what the teachers and textbooks said to us.

"Hey, what did you smell when you first came here?" Elena leaned down to Amaris as she whispered "Peppermint"

"No traps?"I shook his head towards Athena and she lets out a sigh of relief. "You should calm down a bit, Lord Klever is probably in a great mood" Oliver commented.

I tried to calm myself while entering the palace. Bituin's throne room looked lonely and empty, unlike Klever's who made use of all the space. There was a mini garden on this right side where a huge glass provided them sunlight. While on the other side, it was filled with cabinets and a what looks like a study or work area.

A huge chandelier was hang onto the ceiling too. I think they made a pretty great job on the interior too.

"Welcome" Lord Klever opens his arms to us with a big smile and we repay by giving him a bow.. "Oh..." he sounded disappointed while looking at Elena's direction. I sure do hope that things should go fine this time. "Honestly didn't expect you here" Elena heard that as she looks away from his gaze. "Well...welcome anyways" he claps his hand before standing up and slowly approaching us. He's unexpectedly in a good mood. I turn to Alex as he shrugs his shoulders without a clue. Either he's planning something suspicious or he's just very delighted today.

So, what is your purpose beautiful young kids for visiting me?" he grabs a drink and motions the waitress to serve it to us too. "That's just lemon water, don't worry" he reminds us before finishing the whole thing in one chug. I look at the drink and looked around me too. Everyone else was drinking it, even Elena and Alex...it should be same then. I finished the whole thing in one go too. I guess it was just lemon water.

"Well, uhm...we would like to BORROW your timepiece" Elena clears her throat. Klever's eyes traveled from Elena's foot to head, silently judging her. "Elena, darling" he starts off in a somewhat charming voice and placed his glass drink unto one of the tall tables on his side.

"You do know that the council announced that us, the Chroma Leaders, are going to decided to give our timepieces or not. So, if I find someone who is worthy of MY trust, I'll give it to them"

"Yes sir, I am aware" Elena didn't even look at him and continued to look straight. "Hm..." Klever motions his drink to get filled with lemon water again before eyeing us all. "Well then, bring me someone you think is very smart and trustworthy" He challenges her and proceeds to take small sips from his drink.

"Yes, you. What's your name?" he points at me before Elena could even speak.

"Amaris King, my lord" Please spare me from any sort of t*****e today.

"Well, Ms. King. Please explain and try to answer my questions" I nod my head and straightened up my back. "Why are you here?"

"Well, we hope to, as Captain Elena had mentioned, borrow your time piece. I'm sure you've heard about the Apoy community helping and each other and forming teams to take the Chroma Leader's timepieces without permission. So, we hope to take yours first and keep them safe"

Klever nods his head again then slightly shakes it "Eh, I can't really trust you, aye?" I slowly shake my head 'no' and looked down. It's not my fault though. I mean honestly, I knew this wouldn't go too well.

Lord Klever slowly approaches Elena as he sincerely pats her head. What is he even doing right now? "Well, my dear...I trust you" He turns and approaches me. Everyone, even me, was shocked.

"You trust me?" I doubted him as Klever nods his head as he gave his hand out to me. I took it in mine, his hand started to glow as a green shard appeared in front of me. It was his timepiece "Take it" he looks at me with a pair of fox eyes. You know, when you can't tell either the person wants you to actually have it or to test your confidence if you have the courage to take it. I took it anyways.

It was all too easy.

"If that's all you guys need, then you can now leave" He started to turn away as he sat back unto his throne "I have a question"

"You said this was just lemon water, yet there are bubbles in the drink? Which meant something denser than water is mixed in it, right?" Klever raised his eyebrow, taking interest at Alex

"Well, yeah. Not going to lie, I added a bit of something in your drinks. And by that, I meant Kleiner." Alex realized what his intention was as he slowly moved closer towards me and Alex

. "I was actually going to try and see if you guys were going to drink it. Considering, you guys are underage, surely a drop can already make you drunk, right?" He raises his glass and he chug it all down.

"Right...your thousands of years old" Alex mumbles as the students stayed a bit back away from their drinks. Alex wondered why he offered the drinks.

Was it to see if we were dumb? Or was it to kill us? Wait, Kleiner?! A drop of...that means we could get drunk, right?

"It would take him about 10 jars to at least get drunk" I mumble yet he somehow heard it "It would take me more, dear" A waitress pours him more "We'll go now" Elena bows down once again as they start to exit.

I held strong unto the green shard. It wasn't THAT sharp, I'm just trying to protect it.

They quietly exit as Amaris held strong unto the green shard. "The time piece was how Paraiso started, right?" I nod my head towards Athena "It was Chroma Leader Ambrosio, who found the first shard"

"Yet it was Leader Ambrosio who got kicked out first..."

"Amaris..." Athena calls me and gently touches my face and I heard her gasp. "What was it about?" Athena pointed at the fallen leave on the ground. I could feel starting to sweat much more. Oh no... I quickly turn to Alex while leaves started to come out more and more.

Leaves started to fall out of my face and I'm sure Alex noticed it. No one was around the farms; the cameras were on and my sweat kept turning into leaves.

"What's going on?" Alex slowly observes my situation as I saw how his eyes panicked. "Amaris" he gasps before grabbing my arm. "Why? What's going on?"

"AH" more leaves kept falling off my body and as soon as I got unto the deck, my whole body was already covered in leaves. "In you go" Alex not-so-carefully lifts my body and throws me into the boat, making me fall almost face first if my hands wasn't able to catch my body. All of the leaves immediately left my body and as soon as it did, my whole body felt itchy.

"AH" I scream out loud while trying not to scratch my skin harshly since I had medium length of nails. "Stop" Alex swats my hand away and pulls me up to make me sit in a chair. "What is going on?" Elena angrily stomps unto the main deck, much more confused as me.

"We need to get away from Lord Klever's Island as soon as possible or more leaves will grow and fall off Amaris' skin. I think he casted a spell on her"

Oh damn...Why me though? After he entrusted me with the timepiece- oh...Did Klever cast a spell on me when he held my hand? Possibly. Did he do that to warn me that I couldn't return the timepiece back to him once I left with it? Possibly. Do I wanna know why? Definitely.

"Come on" Elena hurried everyone and everyone else hurriedly helped her pull the anchor up. "Don't ever touch your skin yet, or else your body will have a reaction to the leaves. I think it's very sensitive right now" Alex looks at me skin, trying not to touch me while Elena drives the boat a bit faster than usual. In no time, we were officially FINALLY out of Lord Klever's place. My skin also stopped feeling so itchy and I felt like the air was much more breathable.

The sun still wasn't up and the clouds start to gather. "Please don't rain" I heard Chelsea mumble before walking up to Elena. She seemed to tell her something while Elena nods her head in concerned. "I think it's going to rain" Alex stayed by me side while we both looked up to the sky.

In my opinion though, I think Lord Klever have major trust issues. My skin still felt irritated and I still try to fight the urge to not scratch it every now and then. Athena was sad that she couldn't go near me since Alex would warn her too. So, she decided to take a nap. I mean, it is late in the afternoon already.

"When's my skin going to get better?" I turn to Alex who was chilling on the hammock while I sit 5 feet away from him a wooden chair. "Your skin's alright. We just need to put some sunscreen and medication on it or else it would get worse"

"So, that means, my skin isn't really sensitive?" Alex shakes his head.