Hidden Paradise

LUNCH>>>Green's Island

"There they are! We've been looking for you guys almost everywhere" Jason exclaims as we sat together on the floor. "You guys, alright?" Athena leans unto me to whisper and I nod my head. "We both just had some concern about Lord Klever and to please him...what Elena said earlier" Athena nods her head. We soon started to form into a circle and once everyone was there, we started.

"Okay, so...I'll start first. There will be questions here and everyone answers, alright?" Marie places a box filled with rolled up paper on the center. "First is...where are you guys from?" she throws the rolled up paper unto an empty glass bottle before clasping her hands together. "Well, first of all I'm from Mirae"

"Me too" Hope raises her hands along with a 2 more. "I'm from Earth" Diana raises her hand "Me too" we followed up raising our hands. The game went on for almost 30 minutes or so before others started to feel a bit sea sick...which made them leave the game.

"Can I help with anything here?" I showed up on the kitchen. Though they were more crews compared to the last trip, most of them got sea sick and decided to rest. Haruki was the only one on the kitchen. "Oh, it's alright" he says while chopping up some onions. He then turns around to place around 10 instant noodles on a big boiling pot before resuming to slice again. There were still unsliced vegetables and spices on the counter.

"Are you sure? I can help you know" he shakes his head "It's really alright" he hiss after saying that, he accidentally cuts his finger and obviously, it kept on bleeding. I rushed unto the kitchen and helped him as he looks at his cut. "Here, let me see" but before I could take a look on his wound, he directly sucks on it... I guess that could work too...?

"It's alright now" he grabs the knife again and continues to slice "You can go out now" I stood behind him. The kitchen was big enough to fit five people here, why does he want to be alone right now when clearly, there's no one else who can help?

"Hold on" I stopped his hands from chopping and took the one that had a cut on his finger. "What are you doing?" his voice sounded like he was trying not to be angry.

I opened up the sink and let his finger run on it. "You should always wash the wounded area to at least clean it up so it wouldn't get much more infected" I handed him a soap as he lathered it in his hands and start to wash them both. "Thanks" he mumbles.

"I can do the chopping, you should focus on the soup" I tell him and grab the knife before he could. I could tell he wanted to object but what was the point of trying to fight me off? He mixes the spices to the noodles while I finished cutting the vegetables easily.

"Woah" he looks at the way I cut them "There look neat and thin...How'd you do this?" he looks at me while I proudly smile "Well, I learned how to cook" I shrug my shoulders as he took the sliced vegetables and spices to mixed it well in another soup.

"I can manage from here, Thanks" he cleans the counter top "I'll just season these and let them cook properly and then lunch would be ready" he explains. I could tell he wanted me gone as soon as possible.

"Sure, happy to help" I walked away from the kitchen and lied down unto one of the hammocks. I saw Diana and Jason hanging them together earlier, there's at least 5 of these hanged up around the ship. "I didn't know you could cook" Alex approaches me and grabs a chair to sit around me. "There's a lot of things you don't know about me" I sounded cocky even though I was just joking around. Alex probably knows almost everything about me, considering that we technically grew up together and attended the TOP program together too.

"Like what? You're a murderer?" he jokingly said and I scoffed. "Maybe?" I teased him "You'll never know anyways" he walks away and lies down unto another hammock which was tied to the other side of the ship.

The sun was behind the clouds today and the weather was a bit windy. Not too bad to relax, I guess.

Lunch was pretty great; Haruki cooked some Fall harvest vegetable soup since he said it was good for those who are feeling sick and some instant noodles too. Honestly, didn't think it would be possible for the noodles to taste good but they did.

A few volunteered to wash the dishes after that and Athena was one of those. I thought that we'd arrive on Klever's island by now. I mean, I was told that it would be far compare to Bituin's island but not THIS far. "Hey" Diana approached me and hands me a drink. "They finished cleaning up the kitchen so they decided to make a drink. They call it Four seasons since it tastes like it. Go on, try it"

I nod my head before taking a sip from the cup. The flavors were...different. The drink four seasons most likely contained a lot fruit being mixed together. But this one was different. When I tried it, it felt hot but as soon as it went through my throat, it felt cold. The texture of it was weird too, like it was slimly and uh.. How do I describe it? Sort of a bit jelly?

"Oh uhm..woah" my eyes widened after drinking it "This is a uh, new feeling" I gave Diana an awkward smile. "How does it taste?" There wasn't any flavors, there were barely any! I could only feel the texture of it. It tasted like water but with a weird texture.

"It's quiet good, honestly. Just a bit different from our Four seasons but still" I sugarcoated it. I mean, it's just mere white lies, right?

"Well, it taste yucky for me. I mean, it's sort of jelly you know. And I thought it had at least flavor in it but it didn't. Like, you can't even tell it has a jelly-like texture when looking at it" I stared at the drink and slightly moved it around. It does look normal. "Anyways, Elena wanted to talk to you. She's on the uh stirring wheel. I don't know what it's called" Diana shrugs her shoulders. "I think it's called a helm" I corrected her as we both laugh.

Elena's grip on the wheel was too hard, it's as if something bad was going to happen and she knows it. "Diana said you were looking for me?" I slowly approached her. Great fresh air was strong in this area but Elena was sweating...? It seemed a bit weird but let's just hear her out anyways.

"Oh yeah, I was uhm... I have a few questions" I found a spare hammock being tied up to the corner. "Go on" I lie down and enjoyed the air. "Well, about Lord Klever....I don't really know much about him and I don't want to disappoint you guys if we're not successful into getting his timepiece" she explains

"Is that why you bought more than 10 people on the ship today? In case there's someone worthy out there?" I saw her nod her head. "Well, it's not really that easy to please Lord Klever based on what I read. He mostly likes people who are confident. So you don't have to worry much! Just be confident"

"That's a big problem cause you see, I'm not very confident" From what I've observed, I beg to disagree. "Why not?" she took a pause before speaking again "Well, I just am not, alright?"

"Like what? You have a crush on Lord Klever or something?" I joking scoffed. However, Elena didn't reply. She kept quiet while driving the helm, her grip was stronger. "You do have a crush on him, didn't you?" Elena still kept quiet. I stood up away from the hammock and started to slowly approach her.

"Elena?"

"Yeah?" she turns to me but as soon as she met my eyes, she looked away and focused on the waters. "Do you...have a crush on him?"

"On who?"

"On Lord Klever...do you like him?"

"I like every Chroma Leader Amaris, of course I like him too"

"No, not that. I meant, have a crush on him. Like ....LIKE him, like him type" Elena kept quiet again. I was practically beside her as I cross my arms. "You like him do you? You have a crush on Lord Klever I mean" Elena slowly nods her head "No, no I don't have a crush on him"

"Then why get scared? You weren't scared meeting Lady Bituin. Why get scared of Lord Klever?" I lean forward to her. "Cause hm mmy mexhs" she mumbles

"Cause what?"

"CAUSE HMM MMHY EHKS" she mumbles again, same volume but different tone.

"CAUSE WHAT?"

"CAUSE HE'S MY EX" oh...oh, OH WHAT? I look to my side to realize that everyone else probably heard that too since they all stopped to look at us. Elena glared at me before shifting her eyes back to the waters. "So...Lord Klever's your...ex? Like, ex lover or ex friend?"

"I thought you were smart, Of course ex lover" she sighs hard. "Why...why would you date a chroma leader in the first place?" she looks back at me "Also, why would you ask me how to please Lord Klever when you used to date him?"

"That was...three decades ago. Things have been different now"

"And the textbooks I've read about him was written a century ago" I let out a deep sigh before walking away. "You should be able to figure things out. I can't help you right now. And don't worry I won't tell anyone."

What hurt my ego was that she didn't even try to call my name as I walked down the stairs. Which meant she'll probably handle everything. "What was that all about?" I stood next to Athena as she offers me a cup of 'Four seasons'

"Oh no thank you, not a huge fan" I turn the drink offer away and let out a sigh "It's Four seasons but not Mirae version. I helped them make it." She offers the drink and I took a sip from it. Same color, different texture. I like this one better.

"Yeah, the texture of your drink is ehh normal but it is tastier" Marie poured herself another cup. "Hey guys" Oliver approached us "Elena said that we're almost at the border" we all gathered on the main deck.

An island was covered in a huge emerald colored bubble. Like the one from Bituin was emerald color.

The bubble let the ship let in easily "Does this mean Lord Klever already favors someone?" I turn to Alex as we both shrug our shoulders in unison.

"Come on" Elena instructed us as we got out off the boat. Within a few steps, we already arrived at the gate of the Island. "Green really doesn't like leaving extra spaces, huh?" Diana nods her head in agreement. The gate was tall and looked minimalist. Green is in charged of agriculture and food for everyone in Paraiso...they probably used up their space wisely.

"Elena" I called her as she was about to ring the bell "What?" she turned, she looked irritated at me. "Why are you yelling? There could be traps activated everywhere in this island. Plus, you're sweating too much, stop being so anxious and pull yourself together right now" Elena wipes the sweat off her forehead before ringing the bell.

Because of her nervousness, she must have forgotten how dangerous this place was...

"Right...sorry about that" Elena better pull herself together. The sound of bells echoed throughout the entire kingdom as a screen appeared in front of them, scaring everyone.

As expected, the Lord Klever always manages to stand out. A bald guy then came into the picture as he bowed a bit to them

"Who is it, what is your business, when did you schedule your appointment to arrive at this island, where are you from, and how did you gather both courage and confidence to ring this doorbell?"

Elena's nervousness seem to come back as sweat started to drip again. "What is wrong with her?" Alex leans in to whisper beside me. Oh gosh, Elena.

"Who. Lord Minerva sent us for the mission. When. We uh..." I looked at Elena as she mumbles 'yesterday'. "This won't do..." Diana shook her head