Chapter Two - Trapped

The train lights were getting darker while we are waiting for the rescue. My mother texted me that the rescue team will be here anytime soon and I should not stay away with the group.

I feel that my bladder is already full and I need to release the golden shower. I reported it to Brix and Reevahn who are playing Reevahn's phone.

"I need to go to the toilet. I'll go to the dark part of this dome."

"Okay, just shout if there is a problem"

While most of them are taking a nap, I went to a dark side of the dome and opened the umbrella to cover myself. I was done after a few seconds. The iced tea I drank earlier is really diuretic. I was resisting this until now. As I stood up and realized that I am in the dark portion of the dome, I remembered that I have a mild night blindness so I called for help.

"Brix, Reevahn, I'm done. I can't see my way to get back there". While walking and trying to return, we three met halfway. "I forgot my bag. My flashlight is inside. Sorry for the trouble." I get my flashlight from my bag. Three out of four gadgets that my mom required me to bring are already used. This might be what they called mother knows best.

While these two are waiting for my flashlight, Brix rested on a boulder in his back. He accidentally pushed the boulder. The flashlight is in my hands now. I opened my flashlight and surprised with what I see. We saw a passageway seven meters tall, four meters wide and a difficult to estimate length.

"How did we…" Brix's surprise

"Maybe we pushed a secret switch and we rotated from our position earlier. I thought it was just me feeling dizzy" explained Reevahn.

"A small ray of light! Could that be an exit?"

"We'll see if we get there."

We walked cautiously following the ray of light. We perhaps walked one fifth of the actual length of the tunnel when we heard a rumbling sound from behind. Thinking that it was Brix, we asked him, "Is that your stomach or your colon?" "No. It's not me" he defended. I looked behind with my flashlight and saw the tunnel walls undergoing peristalsis. We were surprised when we saw a boulder of rock, exactly as big as the tunnel, rolls down towards us. We run in haste to reach the ray of light like running for a gold medal in track and field.

"Do not look back!" shouted Reevahn "when we reach the exit, step aside immediately! Brix, go with Nina to the right, I'll take the left side!" Unable to speak, Brix just raised his hand and saluted as a form of agreement. I pitied Brix for running slowly thus I took his hand and drag him while I run fast. I am confident that I have the advantage in running because I was one of the school's fastest runners. Reevahn can't talk anymore but still pushing himself to run faster. At last we almost reached the end. We harked a noisy, heavy, falling water sound. We reached the exit and immediately stepped aside. Unexpectedly, the rock boulder didn't fall! It was stuck in the passageway. We can't go back anymore using that tunnel to tell our companions that we see an exit. We already are outside and just need to ask for help.

We released a deep sigh as a sign of relief. Because we are still behind the curtain of waterfalls, we planned to pass through the waterfall. The force of the water seems heavy but according to the sound, it is not too high. Reevahn gave me his phone and camera saying, "Secure my gadgets and your phone inside your umbrella. Be sure that it's tightly covered. We are going to jump in the water." I answered with a nod and tried the suggestion. I tried the teargas first to put inside the umbrella and poked the umbrella through the waterfall. I checked the teargas and it wasn't wet. Luckily, my umbrella is enough to put the cellphones, camera, flashlight and teargas. I secured it enough to maintain its dryness up to seventy-five percent for a small time water immersion.

"Are you done?" asked Reevahn while inserting our things inside my bag.

"I'm done."

"Let's jump on the count of three" said Brix.

On the count of three, we plunged into the water and luckily, the water is just about six foot deep. Thinking that my friends can save themselves in the shallow water, I swam myself to the shore with my backpack resting on my back above water.

I reached the shore, removed my backpack and lay in prone. Few seconds later, Brix and Reevahn reached the shore. We then laid our backs together on the soil and looked into the sky.

"What a beautiful sky, so clear, so peaceful" said Brix

"But it doesn't look so high, one leer, looks doubtful" followed Reevahn. I was surprised to what Reevahn noticed. The sky looks too shallow compared to our city. I suddenly sat up and saw another surprise.

"When did you change clothes? And where did you get them?" I confusedly asked.

They suddenly sit and checked their bodies. "It's true! I didn't notice. How did I..?" said the confused Reevahn. "Nina, you're also…" followed Brix.

"I also… how did it… why… am I wearing red?! I might be chased by bulls because of this!" even though our clothes mysteriously disappeared and transformed to this costume, we are already fortunate that my bag remains with us.

I noticed Reevahn removing the costume's boots.

"What are you doing?" asked Brix

"I'll check if my toe rings are still here" he answered.

I haven't described yet how Reevahn looks earlier. Well, his fashion is not even unique, fashionable and fascinating not it is to be laughed with or to praise with. He was wearing a plain fit white t-shirt, a boot cut jeans and a pair of sandals. What is special about his attire are the glittering silver accessories which includes a dog tag necklace, a bracelet, and about three rings in each hand and foot.

"None of them left!" Reevahn cried

Reevahn creep into the river and shouted, "Give me back my things! You do not have the right to confiscate my things!" Surprisingly, water splashed into his face as a response of the water. Before he tried to pick on the water, we stopped him and calmed him down.

I looked for my phone to text my mother. I texted my mother and unfortunately, when I pressed the send button, it says, "OUT OF THE COVERAGE AREA". Reevahn also tried it with his phone but it also gave us the same response. "Now we just need to look for the way back ourselves."

Meanwhile, we walked following the river's flow. On our left is a dipterocarp forest and on our right across the river is another dipterocarp. Few steps from our earlier location, a city as small as our city can be seen, surrounded by the river which came from the falls making it look like an island. While observing the view of the city in front of us, a rustling sound is heard from the forest.

"Don't move" warned Reevahn "that might be a wild animal or beast". We followed Reevahn's instructions and unexpectedly a child showed from the bushes.

"Oh, good. It's a child" Brix sighed

"Are you… the Explosion Riders?"

"C'mon, we're not riding anything. We are not riders."

"No, we're not. We are just bypassers and secondly, do not call us explosion riders. I think I heard it somewhere and it sounds irritating."

"You do not have anything to ride? Then you are the Explosion Warriors!"

"We aren't explosives, we do not have explosives. Where did you get that Explosion Rider thing?"

"Ah! So you are the trekking warriors!"

"Would you stop that? We are not, we are just bypassers who are looking for the way home after we were trapped inside the Cazanette travel train attraction which fortunately brought us here and transformed our clothes into this! So even how many times you revise that rider thing, those still mean the same! Understand?!"

After Brix vent his anger, a man came out of the bushes.

"Ping, what's going on here?"

He stands five foot nine inches, thin and brown in complexion who wears white slightly armored clothes similar to ours.

"Master Ren!" the child glomped towards him. "The explosion riders are here!"

"I see, did you already pay respect to them?"

"Not yet, Master, they're denying that they are on and the green one got angry."

"Green? Me? Hey, who wouldn't be angry if someone calls you names which aren't really you?" said Brix

Master Ren sighed and looked at us. He looks problematic, maybe, about us on how to apologize for what that child who annoyed us with the explosion rider thingy. He asked the child to leave and approached us.

"I apologize for what happened earlier"

"It's okay, as long as you apologize. Hahaha!" said Brix who easily accepted the apology.

"I know calling you explosion riders is not right in your status. The word explosion doesn't suit you."

"Oh, yeah, we know. That's why that word annoys us."

"I see. Well, perhaps Legendary Heroes will do"

"Wait, wait" Reevahn reacted while adducting his arms with his palm facing towards us as if he's mediating a fight. "So you thought we were concerned about the name?"

"Yes, because if you really don't like the term, we can change it to something you want. What, you want to suggest one?"

Brix and Reevahn looked at me as if saying they're already pissed off to explain more, so I just answered them with a facepalm.

"Master Ren," I started, "you absolutely don't get the point do you? We are neither the Explosion Riders nor the Legendary Heroes you talked about. We just got here a moment ago and we're lost. We just had rode an amusement park train, got an accident, unfortunately trapped in a cave-like cul-de-sac, accidentally discovered a passageway which we thought it was a way out but unfortunately lead us here. Now we are walking to search for a way back home but here you are, accusing us to be the legendary heroes. Now, get it? We're not the legendary heroes you thought we are."

"I know now. So, it's my turn to explain why you are called the legendary heroes."

"Hey! I talked and explained so much yet you don't understand a thing?!" I exclaimed

"No, no, listen. What I will tell you is related to the incident that you are saying earlier." Brix tried to walk out but Reevahn stopped him to listen. "This is the kingdom of Cazanette and I understand that you aren't from this world."

"What?! Did you just say, "Cazanette"?!"

"Yes. The kingdom of Cazanette. Have you seen something with the same name in your world?" Master Ren interviewed

"We did. That was the name of the train where we had the incident of probably the accident. Has it something to do with us?" answered Reevahn

"Wait! Wait! I can't follow! So you mean, this is a different world?!" Brix cried with confusion

Reevahn and I looked at Brix and scolded, "You just found out?! We already noticed that since we got out of the water!"

"I thought we were just searching for the exit" Brix reasoned

"Yeah, we were. I can't believe you didn't even notice. Your clothes also changed, doesn't it?"

Brix startled with glittering eyes, "I'm wearing and all green armor! Hurrah!" he runs around us rejoicing.

"Let's continue please, Master Ren" asked Reevahn

"As I was saying, this is the kingdom of Cazanette and I know that you aren't from here."

"You already said that. Please proceed."

"Every fifty years, that falls presented us a gift. Those are the heroes. Follow me." Master Ren brought us to the cliff and showed us the overlook of the kingdom. "As you can see, this is the kingdom of Cazanette. It wasn't that big for a kingdom but the pioneers built an empire and assigned a leader, the king. Later, the king married a queen and born a prince. That prince is so intelligent and talented and he noticed that something is wrong with this kingdom. It is said in his writings that a kingdom should be a part of the country, a country is part of a continent, and a continent is a part of a planet, yet there are no neighbouring kingdoms or countries that we are aware of. When he ascended to the throne, he sent off voyagers to go across the river to discover the world but unfortunately, they always ended up in a dead end and reported it to the king.

The king ordered to destroy the walls. Everytime the King's platoon makes a move to destroy the mountains, the glowing castle glows while the mountains emit a bright-lightning-like flash which ignites and burns everything even the strongest rock fifty meters away from the mountains. Annually, they sacrificed strong soldiers to the mission. The king noticed during his fiftieth year reign that the glowing castle wasn't operational. He descended from the throne and gave it to his son. He asked for someone to record the mission every year in case he didn't survive. He took the chance while the glowing castle isn't functional to destroy the mountains. He took a year digging the mountains but suddenly the glowing castle turned on again and he didn't survive. Centuries passed and the kingdom concluded that every fifty year, the glowing castle is weakened.

The kingdom's people became endangered. They asked priests and priestesses to ask help from the Supreme Being. The Great Spirit heard their prayers and every fifty years, heroes from the previous world who might free us are summoned."

After Master Ren's declamation, we noticed that we stopped in front of a temple-looking building which has modern touch. It was like a large bungalow house with pillars and roofs like a temple but some of its walls have floor-to-ceiling glass windows. We ended up here because we followed Master Ren walking while listening to the story.

"So, you mean, we will be lined up among those legends?" Reevahn questioned. "By the way, what happened to those heroes before? Why aren't you freed yet?" I added.

"Yes, you are this generation's heroes. Unfortunately, none of the heroes succeed. Some of them died during the mission and some of them had chosen to stay."

"They didn't survive during missions?" squeaked Brix, "can we just refuse the offer and go back to search for our way home?"

"For now, there is no way out. The passage you came from is a one way passage. Anyone could enter but no one could exit" defied Master Ren.

We paused for a moment recollecting the events that happened earlier, and then I said, "If that is the only way to get back home, we will accept the responsibility. If we entered this place, we can get out. If you want to be freed from this small dimension of yours, once we knew our way out, you and your people could come with us. That will be a win-win situation so you should also help us." "Very well" agreed Master Ren. "You should also supply us with our primary needs" Brix added.

"How many days have passed since the fiftieth year started?" Reevahn inquired.

"This is the first day."

"So we have a year to take advantage of the castle's weakness"

"What do we need to do now, Master Ren?" I asked

"The first thing you need to do is go inside, eat and rest. Tomorrow, we will start with the research and the plan."

We entered the house. I thought it was as large as it looks outside but it's actually larger than I thought, pretty large. We walked through a banquet hall with big and tall stairs that leads to the mezzanine. On our right looks like a hallway that leads to the kitchen and dining area. Opposite the hallway is another hallway.

"Prepare for dinner. We have visitors… or should I say new members of the family?"

"Can I call you Dad?" joked Brix

"I will be your big brother and you will be living in my house."

"Doesn't it sound like a reality show?" I mumbled

A few moments passed, we heard a sound of the ringing bell. "Dinner is ready!"

"Enjoy your meals, heroes." Master Ren said while walking to the dining area with us. At the end of the hallway, in front of the arch to the dining area, we halted with amazement when we saw a long table with twenty chairs, covered with white, clean linen, topped with silver plates and utensils including the candlesticks. Due to surprise and disbelief, we petrified ourselves under the arch.

"Did we really accidentally entered a different world of did we fall asleep and this is just a dream?" Brix exclaimed.

To test ourselves the genuine of the previous events, we agreed to hit ourselves. To make sure that the attack would really touch us, we formed a triangle so that we will hit the one on our right on the count of three.

"One, two, three" then we slapped each other. Reevahn respects ladies so he didn't hit me that much, but it still hurts a little. Brix's gluttony made him withdraw from strenuous activities thus he also didn't hurt Reevahn that much. Usually pleased by hurting others, I might have lost control of my hand. My palm marked at Brix's face.

"I'm sorry, I thought I didn't do much but I did" I apologized

"Are you mad at me? Do you have hatred for me?"

"You were the one who suggested this and you were the one who feels this is just a dream so you deserve to receive reality" Reevahn reasoned.

Master Ren was watching us as he was entertained by an epic comedic trio act.

"I thought you were professionals. That's good, but, don't you think it's a little childish for your age?"

"We're still considered children. We're only sixteen year old"

"Really?! Maybe that is in your world. I thought you were already thirty two, but, oh well, age doesn't matter"

After the conversation, we ate several dishes which some of them are familiar. I wonder how they learned to cook adobo, pinakbet and chopsuey because most of them are Western-like dishes. After dinner, a servant led us to our room.

Our room is located in the left side mezzanine. The servant led us to one door. "This will be your room." I don't know if we are going to share the same room. The servant opened the door. My heart was palpitating praying that there will be separate bed for us. As we entered the door, we saw a lounge area in the middle with sofa, centre table and a checkered purple carpet. Each side has two doors. We checked every door and we confirmed that there are three bedrooms and a bathroom. I chose the room beside the bathroom. My chosen room might be really prepared for me. If in our house, I filled the plain beige walls with posters, this abode has the plain colour paints that I wanted. The wall which is horizontally divided into two has an upper sky blue and lower deep blue colour which also included the floor. The queen sized bed on the centre has wooden frame and white clean mattress matched with two bedside tables on both sides. The right corner in line with the door stands a corner dresser.

I fell asleep while staring at the sky blue ceiling and laying on the soft mattress. I'm not sure if this mattress gives me anaesthetic effect but I don't feel anything anymore. This might also be fatigue.