4 Let the Training begin!

After the ward door closed behind the nurse, John began pacing the floor.

"We have to do something!" he muttered.

"Well, I was thinking of going along with the tests. I mean it would be a great help to science! People will know that El Dorado survives" Sajid said.

"That is typical Sajid for you. He is ever the gullible helper. We cannot do that, Sajid. It means time will be wasted. Time, in case you haven't noticed, is important to our mission. We need help. How can we contact the Makanaima?" Odo asked.

"Good question. It seems he only intervenes when it is a mistake on his part… Like the healing." John said.

"This situation is his fault but I do not see him sending any assistance. We have to get out of this ourselves." said Sajid.

"What about pursuing justice for your accident? That should throw them off for a bit." Odo drawled, bored.

"So you mean divert the attention by refusing to cooperate until justice is served? But that would not hold them permanently" Sajid muttered.

"No. But it will buy us time to get away." Odo said.

"Or we can just walk right out of here. This place is unguarded!" John said, "It woul be like stealing candy from a baby!"

"There would only be matter of time before the baby squeals and calls its parents, we have no choice!" Odo settled the matter. They were goimg legal.

 

At that moment the nurse returned.

"Oh good, you are awake, head down to the pharmacy. Here is a prescription for the drugs you need." she handed him a paper, "get those, will you?"

Her expression was dazed, her eyes glazed over.

"What?" John asked confused.

"Don't question it, just accept it and act as if nothing is out of the ordinary!" Odo advised.

"Th-thank you." John stammered and headed out the door as fast as he could.

He glanced behind him one last time and saw her standing where he left her, as if she was rooted to the spot. Finally, she shook her head, seeming confused for a moment, and then shrugging, she began straightening the bed he had just vacated.

"What just happened back there?" he asked the moment he was out of earshot.

"It looks like the Makanaima came through for us after all." Sajid said dryly.

 

John strolled down to the pharmacy and handed in his prescription. The man behind the counter glanced at it disinterestedly. He was young, fresh out of college and as careless as they come.

"We are out of stock. Come again tomorrow." He handed the prescription back. He popped a gum in his mouth. Smacking his lips in satisfaction.

"Thank you. I will." John balked but managed to grab and pocket the piece of paper and headed for the door. Really, he had no intention of ever returning.

Outside, he fixed his shirt and began the long walk home.

 

"Now that you're out, have you considered what you are going to do about the accident?" Odo asked after a few minutes of blessed silence.

"It's an accident, what do you think I would do? I'm letting it go, of course" John said.

"You remind me so much of Sajid," Odo grumbled," you are too sympathetic. What good would sympathy do if you weren't the Chosen One? "

"Not much, considering his lifestyle!" Sajid laughed.

"What does that mean?" John asked defensively.

"It means, kiddo, we have to start your training. We should start with friendships." Odo suggested.

"Good choice. How should he do it though?" Sajid was seriously beginning to irritate John.

"Hmm… that should be easy, John, you have a day to make 60 acquaintances." Odo replied as if this was an everyday occurrence.

"Sixty? How will I get that amount on such a short notice?"

"You can start by approaching people." Sajid muttered.

"What are you saying?" John demanded, "I do not approach people?"

"Exactly. This is why the longer you stand here muttering to yourself, the less time you will have to meet our goal." Odo snapped impatiently.

"Fine." John stalked up to the first person he laid his eyes on. It turned out to be a young man barely out of the schoolroom. The young man was standing alone beside a group of chattering women and seemed relieved as John approached.

"Good morning." He said.

"Good morning." The man replied.

"Have you been here long?"  John asked.

"Not that long."

"Do you have the time? I lost my watch earlier in an accident with a motorcar."

"I'm sorry to hear that. Are you okay?"

"Yes. Thankfully, I survived. I'm John, by the way."

"I'm George. Are you the man who was involved in the accident along the stretch earlier this week?"

"Yes."

"I heard about it. The driver was drunk or something like that, right?"

For a moment, John didn't know what to say. He had no idea about the circumstances of the driver.

"Uh… something like that" he evaded.

At that moment, a bus pulled up. It was a brightly painted Toyota Twenty-two seater which had the tendency to be overcrowded because of the lack of transportation in the town.

"Kumaka! Kumaka! Kumaka!" the conductor hollered.

"That's me. Nice talking to you." The young man began walking towards the bus, whose conductor was already shifting passengers to make room for the new one.

"Yes, you too." John turned away.

 

"How was that?" he asked smirking in triumph the minute he found a quiet spot.

"Not bad. You have one in the bag with fifty-nine more to go." Odo said.

"Oh man!" John groaned.

Sajid chuckled, "you'll get there" he encouraged.

 

All day, John endured insults, dark looks, hunger and thirst.

Finally, with a parched throat, aching muscles from walking around, and fifty-nine acquaintances nearer to success, he stopped.

"I really need water." He croaked.

"Then let us use that for your final challenge." Odo said.

"Okay." John agreed. He was too tired to argue or complain at that point.

 

He spotted a nearby store, staggering in tiredly, he called for a salesgirl.

The girl came.

"Good evening sir, how may I help you?" she asked. Her words were kind but her face wore an expression filled with disdain.

"Can I have some water please?" he asked.

"A small bottle?" she asked.

"Yes."

"That would cost you $200."

"Can I get it for free?" he asked.

"We do not do charity, sir. Check somewhere else." She stalked off.

 

After checking two other stores with similar results, John sat down on the sidewalk, defeated.

"You have to appeal to their human nature." Odo said.

"How?"

"Look them in the eyes and sincerely request for water. Explain to the person your current situation." You'll get it." Odo responded.

"This my last try. I do not have the energy to go further." John groaned in pain as he stood.

Hobbling over to another store, he went in.

"Please for some water, I am really thirsty." He groaned to the first person he met.

"John?"  The person asked.

"Huh?" he looked up and came face-to-face with his first 'acquaintance', George.

"Hold on, I'll be back." George rushed off.

John leant heavily against the counter and waited. Soon, George returned with a bottle of water.

"Here." He said, opening it and offering it to John, "Don't worry about paying. It's on me."

"Thank you." John let out a huge sigh of relief and drank the water that soothed his parched throat like pure honey.

"Good job." Odo murmured.

"Let's get you home" Sajid said.

 

That evening, John was really tired but Sajid took one look at his apartment and began his tirade:

"This place needs cleaning, where is the broom? We need a bucket, some water and, you don't have soap?" Sajid swore a few obscenities.

So, against all of his wishes, midnight caught John scrubbing his apartment diligently.

 

The next day dawned on a tired John still snoring in bed. His apartment was neatly organized and having a homely smell for the first time in years.

His sleep was disturbed by Odo, "Rise and shine! Today is the beginning of lesson two; earning respect from society."

"Go away!" John groaned.

"You can't get rid of me that easily!" Odo said laughing.

He kept on disturbing John until he was fully awake.

Sajid, the perfectionist, ensured John pick out appropriate clothes for the day, had them neatly pressed and laid out for after his morning bath. He checked John's food intake and finally, having been satisfied at the appearance and comfort of his charge, he deemed them ready to depart.

When John grabbed up his old, tattered briefcase, Sajid stopped him.

"No. You are leaving that home today." He said.

"Don't do that to me, man, I want to take it with me." John groaned.

"No." Sajid said.

Odo took over after that.

He began explaining all the pros and cons of earning someone's respect. John tried to ignore him but it turned out impossible, as Odo was in his head.

John left earlier than he usually does; an act that made his neighbors' blinds to twitch as he passed. He chose to ignore it.

"John, straighten your back and walk with confidence.  Carrying yourself with confidence is one of the main ways you can earn respect from others. Every first impression matters…"

John straightened his back.

"I feel like a little penguin!" he muttered.

"That's because you are not doing it right!" Odo scolded.

"How am I supposed to do it? My legs are aching from yesterday and I am still tired from last night's debacle." John retorted.

"You can do it by believing in yourself. Do you really believe warriors who spent years fighting and killing people would learn to respect someone who is complaining about a little test to his stamina?"

"I didn't choose to be a leader!" John shouted.

Thankfully he was in an isolated spot on the road so no one could hear his outburst. Trees lined the side of the road as if the forest was yearning to retake its rightful position as owner of the strip of land. Branches leaned over the road, creating a shady, dark and cool atmosphere.

"And I didn't choose to be a babysitter to a child in a man's body!" Odo came back.

Sajid yawned, "Keep it down, people. I am trying to sleep here!"

"I am a child, am I? Well I was doing great as a grown up until you got stuck in my head!" John said, ignoring Sajid.

"Well, let us see how you will do without my help today." Odo retorted.

"Fine!" John shouted.

"Fine!" Odo shouted back.

 

John was too angry to notice a face made of darkness peering at him from the safety of the forest beside the road.

Someone chuckled, its voice feminine and husky.

"I got the bastard," it whispered and a shape congealed from darkness.

It was a woman of questionable beauty.

Her head was bald and filled with sores. She had skin mottled with green slime and ugly red welts ran across her face as if someone had tried in futility to make her even more hideous.

She smiled; it seemed more of a grimace, displaying teeth in a bad state of decay.

That glimpse was fleeting as she changed again.

Her bald head sprouted long curly green hair, as if it was dyed; her gnarled fingers became beautifully manicured, her body became that of a pretty, young woman of mixed ethnicity. Strangely, the green hair enhanced her beauty to one of rarity.

She tossed her hair and stepped out of the trees, fully dressed in a short summer dress and a matching sandal.

She glided behind John, as if she belonged to a walkway in a beauty pageant, not some rural town in the backlands of Guyana.

 

Meanwhile, John had reached a heavily populated area on the road.

"What now?" he asked.

"You go to work." Odo said, "You'll learn better in a professional workplace. Your task today is to get all of your workmates to express what they respect you for."

 

John opened his mouth to argue but just then, a portal, looking suspiciously like Uncle Spar's, appeared. It quickly enveloped him.

As suddenly as it appeared, it disappeared and he was once again beside the creek with Uncle Spar before him.

"There has been a change of plans. John has been discovered. In order to protect him, we will be securing him in the city. A battalion of soldiers will be present around him at all times. However, we need to initiate him first. The ceremony is being organized as we speak. I need you three to come with me."

Having been given no other option, they followed him.

He strode over to the talking plant John had met earlier and after tapping a few selected leaves, a passageway opened. It seemed like a tunnel at first glance, however as John entered, he noticed that it was a road of sorts. Precious gems were laid neatly to form a footpath. Alongside of which grew pretty shrubs and trees. It seemed as if he was not walking through a passageway under the root of a hibiscus, but in a forest. As beautiful as it was, his mind found it hard to focus on where he was.

He had to know something.

"What is this initiation ceremony about?" John whispered to Sajid.

"The forces in the city needs to recognize you as a subject of the realm. Therefore, they will do that today before you are locked out." Sajid whispered back.

"What should I expect? Do they have to take blood or a piece of organ or something?"

"What gave you that idea?" Sajid looked at him incredulously.

"Well, from all the books I read about the tribes in Guyana, I understood they believed in sacrifices." John whispered.

"The initiation ceremony," Uncle Spar interrupted, "does not contain sacrifices of any kind. Its purpose is to recognize you as the ruler of the realm. It will be a formal affair as is fit for a member of royalty. The only other person who got a ceremony of this magnitude was the Makanaima when this realm was opened in the fourteenth century. In this ceremony, you are to renounce your mortality and accept the role of protector of this realm. That is all you need to know other than the fact that your history needs some improvement."

"I will become immortal?"  John gasped; he was still reeling from that fact and ignored Uncle Spar's last statement, "Cool!"

"With great power comes greater responsibility, child, which is something you are yet to understand." Odo muttered.

John ignored him, "Why did you say I was discovered, Uncle Spar?" 

"You were being watched by a water mama in that desolate spot in the road. Apparently they can now shape shift because she was walking on legs and not the tails they usually have. We could not risk the evils destroying you, our only hope." Uncle Spar said, "Now enough chatting about that. I have to ask you however, what do you think about your mentors?"

Odo looked at him sharply while Sajid stared at the ground before his feet.

"I like them just fine. Why do you ask?" John responded.

Odo visibly relaxed and Sajid flashed him a brief but grateful smile.

"I want them to be your mentors and advisors in your new role." Uncle Spar said without preamble, as the world came crashing down around John.

He was NOT looking forward to this new leadership role.

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