Chapter 23: A Plan (2)

When Ezekiel reached the lobby, there were several godlings gathering around the fight. He rushed towards the commotion before going through the crowd. He then saw Aster punching Corey in the stomach with his electrified fists while Sethos, Jashin, Itzli, and Nikole were holding him tightly to prevent him from slipping away.

“He isn’t stopping. He’s going to end up killing him.” Chadlynn said quietly.

“Such cruelty.” Shan then sighed in annoyance. “They have no honor. They fight dirty.”

Theria scoffed scornfully, “They just can’t accept the fact that they were humiliated by two godlings.”

Ezekiel wasn’t paying attention to their conversation. He was immensely worried about Corey’s condition right now. His body was all bloodied again, which is much worse than his fight with Maskim. He could see the scorched marks all over his burnt ripped clothes. He was feeling a boiling amount of rage within him, as he tried to control his emotions.

Aster let out a frustrated roar at Corey’s face, “Did you enjoy it, trickster!? Did you enjoy making fun of us during your spar with Maskim!? You loved it, didn’t you!?”

Corey simply laughed before spitting some blood on Aster’s face, “It was. The fact that all of you were surprised was hilarious to m-!”

Aster delivered another punch on the stomach, as Corey spat out a huge amount of blood.

Sethos scoffed, “You talk big for someone who is injured.”

“Well, I’m not the one… who is fighting like a coward… right now.” Corey insulted him while groaning in excruciating pain. “I’m taking the hits… like a champ… unlike you, cowards.”

Sethos broke Corey’s right arm immediately, “You talk big for someone so sma-“

“Hey!” Ezekiel called him out before risking his air supply by unleashing a gust of wind at Sethos, Jashin, Itzli, and Nikole which managed to send them flying. He then kneeled on the ground, gasping for air.

Aster looked at him below, “You! Of course you’ll come rescue your friend!”

Corey chuckled, “You didn’t have to come for me, Kiel. I got this.”

Ezekiel breathes in and out deeply before confronting Aster properly, “Leave us alone, Aster if you know what’s good for you.”

Aster felt fear from him briefly before shaking it off and standing closer to him, “You’re talking boldly now! I beat you fair and square! Whatever you did in the spar, you still lost to me! And that’s why you’re always a weakling!”

Ezekiel was struggling to remain standing after removing some of his air intentionally to protect his best friend, but he is resisting the urge to fall on the ground to make a stand. He doesn’t know where his courage came from, probably from Habagat, because he has never been courageous enough to confront Aster. It was his best friend who usually does the job while he remains quiet on the sidelines.

He clenched his hands as he nearly could no longer contain his boiling anger anymore, “Last chance, Aster. Back away.”

Aster’s whole body shivered in fear at the “empty threat” briefly. He didn’t think his whole body would be scared by Ezekiel’s mere words alone now. He just couldn’t forget about what happened in the spar.

The intimidating aura around Ezekiel was so powerful that he was so sure he’ll be obliterated if his condition. But no matter how terrified he was, he had to stand his ground to let everyone see that he wasn't afraid of him.

Besides, he won the spar. He should be confident.

“Do not tell me what to do, weakling.” Aster’s eyes were then sparkling with electricity.

Ezekiel held his deep breath before moving his hands as gusts of wind were circling around his arm, “And don’t threaten me. I’m done cowering in front of you.”

Aster growled in annoyance, “You are so-!”

“Enough.” Kaito, the third strongest godling, intervened. “The two of you are being a disgrace to the Fatherland.”

He then pointed at the woman who gave the announcement in the morning.

“Ms. Kiara has been watching you both with displeasure. Both of you are fighting like cockroaches. We are the Fatherland’s greatest soldiers, not some pests. Act like it.”

“Do not interrupt us, Kaito.” Aster then glared at him with intimidation. “You can’t tell us what to do. Besides, I’m sure she doesn’t mind me teaching this weakling lesson.”

“Trust me, she doesn’t want that.” Kaito said. “If you don’t stop now, you’ll end up angering Mr. Etana, Aster. And remember what happened the last time that happened?”

Aster flinches at the memory. He looked at Ms. Kiara whose expression was indeed displeased with the current situation before powering down. He glared at Kaito and Ezekiel before walking away, along with his “friends” who were filled with immense anger towards the wind godling.

Ezekiel doesn’t thank his savior as he rushes towards Corey and helps him up, “Are you okay?”

Corey spat out a blood while groaning, “Never better. I’ll heal.”

“You two always cause trouble.” Kaito then glared at the crowd which shifted his expression into seriousness. “What are you still doing here? Disperse.”

The godlings dispersed immediately, except for Shu who stood at the same place and was staring at Ezekiel before walking away as well.

“That’s the second superior godling who has ‘saved’ our butts. What a great guy you are.” Corey said sarcastically. “So what do you want with us?”

“Personally? Quiet. You and Aster distracted me from my meditation.” Kaito said. “And also the fact that Ms. Kiara wasn’t pleased with the two of you. Can’t let Aster be in trouble, otherwise, the reputation of superior godlings will be further ruined because of you two.”

Corey raised his eyebrow, “Which is the real reason then?”

“The first one obviously. I care less about our reputation.” Kaito then walked away while summoning a ball of water to drink from it.

Corey laughed, “What a traitor he is. I like him already.”

Ezekiel sighed in relief that the situation was averted, “Let’s get you back to the cells. It’s almost light’s out.”

“What about dinner? I’m hungry.” Corey said before his stomach was rumbling loudly.

“We’re gonna be attracting a lot of attention. It’s best we stay out of it.” Ezekiel said until a bottle of soda fell out from his pocket.

Corey held in his laughter, “I see Syr gave you one as well. KIELADA? That’s terrible than CORÉ-COLA.”

Ezekiel groaned in embarrassment before picking up the bottle and headed back to his cell with his best friend. He doesn’t want to attract anyone's attention right now. He needs to make a plan for tonight, especially on how to unlock his cell doors. He cannot sneak out at night without a key. He needs to find a way somehow.

‘Do not be distracted, mortal.’ The unknown voice within Corey’s head said. ‘I want to get out of this hell hole of a prison. This is much worse than my captiv-‘

Corey gritted his teeth in anger, ‘Shut up! Go away!’

Meanwhile, Kiara fixated her eyes on Ezekiel for a few minutes before deciding to go back to her office as she has a job to do. An important member of the Fatherland has hired her to hack the systems of NuxShrew Technologies in Italy to sabotage their latest technological advancement.

“Keep an eye out on that kid for me.” Kiara ordered one of her personal guards. “And inform me of anything odd about him.”

The guard nodded, “Yes, ma’am.”

Kiara stared at Ezekiel briefly before leaving for the important work. She doesn’t trust the boy roaming around carefree without any supervision like the rest due to his awakened and potentially powerful gift.

She can’t make one ounce of mistake to ruin her boss’ plan about the new ancient world. She has been dreaming about a world where she doesn’t have to hack anything and be a normal human once and for all.

When she was no longer on sight, the guard that was ordered to keep an eye out on Ezekiel hid around the corner and activated his watch as a miniature hologram of a masked woman appeared from it.

“Ms. Kiara wouldn’t be available for now, ma’am. She has ordered me to keep an eye out on that godling.” The guard informed her everything about the conversation earlier. “Just as you predicted.”

“Good. Everything is set for tonight. Make sure you stick to the plan.” The masked woman said. “And hope those kids aren’t going to mess it up.”

“If putting a trust in them is a risk, then why do you still trust them to execute it, ma’am?” The guard asked curiously.

The masked woman sighed, “Because they’re the only hope for the rest of the New Gods to be set free. Pris Herren.”

“Pris Herren.” The guard saluted before deactivating the call and returning back to his pose. He then sighed in hopes the plan worked before following Ezekiel. “Here goes nothing.”

—

An hour later, all the lights went out as it’s time for sleep. Ezekiel tucked himself in bed as he couldn’t find a way to sneak out of his cell without the key. It was hilariously impossible. He’s planning to reach the storage room in the next morning instead, but then a lot of guards and godlings will see him.

He doesn’t want to be caught so early, but he cannot find out about where he comes from nor learn the dark secrets the Fatherland has kept if he stays still.

“This is going to be more difficult than I thought.” Ezekiel said.

He then heard footsteps outside of his cell. He closed his eyes immediately, otherwise, he’ll be in big trouble tomorrow morning for being still awake. When the guard stopped in front of his hell, he heard something slide on the floor before the guard left. He opened his eyes and saw a card which was a key to unlock his cell.

He walked towards the item cautiously, confused by the actions of the guard. He doesn't know whether the guard purposely slid the key or accidentally dropped it. If it’s the latter, then he feels sorry for the guard who’ll experience Sir Ancient’s wrath.

“This is a great opportunity.” Ezekiel said.

Before he unlocked his cell door, he had to make a dummy of himself lying down on bed to avoid suspicion. He roll up two blankets up into tubes (stole the other blanket in the showers earlier), then pull the blankets through the legs on a pair of sweatpants (stole the sweatpant from a guard who was showering three years ago), then stuff one of his pillows in the top of the pants, and then insert a pillow into the body of his white winter hoodie.

He then rolled up blankets and put them through the arms of the hoodie before filling in any empty spaces in the pants with crumpled up newspaper that Corey gave him yesterday. He takes the plastic bags (which were stolen by his best friend the other day due to the snacks that were on it) and ties them around the feet and hands of the dummy.

He then tucked the torso into the pants and duct tape them together. It was fortunate that one of the staff left the duct tape near his cell unintentionally (or was it?) a month ago. He took out a milk jug from underneath his bed and placed it into the hood and wrapped tape around it.

After assembling a dummy, he placed it underneath his blanket. He hopes that the guards will be fooled by it, considering he hasn’t ever sneaked out at night until now, though it’s probably because he doesn’t have a way to exit his cell.

“If I didn’t read wikiHow’s instruction manual in the library before, I don’t think I'd be able to make a dummy.” Ezekiel said before grabbing the card off his table and placing it on the scanner.

When his cell door was opened, his eyes were filled with determination.

Ezekiel let out a deep breath, “No turning back now.”