Chapter 19. OCTAVIET

They all walked out of the hotel. I was stuck with a stranger for a good number of days. This can't get any better. Olivia said, "What are we going to use as transport." I said, "Phil will suffice." She thought, "Who is Phil?" I replied, "You're about to find out." I stood up and walked out the door. Olivia followed. She asked, "So what are your powers?" I said, "I'm a telepath." She joked, "So you're like Charles Xavier in Xmen." I nodded, "I can do illusions too." She teased, "As if illusions are a powerful ability." I said, "You'd be surprised." We walked into an open field. I warned, "Don't freak out." Olivia said, "I watch horror movies. What could possibly scare me." I summoned Phil. She yelped. I smirked, "I thought you wouldn't be scared." Olivia said, "In my defense, you didn't tell me that it was extinct." I said, "Don't worry. He doesn't eat people unless he is very hungry but you wouldn't hurt me, buddy. Would you?" I parted him. I climbed on the back and held out my hand, "Coming" She climbed up herself.

Phil widened his wings and took off. Olivia held in a scream. She held Phil's fur even tighter. Phil said, "Please tell her to stop that." I said, "The faster we reach there, the sooner the pain will end." Yeah, you heard me. Phil couldn't speak English but being a telepath made me a prodigy in linguistics even with animals. We flew like birds until Phil complained, "I feel tired. Can we rest?" I said, "We have been flying for just an hour." Phil said, "Trying exercising for an hour without any breaks in the middle." I could sympathize with that. Sometimes the warrith trainer, Alfonso, would find me with Darius and force me to partake in their evening exercise drills. That day, I found a new respect for Darius because he does that every day.

Phil descended. I asked, "Where are you landing? We are in the middle of the ocean." He replied, "I can see something down there." I looked around. A cruise came into view. He landed on the back deck. He said, "Have a nice vacation. I'll be back at like 8." I said, "You can't just leave us here and he's already gone." Olivia gave a weirded-out stare, "Are you done talking to yourself?" I said, "No, I wasn't. I was talking to Phil." She giggled, "So now you can talk to animals." I said, "Yes" She chuckled, "Where is Phil? I would like to have a nice chat with him too." I glared at her, "He is resting. He'll be back by sunset." She said, "What'll we do? We can't hide from the crew for long." I said, "Or maybe we're guests too."

She retorted, "I don't see you with any tickets unless you're planning to steal some." I said, "Do you have a paper or a wrapper on you." She said, "No but there is some on the floor." I looked down. There it was. Many would see a lollipop wrapper that a person littered but I could see it as clay waiting to be molded. I picked it up and tore it. For once, littering helped a person. I crumbled it in my hands. I unleashed my chaos. I pictured cruise tickets in my head–the color, size, and texture. With my chaos, the world was my playground. I opened my palms and voilà. I had two tickets.

Olivia gasped, "You were right. Illusions do come in need." We went straight to the reception point. Waiting for us was a horrible surprise. A woman greeted us, "Welcome to Elite Cruise." I looked around. The walls were painted gold with vermillion ribbons plastered along them. Silver feathers stretched out on the ceiling with purple lotus chandeliers. Each hall had a fire extinguisher. This was the definition of elite. I turned my attention to the woman. My heart hammered in my chest–not with a crush but with fear. The woman had translucent skin with a charcoal-black skeleton. Aquamarine flames followed down in waves as her hair. Her eyes were two balls of aquamarine fire. Her core was a decayed heart. Hide your fear. If she knows that you can see through the veil, you might as well be waiting to be roasted. She said, "May I see your tickets?" I gave them to her. She stamped them and gave them to us. She complimented us, "What beautiful green eyes you have!" I said, "Thank you." She gave us the keys.

I whispered to Olivia, "Let's go. We aren't safe here." We scurried to our assigned room. Olivia asked, "What is after us?" I said, "Her," She said, "What? She doesn't look that dangerous." I said, "They always say don't judge a book by its cover." I opened the door. I went in and signaled for Olivia to enter quickly. She said, "Are you really that scared of a receptionist?" I said, "She is no receptionist." She asked, "Then what is she?" I whispered, "She is a tantalus–a mostri that embodies greed. They are the undead that refused to give up the possessions they had in the world." She joked, "I guess rich people are on the top of that list." I laughed, "I guess so. We need to be alert until Phil wakes up and we flew out of here."

Olivia asked, "What do we do until then?" I asked, "Do you have your phone?" She replied, "Yes." I asked, "Do you have data?" She was about to reply but put the pieces of the puzzle together. She sat down on the bed and got out her phone. I said, "I'm going to be sleeping. Wake me up if you need anything." Okay, now I sounded like a nanny. I put myself on the couch. I closed my eyes. It didn't take long before I was pulled into a deep sleep. My eyes opened to find myself in a forest. It was cloudy with tall trees covering the terrain. What was it going to be this time? There was fog with two glowing green eyes. A conscious fog. That is new.

I asked, "Who are you?" It didn't reply. I asked, "Are you human?" It replied, "No, I am an AI." I asked, "Why do you want from me?" It replied, "I want you to know it." I asked, "To know what?" It replied, "Maybe that will change the rate at which this war is going?" I asked, "Why do you want me of all the hybrids available to know 'it'?" It continued, "That is unimportant right now. Follow me. I will lead you to a fragment." I asked, "Why should I trust you?" It replied, "Isn't it worth a try? You'll be able to save humanity." I was no fool to fall for the hero card. It corrected itself, "I mean your father. With no humanity, do you think he will be there too?" Those words cut through me like a blade. I retorted, "Is it so smart to threaten a telepath while in his mind?" Burn. The forest and ground turned into flames that evaded me. I smirked. It said, "Always so stubborn." It screamed.

All the flames extinguished. I asked, "How do you do that?" It ignored me, "Now, shall we?" It headed into the forest. I hesitated but had nothing else to do. I followed. It led me through a glowing path. We reached a big mountain. The veil went through it. Good, it could phase through solids. I tried to do the same but I was hit by hard-earned disappointment. The veil didn't return. I shouted, "COME BACK." I banged the rock multiple times until a force grabbed my arm.

My scenery shifted to a metallic door. Olivia was holding my hand. I was back on the cruise but in the corridor. This wasn't our room. Olivia asked, "What are you doing?" I wanted to reply but my mouth couldn't move. I managed, "How did I get here?" She stared at me with awe, "You were sleepwalking. You got up and then walked up the door. I wanted to stop you but thought maybe it was a telepath thing so I decided to follow you. Then out of nowhere, you started banging that door." The door opened. A tall sinewy tantalus in a white captain uniform came out. A cutlass was strapped to his belt. He looked at me. His eyes literally lit up. He gave me a crooked smile. A smile a serial killer gives his victim. A smile that told me, "I know what you are."