I packed a few things in my back pack, necessary things that I needed to get by. I told my elder brother the previous day that I'd be traveling for some random stuff and he told me to call him when I get there.
I took a cab to AMD's place at Parliamentary where Chioma was waiting for me. According to the plan, we were supposed to meet the god of wisdom, divination and foresight, Orunmila to give us hints on how to go about the death quest we were about to embark on. I remember asking AMD about my powers and how to control them.
"The power lies in your imagination, young man. I'm surprised you can keep the electricity in a whole house running. Don't worry, you'll figure it out." AMD had said.
"That's pretty helpful. All you just did right now was throwing some random green lantern quote at me." I said, rolling my eyes.
AMD laughed and slapped me on the back and almost sent me flying halfway across the room. "You'll do fine. You've got the skills. Now go get it."
I stood up from the ground and brushed off my body. "Go get what?"
He just shrugged and walked away and my shoulders slumped.
Now, we were at the back of AMD's building, in a plantation lined with trees. Seriously, what's with gods and trees anyway, I wondered. They were getting ready to send us to Osun state where we would meet Orunmila. According to the them, he was a professor in one of the universities called Adeleke University. So we had to get there and find him to get the necessary guidance on how to move forward.
Here we were, in front of two trees like every other one I've used to portal to places. AMD turned to us as Osoosi made the necessary preparation.
"There is no telling what you are going to meet there, you have to keep your head low and be prepared for anything."
Chioma and I nodded as Osoosi gave us the signal that everything was ready. We bade them farewell and walked in between the trees and came out of an amusement park. I felt wobbly and dizzy and almost tripped as Chioma caught me by the arm.
"Hey, are you okay?" She asked with concern.
"Yeah, just a little dizzy", I said, placing my hand on my head.
We found a bench and sat down. Luckily for us, the park was empty and it was just us. I brought out my water bottle and took a drink while looking at the park's sign board.
"Mickey's World Fun Park", I snorted. "What a pretentious name."
Chioma stifled a laugh. "What's wrong with it? Kids these days love these kinds of things."
"Well too bad we are not here to catch fun." I studied the sign board closely.
''According to the sign, we are in Osogbo. Isn't that the capital of Osun state?"
"Yeah, it is." Chioma said as she looked closer. "I can't believe we came this far. No wonder your head was spinning."
"You seem fine", I said while eyeing her jealously.
''I feel tired too and I feel like sleeping", she said as she yawned.
I couldn't deny the fact that I was feeling sleepy too. "Maybe we could just sleep for a while and continue our journey when we wake up", I suggested.
Chioma shook her head. "No you can go ahead and sleep, I'll stay awake and keep watch."
She didn't need to tell me twice. I looked at the time and it was 8:59am. We arrived early owing to the fact that we cheated and just appeared here using god portal express. I laid down on the bench which was long enough for two people and within a short while, I drifted off to sleep and my subconscious wandered off again.
This time around I was in Sango's estate, in one of his gardens. He was standing there and staring into space. I wondered what he was thinking and was about to approach him when the air around him started shimmering as black hands appeared out of nowhere and wrapped themselves around him. Counting them, I would say there were about thirty of them.
He struggled with them as the sky rumbled with thunder. More hands emerged as they dragged him away into nowhere and I quickly woke up and my face was beaded with sweat. Chioma was sleeping peacefully at the opposite end of the bench. So much for keeping watch.
I checked the time on my phone and it was 11:15am. I slept for almost two hours. I won't deny the fact that I was feeling better but we were on a schedule. My dream flashed back to me and I got chills down my spine. Who could have been strong enough to abduct a god of thunder? I wondered. Doubts started growing in my mind about the whole quest. I thought if a god could be overpowered like that, how much more we that were more or less mortals.
I was so lost in thoughts that I didn't realize the air around had changed. It was so cold and chilly as though we were in a morgue. I quickly sat up and looked around and I knew that something was definitely up.
Suddenly, I started hearing footsteps but I couldn't tell which direction they were coming from and worst of all, they were getting closer. I quickly woke Chioma up and she mumbled some words and blinked her eyes open.
"What is it, what did I miss?" she asked.
"Shh! Listen." I said as we both paid attention to the footsteps as they got too close for comfort and suddenly, the realization hit me. It sounded like a lady walking on heels.
"Chioma run!" I shouted. But it was too late as something had grabbed her by the hand and was already dragging her away. I ran after them but it was too fast. I stopped and decided to try one last resort, as ridiculous as it may seem.
"Miss Koi Koi!" I shouted. It sounded more ridiculous pronouncing it.
It stopped immediately and in the spur of the moment, the image of whatever it was shimmered into existence and disappeared again. I remembered what AMD told me, that the key to the power was my imagination. Some sort of Green Lantern stuff, it seemed to me. I started concentrating my thoughts as the air around me started to cackle like electricity and it formed tendrils of blue lightning which shot out at lightning speed and bound the monster as it let go of Chioma.
I ran to her as I helped her up and we both looked at the creature who was struggling aimlessly in its bounds. It let out a deafening shriek making Chioma and I cover our ears. I was certain people in Afghanistan heard the shriek too.
Suddenly, we started hearing multiple footsteps all around. Obviously, the monster had called for backup. I grabbed Chioma by the hand as we grabbed our back packs and hightailed out of the park into the road. We kept running without looking back as we were out of the vicinity of the park.
After we caught our breath, we asked people around for directions to the University. It took a while but we finally got the address and took a bus to another town called Ede, which was about thirty minutes. We got to the town and took another cab to Loogun-Ogberin road. When we got there, locating the University wasn't hard. The only problem now was how to identify Orunmila.
Luckily, we saw a banner outside the school's main gate about one Professor Orunmila who was supposed to give a seminar at 12:30pm. So we had twenty-seven minutes till the seminar. We asked students around for the location of the seminar and they directed us to the auditorium where we got seated and waited for the seminar time.
It wasn't long before people started crowding into the hall and they all waited in anticipation. As the Professor entered, everyone stood up and we joined them. I saw Orunmila and my jaws dropped. He looked too good for someone in his forties.
"What's with gods and looking forty-something?" I whispered to Chioma and she elbowed me.
"Keep quiet will you? Don't draw attention to yourself."
The next two hours made me wish I had never stepped foot into that auditorium. He was giving a lecture on something called Amalgamation. I didn't get the full details because I had dozed off at some point. It was a 200 page slide presentation. Even my lecturers in school were not that extreme.
"So we have come to the end of this seminar and don't forget to buy my new book titled 'The Parabola of Amalgamation' which would be out next month", Orunmila concluded.
Chioma and I quickly got up and ran to the back of the auditorium to wait for him. After two minutes, he wasn't coming out. We looked at each other and went to check the stage before someone whispered from behind and I almost jumped out of my skin into Chioma's arms.
" Wow, that was manly. Looking for me?" We heard the person say.
Having been shaken up a bit, we looked back to see Orunmila smiling with his eyes closed.
"Oh my God, you scared us", I said while clutching my chest. Chioma seemed out of breath too.
Orunmila waved my words aside. "Be a man will you? If you let everything scare you, I'm afraid you won't survive much on this quest you are embarking on."
"How do you know we are on a quest?" I asked as Chioma and Orunmila looked at me as though I was stupid, till I realized I was. He was the god of foresight after all.
"Don't answer that!" I quickly said feeling embarrassed as Chioma shook her head.
Orunmila smiled. "It's fine. Let's take this to my office, shall we?"
And with a snap of his finger, we found ourselves seated in his office.
"I can't remember the last time we gods sent people out on a quest. Brings back memories." He brought out his glasses and cleaned them. I was certain those glasses were just for show. Like a god would ever have eye problems. He was not fooling me at all.
I looked around his office, it was filled with awards and trophies of all sorts. His shelf was filled with books written mostly by him. He was the god of wisdom after all.
"You have quite the office", I complimented him and tried to look impressed in as much as educational books weren't really my thing.
"Well thank you! Now I can't really tell you who stole the Axe but I can tell you how to get to where you are going." Orunmila said.
"That isn't much help. Wouldn't it be great if you just told us who took the Axe so we can just tell the gods and they handle it themselves?" I asked feeling frustrated.
Orunmila smiled. "It doesn't work that way, besides things are more complicated now that Sango has been abducted too."
"What?" Chioma screamed out.
I had forgotten to tell her about my dream and she would kill me for it.
"What I just said now is true and whoever kidnapped him is the same person that stole his Axe. But you must hurry, there is no time. You have just five days until whoever is behind this carries out his plan", Orunmila said.
"Five days?" I asked clasping my hand over my mouth. "We don't really have much time to waste. How do we find Aganju in the first place?"
"Well he is the god of volcanoes and deserts, so you have to look for him in..."
He didn't get to finish for in the next second, his eyes had gone all white.
I looked at Chioma and whispered. "Is he okay?"
But she just shrugged.
Orunmila's eyes then returned to normal. "I feel a tremendous amount of powerful activity going on at the Biu Plateaux in Borno state", he said.
"Biu Plateaux? Isn't that all the way to the north?" I asked feeling weak in my knees even though I was sitting.
"Yes, you are correct. But that's the only thing I can tell you for now." Orunmila said.
Chioma looked at me and then back at Orunmila. "How do we get there? Are you going to portal us?"
Orunmila laughed heartily. "Portal you? No, I can't do that. Only a select few gods can do it. The only thing I can do for you guys right now..." He pulled out two tickets from the air and handed each of them to us. "...is give you these tickets for a bus going to Borno state. It'll take you both about nineteen hours to get there."
I was not a fan of long journeys and I had never embarked on a nineteen hour one before in my entire life. I felt bad for my butt.
"Nineteen hours is kind of a long journey." I said out loud. I wasn't a fan of portal express quite alright but I would rather go through one than sit nineteen hours in a bus.
Orunmila clapped his hands together. "I think that's about everything."
But his eyes turned white again as he said: "Only when hope is lost and mortality is the cost, shall the new god be born in his glorious form." Then he regained consciousness again.
"New god? What did you mean by new god?" Chioma asked.
Orunmila shrugged. "I give the prophecies. I don't interpret them. Now off you go." And with a snap of his fingers, we found ourselves in a hotel room.
I quickly rushed to the window and looked out. "I can see the school from here. Where are we anyway?"
Chioma looked around. "I think this is a hotel."
"Really? I hadn't noticed", I said sarcastically and she rolled her eyes.
She took out her ticket and looked at it. "Our bus is scheduled for tomorrow morning and this is just 2 o'clock in the afternoon. Let's just get some rest and get ourselves ready for tomorrow."
I collapsed into the bed. It was so cool and soft that I never wanted to get up from that spot again. Someone knocked on the door and I quickly jumped up from the bed. So much for never wanting to get up again. The knock came again and Chioma went to check. Thankfully, it was room service. They served us melon soup and pounded yam with lots of meat and fishes inside. There was also another platter containing several desserts and refreshing drinks.
After eating to my satisfaction, I sat down on the bed and brought out my phone. There was no call or message from anybody and somehow I felt relieved because I didn't know how to start explaining my whereabouts to anybody. I dropped my phone on top of the locker that was beside my bed, the second one of the two beds in the room and then I laid down.
Chioma on the other hand was muttering some kind of prayer and I wondered what she was praying about. I thought about the journey we were about to embark on and the uncertainties surrounding it. My mind was almost turning to a mush from overthinking, so I decided to rest my head and sleep for a while.
Thankfully, there was no dream or any subconscious traveling. I opened my eyes and checked the time and it was 5:30pm. I sighed and got up from the bed. What was with today and being very slow, I wondered. If it was any other day, it would have been faster.
I went to the window and looked out to take in the view. The air was clean thankfully and I was very grateful for that. Chioma was still asleep, so I decided not to wake her up. I played games with my phone to pass the time because I was super bored.
Suddenly, with the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of something and I quickly turned to where Chioma was sleeping. A dark spot had appeared under her and she was sinking into it.
"Chioma!" I screamed out waking her up but before she could react, she was already half way in.
I rushed to her and grabbed her hands and started pulling her out. I pulled with all my strength and felt as though my arms would get ripped out of their sockets. A black tendril shot out of the void and tried to wrap itself around me. I tried shaking it off. Any miscalculation on my part and I would lose Chioma. Silently in my mind, I asked AMD to lend me his strength that I was in trouble and then I pulled as hard as I could.
Electrical sparks filled the air as electrical tendrils wrapped themselves around Chioma and with one last effort, I pulled her free from the void and we both collapsed on the floor. She on top of me. She got a hold of the situation as she quickly got up. I could tell she was flustered.
"Are you alright?" I asked her while trying to hide my own embarrassment.
"Yes I am fine. Thank you for saving me", she said while facing the opposite direction.
I thought of the black tendrils and where I saw that same scenario and it clicked. It was the same method that was used to abduct Sango, but the void this time was new. I figured it was time to tell Chioma about my dream.
"Remember when Orunmila told us that Sango was missing? Well I was there when it happened, sort of. It was the same black tendrils that took him."
Chioma looked at me for a while and then back at the spot where she was almost nabbed.
"I think things are getting bad Emeka and if we don't hurry, things will get even worse", she said.
"I agree with you," I said looking at my time. "Our bus doesn't leave until 7:00am tomorrow. What do we do?"
Chioma observed the ticket closely. "Look! The time is changing from Am to Pm, the date too."
I looked at my ticket and it was the same thing. The date changed from tomorrow to today and we both looked at each other.
"Orunmila!"
We quickly took our bags, dashed out of the hotel room and headed down the stairs. As we were running, from the door, I felt a tingling sensation at the back of my neck and looked back. I didn't know how I reacted quickly but I pushed Chioma out of the way before a knife sailed past us.
I looked at the direction it came from and saw a hotel staff looking at us. I could feel the hate rolling off him in waves. Then I noticed his eyes were blank as though he was dead.
"Hey Emeka snap out of it! We have to get out of here", Chioma yelled and dragged me towards the door.
"His eyes!" I muttered. "Seems as though he is..."
I didn't get to finish as other hotel staffs joined him and started throwing dangerous weapons at us.
"They've all been possessed!" Chioma said. She tried opening the door but it didn't budge.
"It won't open!" she cried out.
Suddenly I felt as though energy was swelling inside of me as though I would explode if I didn't let it out. I tried keeping it in as sparks flew off my body and one of them brushed past Chioma.
"Woah are you okay? Your body is..." She asked with concern but I shouted over her.
"Get down! I can't hold it much longer!" I yelled and she precautiously got down and I released the energy which exploded outwards creating a shockwave that sent our assailants flying backwards.
After the waves died down, my head started spinning and my eyes rolled in their sockets. I lost strength in my legs and I fell down and passed out.