"He's waking up!" I heard Chioma say as I tried to open my eyes to find her staring down at me. The bright light of the room made me shut my eyes again because it was painfully blinding. I opened my eyes again but slowly this time, till they finally adjusted to the brightness of the room.
"What happened? Where am I?" I asked as I tried sitting up.
Chioma helped me up. "Careful, I don't think you should be standing up yet."
We were in a bright room which was nicely decorated and even had an air conditioner. I didn't notice Orunmila until he coughed.
"I'm right here you know?" He said while glaring at me and I looked at Chioma for an explanation.
"After you passed out, Orunmila appeared out of nowhere. He said he sensed a disturbance in the area and then helped me bring you back to his house." She explained.
I then realized why the god was glaring at me. He was expecting a thank you.
"Thank you for saving the both of us." I finally said.
He observed me for a while, then he broke into a smile. "It was nothing, don't think much of it", he said.
"Yeah, right." I muttered under my breath and thankfully he didn't hear it or else he would have given me a long seminar talk with 1000 projection slides about disrespecting elders and probably would have also recommended one of his books which I wouldn't want to read.
He came closer to me, placed his palm on my forehead and closed his eyes.
"Hmmm… I am no doctor but I can tell that your body is not fine. It is trying so hard to adapt to the burden that has been placed on it."
"What do you mean? I was fine before", I said as fear built up inside me.
Orunmila shook his head. "You are not fine. You have the essence of two powerful gods swirling inside you and it's tearing your body apart. It's a good thing it hasn't killed you yet. That last power exhibition of yours was the straw that broke the camel's back."
I felt frustrated. "Great! A power that wants to kill me. So what should I do now? Stop using my powers?"
Orunmila shook his head. "At this point, asking you to stop using your powers is impossible since you are on a dangerous quest. I might not be able to help you, but I know who can."
A glint appeared in my eyes as I was filled with hope. "Who is it?"
"Babaluaye", Orunmila said and I could swear I heard Chioma gasp.
She shook her head as if she didn't hear him correctly. "Babaluaye? Isn't he supposed to be the harbinger of illness and diseases?"
She said this while holding her body with her arms as if mentioning the name of the god alone gave her goose bumps.
"Yes, he has bad history. He has been known to curse entire villages with illnesses and plagues. But if there is anyone who can help Emeka, it's him."
Chioma shook her head. "No, I'm not taking that chance. We can ask for Agwu Nsi and..."
"There is no time", Orunmila said sternly, cutting her off. "You both have already lost one day leaving you with only four days left. There is no time to wait for Agwu Nsi. We need to summon Babaluaye fast because your friend here is like a ticking time bomb."
"Umm… excuse me, I'm right here." I said, waving my hands. I turned to Orunmila because something he said just clicked.
"What do you mean by ticking time bomb?" I asked as nausea built up.
The god of wisdom and foresight turned to face me. "What I mean is that anytime you feel agitated or your nerves lose control, you will explode with power like you did earlier and trust me it will be worse. You could wipe out an entire town."
I swallowed saliva and looked at Chioma. "Not exploding sounds pretty good to me. Maybe we should listen to him and find Babaluaye."
I could see the worry and disapproval in her face but she didn't have a choice. It wasn't hers to make anyway. If it was worth giving a shot, then we would go for it.
"So how do we find him?" I asked.
"You don't find him, you summon him", Orunmila said and then snapped his fingers. The next second, we found ourselves in a bush.
I looked around and almost jumped up a tree as a squirrel scurried past me.
"Why a bush of all places?" I asked feeling jumpy.
"Because in the ancient times, he creates his cures from the herbs and shrubs in the forest and he has a deep connection to them." Orunmila explained.
"Oh, I see." I looked at Chioma and saw she was shaking.
"Come on, he can't be that bad", I told her in an attempt to loosen her up. She just shook her head and didn't say anything.
Orunmila took some leaves from different plants and whispered something into them and then threw them into the air.
"Now what?" I asked him looking around to see if Babaluaye had appeared somewhere hidden and was waiting to jump out on us.
"Now we wait", Orunmila said.
I looked more confused than I had ever been my entire life as I looked in the direction where he threw the leaves and then back at him.
"Wait, is that it?" I asked.
"What were you expecting?" He asked with his hands akimbo
"Chants, singing and dancing?" I said as I grinned sheepishly.
He shook his head and looked away. "I am the god of wisdom and foresight not the god of dancing and chants."
"There is a god of dancing and chants?"
"Ugh! How can you be this dense", he said and shook his head.
We waited for about ten minutes and yet nothing was happening. I was getting tired and anxious while holding back the urge to sit on the ground before something will crawl into my trouser and bite me in the… Well, never mind.
"He is not coming. Are you sure you did the summoning right?" I asked Orunmila and he just glared at me. I looked at Chioma and she shrugged and looked away.
"Come on guys, lighten..."
My speech was cut short as I was over shadowed by a feeling of darkness and void. It became very difficult for me to breathe. I felt as though a large python had wrapped itself around me and was suffocating me.
"We didn't bring him here for you to kill him, Oluaye", Orunmila said and immediately I felt free again as the darkness disappeared and I fell to the ground trying to gasp for air.
Chioma ran to my side and knelt beside me. "Are you okay? What happened to you."
I couldn't even find the words to explain what happened as I was busy filling my lungs with air. Suddenly the wind started rustling the plants around us as a shadow began to form on the ground. The shadow elongated and rose up forming a young man in his thirties. That was a first; not usual forties I had all along seen. He had this wicked grin on this face that screamed danger and I just wanted to turn around and run out of the bush.
"Oh my bad, I didn't know he was with you, Orunmila. I was wondering who summoned me when I just got out of the shower", Oluaye Said.
Looking at him closely now, he was wearing a bath robe and his hair was tinted white. He noticed me staring at him and he winked at me. I glared at him.
Orunmila shook his head and snapped his fingers and we were back again to the room where I woke up in. Oluaye gestured for me to lay on the bed and I looked at Orunmila for a go ahead because I didn't trust the new god one bit. He was like a snake. Orunmila nodded and I laid on the bed as Oluaye waved his hands and candles appeared all around me placing me in the centre.
He waved his hands around me and my body started feeling pains. Until that day, I didn't know one could feel pains in the nerves as my whole body was tingling and screaming. Then all of a sudden, the pain died and everywhere went back to normal.
As I sat up on the bed, Oluaye's face was close to mine. Too close for comfort. He licked his lips. "It's bad. Very, very bad!"
I edged backwards creating as much distance as possible between me and the weird god.
"How bad?" Orunmila asked and Oluaye quickly turned to him.
"The essence of Amadioha and Sango are competing against each to find a balance", Oluaye explained
Orunmila put his hands on his chin. "It would make perfect sense why his powers would short circuit like that."
I stood up from the bed. "Is it really that bad?"
"Oh yes it is, my boy." Oluaye said from behind me. My eyes worked round their sockets trying to explain how he had suddenly got behind me.
I tried to move away but he grabbed me and ran his hand from my neck to my chest, then to my stomach and I almost cried out a plea for someone or anyone to save me from the hands of the weird god.
"If the two essences battling within you don't find balance, all the nerves and cells in your body will erupt and boom! You explode!"
I gulped as a chill ran down my spine and I forgot that the sinister god was even standing behind me.
"I will explode and die?" I asked staring into space.
"Duh! When you explode, you die. It's not rocket science", Oluaye said frankly. He was making everything worse. Why was he like this? I wondered.
I fell back into the bed. "I don't want to die", I said as Chioma patted my back.
"Ah! Daughter of the goddess, I almost forgot you were here the entire time", Oluaye said eyeing Chioma.
That shook me from my daze and I turned immediately to Chioma as she glared at Oluaye who blew her a kiss.
"Daughter of the goddess? You are a demigod?" I asked Chioma as my jaw almost scraped the floor.
"Oh My!" Oluaye said in mock shock. "You didn't tell your lover?"
"We are not lovers!" Chioma and I said in unison and then looked at each other and almost at the same time, looked away in embarrassment.
"Sheesh, I was just teasing. Don't take it personal." He looked at Orunmila and put his hand on his mouth and whispered. "Youngsters these days are so edgy."
Chioma threw her bag down in annoyance. "We are not deaf you know?"
Oluaye threw his hands up in defeat and jumped into the bed. I wondered how one god could be so annoying. I turned back to Chioma.
"So your mom is a goddess and you didn't tell me? Which one of the goddess is she?" I asked, anxious to know the whole gist.
Chioma sighed and glared at Oluaye. "It's Ala the earth goddess."
I gasped while putting my hands on my chest in shock. I couldn't believe it. But it actually made sense seeing how strong she was and how she had her way with stones.
"Guys let's not get carried away, we are still trying to think of a solution for Emeka's problem. You know? Trying to keep him from exploding", Orunmila called us back to reality and my shoulders slumped.
"Well, what are we going to do?" I asked.
Oluaye was twirling something in his hand while he was lying on the bed. It looked like his bath slipper. I couldn't quite tell. Then he quickly sat up.
"What if he channels the power into an item instead of letting it out through his body directly?" He suggested.
"Is that a question or a suggestion?" Orunmila asked.
Oluaye rolled his eyes. "You are the god of wisdom you tell me. All I'm saying is that if we can get something for him to channel his powers through, we might be able to keep him from self-destructing a little while longer."
Orunmila's eyes lit up. "You are right and I know just the right person for the job."
"Who do you have in mind?" I asked curiously.
Oluaye seemed to have understood who the god of wisdom was talking about as he giggled like a kid. "It's been long since I saw that old man. This is going to be one interesting encounter."
"Okay who are you guys talking about?" I asked feeling curious and anxious.
"Ogun, the god of iron, labour, politics, sacrifice and currently technology." Orunmila explained.
"Wow, that's a lot of attributes. Wait how is he the god of technology?" I asked and Orunmila glared at me and I shut my mouth.
"So he will know the right object to build in order to help Emeka?" Chioma asked.
"If anyone can pull this off, it's Ogun for sure. The old guy's got spunk." Oluaye said.
"Spunk?" I said but Oluaye ignored me.
Orunmila picked up his phone and dialled something. I guessed he was trying to call somebody. As soon as the call connected, he opened the door and stepped out leaving us with Oluaye in the room.
I stared anywhere and everywhere except at the weird god. I avoided his gaze at all cost. Chioma came to where I was sitting and sat with me and I let out a sigh of relief. But it was short lived when I felt a cold hand on my shoulder and somehow, I didn't know how but Oluaye was sitting between me and Chioma with his hands on our shoulders.
"Are we going to address the elephant in the room or not?" He asked.
"What elephant?" I asked feeling a hundred shades of nervousness.
Oluaye smiled. "There is an undeniable attraction between you two and you are just going to act as if nothing is happening?"
"What?" Chioma yelled nervously, her voice going up an octave. "What do you mean attraction? There is no attraction." She said as she twirled her braids in her finger.
"I umm… well, I ermm…" I stuttered nervously.
Oluaye inched too close for comfort. "You what? Eh?"
Orunmila came back in and somehow Oluaye was back on the bed. I let out a sigh of relief. I thought I was going to suffocate.
He sensed the tension in the room and looked at Oluaye. "What did you do to them while I was gone?"
Oluaye just shrugged and Orunmila shook his head.
"I called the driver that'll drive you guys to Kogi state." Orunmila said.
"You guys? Wait, you are not coming with us?" I asked.
Orunmila looked surprised. "Of course not. I am a very busy man. I have lesson notes to prepare, slides to create and books to write. Besides Oluaye will accompany you."
"I will?" Oluaye asked.
"He will?" Chioma and I asked in unison.
"Yes he will, he is quite reliable despite his unpredictable personality." Orunmila said while smiling at us and I didn't find that comforting at all.
Oluaye stood up from the bed and flayed out his hands. "Well, if I'm going to travel, it won't be in a bathrobe."
He flicked his fingers and black aura surrounded him creating the best fitted black lacquer trench suit I had ever seen with a black turtle neck shirt, black tight fitting trousers and black shoes. I admitted then that his sense of style was commendable.
Only Chioma was unimpressed as she hissed "Black, we are not going to a funeral. Why would he wear black?"
"I think he looks pretty cool", I said and she glared daggers at me.
I checked the time on my phone and it was 11:30am. We still had time. Chioma and I freshened up. I wore my black leather jacket with my black shirt and black jeans on white canvas. The white canvas were intentional so it wouldn't seem like I was trying to copy Oluaye.
Chioma on the other hand wore an oxblood top with a shredded blue jean and black canvas. We were all ready as we stepped outside where a black limo was waiting for us.
"Umm… how long is the journey from here to kogi state?" I asked eyeing the limo.
"Approximately 6 hours and 9 minutes' tops", Orunmila said.
"So why are we travelling in a limo?" Chioma asked the question that was on my mind.
Orunmila understood what we were worried about and smiled. "Don't worry, this limo is faster than you think."
We all shrugged our shoulders and as I was about to step into the car, Oluaye pushed me aside.
"gods first", he said as he entered as I rolled my eyes.
Chioma entered, and then I followed. On entering the exotic car, my jaws almost hit its floor. The interior of the limo was amazing and breathtaking. Literally, I couldn't breathe. It had everything we needed, ranging from entertainment to snacks that would keep us refreshed till we reached our destination.
Orunmila waved at us as the limo pulled out of the driveway and took off. We all relaxed and watched the news on TV. Music videos came up next and so did movies, a little while later.
My phone rang and I quickly took it out of my pocket. It was my brother and I picked the call. He just wanted to know how I was doing and how my trip was going. I told him it was all fine excluding the parts about me exploding and dying. After the call ended, Chioma put her hands on my shoulder.
"Are you okay?" she asked with concern in her voice.
I shrugged. "Well aside from the fact that I am a walking firework, everything is fine."
She smiled softly. "It's good to see you still got your humour."
"Ugh… you two should kiss already and stop suffocating me with this romantic mood. I'm about to throw up and trust me, you don't want to see me throw up", Oluaye said and faked a barf.
I just sighed and opened the curtain to get a better view outside and then fell back in shock at what I saw. Chioma got startled by my reaction.
"Emeka are you feeling okay? What's wrong?" she asked and I pointed to the window. And as she went to check, she let out a gasp.
"Are those ghosts?" She asked with fear.
"Don't be afraid". Oluaye's voice sounded stern; a first time in forever. "This vehicle is protected. They have no place in here. But I would suggest you don't make eye contact. Souls of the dead can be misleading."
I quickly closed the window with a curtain and wrapped my hands around my body as a spark flew off my body.
"Whoa! Whoa! Easy there Sonic the Hedgehog. You wouldn't want to blow us all up, would you?" Oluaye said while eyeing me wearily.
"Emeka you have to calm down. I didn't know you were so afraid of ghosts", Chioma said.
I tried breathing. "I'm not afraid of ghosts. It's just that I feel very cold."
Oluaye came over to where I was sitting. "Did you make eye contact with the ghost you saw?"
I nodded and he sighed. "Those damn underworld cretins, what is Onwa doing letting them run around so carefree?" He placed his hands on my forehead and I suddenly felt warm and passed out.
"He is going to be fine right?" Chioma asked.
"Well the rest is up to him. You worry too much about your boyfriend." Oluaye said sarcastically and Chioma flared up.
"He is not my boyfriend. Why do you keep insinuating that?"
Oluaye just shrugged and relaxed back in his seat while Chioma folded her hands and pouted.
Me on the other hand, my subconscious drifted off again which hadn't happened in a while. I found myself floating down a void into a cave as I kept floating. I reached what seemed like a prison and drifted through it like a phantom as I got deeper into the darkness. My instinct started drawing me towards a particular place until I saw a bright light and drifted through and almost screamed.
Sango was bound on a slab with cables penetrating every inch of his body and it looked as though they were draining him of something. A golden liquid was drooling from his mouth and I knew what it was immediately. The golden ichor, blood of the gods. He looked so lifeless and I felt pity for him. I drifted towards him and placed my hands on his chest and I felt a spark as Sango eyes snapped open. He looked at me and tried saying something but I couldn't hear and at that same moment, a vacuum pulled me backwards and into my body and I opened my eyes.
Chioma and Oluaye were looming over me.
"He seems to be alive", Oluaye said.
"Why do you sound so disappointed?" I managed to speak.
Oluaye just shrugged and sat back on his seat. "Would have been one less brat to deal with."
"You saved my life, thank you", I said and bowed my head a little.
He looked a bit surprised but managed a slight nod "Get some rest because we are almost there."
"How long was I out?" I asked.
"Four hours, give or take", Chioma replied with a smile on her face and I was glad I slept through most of the journey. She then glared at Oluaye. "He wanted to drop a scorpion into your shirt to sting you awake."
I looked at the god in horror and took back any thanks I had given him and then I edged towards the opposite side of the Limo away from him before he decided to toss snakes at me next.
We had less than an hour before we arrived at Kogi state and my stomach was full from eating too many snacks and drinking too many bottles of Coke. I really hoped one doesn't get diabetes in one day. I was going through my Facebook newsfeed and reading memes from some of my favourite influencers like David Imodu, Determined Judge and Story of IV John, who had a thing for beans, I couldn't really imagine. I was trying my best to suppress my laughter and I at the same time dished out 'Haha' reacts when I checked my friend request section and saw a very peculiar request from one 'AMD the Boss'.
"Really?" I muttered.
I accepted the request and he messaged me instantaneously.
"You are just accepting my friend request? I sent it weeks ago. Anyway it doesn't matter, how is your quest going?"
I narrated everything to him in a short text which he quickly read and immediately I got a video call from him. I picked up the call and his face was just all over the screen.
"Just take your phone back already will you? This isn't your first time doing a video call is it?" I said feeling unimpressed.
"I know! I'm just trying to take a look at your surroundings. Are you in a Limo?" He asked withdrawing his face.
"Yes, we are almost at Kogi state now to ..." I didn't get to finish because Oluaye squeezed his face together with mine and cut me off. How rude!
"Yo, AMD! How are you doing?" Oluaye asked.
"Argh, Oluaye! I didn't know you were there with them." AMD said in alarm.
Oluaye chuckled. "I didn't have anything better to do, so I just decided to tag along. I love those Tiktok videos you make about cats that should have been dogs."
"What?" I asked in amusement.
"You mean the videos you always leave negative comments on?" AMD asked showing his displeasure.
"Don't think of it too much, just know I am your number one fan." Oluaye said obviously mocking him.
I dragged my phone away from him and resumed my conversion with AMD.
"You make videos about cats? How cute!" I said trying not to laugh.
"Don't. Don't even start. I've had that conversation and I'm tired of it. Anyway, if there is anyone that can do what you guys have in mind, it's Ogun. He has a lot of spunk. Godspeed EM", he said and hung up the call.
"EM?" I thought to myself. Obviously, AMD has a thing for abbreviations.
"We are here", the driver announced as I opened the window and saw the biggest industry I had ever seen.
"What is this place?" I asked in amazement.
"This, my young ones, is the Ajaokuta iron mill. The biggest in Nigeria founded in 1979 by Ogun himself." Oluaye explained.
"Ogun founded this place? This is amazing." Chioma exclaimed.
Oluaye started marching forward "Well stop dilly-dallying and follow me. We have a god to meet."
Chioma and I ran after him taking in the surrounding view 'ooing' and 'ahhing' at every single thing we saw. I couldn't wait to meet Ogun, the brain behind the whole place.