Paradiso: Ch. 3

CHAPTER III

The Alien

I opened my eyes to find myself surrounded by palm trees, the smell of freshwater flowing in and out of my nsoe. A frost, damp rag was laid across my forehead, a few streams of water flowing down my face. My lips were cracked and dry while the sun beat high above me. I was dressed in a pair of loose fitting, cotton pants, and my upper body was exposed to the heat. I looked around and realized that I was laying on my back in soft, silky sand.

I look towards my shoulder and my eyes widened. Where Captain Dragobert had stabbed me was nothing but a clean, white scar. I caressed my lips with my fingers, my skin gliding over the thin scar that now rain down my lip. The slash on my arm was fully healed and I looked as good as new. But one question remained: where was I?

I sat up and a sharp pain shot through my arm. I gripped it tightly, laying back down in the sand.

"You shouldn't be in such a hurry, child."

The voice was deep, yet soothing and warm like chocolate. I turned my head to the right to see a tall, armored creature walking towards me.

He was extremley tall; around seven-two. He was clad in baggy, camoflauge pants and thick, gray army boots. He was dressed in a weird, metal armor that was a mix of white and blue. Long, white hair flowed out of the back of his head, but the part that scared me the most was his mask.

It was red, with horizontal slits that revealed his piercing brown eyes. A single red and white horn protruded from either side of his jaw line, like spiky demonic candy canes.

"Who are you?!" I shouted as he approached. I tried to back up, but my efforts were thwarted by the pain and sand. The man kept advancing and I held my hands up in fear. "Please don't hurt me!!!"

The man stopped...and burst out laughing. His chuckle was low and friendly as he reache dup and pulled his mask off. I gazed in awe at the alien that now stood before me.

His skin was an orange-red color, his white hair flowing down his shoulders like water. His eyes were a chocolate brown and his jaw was pointy and sharp. When he spoke, I saw sharp pearly whites gleam in the sun.

"W-who are you...?" I asked again, my voice trailing off into the day this time. "W-what...are you?"

The alien nelt down next to me, patting my wound softly and delicately. "I am Amun Ramel, a son of Hephaestus."

I gazed into his brown eyes, mine wide in surprise. "Y-your...a demigod? But...y-you're..."

"An alien?" Amun Ramel finished my sentence, sighing quietly. "Yes...I am very aware. I am a Kagr'uut of the planet Kagr'uuta. The gods have no boundaries, child...I have learned this the hard way..." A pained look rested on his face as his voice slowly trailed off.

The alien man was quiet for a few moments, the only sound of the wild being the palm trees flapping the sand wind.

"You are a demigod as well?" Amun suddenly asked, breaking the silence.

I nodded noiselessly. "Y-yes...how did you know?"

"If you were not a demigod," Amun said, reaching into his backpocket, "you would not have been able to consume this."

Out of his pocket he pulled out a bag of golden bread. It shimmered in the sunlight like treasure, as he pulled a piece from the container it was in.

"What is that?" I asked, gazing at it intently.

"This is Amrbosia," Amun said, hadning me the bread. "It is the food of the gods. Any mortal would turn to ash upon consuming it...but you are not a mortal, I presume."

I devuor the Ambrosia quickly, licking my lips upon eating the delicious food. My stomach growled and I realized that the last thing I had consumed was a disgusting mug of beer. Amun handed me more and I began to eat it like a wild, starved dog.

"Drink this too," Amun said, holding out a transparent canteen full of golden, swishing liquid. "It's Nectar, the drink of the gods."

I downed the drink, which tasted sweet and golden on my lips. Quenching my thirst, I wiped my sweat off my brow and handed the canteen back to the Kagr'uut.

"Why are you helping me, Amun?" I said, slowly and carefully beginning to stand.

"I saw you get knocked off of that pirate ship," Amun said, helping me slowly rise up to my feet.

"You saw me...get knocked off the ship? Where?" I peered down at the sand beneath my feet. There was no water to be seen anywhere. "This is just desert..."

Amun shook his head no and helped me regain my posture. "Wrong, demigod. This is Egypt."

My eyes widened. All thos years of pretending to raid the pyramid tombs or walk through the deserts on my front porch had all led up to this. I had dreamed of going to Egypt for years and years.

"I'm in Egypt?!" I laughed, slightly excited, and turned around. My eyes nearly popped out of my skull as I saw the massive blue lake behind me. So that's where the freshwater smell had come from. Palm trees surrounded it like poweful guardians, each waving towards me in the wind.

"Yes, this is Egypt. Cairo is a few miles east of here. That is where I live. I was on a fishing trip up on the Mediterranean last night, and I saw the pirate ship. I watched you fly off of the ship at such a hieght...I knew you were no mortal."

"So," I said, slowly walking towards the shimmering, blue and green lake, "you saved me?"

Amun nodded calmly. "Yes. Demigods must always be there for eachother. I dragged you here: my secret oasis. I fed you my ambrosia and nectar and I cooled you off. You were drastically wounded..."

I winced at the thought of Patroclus being thrusted into my shoulder again. I did not want to experience that again. I knelt next to the lak shore, splashing some cold, soothing water onto my sand covered face.

"Why, exactly, were you on a pirate ship?" Amun suddenly asked.

"I was...stowing away..." I said hesitantly, consuming some of the freshwater into my dry, brittle mouth and wiping it over my scars.

"Ah..." Amun said in quiet surprise. "And...why were you doing that?"

I sighed and turned to Amun, "My name is Nathan Santiago, son of Zephyrus. I'm on a quest to find two other demigods who can help me stop something known as Paradiso."

"Paradiso?" Amun asked, raising a white brow curiously.

"I'm not sure what it is," I said, wiping my mouth as I stood. "But my father told me it had the properties to destroy the whole world...or even the whole universe."

Amun frowned, crossing his armored arms over his chest, "And...you were on the pirate ship...why?"

"The ship was going to Russia," I said. "I was going to hitch a ride to the eastern edge of Russia and then go to Japan. I have a lead on this assassin who is supposedly a demigod. If I can just convince him-"

Amun cut me off. "Meddling with assassins is a dangerous buisness, Nathan."

I sighed and nodded, "So I've heard...but I don't have a choice. I don't know how short or long of a time I have before Paradiso goes into effect..."

Amun rubbed his smooth, sharp chin. "I understand..."

The sky was a bright orange by now, the sun having begun to set. Streaks of yellow and pink lit up the sky, casting shadows over the oasis.

"We must depart for Cairo, now," Amun said softly, putting his mask back on. "The desert is no place for humans at night. You do not have the capacity to face off against the Basilisks."

"The what?" I asked, following behind Amun as he began to trek over the sand dunes in the eastern direction.

"The Basilisks...things you will, hopefully, never have the pleasure of meeting."

I closed my mouth shut as we trudged through the desert sand, the sun setting low behind us as we did.



