Falling for a God

Ch 22: Island

~Adria~

Adrian's stupid comment echoed in my head during most of the trip. Wakanda's relationship with Talokan couldn't have been built over such a tragedy. It didn't make sense and the more I thought about it, the more it sounded like a joke. Namor, my K'uk'ulkan, the one who killed my umama? There's no way.

We were flying in the middle of the ocean, heading east. Blue expanded beneath my feet and above my head into an endless void. It seemed like we flew for an hour or two, but it felt like an eternity. What was ahead of us? Would Adrian try and hurt me? Would I be able to save B'alam? An island appeared before my eyes the same way a hologram suddenly lit up.

"We have been keeping ourselves hidden from the world. The island is completely out of reach from outside signals."

Adrian said out loud, smiling softly as we were getting closer. The huge island was concealed the same way Wakanda is. With a barrier that lets it be confused with the ocean and the sea; the barrier crumbles as soon as Adrian clicked on something. A controller of some sort.

The island had two mountains surrounded by jungles. All shades of rich green extended as far as my eyes could reach. It was truly a paradise. Adrian and I descended on the beach. The waves crashed on each other, the foam resembling galloping horses. Adrian took a deep breath, opened his arms, and turned to look at me. He was full of excitement, like a child.

"This is our home. Fantastic isn't it?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"There won't be an 'I guess' as soon as you look at everything we have."

He walked into the jungle and signaled me to follow.

"Is it only you and your father? The ones that live here."

"Ah, no. There are plenty of people here. You will get to know them, eventually."

A path made of rocks came into sight, going upwards. On top of it was a huge house. Adrian gave me a few glances from time to time, while I just stared at the way his legs made of metal, presumably vibranium, worked smoothly. His movement was fluid and precise.

"Are those made of vibranium?"

Adrian didn't look back at me and continued going up. The smooth pathway evolved into small steps and bigger ones.

"Yes. This is my latest model and is the only one made of vibranium. The other ones I had before weren't as advanced and I struggled to walk or fly."

"And I will assume you got vibranium from Wakanda."

"My bionic legs aren't made with Wakandan vibranium. It came from somewhere else."

"Somewhere else..."

I echoed. He could have taken it from Talokan, but how? A huge house came into sight. Its color was cream and had arches that decorated the outside corridors.

"You might have lots of questions, and I promise to answer all of them, but can I please show you around first?"

The wind blew across the hill, caressing the two of us as the young man spoke. His eyes were dense and his thick eyebrows moved with each of his distinguishable expressions. He was genuinely smiling, his eyes creating half-moons.

"Okay then. Show me around."

"Yes! Then, come this way. We are going to the lab."

"Aren't we going into the house?"

"We will save that for later."

He was excited, and showed me the way, past the giant beautiful house into a beautiful garden. We continued to walk through that paradise until a large gray building came into sight, at the back of the hill. A man greeted us while the doors slid open. The large lobby was white, clean, and with minimalistic furniture.