Femi
"What is Meissa's gem?" Femi heard Mareike ask, everyone looking on as Mr. Han sat down on a decorated chair muttering softly to himself.
"Was that supposed to be a prophecy?" Femi enquired, sitting down as well. His voices had mentioned some things about gems and crystals, but not anything like what Ingrid said.
"Why are you silent Mr. Han? Answer us or bring her back so she can explain herself."
As the housemates plundered Mr. Han with questions, a voice started in Femi's head drowning out the rising noise in the house. "Time here. Awaiting all. Come for strength and more powers." He tapped his head and shook it, pushing the voice to a small corner of his mind as he refocused on the scene before him.
The other housemates were still hanging around the garden mostly in pairs, silently staring as Mr. Han rapidly typed away on his laptop. When Eryk moved forward to meet him, he held up a frail hand and continued with his typing. After a few minutes of silence, Femi walked up to the man and hit a palm on the plastic table around the decorated chairs.
Mr. Han looked up in alarm, and began to hold up a hand when Femi shook his head swiftly. He looked between the man and the laptop, recognizing the device for what it was: a distraction. The man was purposely stalling to buy himself time. But for what?
"Since getting into this house, a lot has changed for me. I find myself with abilities I had no idea of before, getting strange dreams that don't make sense and from everyone's face, it's been happening to them too." Femi said, looking at the housemates through side eyes. A sigh of relief escaped his lips when he saw most of them nodding in agreement.
"I want to know what's happening to me, and I'm sure you have the answers. So I would like an explanation from you."
"Okay, fine. But where do I start? You're all asking multiple questions at once." Mr. Han grumbled, motioning between them and the empty seats next to him.
Femi moved to sit beside the man, eager to receive a response. If he encountered a stroke of luck, maybe he could ask the man how to get rid of the voices. Privately, of course.
"Ingrid said a small part of the prophecy regarding your return. The gem of Meissa must have shown itself through her. Like I said, it's time for us to go home." He explained briskly, regarding the housemates in silence.
"If by home, you mean Germany then I am ready." Mareike chipped in.
"Your real home is Meissa. That's where you're really from." Mr. Han corrected, drumming his fingers in the table impatiently.
"Excuse me, Sir but I don't–" Femi began, but stopped when the man pushed his chair across the garden floor and stood up.
"Don't call me Sir. We're practically agemates." He cut in, putting a hand on his hips.
"What do you mean? You're a lot older than I am, maybe fifty-five or sixty."
"Am I?" Mr. Han asked, giving him a smirk that looked out of place on the wrinkles around his eyes and mouth.
Femi raised an eyebrow and looked away, only to hear a gasp from Priya beside him.
He looked back at the man and stared on in shock, as the man's facial features changed before them. "What in heaven's name–"
His hair had turned jet black, with springly curls at the tip falling to his forehead. His ears looked smaller, now sporting earrings on both of them. The wrinkles on his face had smoothened, leaving behind a smooth, chiselled face that broke out into an impish grin.
"Hello! My name is Tihan." He responded, extending a hand too firm towards them.
Eryk
"What in God's name is happening?!" Priya exclaimed, pushing her chair backward till she was positioned nearest to the door. Eryk stared at her as she repacked her hair into a ponytail and hugged herself tightly, making her look more beautiful and vulnerable. He fought down the urge to hug her and share their fears together, settling for facing the organizer instead.
"Sorry for the small change, but this is how I really look. My full name is Tihan Akiko and I'm twenty-one years old just like you all are." The man explained, smiling expectantly at them.
What he expected the housemates to do next, Eryk didn't know, but he certainly didn't foresee the outburst that started. The girls started talking all at once, along with Femi bombarding Mr. Han–Tihan now–with questions leaving only himself and Ace sitting down. He shook his head in disbelief, and watched the man's face morph into shock.
"Okay! Can we all quiet down?" Eryk tapped his feet twice and snapped, effectively silencing the housemates. He turned to the strange man claiming to be from another world, who still looked overwhelmed and slightly undressed. His suit jacket was removed and the usually crisp tie he wore was slacked, revealing two opened button holes in his shirt. The guy was seconds away from being lynched by his fellow housemates.
"Kindly explain again in full details. You have to understand that what you're saying is quite unbelievable and a lot to take in." He explained, motioning for him to continue.
Tihan gave a loud gasp, and bent down to catch his breath. "This is tough for me too, you know. The best–"
"I think I'll take it from here, Tihan." Ace offered, moving swiftly to the podium positioned in the centre of the garden.
Beside Eryk, Chiara raised her hands up in protest, and scoffed loudly while he shook his head and sat down quietly, taking the option to save his questions for later. He glanced around as Ace motioned to them, noticing the unusual absence of the masked men since after taking Ingrid away and he made the sign of the cross on her behalf.
The games had seemed suspicious from the very beginning, but this new game Mr. Han and Ace were spinning appeared more dangerous than the last. He gripped his aching thigh tighter and worked his toes briefly, hoping for strength and resolve to fight if something went wrong.
"I'll try to start from the beginning of things. We are from a country called Meissa; a country lush with evergreen vegetation, exotic creatures, beautiful scenery and wealth beyond human measure. In the begining, Meissa had seven original families with each kindred having a special ability, and every crisiant born under a family had the special ability bestowed upon him or her.
Everyone lived peacefully and happily as one country, honing and enjoying our ancestral gifts until fifteen years ago, twenty-one earth years if you wish. One of the seven families betrayed–"
"What is a crisia?" Someone behind Eryk asked, earning a scoff from Tihan who was still seated at the podium.
"It's crisiant, spelt C-r-i-s-i-a-n-t. Not whatever you pronounced." He responded rudely.
"Hey, watch it. I'm making an effort to understand, you should be lucky I'm trying to believe you." Chiara raised her voice, breaking the brief silence built by Ace's storytelling.
"Calm down, Chiara. There's no need to get too worked up about this and Tihan," Ace glared at the guy, "Shut up."
He turned back to the rest of them, glancing directly at Chiara. "The citizens of our country are called crisiants. Somehow like Italians from Italy, Norwegians from Norway, Crisiants from Meissa. Is that better?"
"Yes." She replied flatly, folding her arms.
"Alright, so I'll continue. One family fell out with the others, claiming ownership over the lands and demanding rulership be bestowed upon them. The ruling family at that time, Mohaddisa, wanted to hear none of it so war began to stir. Sadly, before news got around of the war, a coup was staged on the ruling family wiping them all. There was no one else equipped with the knowledge of running the country, so the opposers took over killing anyone who went against them.
Soon, the whole country fell into chaos due to their ridiculous laws and the remaining five families, for fear of death and extinction, decided to give up their new offsprings. They sent the children to Earth, for them to grow up normally and then return to Meissa at the right time. Tihan and I were assigned to take you back to our country." Ace finished, giving them a slight smile.
"So what you're trying to say is that we're from this country of yours, and we are just supposed to pack our bags and follow you into the unknown. Sorry, but I don't buy this." Chiara said suddenly, displaying another act of skepticism.
"I do not like the sound of this story, but somehow I believe him. Things have changed for me since I got here, and for the better too. Maybe we should give it a chance." Mareike suggested softly, giving her friends a pleading look.
"Na good story but I nor like Escape room reach like this." Eryk heard Femi mutter to himself twice.
"Do you have any proof of what you're saying?" He asked, though he already knew the answer.
"The five of you belong to the original families of Meissa, and to prove that, there's a hexagon shaped birthmark on your bodies. Am I lying?" Ace pointed out, earning shocked faces as a response.
Eryk touched his right arm instinctively, feeling the soft bump of the mark he tried hard to hide every day. The odd mark that grew larger every year, till he learned to accept the stares and odd questions from family and friends. Even Grace liked touching it, constantly asking what it signified.
"How do you know about that?" Priya asked defensively, hugging herself tighter.
"That's Allira's crystal. Every crisiant has one on them, which disappears at the age of twenty-five. Thankfully."
"Assuming I believe you Ace, if that's your real name, there are five of us and six families, so who's the sixth child?"
"Me."
Ace
"If you are one of us, how come you were sent to get the rest of us? Were you not sent down as well? So where does that leave Mr. Han, sorry Tihan?" Mareike fired questions at Ace rapidly, throwing him off balance. He rubbed the back of his neck and sighed in discomfort.
"There was an unfortunate accident regarding my travel, so I stayed behind and grew up in Meissa. About some months ago, I built the Crystal House with Tihan, my closest friend. The gems embedded in its design recognized twelve humans with Meissa blood and invites were sent out, bringing you all to this place."
"You know, this place always gives me a strange feeling." Mareike said, darting her eyes across the garden. Ace nodded, looking around the garden still decorated with gardenias and soft fabric hanging across the ceiling. His creation, a masterpiece with a mind of its own.
"A feeling of warmth you can't describe? A sense of overwhelming familiarity? That's the other side of you fighting to come up to the surface."
"You mentioned something about abilities, is that a part of being from Meissa thing?"
"Yes, it is. Every family had a set of powers and abilities unique to them. Few families were blessed with three skill sets, while others had one or two. Depending." He explained to Femi, giving as much information as he knew.
"Depending on what?" The guy asked further, and he gave a shrug in response. "I'm not really sure. Look, I'm just as young as you all are and though I've been in Meissa all my life, there is still a lot I don't know."
"How do we know you are not lying? What if you are serial killers? Tricking us into sealing our deaths? Infact, I want a lawyer." Priya stated, folding her arms.
Ace sighed, and sat on a chair directly facing her. At this point, he could be anything they needed to be convinced.
He moved closer to her and whispered, not quietly, so the others could hear. "No offence but, if we wanted to kill you off, the masked men would have done that during the games or in the middle of those rainy nights. My only plan is to transport you safely to your true home, Meissa and from there on, it's up to you."
"So why go through all this trouble just to get us home? After that, what next?"
Ace leaned back, and ran a hand through his hair. He watched as a few strands fell off, and caught one between his fingertips. Chiara had asked him the one question neither he nor Tihan had the answer to, but he knew the ultimate goal of bringing them back.
He needed to do the right thing to get them home. "If Meissa's war gets to Earth, everything you know will be destroyed in seconds and believe me, it will if nothing is done. But I think we can stop it, it's supposed to be our destiny."
"You sound unsure." Someone pointed out.
"Honestly, I am. But I care about my country, and I'm willing to do whatever it takes to protect it. Are you ready to do same for Earth?"
Tihan rushed into the garden. "It's exactly twelve am, and we've spent six hours here. Goodness, no wonder it's so dark outside. We've got to start the journey home, time is running out."
"What? Right now? We're not prepared. What about our clothes, and other necessities? Besides, where's our mode of transport?"
For the first time that day, Ace laughed. It rang out for a short time, loud and clear, before he abruptly stopped himself and reverted to a blank stare.
"Our mode of transport is the house itself. Everything in it will move along with us, so don't worry. The ship's controls are in the game room, so we'll have to move there." Ace explained, moving out of the garden and motioning for the others to do so as well.
Eryk stepped in front of the others and halted, placing his feet firmly in the ground. Ace stopped in his movements, trying to read the unspoken message in his gesture.
"We need our phones to contact our loved ones and update them on the change of plans." He stated simply, earning nods from the others at his back.
"Oh, I forgot about that. Tihan, please hand them their phones and if you're done with your call, kindly come to the game room so the journey can begin."
Tihan entered the game room first, pressing a red button hidden at the back of the door. Immediately, the scenery changed revealing a motherboard of controls along with fully padded seats for the pilot and the passengers.
"Woah. This looks amazing."
Ace turned to the housemates and spread his arms wide. "Welcome to the Crystal House. Buckle up, it's going to be a long ride."
*****
MY LONGEST CHAPTER EVER: 2,514 WORDS. THE NEXT PART IS ABOUT TO BEGIN FOR THE HOUSEMATES' AND I'M TRULY EXCITED FOR THEM. WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE ADVENTURES? ANY IDEAS FOR WHAT'S NEXT?
HAPPY NEW YEAR'S EVE. SEE Y'ALL IN 2022!