➟zane
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"Zane Titanium! Zane Titanium!" My eyes opened slowly as the voice continued to whisper my name. "Meyendu, wake up!"
Outside my room, Nnamdi was peaking his head thought the sliding glass door that lead to the balcony outside. I blinked, thinking he wasn't there. I even rubbed my eyes, but still Amie was there. I sat up, swinging my legs over the side of the bed.
"Nnamdi?" I questioned, still squinting.
He opened the door wider and walked inside. "Good, I find the right room." He stepped closer towards me and I ran a hand down my face.
"What's up?" I asked.
His eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "The ceiling...?"
I chuckled at his response. "No, I meant like why are you here," I replied.
"Oh, oh," Nnamdi said with a nod. "Nnenne wanted to see how our enyi is feeling."
"I'm fine," I said. "It's better now."
"Good, good," Nnamdi said. "My nnenne is happy with her work."
"Speaking of that," I said, sitting on the edge of the bed, "how did she fix me? Why did it hurt so bad?"
Nnamdi took his eyes towards Hazzy who was asleep in the bed we shared. But both Sam and Tommy were no where to be found, I wondered where they were. Nnamdi's mouth opened to speak, but then he closed it as if afraid of what he was going to say next.
"She is not a normal element," was all he said. Then, he turned his attention back towards Hazzy. "Who is she?" He asked slowly.
"Hazzy," I explained. "Tommy and Sam are out tonight, dunno where they are."
"Ah," he said with a smile, "more Alfatu!" He looked happy. I didn't know how he could be happy in the place we were in. "I am very glad we bumped into each other in that alleyway, Zane Titanium. Meeting Alfatu is very honorable. My father would be proud."
"Just Zane," I said. He wore a puzzled look. "My name isn't Zane Titanium. That's my full name. My name is just Zane." Nnamdi still wore a confused look. "Call me Zane, alright?"
"You are very confusing, Meyendu," Nnamdi said, sitting beside me on the bed. He smiled again, lighting up the room. It was a goofy smile that was contagious. I couldn't help but smile back. "Zane Titanium, there is a eneme I am attending tonight. You must come with Hazzy. It will be ezigbo oge, Zane Titanium."
My eyebrow furrowed. "What?"
"There will be a celebration," Nnamdi said, "a good time, it will be. We will take Unchendu as well."
I shook my head, still barely able to understand him. "Right, right. Let me just notify my prison guard and I'm sure she'll let us leave!" I threw my hands up in the air, still pissed that we were stuck here.
Nnamdia shrugged. "Well, I climbed up the window."
"And Tommy and Sam made it out alright." I jumped, turning towards the left. There, Hazzy was finally sitting up. "You guys are so loud," she grumbled, rubbing her eyes. "Who's this?" She asked, nodding towards Nnamdi. "He the guy you were talking about from the alley?" She had a slight smirk to her face.
"Yeah," I replied. "He's taking us to a party."
"A party!" She gleamed. "God! I've been waiting to get out of the hell hole for days!"
I smiled and so did Nnamdi. I wasn't sure if he knew exactly what she said, but nonetheless he still found it funny. "Unchendu! Very well to see you! I am Nnamdi and I take you and Meyendu to a celebration!" He clasped his hands together, a large smile on his face. He seemed excited.
"What did you just call us?" Hazzy asked, throwing her shoes on. "Oo-chan-doo? Mee-an-doo? What?"
"There words of my people," Nnamdi explained. "You are the... uh... the Telk of Alfatu, yes?" Hazzy nodded. "Unchendu, mind leader. Meyendu, metal leader. They are very ancient words, my nnenne taught me long ago. She tells me whenever I see an Alfatu to call you by the names you were given when you were created, but around commoners call you by your names give when you were children." Hazzy and I both looked at him with dazed looks. He shrugged. "Her sense is not good, but I listen to her anyway."
Hazzy began tying her shoe again and I slip on my own pair of shoes, too. Soon, we were out of the room in the cool, breezy air. Our hotel wasn't particularly high, but it would still hurt if we fell. "Meyendu, take our hand and jump, you will protect us from our fall," Nnamdi instructed. I grasped his dark hand in mine and took Hazzy's pale one. I understood what he meant and turned my skin to metal, turning there's, too. Nnamdi counted to three and we jumped out the window, landing on the ground with a loud thud. A dog barked in the distance and a light switched on upstairs.
"Shit!" Nnamdi cursed. "Alfatu! Run!"
We hid behind a rusted down car and peeked at the window above us. The curtains opened and Adebowale peeked his head out, scanning the area. After a minute, he shut the curtain and turned the light off. Then, Hazzy and I followed Nnamdi down the empty street. Back in San Fransico, the busy streets were packed even in the dead of night. Here, in the busy city of Lagos, there was barely anyone walking around at all. I wondered why.
"They are all at the celebration, Zane Titanium," Nnamdi said, reading my mind.
"How did you know I was thinking that?" I asked, shock to my voice.
"The city is very empty tonight, but last time you were out at night, there were many people."
We walked for quite always until I heard music in the distance. It was coming from the beach of the lagoon. Lights surrounded the southern horizon. Once we arrived, I realized that this was no ordinary party. It was truly a celebration. Lights flickered around, music blasted from a band playing folk music, people danced and sung along the the lyrics. They all seemed happy, but I didn't know why. How could they be happy if half of their saviors were dead? I shivered, unless, they didn't know.
"Nnamdi," Hazzy asked above the noise, "what are they celebrating?"
"It is the Elemental festival!" Nnamdi exclaimed. "This is the last one we are aloud to celebrate before they will ban it. We must celebrate with joy and happy!"
I smiled. "It's good to see at least some people who love elements."
"There is always a reason to hate, Zane Titanium," Nnamdi said. He turned towards me, a serious look on his face. "The elements are different, and the humans are not happy with that." After a pause his eyes turned back to the party. "Let's go celebrate!" He said, this time a smile on his face.
He began jogging towards the crowd, dragging Hazzy and I behind him. The music was catchy and pounding, making our feet begin to move almost instantly. We danced for a long while, voices laughing, minds forgetting about the horrors of the world. After about an hour, I stopped to get a drink of water set up in a cooler. I took a swig and swallowed.
A minute passes when a girl walked up to me. "Hey there," she said with a smile.
"Hi," I said, looking at her. She had bright blonde hair and tons of freckles covering her skin. Across her eyes were thick green glasses plastered to her face. She reminded me so much of Ly.
"You're Zane Titanium, aren't you?" She smiled flirtatiously.
I shrugged. "I guess."
"You guess?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Yeah, I guess." I took another sip of water before throwing it away in the recycle. "I don't really like being him much."
"But you're a hero!" The girl said. She smiled again. "You helped get my younger siblings out of SOSA. You're a hero to me." She smiled again which made me grin a little bit. She was definitely helping my mood.
"Yeah?"
"Definitely."
"What's your name?" I asked.
"Aliv—" Her voice stopped short. Blood splattered onto my face. Her right eye was perfectly gone, a dark red hole in its place. Her body slumped to the sand instantly.
As she fell, a figure was revealed behind her. Familiar glowing green eyes stared back at mine like daggers. It's glowing fingers raised, pointing directly at me, and fired.