Arisa sunk on her bed as she had a bite of her meal. She found herself in a medium-sized room with beige colored walls and a small number of furniture filling the spacious area.
As she lost herself in her thoughts, she had another bite of her food. She didn't take long to have yet another one.
Quick laughter filled the silence for a few seconds. Arisa's eyes met a girl sitting cross-legged on the other single bed of the room. Thelma had tied her long extensions and grabbed a few fries as she stared back at Arisa.
"What's so funny?" asked Arisa before she could have another bite.
"Nothing," replied Thelma, shaking her head. "It's just that a moment ago you looked as if you would pass this meal. I guess that your hunger was too strong that you had no choice."
Arisa examined the half-eaten meal in her hands. Two round slices of bread with meat and cheese feasted her gaze. No matter how many times she would look at it, she still found this combination curious.
"I like the taste," she said. "It's just, I have difficulties eating foreign food. I would rather have a typical meal like rice and curry or simple bread and butter or marmalade."
"If we weren't in an emergency," said Thelma. "I would have ordered a proper meal instead of cheeseburgers and fries."
Arisa smiled. "It's okay. The cheeseburger is tasty."
"Careful not to be addicted to it," teased Thelma. "My grandmother set in everyone's mind that this type of food is unhealthy, so I grew up eating fast food a small number of times a year."
Arisa tilted her head. "Oh, I see you have a grandmother who's obsessed with good habits too."
Another quick chuckle filled the room. Arisa smiled, remembering her family. It had been a few weeks since she last saw them. She wondered how they were doing. She curled her fingers, wishing they had a way to communicate with each other as the Earthlings could by using their devices.
She attempted to shut down the feeling of missing them by having another bite of her cheeseburger. As she continued to have her meal with Thelma, Arisa remembered the hours her team spent exploring Washington.
After leaving Union Station and walking down the streets with the hopes that Eklipta would communicate with them again, the team ended up taking a tour bus. Their theory was that the Master of Earth could be hidden in one of the many touristy spots the Empire had.
The bus took them to a large city called Seattle and as they explored the busy town, Arisa saw that the buildings on this side of the state were really tall, yet they didn't have that advanced design like the City of London and Hong Kong.
She remembered spotting a number of small and medium-sized robots mixing with the diverse crowd in the streets. Exploring the city, Arisa couldn't help but notice the many times she saw Taurus in the screens no matter what side of the city they were passing by.
As the clock ticked, they visited as many touristy spots as they could, including historic buildings, underground areas, and museums. Still, Eklipta didn't show any signs of progression.
Their last spot was Seattle Center, where Arisa and Garoh suddenly felt dizzy due to the effects of the rune. The team had to stop their quest for the day and ended up looking for a place to spend the night that was falling.
As that memory faded, Arisa had a drink of her soda. Thinking about how they spent their day, part of her felt defeated. It would take a long time to find the Master of Earth in such a huge country like this.
"Let's see what the channels of this country offer." Thelma's voice washed away Arisa's thoughts.
As she gazed at her friend, Arisa saw Thelma standing up and grabbing remote control on the desk in front of their beds.
"I hope there's a decent one that doesn't mention how great Taurus is every five minutes."
Arisa chuckled at Thelma's joke. Despite her friend exaggerating a bit, Arisa agreed with her. After disembarking at the station, every time they examined their surroundings, they would find something about the Bronze Guardian. If they mixed in the crowd and people spoke about politics, most of those people would brag about their country being the safest in the world and economically fit and praise their Great Emperor.
Arisa remembered shaking her head seeing those happy people, admiring their Emperor. She wondered how they would react if they found out that the man behind that armor was actually a monster.
Foreign voices echoed in the room as Thelma switched on the television. As soon as Arisa set her view on the large device stuck on the beige-colored wall, Thelma changed channels. For several seconds, Arisa saw Thelma surfing through channels. She would stop a bit in channels displaying shows and music.
"I see that not everything is about the Great Emperor," teased Thelma. "Thank goodness. If I saw one more thing about him, I would take a bus straight to the White House and release my frustrations on him."
Arisa laughed. "You wouldn't dare."
Thelma winked at her as she stopped on a channel broadcasting a talk show. Arisa attempted to understand what the people displayed on the screen were talking about as Thelma focused on the show.
"Ugh. Not him again," complained Thelma as the screen displayed a large white building.
Arisa frowned. "What's wrong?"
"It's Taurus," said Thelma, grabbing the remote. "Oh, so his name is Caleb Gale."
Arisa gazed back at the screen in time to see a fit man with dark hair. Arisa could see the brightness in his blue-green eyes as he smiled at the people before him. Looking at him, Arisa thought that from his appearance he looked like a caring man.
"That's Taurus?" asked Thelma, her tone surprised. "Wow, he's handsome."
As soon as she said that, Thelma covered her mouth.
"I can't believe I said that," said Thelma with a quick chuckle.
Arisa smiled and looked back at the screen. "He looks young to be an Emperor."
"Yeah," agreed Thelma. "I'm so used to seeing middle-aged men as leaders. He looks like he's in his early thirties."
Arisa agreed with Thelma. She frowned as she tried to understand what the people on the television were talking about.
"Ah, sorry," said Thelma, pressing the buttons on the remote. "I forgot to change the language since I speak English, silly me."
"It's okay," said Arisa with a quick chuckle.
As a mixture of languages filled the air for a moment, Arisa saw that the channel was displaying a video of a rocky cave with sharp shards decorating its walls. The video moved on, showing an underground river and yet another side of the cavern.
"...a new cave has been discovered," said the female announcer. "Empress Ellanie is already in Kentucky and is expected to visit the latest discovery tomorrow afternoon."
As the announcer narrated about the Empress and her love for everything historical, the screen displayed images of a woman in a long fancy dark dress. Her golden wavy hair cascaded to part of her chest as she smiled and waved at the crowd. A dark-haired little girl stood by her side, holding the woman's hand and following the lady's action. The little girl waved at the crowd with a huge smile on her face.
Arisa couldn't help but smile. The little girl looked so adorable.
"Aww. That little girl is so cute," said Thelma. "It's a shame she has a monster as a father."
Looking at the little girl, who looked to be four to five years old, Arisa felt sorry. The child was still too young to see her father's true colors. Yet Arisa couldn't imagine how an individual would feel after finding out that their parent wasn't a hero like they always thought they were. But then, the little girl wouldn't find out as her people themselves praise him.
"The Empress seems nice," said Thelma, focusing on the device on the wall. "Though, I can't help but wonder if she's also fooling her people like her husband is."
"It could be," said Arisa, spotting the blonde woman on the screen. "She's his wife after all."
Despite the lady on the screen really looking kind and caring, Arisa couldn't help but think that everything was an act. There would be no way a woman with that personality would marry someone like Taurus. Unless she was also being fooled by him.
"This marks the first time in hundred years a new area has been discovered in the Mammoth Cave National Park," the announcer on the screen narrated. "This confirms the popular theory that this park is indeed the park of endless caves. It has always been thought that..."
"Mammoth Cave," teased Thelma, tapping her cheek. "That's a funny name for a National Park. I wonder how they came up with it."
Arisa tilted her head, wondering what was funny about that name.
"What's a mammoth?" she asked.
Thelma's brows arched. "You don't know?"
Arisa shook her head, still wondering.
"Maybe they were species typical of our world," said Thelma thoughtfully. "Mammoths were animals that once inhabited our world millions of years ago. Although no one has seen them for years, their appearance is well known. I call them furry elephants since they had fur and were part of their family."
"So their appearance was the same as elephants?" asked Arisa curiously.
"Yeah. I think they were larger if I'm not mista—wait." said Thelma, blinking. "Mammoth Cave. Of course!"
A short silence fell as Thelma slowly stood up with realization brightening in her dark brown eyes.
"Is something wrong?" asked Arisa.
Thelma shook her head, grabbing her phone. "No. We need to meet up with the boys. I think I have an idea where the Master of Earth is hidden."
Arisa stared at her friend, her mouth agape. As Thelma dialed the number of their companions, Arisa quickly stood up, having an idea of Thelma's guess.
With her device stuck on her ear, Thelma spoke with Kazuya, telling him to join them as there would be an emergency meeting. Arisa couldn't help but smile. Moments ago she was feeling a bit down, believing that finding the hideout of the first Element would take a lot of their time. To see that they might be closer to finding it sooner than expected, brought confidence in her.
After Thelma hanged up her phone, it didn't take long for the knocking sound to break the silence. Arisa opened the door, letting Kazuya and Garoh enter the room with their disguised appearance. She guessed they had used the rune in case of trouble.
The boys didn't have a seat, instead, they gazed at Thelma waiting for answers with signs of tiredness displayed on their faces. Arisa thought that the rune could be responsible for their fatigue. After all, they were using it for the second time on the same day.
"Four legs, a trunk, and a pair of horns is my home," said Thelma, her tone cheerful.
"Okay." Kazuya nodded. "We already know the riddle."
Thelma chuckled. "Sorry. Well, the reason I called you was to tell you that we have an idea where the Master could be."
The boys raised a brow, still not saying anything as they wanted to hear more.
"As we theorized, the Master is hidden in an environment that receives visitors every day," continued Thelma. "My guess is that it's in the Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky."
The boys' brows rose, their jaws dropping.
"Mammoth," said Garoh, rubbing his jaw. "It makes sense."
"If we only had known that earlier," said Kazuya, "we could have gone to that place right away."
Arisa examined the window across the room. In between the cream-colored curtains, she could see that the night had embraced the land, judging by the illuminated city.
"Even if it was daytime," said Garoh, examining the rune in his palm. "I don't think I would be able to handle this spell two times in the same day."
Arisa agreed with Garoh, amazed that he could handle the rune even after he almost passed out.
"And there's the question of traveling," added Thelma. "Kentucky is pretty far, so it's better we take a rest to recover our energies. You guys will need it tomorrow."
"It's decided then," said Kazuya. "We'll travel there tomorrow morning."
The boys didn't take long to return to their room as they needed to rest. Arisa spent half an hour chatting with Thelma before she dug herself under the blankets and falling in a deep slumber as soon as she closed her eyes.
---♐♑♓---
"Thank you for visiting Mammoth Cave," said a robotic voice. "We hope you will enjoy the tour."
As Thelma grabbed the tickets that were coming out from a small box that was part of the bright brown wall, Arisa examined the medium-sized robot attached to the wall. The oval-shaped machine's silver surface glowed under the afternoon's sun as its green thin eyes flashed with a dim light.
"Hm, let's see here," said Thelma, checking the item. "According to these tickets, our chariot will start its tour in ten minutes. We'd better embark."
"Alright," said Garoh. "Which one is our transportation?"
As the team walked away from the ticket shop, Arisa gazed at their surroundings. Her eyes met a small number of brownish buildings, most of those edifices being shops. Filling the spacious area, besides the diverse crowd, were long vehicles carefully parked in an organized line.
"Could it be that one?" asked Kazuya.
Arisa followed his indication and saw a chariot that was opening its doors to a crowd that had lined up by its side.
"According to the reference here," said Thelma, checking the tickets, "it is. Come on, let's go."
The team followed their companion, mixing themselves in the crowd as they walked to their destination.
"I wonder if it's always this crowded around here," said Arisa as they finally left the crowd.
"It must be a sign that we're on the right path," teased Thelma. "The Master did say millions of beings visit its lair every year."
Arisa smiled. Despite knowing that a lot of touristy places received millions of visitors, she couldn't help but hope that Thelma's theory was true.
"Right," said Kazuya. "But I don't think this place receives this number of visitors every day. I'm sure there are days that are not this busy."
"Isn't Taurus' wife around here?" asked Garoh as they lined up to embark on their transportation. "Maybe some people decided to visit the park in order to see her."
Arisa's blinked twice, remembering the news she had seen the previous night.
"You two are buzz killers." Thelma folded her arms. "I was really taking this as a sign. After everything we went through this morning, it would be great to find the Master around here."
As a quick chuckle brightened the atmosphere, Arisa agreed with Thelma. To reach this park, they had to wake up very early in the morning and had to decide which transportation could take them to the state of Kentucky as fast as possible. They ended up catching a bullet train since traveling by plane would be risky as Arisa was wanted in the country and the security there could be stricter.
After spending some hours in the train, they reached a technological city called Louisville. There, the team found out that they would spend forty-five minutes on a bus that would take them to a simple looking town called Elizabethtown. And now they were taking yet another vehicle that would finally transport them to their target.
After all those trips, Arisa really hoped that they would find the Master of Earth. She couldn't imagine how she would feel if she found out that another day had passed and still they had no sign of the Element.
A female voice echoed in the background, welcoming the tourists as everyone had their seat. As the chariot started to move, the voice told them that they would reach the main attraction in approximately fifteen minutes and it encouraged them to admire the beauty of the forest as it took them to their destination.
"So an A.I is taking us there," said Thelma.
"Is that so?" Arisa peeked by her seat's side.
Her brows rose as she didn't spot anyone on the driver's seat.
"Could it be that our guide will also be a machine?" asked Kazuya, his tone quiet. "Maybe we can change the plan and look for it right away."
"Hm," said Garoh thoughtfully. "I think it's still better to stick with our plan. There will still be people around."
Arisa tried to look at the boys sitting on the seats in front of her, remembering the plan. To avoid trouble, Garoh had suggested to act like tourists and take this opportunity to learn more about that park as their guide gave them a tour. They would come back when the area was closed for visitors.
"Very well then," said Thelma, shoving her hand in her bag. "I'll take this opportunity to take pictures to send them to my family. Aadila will be so angry to see that I visited N.A.E before her."
Arisa chuckled, wondering how Thelma's family was doing. She examined the scenery behind the window by Thelma's side. Her heart raced, looking forward to finally meet the Master.