Читать книгу Lutana - Estheban Feliz - Страница 2

As another day is ending in the blue nation, the birds are chirping, and the sun is setting as we find our protagonists walking through a crowded marketplace, the smell of cooking fish and warm spices wafting through the air.

“Where exactly are we going, Milo?” Lu asks as she tries to stop mosquitos from eating her alive.

“Well, since you have a death wish, we’re going to the train station so we can get started on our journey,” he says, map in hand while adjusting his glasses.

“That’s great!” she replies.

“But I got some bad news,” he says in a nervous tone. “That’s less great. What kind of bad news?” Lu replies curiously.

“Well, to get to the gate of the silver city, we gotta go all the way to the yellow nation, which is kinda on the other side of the planet, and we may or may not have to go through the other civilisations first,” he says, raising the map with the anticipation that he’s going to get yelled at.

“I’m sorry, WHAT?” she exclaims with a tone of pure frustration. “That’s gonna take FOREVER!” she says, dreading the very thought.

“Remember, Lu, patience is a virtue!” he says with a slightly condescending grin.

Our protagonists continue to walk through the crowded marketplace, both starting to get hungry. “We should get something to eat,” says Lu as her stomach growls furiously. “We don’t have enough money,” Milo says as he looks up and sees Lu moving to a stall.

“Can I get eight of those fired ball things,” Lu asks with anticipation.

“Sure thing, young lady,” the owner says.

Milo runs to the stall and, gasping for air, says, “I’m sorry, sir. We don’t have that kind of money.”

The owner then replies in a soft, caring tone, “Well, consider it on the house, then!”

Milo can barely thank the owner before a laser beam slices the table. Lu tries to grab the food in a hurry.

Before our protagonists know it, they are being chased by a large metal ship as they run across the market, Lu shoving everyone in her way and Milo “politely” doing the same. They soon leave the market at lightning speed while

destroying absurd amounts of personal property in the process. They soon run across a field and end up on the ledge of a cliff. Now cornered, they try to catch their breath while sweat is dripping down their faces. The mysterious machine lands and the door opens to reveal steps. As the smoke clears, it reveals the president and her secretary.

“Oh my! What an awkward situation indeed!” the president says with a coy grin.

“Who are you?” Lu asks, filled with anger as she clenches her hands into fists.

Milo is utterly paralysed with fear. “That’s the president,” he stutters.”

Lu lets out a loud laugh. “This is what I’m up against? Oh brother! I’m shaking in my boots!”

“How dare you speak that way to our glorious president!” screams Alvis the secretary in response.

The president lets out a slight giggle that slowly turns into a roaring laugh. “My assumptions were correct, it seems!” the president exclaims.

“What assumptions, exactly?” Lu asks with genuine curiosity.

The president steps out of the ship as her silver dress glitters in the sun while going down every step. She comes face to face with Lu and places her hand on her cheek and says, “Why, that you and I are similar, of course!”

“We are nothing alike!” Lu shouts as she pushes her hand away.

“You see, that’s where you’re wrong, my dear. We both think irrationally, we both have no idea who we are or what we feel, we both—”

“Enough! I’m nothing like you! You hurt people!” she says, clenching her jaw.

“And what makes you think you don’t?” the president says with a slight smile as her pearly white teeth glitter in the sun. “You’re so different, yet sadly cliché. Oh, what a disappointment this was! Well, I guess I have to kill you,” the president says in a slightly melancholy voice.

“Over my dead body!” Lu says in a loud confident voice. “Well, that certainly can be arranged,” the president says as she pulls out her signature whip. “Did you know that one drop of the deadly nightshade berry could be lethal?” she says as her whip drips a purple sap.

The secretary lets out a slight smile, and the president continues, “Well, Lu, I guess this is goodbye—parting is such sweet sorrow!” The president raises her hand to deal a final blow.

Lu turns to Milo and asks, “Do you trust me?”

Milo struggles to answer. “Well, you’re going to have to!”

she says as she pushes Milo and herself off the cliff.

“Wow, didn’t see that coming,” the president says.

Lu and Milo are falling to their deaths, wind covering their bodies and Lu embracing Milo tightly. Lu’s eyes glow a bright light blue as she flies and shoots across the sky like a shooting star.

“Definitely didn’t see that coming!” the president says as she sees the light passing over her head. “Alvis, my dear, get me the next ride to the palace—a tango—this sweet needs the right ambience!” she says in an aroused tone.

As Lu descends into a forest and lets Milo out of her grasp, her eyes begin to return to normal. “DID WE JUST FLY? WHAT THE—” Milo screams in a shaken voice.

“I… I didn’t know I could do that!” she says in an excited voice as she looks down at the palms of her hands.

“Lu… where exactly are you from?” Milo asks with genuine fear and curiosity.

“Well… you aren’t gonna believe this, but—”

“YOU WERE BORN OUT OF A WHAT NOW!” Milo exclaims.

“Crazy—trust me—I know.” Milo laughs hysterically. “Milo, bud, are you okay?” Lu asks in a concerned voice.

“I… you know what? No, just—no,” Milo says as he gets up and walks away.

“Milo where are you going?” Lu asks.

“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe just going to a local temple to ask how you were BORN OUT OF A LAKE!” Milo exclaims, flustered.

“Well, while you’re there, can you ask them to rid you of that godforsaken satchel?” Lu replies in a comedic tone, letting out a slight smile. Milo continues walking. “Milo, wait, you can’t just leave me… well, you can cause to be a hundred per cent honest with you, you’re kinda dead weight, especially now that—”

“When exactly were you going to tell me this, Lu?” Milo asks, genuinely angry.

“Well, the opportunity didn’t arise, did it? Oh, and by the way, when were you going to thank me for SAVING YOUR LIFE?” Lu asks passionately.

“Fine, thank you, Lu, for saving my life. Happy yet?” Milo asks.

Lu sighs. “Listen, can we stop fighting and just get back on track—as long as we promise no more secrets?” Lu extends her hand. “Please Milo, at least now that you’re all I have,” she says as she lets her head down.

Milo grasps her hand as she looks up and stares in his eyes. “No more secrets,” he

says in calm collected voice.

Lu wipes the tears from her eyes and takes a deep breath and asks, “So what do we do now?”

“Well, according to my calculations, we’re close to the train station,” Milo says in a confident tone.

“Yay!” exclaims Lu.

“Bad news is that we have to hike through the north of the blue nation that’s entirely snow,” Milo says with the same confidence.

“That’s less yay,” Lu says in a disappointed voice. “Well, we better get going!” Lu continues.

“Yeah, we better get going since the hike is three days long, and we have two days to catch our train,” Milo says while adjusting his glasses.

Lu groans and exclaims, “Why is nothing in this world ever easy?”

As our heroes get ready to head into the wilderness, things are a bit different in the silver city.

“She can fly!” the president exclaims as she bursts her office door open.

“That was an unexpected turn of events, Ms. President,” says Alvis as they type away on their tablet.

“This changes everything, my dear Alvis. What else can she do?” she says in a longing voice as she falls onto the couch. “Ms. President, may I have permission to speak freely?” Alvis asks.

“You’ve always had it,” the president replies.

“What exactly do you plan to do to this girl?” Alvis asks with genuine curiosity.

The president grabs their face, pulls it inches away from hers as she looks at them up and down and whispers in their ear, “I don’t know, darling. That’s what makes it so… tantalizing.” As she lets go, she gives them a smile of pure joy as she flops off the couch once again.

As we meet up again with our protagonists, they seem to be knee-deep in snow. “Milo, I swear to every god you can name—if you don’t find this ‘winter clothing store,’ I’m gonna make YOU the clothing,” Lu says, shivering and trying to step with her knees deep in snow.

“You’re acting as if this is easy on me. My glasses literally have ice on them. And another thing—” Milo tries to say.

“Stop your whining! We finally made it! I can see the lights—you just need to stay positive like me,” she says before running to the store.

“Positive?” Milo exclaims.

As they open the door, the smell of pine and cookies fills the air, and the bell on the door frame rings as they’re greeted by the owner.

“Hello, and welcome to Walter’s Winter Clothing Store. How can I hel—” the owner tries to finish his sentence before… you guessed it.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Can you please

direct us to the hiking section?” Lu responded.

“There you go—all suited up,” the owner replies after fitting them in their outfits, Lu fitted in a fur dress dyed with rich light and dark blue dyes and Milo fitted in a two-piece suit with a fur cloak dyed with the same deep blue dyes.

“So what will your method of payment be?” the owner asks.

“That’s a very good question, sir. You see, the answer to that is RUN!”

Our protagonists bolt out of the store while the owner shouts some not so kind words at them.

“We can’t just steal these clothes!” Milo says while running.

“Well, we just did,” Lu replies.

After an entire day of non-stop running, climbing and walking in heavy snow, our heroes finally decide to set up camp for the night.

“All right, set up the tent!” Milo says, exhausted and gasping for air.

“Me?” Lu replies. Before Milo can say anything, he collapses on the ground. “Fine, Mr. Dramatic,” Lu exclaims in an angry voice as she throws her hands in the air.

As Lu sets up the tent, she hears a baby crying for help in the distance. As she gets closer to it, moving the bushes in her way, it turns out to be nothing.

“Huh, it must be my imagination,” she says in an unbothered tone of voice. As she turns around, a net is thrown over her. As she struggles, she exclaims, “Milo… Milo, help me!”

Seeing that one of the captors has a pocketknife, she reaches for the pocketknife and cuts the net. She rolls on the ground and gets up and says, “Which one of you wants to fight?” in a voice filled with anger, clutching her fists.

As she looks up, they’re gone, leaving back only their footprints in the snow. “That was weird, to say the least,” she says, confused and still with her fists up.

Lu goes back to the camp and shouts, “Milo, you won’t believe what just happened! Milo?” As she looks everywhere

in the camp, she shouts, “Milo? Milo, where are you?”

But as she turns around, she notices that there are three pairs of footprints. “Damn, they got him, didn’t they?” she says in a defeated tone as she tilts her head down.

“Great! This is just great! My one guide to this crazy world—gone! Thanks a lot, universe!” Lu yells as she looks up to the cold, dark and snowy sky. “Well, if I were Milo, what would I do?” she asks herself. “Well, Lu, we obviously have to look at the

map and calculate the circumference of the world multiplied by our exact coordinates!” Lu says. She lets out a loud groan and yells, “Ugh, even when I’m acting like him, I don’t get what he’s saying!”

As Lu thinks, she decides to follow the footprints. Lu follows them and finds a slightly worn out card with only the end saying, “building and shipping limited.” This gives her an idea. She runs back to the camping site to find Milo’s satchel.

“Where is it?” she exclaims. Lu gasps. “Yes! Here it is! The map!” she says as she lifts it and smiles.

“Now it says here that the closest town is less than half an hour away!” she says in excitement. “What’s this part ‘by train?’ MOTHERF—” she begins.

She runs at record speeds, climbing hills and running across flat and bumpy terrain. “Wow, I didn’t know I could run this fast!” Lu says in a delighted voice.

As she hikes up a steep hill, she sees warm candle lights in the distance. Lu sprints to the village, and as she enters the gates, she realises that this village is quite behind in the technology factor. The whole village is lit with candlelight and lanterns. All wooden, it seems like something that belongs in a history book. Even the cold air seems a bit colder here. Lu walks through the village staring at everyone. There is not a smile for miles, it appears, until she sees a nice old woman selling card readings at the side of the road.

“Excuse me, madam, I was wondering—” Lu tries to ask. “You want to know what the card says, don’t you?” the old woman says in a tired yet loving voice.

“Why, yes, I do. How did yo—”

“I’ll tell you what. I’ll give you a quick reading of my cards and I’ll read yours,” the old woman asks while smiling at her.” “Sorry, ma’am, I don’t have any money,” Lu replies with sadness for the old woman in her voice.

“Don’t worry about it, darling. Some things are more valuable than money,” she replies.

“Let’s see here,” the old lady says as she shuffles her cards. “The blue of cups in reverse, the green of swords reversed and the… president. Oh my, what spread!” the old lady says in shock. “It seems to me that you’re lost in more ways than one, my child. You must find whatever it is you are looking for. The truth is not always an ugly thing—it can sometimes strengthen the bonds that were already there. And finally, you, my child, are up against forces you can’t even begin to imagine, and a sharp mind but and loving heart is always the best combination.”

The old woman finishes her speech, and Lu is left speechless as she wipes the tears from her eyes. The old woman adds, “Thank you for listening to the ramblings of a poor old lady, my child, but now your card!” she says as she grabs the card out of Lu’s hand. “By the looks of it, this is a business card for the mirroring company—they’re a shipping and building company that exports and imports things across the planet. Their blue nation warehouse isn’t that far from here. Just keep hiking north until you hit the last non snowy forest right on the border with the green civilisation,” the old woman says.

“Thank you so very much, madam!” Lu exclaims excitedly.

“No problem, my love! Oh, and I have one more thing for you!” the old lady says playfully. She pulls something from under her table and it was a snowboard.

“A snowboard!” Lu shouts in disbelief. “How can I ever repay you?” Lu asks with genuine curiosity and gratitude.” “I’m sure you’ll come up with something, my dear, and I highly doubt this will be the last time we see each other. Now go save Milo!” the old lady answers.

“Wait… how did you know about… you know what? Never mind.”

Lu snowboards across the land at rapid speed, snow flying every which way. As Lu finally gets to the forest, she changes from her snow to regular outfit, and from there, she starts running. As she gets to the fence of the warehouse, she throws her bag over it and climbs it.

She runs into the warehouse and yells, “Milo, Milo, are you there?” She begins to hear muffled screams and sprints down the dark wet corridor. She finds Milo tied up and his mouth covered with silk bandages.

“Oh my gods, Milo! Are you okay?” she asks in a scared, concerned voice. As she kneels to untie him, she hears slow clapping, and a figure walks down from a dark hallway.

“Bravo!” Alvis says as they emerge from the shadows.” “You! It was you! Where’s your boss?” Lu asks in an aggravated tone as she tries to comfort Milo.

“Contrary to popular belief, I actually have a mind of my own!” they say in a sarcastic tone. “But now that I finally got both of you, I can finally return you to the president, and this whole ordeal will be over! Everything will go back to normal—just me and her!” Alvis says

in an excited but still longing voice as they pull out their signature tablet.

“What are you doing?” Lu asks with genuine fear.

“To be honest, I have no idea how you made it here. All my calculations stated you’d be here in two days, yet here you are? Oh, and to answer your question, I’m calling the thugs I ordered to kidnap this poor fellow to come over here and finish the job,” Alvis says with a grin on their face.

“You shall do no such thing,” a voice in the shadows says in a monotone voice.

“My president?” Alvis exclaims in a frightened voice.

“I didn’t expect this kind of rash behaviour from you, Alvis. Keep it up!” the president exclaims in excitement as Alvis blushes.

“Are you people insane?” shouts Lu as she unwraps Milo’s mouth covering.

“What she said!” Milo exclaims.

“Well, no more insane than you two,” the president answers as she walks towards them. “I say we make things more interesting. You and I will fight to see who’s going to make it out of here!” the president exclaims in a happy voice as she shows a devilish grin.

“Fine, I’ll fight you!” Lu shouts as she clenches her jaw and curls her hands into fists.

“No, not you! You,” the president says as she points to Milo.

“Me?” Milo shouts. “I… I can’t fight you!” he continues.

“Not an actual fight, silly! A fight of knowledge!” shouts the president in an ecstatic voice. “And judging from our location, I say our topic is the blue nation!” the president shouts. “You’ve got this, right Milo?” Lu asks as she wraps her arms around him.

“Y… yeah,” Milo replies nervously.

“Let the battle of wits commence!” the president shouts.

“Here are your two buzzers. I will ask you both a question out of five—four regular questions and a bonus question. “Understood?” Alvis says as they rest the buzzers on a folding table.

“Understood,” they both say as they sit down, ready to begin.

“The game will commence in 3… 2… 1… Go! My president, how many provinces are there in the blue nation?’” Alvis asks.

The president hits the buzzer and says, “I believe it’s 24,” in a cold yet confident voice.

“Correct!” Alvis says as they turn to Milo.” “What are the two types of climates in the blue nation?”

Milo struggles to answer as everything around him gets blurry, and he starts to get dizzy.

Lu looks on with a worried look on her face. “Is it… is it three?”

he says in a nervous voice as his heart rate begins to go up.” “That is incorrect,” Alvis replies.

“What is going on with him? That was such an easy question,” Lu whispers to herself as she plays with her thumbs out of sheer nervousness.

“Next round!” Alvis exclaims.

“Are you okay, darling? You aren’t looking too good,” the president asks in a sarcastic tone.

“I’m fine!” Milo exclaims as sweat starts to run down his face and his heart rate speeds up.

“My president, how many beaches can be found in the blue nation?” Alvis asks.

“Ah, that’s quite a tricky question, my dear Alvis! The answer is zero!” the president answers in a happy and unbothered tone.

“That is correct.” As Alvis turns to Milo, voices start to become far away as the room becomes even more blurry, and his heart rate continues to go up. “What can be found more frequently in the blue nation—forests or jungles?” Alvis asks.

“Come on, Milo—you got this!” Lu whispers to herself as the air in the room gets even more tense.

Milo struggles to answer as his breathing becomes louder and sweat starts to drip down his back. “Is it… jungles?” he asks in a delirious voice.

“Are you asking or are you telling me?” Alvis asks Milo in a slightly concerned voice.

“I’m telling you,” Milo struggles to say.

“That answer is incorrect,” Alvis responds.

“Stop this madness!” Lu shouts as the tension in the air can be cut with a knife. “You can clearly see he’s not well,” Lu continues in the same angry voice.

“If he gives up now, he’ll lose—isn’t that right, my dear Alvis?” the president asks in a happy tone.

“That is correct, my president,” Alvis responds with some sympathy behind their voice.

“Lu, I’m fine!” Milo responds in a frustrated tone.

“No, you’re not!” Lu responds in a caring tone as she

walks towards him and lays her hand on his shoulder.

“The next bonus question is all or nothing. If he gets it right, you win,” the president says in a persuasive tone.

“Is that true?” Lu asks Alvis. Alvis nods their head in agreement.

“Lu, just trust me, okay? I got this,” he says in a delirious yet confident voice as everything around him becomes even more blurry and voices start to get even farther away.

“Let the bonus round commence!” Alvis shouts. “My president answers this question to win everything!” Alvis exclaims as the president sits

quietly with a smile on her face. “Where can this very location be found on a map?” Alvis asks.

“That’s a tricky one! Is it to the south of the snowy lands?” the president responds in a bubbly tone.

“That’s incorrect,” Alvis says in disbelief.

“Oh, better luck next time I suppose!” the president says. That’s impossible—how did she not know that? What is she playing at? Lu thinks to herself.

Alvis then turns to Milo and says, “The same question.”

“Come on, Milo. Maps are your thing!” Lu whispers to Milo.

As Milo confidently gets up and extends his hands to the buzzer, the room begins to spin around him. Sweat drips down his face, and everything around is going in circles as he slowly places his hand on the buzzer and presses it. At that very moment, he collapses.

“MILO!” Lu shouts as she goes to help him.

“Pop goes the weasel!” the president sings. “Well, I suppose you win,” the president continues.

“What?” Alvis replies.

“Technically, he did press the buzzer,” the president says. ‘That doesn’t even make sense!” Alvis shouts at the president. As soon as they realise what they did, they cover their mouth.

“Yeah, that’s true,” the president says, unbothered by their action. “But I did create the rules of the game, so I here name them null and void! Milo is the winner!” the president shouts with her fist in the air and a smile on her face.

“I suppose you want safe passage to the green civilisation, correct?” the president asks Lu.

“Yes!” Lu responds in an upbeat voice. “Oh, can I ask one more thing?” Lu asks the president.

“Of course, darling,” she responds in an excited tone.

“I was hoping you’ll help a certain village?” Lu whispers into the president’s ear.

The president gives a coy smile. “Done and done!” the president responds. “Since this is a shipping warehouse, this container should take you right past the border!” the president says in a bubbly voice as Alvis loads Milo’s body into the container.” I look forward to our next encounter, Lutana,” the president says with a devilish grin on her face as she extends her hand.

Lu takes her hand firmly and responds ecstatically, “As do I!” Before she leaves, she runs to Alvis and whispers in their ear, “I know you are in love with the president, and I say go for it, darling!” mimicking the president. Alvis’ cheeks turn a bright red as Lu

walks away.

As the container lifts away and both Alvis and the president wave goodbye at Lu, who is standing by the door, Alvis asks, “Why did you let them get away, ma’am?”

“Even the lions in the colosseum need a little boost here and there. Trust me, darling—the worst is yet to come!” the president responds in an unsettling voice.

As our heroes are on the ship going to their destination, Milo finally wakes up.

Shocked, Lu goes down to comfort him and asks him, “What happened back there, Milo? You’re usually so calm, and you knew that stuff!” Milo stays silent. “Milo?” Lu asks in a worried tone.

“I was afraid, okay!” Milo shouts at Lu.

“Afraid of what?” Lu asks as she rests her hand on his shoulder, but he pushes her back.

They both remain silent for a moment until Milo says, “I was afraid that you’ll find out!”

“That I’ll find out what?” Lu asks with great concern. “That you’ll find out I was lying,” he says in a sad voice. “Lying about what?” she replies.

“Everything!” he shouts at her.

“Milo, I don’t understand,” Lu says in a sad, confused voice, tears forming in her eyes.

“Oh no, please don’t cry!” Milo says as he hugs her tightly.

“I haven’t been giving you the whole truth, Lu,” he says in a depressed voice as he tilts his head down. “I’m not really from the blue nation—I’m from the red civilisation. I just escaped there,” he says as tears form in his eyes. “Escaped from what?” Lu asks in a very worried tone.

“My family,” he replies as tears roll down his face and his nose begins to turn red.

“Your family? Why would you run from your family?” Lu asks as she rests her hand on his shoulder once again.

“I wasn’t assigned this gender at birth, and when I told my family who I truly was, let’s just say they didn’t take it very well,” he says as he bursts into tears. Lu remains quiet. “The blue nation was where I could truly be myself, and I was worried I didn’t know—”

Lu cuts off Milo and gives him a tight embrace and says lovingly and confidently, “Milo, I may not understand what you’re saying, but you have always been and will always be my Milo, no matter what.”

“But I thought we said no secrets?” Milo says as he holds back his tears.

“You didn’t have any secrets, Milo, because you’re just that—Milo!” They both tightly embrace

each other.

“Do I have to let go?” Milo asks.

“No. No, you don’t,” she replies.