04. Gentlemen... Man...
MAMA, the EXOtic
“It seems like we’ll have to stop here for today,” MAMA announced, looking at the sun just above the horizon. “I’ll set up camp.”
“You? Set up camp? But you’re a girl, you probably wouldn’t be able to even put up a sign without breaking a nail,” Suho taunted, setting his backpack down.
MAMA glared at Suho and tossed him the tent capsule, which he caught. The capsule smacked him in the stomach and he gasped at the weight of the capsule.
“W-why is this thing so heavy?” Suho groaned.
“Because you are as weak as an ant with one leg,” MAMA stated bluntly, taking the capsule with ease from him.
“Do you need any help?” Chen asked, taking similar capsule from his backpack.
“I can do it myself,” MAMA replied, pressing the red button the capsule.
“It’s the least I can do. Besides, it’s a terrible thing for a boy to stand around while a girl does all the work,” Chen smiled sweetly and followed in her lead.
MAMA looked at Chen expressionless and shrugged. She tossed the capsule to the side and Chen followed in her example. As the capsules hit the ground, they exploded into small two person tents.
MAMA searched through the other backpacks along with Chen and pulled out five more capsules, setting the tents into a small circle around the camp. Once they were done, MAMA took out a tube from her backpack and pressed the button on it, releasing an axe head. Suho cringed at the sight and hid behind Lay.
“Please don’t hurt me! I’m sorry for sassing you,” Suho apologized.
MAMA raised an eyebrow at him and walked over to Lay, shoving the axe into his hands.
“Go search for some firewood,” MAMA ordered.
“What? Why me?” Lay gasped, shoving it back into MAMA’s hands. “You search for some firewood.”
MAMA sighed tiredly, and Chen came up to her, taking the axe out of her hands. MAMA gasped and clasped his hands onto it, refusing to let Chen help her once again.
“MAMA, please let me do this job for you. I don’t want you to do too much,” Chen said, fighting with MAMA for the axe.
“Okay guys… let’s not fight over the axe,” Tao warned, stepping in between the two. “It’s an axe.”
MAMA sighed and took the axe from Chen’s hands and walked away. Chen persistently chased after her, grabbing the axe from her hands and intertwining his hands into hers. MAMA felt a strange pang inside her body and shudder as Chen led her forward.
After a while of searching the two finally found a few dry and dead trees. MAMA stood behind Chen as he worked hard, hacking away at the trees. Once he was done, he took two thirds of the wood and tossed it onto his shoulder while MAMA took a pile of small sticks.
“Why are you treating me like a newborn child?” MAMA asked; a bit irritated.
Chen smiled softly and turned towards her.
“I’m not. I’m treating you the way a gentleman should,” Chen chuckled. “So, tell me about something, MAMA.”
“What?” She replied, trekking over the cooling sand.
“Why exactly did you kidnap us?” Chen asked.
“Because I was ordered to do so,” MAMA replied immediately.
“Well, why? What for?” Chen continued questioning.
MAMA stopped and glanced at him. “Do you really not know?”
“Nope,” Chen chuckled and shook his head.
Sighing, she began to explain the situation. “You may not know it, but you are all people of this planet. You were all sent away to Earth when you were young to keep you safe. Right now, the Tree of Life, the source of all-good on this planet, is dying. With that, the Darkness is becoming stronger by the day. The twelve of you are the guardians of the tree. Your job is to save it and restore peace to the planet.”
“Sounds reasonable enough. I think,” Chen murmured, scratching his head. “So we just have to defeat the Darkness? A couple of light bulbs should do… I mean…”
“No, no. The Darkness is not just… darkness. It’s more than that,” MAMA shuddered. “It’s pure evil. And only you twelve can stop it. There’s only one problem… you don’t have your powers.”
“What? Powers?” Chen asked skeptically. “You mean we’re like mutants?”
“No, you’re magical beings. You are all basically gods upon this planet. Anyway, your powers are scattered all over the land, being held by your animal guardians. If you can find them, you can obtain the EXO gem then hold containing your power. I just… I don’t know where to find your guardians. Gah, why am I so useless?”
Chen stopped and dropped the axe onto the sand before grabbing MAMA’s wrist and yanking her close to him. He encircled his arm around her head and placed it on his chest. MAMA’s eyes rounded in surprise as Chen placed his chin on top of her head.
“You’re not useless. Don’t ever say that again. I hate that word,” Chen grumbled. “I’m sure you can figure out a way for us to find our guardians.”
MAMA slumped in posture and glanced to the side, toward the setting sun.
“Well, there is a way… It’s just a rumor I heard amongst the scientists, though. They say only the twelve Guardians will truly know who their animal guardians are. At first sight, they’ll feel a connection right away. It’s like falling in love at first sight… whatever that means,” MAMA explained, backing away from Chen.
Chen smirked, picked up the axe, and looked around. “Well, I’ll keep my eyes open… besides, I think I might know how it feels to fall in love at first sight.”
“What do you mean?” MAMA asked, following him onward.
“Nothing,” Chen shook his head and looked down sheepishly.
As Chen stared at the sand beneath his feet, he could’ve sworn he saw a line of golden light in the sand. He elbowed MAMA and pointed at it.
“Do you see that?” Chen asked.
“See what?” MAMA asked, looking at the blank sand.
“I don’t know… it’s like a little line. I… I feel like,” Chen stammered, his mind yearning to follow the light for some reason. Chen dropped his wood and began to follow it, sprinting almost, axe still in hand.
“Where are you going, Chen?” MAMA shouted.
“I need to find the end of this light! I have to! It’s calling for me,” Chen replied, chasing the light as it began to disappear.
“Wait for me!” MAMA called softly from far away.
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