Josh's P.O.V
As soon as we were inside the town of Richibucto, we are thankful because there are no guards since they have fled the monster attack. I saw a bunch of town complexes and cars parking near their houses. Trees are covering some parts of the lands, which is a good thing (to slow global warming).
We walked for another 1 kilometer before we encounter policeman that came in squads. Each of them are holding a prisoner, which is presumed from the Kouchibouguac National Park. It's kinda too bad because the national park is very beautiful before the Sirens attack, but once the sirens attack, it was turned into a massive bloody crime scene.
We decided to avert from the police path, and hurried to the left flank. Homeless people are gathered on the side of the roads, and they are begging for money and food. I feel really bad for them. It's like I have the urge to give them some of our supplies.
Vince decided that we would help them give some of our supplies, in exchange for any vehicles present. Vince gave each one of us food, and as soon as we reached the homeless people, we gave them our foods, as if it's an offering to the gods. More and more people began to crowd around us, and we gave them all, and they each ate their food.
"Thank you so much!" One woman that is holding a baby said. "Please, if there is anything that we can do to repay you." The others began to say.
"Well..." Ariel said, scanning her surroundings. "We would be able to use a transport. A car."
"Oh, a car!" The little boy among the crowd said. "Sure! We can...." The boy faltered. "Umm... what's a car?"
I was restraining my laugh. I can't laugh in front of them because we would look as if we're mocking the boy. The girl beside him whispered to him, and the boy said something, and then the boy began to spoke.
"Yes, sure." He said. "You can have our car."
What? Is he kidding me? Only a bag of foods that we gave to them and we're given their cars? I wished that I could thank them for their generocity, but I think it's worth it, to go to the Kouchibouguac National Park.
I'm still not sure why homeless people have cars. Why don't they use the cars to drive back and forth towards the areas where job is available?
Our question was answered when Vince tried to start up the engine. The car's fuel is empty, but thankfully Vince had brought the fuel from the supply.
Vince pulled out one fuel tank, and he opened it and opened the car's fuel tank and pour the petrol into the car's fuel tank.
Unfortunately, Vince only managed to save only 1 can of petrol, so it would only go as far as 20 kilometers driving.
"Sorry guys." Vince said. "There's only one petrol tank that I had managed to save. We can stop at the nearest petrol station if you like."
"Yeah, but where?" Ariel asked.
Vince pointed towards the left. Sure enough, between two three-story buildings, there's the petrol station, and people are queueing up to have their fuels refilled. So we drove our way towards the petrol station. It didn't take long to reach there, considering it's only 500 meters away from where we are right now.
Once we reached the petrol station, we are quite in a luck, because there's one empty lane that is free of cars. Vince went there and found out that this part of the station had been abandoned.
Vince, having a feeling that something bad is about to happen when we refill there, decided to queue up behind other cars. It took a long time to queue up and by the time it's our turn, the petrol officer walked towards us.
"Yes, how may we help you?" The petrol officer asked.
"We would like to refill our fuels, thank you." Vince told him.
"Well, just one second..." The petrol officer said, and walked towards the nearest petrol station, grabbed his security card and swiped it on the card reading deck. Vince got up and started to fill his own petrol.
Vince continued to fill up the fuel tank until it's full. Then, Vince closed the fuel tap and paid the petrol officer.
"Well, have a nice ride!" The petrol officer said, as we sped off into the main road.
We should have eaten back then! Now we don't have anymore time to waste and we need to get to the Kouchibouguac National Park quickly.
We travelled by car until we arrived at the Kouchibouguac National Park. As expected, there are many dead bodies still piling up all over the national park, although it looks better than the one that I saw on my dream. The attractions are empty, and police are surrounding the area with yellow tapes.
I scanned the whole national park, looking for a way in. But apparently, the cops had this place sealed up very tight, and so there is no way we could get in or out, unless...
Vince stepped out of the car and noticed a tunnel entrance. Vince kept his eyes trained on the tunnel as he made his way in. Me and Ariel followed him.
As soon as we travelled just about 30 meters deep in the tunnel, Vince found something. According to Vince, it is the ticket to go to the center of the earth, and we rejoiced.
"Hooray!" Ariel said, as we walked back to the entrance of the tunnel. "We finally can get this Crystal Reflector Ore from the center of the earth!" It has been our main goal in this quest, to obtain the ore since it has a perfect sound cancelling vibration emitting wave. This way, the sirens song will have no effect on whoever is wearing it.
We walked back towards the car and set off to go to Iceland. This time, I was driving.
To be honest, I was half awake, so when I drive, I kept my eyes half open, while trying to avoid traffic accidents. Fortunately for me, there are not many people driving in these roads, and so I can drive freely. But I have to make sure that I stay on the road and not hit electric poles on the side of the streets. One person has hit an electric pole on the side of the streets because of drinking under influence, and we don't want to make the same mistake.
I turned left, while reading the maps. According to the map, we should have been turning right, but there are more than 1 ways to solve the road puzzle, and according to the map, there should be another seaport on the left side. I focused on the road, forcing both of my eyes to open widely so that there won't be any accidents. Vince was getting worried, because I am quite sleepy, and as we all know, sleepy drivers tend to cause accidents.
Vince's P.O.V
Worry sank inside my heart. If Josh fell asleep in the middle of the speedy highway, we would be in a serious trouble, so I decided to toss Josh behind and took control of the wheel. I slowed the car down until it has slow enough speed for us to turn around the left corner since that's where the seaport is.
According to my memory, after going to the seaport, it should take us straight to Iceland, where we can finally go to the center of the earth.
But however, the guards that is guarding the entrance to the center of the earth will not take us lightly. The first time I went on an expedition to the center of the earth, I have to be scanned at least 5 times before I can finally go in. I remember being stripped fully naked in an isolated room, where I am being checked for any possible forbidden items. The rules in Iceland is very strict. Forbidden items are instantly confiscated and will be returned to you after the expedition.
I guess I can tell this to my friends once we have reached the seaport. But it's so important that I could not hold it to tell my friends.
"Hey guys, there are a few things that you need to know." I told Ariel and Josh.
Ariel and Josh looked at me, and I slowed down the car.
"Listen, this is important." I told them. "Befire we get to the center of the earth, we are going to be fully stripped naked, in order to be checked."
Ariel frowned. I could tell that Ariel had a bad experience while being naked, especially when it involves girls. No offense, but Ariel is the typical girl that raises people's hunger for intercourse. She might not realize it, but she radiated quite a beauty, like that of daughter of Aphrodite. I'm surprised that Josh hasn't realized it, or not...
I guess Josh had realized it since he spent more time with Ariel than me, and the fact that Josh had been with Ariel for the past 2 years.
I stepped on the gas to make the car speed up. Just then, we can see the seaport just in front of us. The seaport is looking beautiful, with a couple of parking zones and a nice welcome sign that says: Welcome to the Seaport! This Seaport is dedicated to those of you who wants to travel to Iceland! There are trash cans lined up along the side of the road, and sidewalks nicely paved. People are walking in a hurry since they do not want to miss this boat that is now boarding for Iceland. Ariel's P.O.V
I looked at Josh. I have a feeling that I should be with Josh from now on, since I know that if I let him wander about himself, he will get in trouble, serious trouble.
I looked at the beautiful seaport that loomed right in front of me. I still can't shake the thought that we are going to me fully stripped naked before we can go to the center of the earth. I got the feeling that there are people that are going to rape me when I do strip naked.
I remembered when I reached puberty, I strip naked in one of the bathrooms full of my friends, and one of them said, "Ariel, you have a nice body! People would be drawn into you!"
Since then, I have a fear of stripping naked in front of anyone, especially boys or girls. I felt that there should be another way into the center of the earth without having to be stripped naked.
So, all three of us stepped out of the car and walked towards the immigration. Josh held me, and I sighed. I felt calmer and less nervous. I could feel my heart is slowing down to a normal pace as Josh held me.
Josh McLean might be short and small, but he radiates this kind of aura that makes people's heart warm and relaxed. However, I could only feel this aura when I made contact with him, such as hugging, shaking hands, etc. He is also a very good fighter, able to take out an echidna by himself. However, when he does it, the echidna doesn't know he is there, and that doesn't count. But don't tell Josh that, because I could get in trouble with him.
Anyways, we walked towards the dock (seaport) and bought our tickets. Fortunately, the ticket to the center of the earth that we just found is not just the ticket. It also contains a credit card that seems to have near limitless amount of money.
How did I know? My father once told me that in a quest, I would obtain a credit card that will solve all of my problems. The only questions are: What kind of problem? Is it the problem with my base? Or is it a problem with lack of resources? I'm sure that it doesn't involve friendship because friendship cannot be bought with money. But I'm sure that it would be worthwhile taking it, since this is one of the times where I would need that credit card.
We approached the ticket booth and ordered 3 tickets to go to Iceland, and we paid using the credit card that we have just got. As soon as we got our tickets, we are off to board this Princess Althea ship.
I checked the tickets, and it says that we can sit anywhere in the boat, and the passenger boat is due to departing in 2 hours. It's still quite a lot of time, and so we decided to eat first.
I checked the tickets again, and this time more thoroughly. I saw that it's swimming pool and we can actually have time to get out of the ship for some time and explore the depths of the ocean. That would be very cool for me since I spend about half of my waking time in the waters.
For some reason, this feels like going home after a seemingly long journey. I remembered where I slept inside a giant salty aquarium every single day and how cozy that environment is. I just hoped that there are giant salty aquariums that I can sleep on, especially the hypersaline ones.
Speaking of hypersalinity, I was given a gift by my father that I could survive hypersalinity up to 55% salinity levels. I was also told that I could survive the harsh environments, such as the arid desert, and the heat from volcanic regions.
Anyways, I walked to a nearby restaurant named McDonalds. The restaurant was nicely decorated, with red and yellow alternating McDonalds neon lights flashing on and off, and balloons encircling the entrance. Chairs are lined up nicely along the tables and apparently someone are throwing a party there.
We went inside the restaurant and I stepped on the booth. The lady walked towards the cashier, "May I help you?"
"Well, we want to order..." I stopped for a while as I am scanning for food that is quite big in portion for us. "...burger."
Burger is one of the only food that came to my mind when I came here. The other was Fried Chicken, but I didn't really liked the fried chickens since they are injected with growth hormones everyday so that they grow big within days or weeks.
"Do you kids have money to pay for it?" The waiter asked.
We showed her our credit card, and she ran a check at her system to make sure that the credit card belonged to the right person. After a few minutes had passed, her attention is all to me.
"Ariel Tweeto?" The waiter asked.
I nodded.
Then, the waiter entered a series of numbers and letters and in a few minutes, our burger was made. One for me, one for Vince, and one for Josh.
Each of us take our own burgers. It wasn't just any burger. It was a Big Mac that we ordered. We sat in a table and ate our meal. The Big Mac tasted so very good that I really wanted to have more.
"We should take away some of them, and that should be sufficient amount until we get to Iceland." I told Vince and Josh.
They both agreed, and then I ordered some more of the Big Mac Burgers and I told them to take away. After waiting for about 4 minutes, our Big Mac had come, and it's about 9 of them, which is more than enough for us to eat during the passenger boat.
I looked at the clock in my trident. It says 15:30, and the ticket says it's going to depart at 17:10, which means that we have spent about 20 minutes in this restaurant.
After the waiter had delivered our take away Big Mac's to our table, we said thanks and went out of the McDonalds.
The passenger boat has arrived, and the passengers are getting out of the boat, and once they were all out, we are going to get in.
After about 12 minutes, all of the passengers had come out from Princess Althea's ship, and the guards told us to board the ship.
We were the first ones to board the ship. I saw the signs on the right says 'No outside food allowed', but I snapped my fingers and kept walking.
As we walk towards the ship, I got the feeling that this guard will spot me. I prayed to Poseidon, Father, please help me.
Thank the gods Poseidon answered my prayer. As soon as we passed the guards, they said nothing and allowed us to move. That was when my heart started to ease. Phew, that was close.
I grabbed my trident while Josh grabbed his light staff. We had manipulated the mist so that the light staff and the trident would only look like a walking stick. It was easy. It was just a matter of snapping your fingers and thinking of what the mortals would see in the mist manipulated environment.
I could see people staring at me while I walked up the stairs, reaching into the boat itself. I was beginning to feel nervous, when people started looking at me with their eyes wide. I already knew that they had bad intentions, so I quickly got up with my friends and once I'm inside the boat, I hurried to our dorms, where Josh, me and Vince were staying together in one huge dorm. The dorm is elegant, with nicely decorated chandeliers hanging down the ceiling. Furnitures shine as we observed our dorm. Even the beds are king sized, enough for all 3 of us to cram into one bed. There's also all kinds of cards that we can play, ranging from Uno, to 5 standard deck of cards. Snacks are already provided from the snack bar, and there are pringles, buns, beef, cheese, tomato, and other ingredients to make a burger.
Josh's P.O.V
I stood at the room with my mouth open. This room is extraordinary! It's so very elegant that I couldn't find the words to describe it! There's also an incubator where I could stay inside when I am in a coma. I guess that we can buy the incubator for Ariel's base, but I'm sure that Ariel will build one even better than this.
Ariel was already trying out the beds, and I decided to do the same. Once I touched one of the beds, it feels really comfortable against my skin, and I hugged the pillows and I was about to pass out when Ariel tapped me on the shoulder.
"Josh, you should see this." Ariel said, and I went towards where Ariel is pointing at.
It turns out that Ariel was pointing towards the mirror. I touched the mirror and was surprised when the mirror flips like a doortrap. The mirror closed again, and I pushed it again, but this time more gently. I can see behind the mirror that there is a hidden compartment. I illuminated my hand in a ball of light and found that the compartment was full of ready to eat foods. This could be one of the best trip ever! But however, it won't last long since we still have a quest to stop the Sirens from causing more havoc on cities.
I imagined the Crystal Reflector Ore to be one very sturdy material, that is extremely hard to craft with, but once crafted, it would be indestructible. Ariel just need to get the Crystal Reflector Ore in order to fully craft the sound cancelling headphones.
I suddenly felt that we were being watched, and I stopped in my tracks and hugged the nearest person, Ariel.
Ariel hugged me back. "Don't worry, Joshy. We're going to be alright."