21's Legacy

Chapter 5

"Pick your toys, boys! I'll just use the bathroom." Mom says as we arrive in what appears to be a big warehouse of stuffs.
They call it THE MALL. I've never seen this kind of place in before and I have never imagined a paradise such as this. "And by the way, you stick together and do not go too far. I'll be back in a second." She left us in the toys section.
"Wow! This is incredible!" Threin shouts while looking at a Robot toy. "It's so...wait what does this button do?" He pressed it and the robot started moving its waist, wailing some sounds and flashing lights on its guns.
"Wow. that was so cool." I say quietly.
"Yeah, the humans have very nice toys."
"Why? Don't you have toys in Lorien?"
"We do. But not these kinds of toys. We play ball games, pretty much like the ball game we did in training. And some stick picking, word scrambling. But not these, they never make toys like swords or guns or robots that shoot blasters. No planes with missiles like that one on the corner. Nor little soldiers armed with various ammunitions like that on the 3rd shelf. No. None. Nothing like these. Toys back there are boring."
"Why?"
"Because we are a PEACEFUL race REMEMBER? Weapons like these are not necessary in Lorien." He sets the robot down and it started walking. "My friend Daxton once said that these things always result to a fight. A fight then can be bigger and result into a war. He said that these things are bad. I do believe him alright, but these can be bad, but they can make you look manly too. And besides these are just toys, what could it do but imitate the sound of a falling missile?" Threin rebooted the robot and it starts doing it's routine again. "But even if these are real, I won't be needing any of these. I will develop Legacies that own! After all, the Legacies are the most powerful force in the universe." He raises a Karate chop, "Hiiiiyaah!" Then takes a toy gun and aims it at my forehead. "This only makes me look MANLY. Bang!"
"Cool." I nudge his gun and went straight towards the coolest toy I've ever seen. "I want this! Does it make me look manly, Threin?"
"Whoa, so you like that kind of combat huh? Put it on your side and pose for it, brotha."
I did pose for it. I bent my knees, lower my head and put the SWORD on my left side. I try to imagine how a Samurai would look like before drawing his sword for an attack.
"Now that's a warrior! Very manly dude. Very manly."
"Thanks. I'll cut you in half!" I yell as I drew my sword.
"Oh yeah? How about this?" He drew a different kind of sword and charged to me. "Hiiiyyaaahhh!!"
"Hiiiiyyaaaahhh!!" I raced towards him too. And our swords met each other.
He tossed me another blow but I deflect it easily. The movement was a familiar one. I almost did it instinctively, but with precision and coordination. It was something like our ball trainings. Like you have to catch the ball no matter what, only this time you have to dodge it.
Not really knowing what I'm doing, I turned around to fully deflect his sword and hit him with mine on his open side. It was as if my muscles knows what to do, I only need to look for an opening and there the sword goes.
But he is as good as a dodger as I am but he distanced himself from me.
"Good counter, you almost got me." He changed his tone to a chalant sounding one, "I underestimated your powers, human. Now, DIE! Hiyyaaahh!!"
I didn't hesitate to charge forward as I see him closing at me. "No! YOU DIE! Chhaaaaa!"
We make a multiple "Kaching" sounds as our swords meet with each other failing to wound the opponent. We do our best to slash each others intestines out but we never hit each other's skin. We always find a way to avoid each other's attacks.
I find it easy to predict his incoming actions so deflecting them is not a problem to me. The only problem I'm facing is how I could cut his head off because he seemed to know how to predict my movements too.
I have to change my strategy and I have to do it fast because he is now making his way on to me. When I knew there's not enough time to try and meet him in the middle of our gap, I stayed put. I wait.
"I'm going to amputate you, you little twert!"
He dashed to me and raises his sword for victory.
I stayed. I waited. Waited for the right moment to come. The moment where he would wound me but I with the cost of losing his head.
Then I saw it. I can do it. I can...
"Kids, what are you doing?" It was Mom.
"Oh Mom! we are just about to finish our fight." Threin answered lowering his sword.
"You were fighting?"
"No Mom, it was just a game." I laughed.
"Yeah, you should've seen us try killing each other. Ha!" He said. We laughed.
"I guess I'm a little late for the action. Have you picked your toys yet?" Mom asked.
Threin grabs the robot and the gun he was playing with a while ago. He began fiddling on the robot and lets go of the other toys he's holding. I hold out my sword to Mom.
"Can I take take them both?" He says to Mom.
"That's it?" She sounded surprised. "I mean is this all?" She replied unbelievingly.
"Uhm, how many toys are we supposed to... Uh...allowed to pick?" Asks Threin.
"RewardS, kids. I said RewardS." She pulled a shopping cart beside her and kicked one to Threin. "I can't believe you boys. Other kids would cry for toys, but you..? You just don't know how lucky you are, do you?" She pulled another and pushed it towards me. "Fill 'em up boy scouts." We stood there jaws dropped of what we've just heard.
She really is unpredictable. She's acting weird today. First off, the day offs. Then the idea of exposing ourselves to many humans here in the downtown. Thirdly, the way she conversed with with Mang Tony as if he's been a friend of hers for a very long time. And lastly, letting us pick as many toys as we wanted. All happened in a few hours before lunch time.
It makes me wonder how many more surprises are in stored for us for the rest of this afternoon. But before that, I have to savor this moment and indulge myself with all the toys I could take home.
We were about to run to different directions when Mom told us to stick together as much as possible because she'll be going to the grocery while we pick our toys.
We did what Mom told us for a couple of minutes then agreed to give each other the freedom to go to the direction of whatever toy we want, provided that we will meet at a certain point every ten minutes.
I swept through a shelf full of toy cars, trucks, trains and airplanes carefully picking one of each kind.
All the other kids around looks at me amazed on my half filled cart. I guess stuffing a cart with toys is not a normal thing for a child my age coz even the sales staff looks at me intently whenever I pass one.
"Hi! Are you gonna buy all that? Coz if you're not and you're just playing around, we're gonna have to put them back to their shelves." Finally, one of the salesmen tried to ask.
"No, my Mom will be buying me all these." I say. Hesitant of making eye contact with him.
"But where is your Mom?"
"She's in the grocery, she'll be back to pick us up in a while."
"Us? You mean, you're with that boy?" He points to Threin who's cart has been more stuffed than mine.
"Uhm, yup. He's my brother." I waved to Threin, he notices and waved back. The salesman turned his head from Threin to me, scanned me from head to toe. Perhaps looking for any resemblance.
"O-alright then. Just don't misplace too many toys from their shelves, okay?" And he watched me push my cart towards Threin.
"What did he say to you?" Threin asked when we met.
"I-I was afraid that he'll take my toys away from my cart so I answered him." Tears are forming in the corners of my eyes. I know I'm not supposed to talk to anyone. "Do you think Mom would still buy me a toy if she knew I talked to that man?"
"Nah! No one's gonna tell her. Unless you spilled our Loric secrets? Which you didn't, right?"
"No! I didn't. I just told him I'm your brother. Is that as bad as the secrets?" I whispered.
"Don't think so."
"Did a toy guy came to ask you anything?"
"No, I guess they must've thought that I'm a foreigner. They left me alone all this time, but I think at least two of them wanna try. And if they do, I'll pretend talking in another language and I'm sure that'll keep 'em away from me forever. Hahaha!" We laughed. "We still have plenty more shelves to sweep through. Meet up here after ten minutes?" I nod at him.
When we turned to go to our targets, we saw a rack of basketballs, volleyballs and beach balls beside a shelf.
"Are you gonna get one?" He asked me.
I shook my head violently, "No thanks."
"Yeah! No thanks you little peep squeaks!" He kicked the rack of balls and we laughed our way to our own destinations.
I didn't take everything, I just took every interesting toy I see (w/c is pretty much most of everything). I was almost satisfied of the toys that I've just picked when I saw an action figure of Batman and Robin. As I look at it, I imagine myself as the Robin and Threin as the Batman. So I packed it in. I thought it would be great to give Threin the Batman action figure while I'll keep the Robin, it's like a symbolism of our brotherhood. I hope he'll like it.
For a reason that I don't exactly know what or why, I found my way heading to the girls' section (maybe because of a huge teddy bear standing by the corner) when I saw an egg-like key chain. It was pink. The color of the girls uniform in our school, and has a little rabbit inside. I don't really know what it does except that it's supposed to be a key chain. It's about the size of a real egg but it's light and smooth and soft. While looking at it, I know I want to give it to Jean. I thought maybe she'll like it. So I took it but put it deep in my mountain of toys so that Threin and Mom won't notice it. They might think I like girlie toys. Or the softer things for the matter.

"Threin? Johann? Where are you?" It was Mom calling us up from one of the cashier counters.
I emerged to meet her there since I've already finished my toy shopping. "Where's your brother?" She asked me. I shrugged. "Threin?" She calls out again.
"Just a minute!" Threin calls back from nowhere.
"Okay, hurry up. Johann is a little hungry already." She must've read my mind because I really am famished after the two hours of picking up toys. She smiles at me when she looked at my now full cart. "Is that everything you want, dear?"
I nod in confirmation.
"Well, what do we have here? Wow you picked a guitar. You really want music do you now, my dear?" She pat may head. I smiled at her and hugged her left leg since that's as far as I could reach.
"Let's start paying for your things while waiting for your brother." We unload the contents of my cart to the cashier. Again, all the other kids around me watch in jealousy in seeing my items punched by the counter. The Cashier herself couldn't believe her eyes as she swipes one item to another.
"Early Christmas shopping, Ma'am?" Her question blended with the beeping of the cashier machine.
"No, they're just for my boy here." She answered with a smile.
"Boy, you're one lucky kid." She just punched the pink key chain! Good thing both of them are not looking at my items.
"Threin, you're taking too long, honey. C'mon over." Mom shouted.
"Yeah yeah! I'm coming Mom!" He emerges with a mountain of toys. Literally a mountain of toys. The cart is so full that some toys drop whenever the wheels of the cart meet a bump. Mom took a basket and transported some of the toys from his cart.
"You've got to be kidding me." Whispered the cashier after seeing the mountain-like toys of Threin.
"Kindly put these on a separate box, please?" Mom said to the Cashier as they arrive the counter.
"Yes Ma'am." She replied in disbelief but in a tone suitable for a sales clerk.
When the cashier had finished punching our purchases, Threin poked me and pointed a to a direction using his lips. When I turned to see what's in there, I saw the toy guy (the ones that talked to me about putting my toys back to their shelves) watching us. He drops the toy car he's holding (and he also drops his jaw) as he sees Mom pay in cash. When he turned to us, Threin puts his left index finger under his left eye and pulled the flesh downward towards his cheek and extended his tounge out of his mouth to the toy guy.
"Isshhkkrruu yyouuu!" He said with his tongue out. I joined him and extended my tongue out to the toy guy too. When the guy saw us, he just left in embarrassment.
Sweet revenge.
"Ma'am do you want to ask for assistance in carrying your packages?" The cashier tells Mom looking concerned about our two heavy boxes of toys and three plastic bags of groceries Mom had purchased a while ago.
"No thanks, no need for that." She answered her.
"Are you sure Ma'am? I can ask one of our crews to help you up with those boxes." She insists.
"We can handle it, right boys?" She said.
I have a bad feeling about this. Does she really think we could carry all that weight?
Threin got what Mom meant, "Yeah, we can handle them." This is actually a part of the training we're supposed to have a day off with. He then lifted the to boxes to boast of his strength.
"See?" Mom nodded at the cashier.
"Okay Ma'am, if you insist. Well at least use one of the carts if you're still gonna stroll around the Mall. It's allowed to use the cart upto the west wing and the parking lot." She offered.
"Thank you so much." Mom replied as Threin loads the boxes to a cart.
"Thanks for shopping also, Ma'am. Have a great time." And we waved goodbye to the Cashier.
We followed Mom into a grilling restaurant. She said she haven't tasted grilled food and that she always wanted to give it a try. So we went in and a girl ushered us to a table and took our orders.
"Is there anything you want to eat kids?" Mom asked.
"Hotdog!" I said when I saw a picture of it in the menu.
"I don't understand any of this so, just order me anything I can chew." Threin said giving up on looking at the menu.
"Alright then." She turned to the girl, "get me one of these, and this, and this and I think I'll have this one too." Pointing pictures on the menu, "Does this come with rice or we have to order it separately?"
"It's separate order Ma'am, how many orders of rice would you like to order?"
"Three."
"Drinks Ma'am?"
"Boys, drinks?"
"Soda!" Threin shouted.
"Orange juice for me." I said.
"And an Iced tea for me." Mom told the waitress.
"Anything else, Ma'am?" She said while scribbling on her notebook.
"Give us a half gallon of Ube ice cream for dessert."
"Okay Ma'am, the grill will be ready after fifteen minutes."
"Thank you."
The Waitress left and we chatted for a while about our new toys. When the food arrived, Threin and I looked at each other.
"Tentacles? Ugh." Threin prevented a puke from coming out of his mouth upon the sight of a large grilled squid.
"I've always wanted to try it." Says Mom in excitement. "Let's eat!"
After lunch was over, Threin asked Mom to buy grilled squid for take out. He says, he wants it for supper.
Now I'm confused. Who is more human now?