Stuck In Paradise

Humphrey pt9

The group made their way forward. They could hear noises like scattering and low groans from everywhere. It felt like they were being watched constantly and it made Kel feel antsy. This place was acting differently from the last time he was here.

“So, what do we call you?” Aubrey asked Stranger.

“I am called Stranger. That’s been my name for a long time.” Stranger stated, not that interested in being asked questions.

“Why do you look like Basil?” Hero decided to speak up. Kel proceeded to mentally kick himself for not asking that the last time he was here.

“...Reasons you can’t comprehend. At least, not yet.” Stranger answered, speeding up a bit.

“...” The awkward silence came back again, no one really knowing what to talk about despite having many questions. It was clear they were bothering Stranger with them but they were just really curious.

“Um, why is this place acting like this? This didn’t happen last time I was here…” Kel muttered.

“Simple. They are acting up due to so many people being here at once. They don’t know what to do with this new company.” Stranger explained.

“...” Kel really wanted to ask more questions but he felt if he did, Stranger wouldn’t respond. It was clear by the way he was walking that he would prefer not to be asked any more questions.

So they continued walking in silence, the only sounds being from their surroundings. All Kel knew was that they were definitely going to have a big chat with Sunny in the morning.

~~~~~~

Omori sailed the boat calmly, convincing some Humphries to go join the other Humphries at the waterfall to build a bridge.

Everything is going as it should and Omori enjoyed the chatter of his friends.

Stepping off the boat and going through a door the group found themselves in a library. The room was filled with plants and technology the squid sisters use to create inventions.

“Wow! Look at all the cool plants here!” Kel grinned as he ran to the plants, checking each and every one of them before his eyes landed on a specific pot, “Hmm...Basil…”

“Basil?” Hero asked, not recognizing the name l̴̫͈i̷̗̬̐k̸̢̞̂͐ȩ̷̘̒̄ ̵̡͖͛h̷̹̽͠é̸̟̳ ̶̈͜s̴͔͂͝h̸͎̐o̵̹̺̕u̴͔̇͆l̸̜̞̄͌ḍ̵̑.

“That’s the name of this plant here.” Kel pointed to the pot.

Aubrey walked over and looked at the plant with a smile, “Awww, it’s so cute! It kinda reminds me of something.”

Her face suddenly dimmed, “But, I can’t remember what….”

Kel only shrugged in response before walking back to Omori, “Eh, if you forgot it probably wasn’t important.”

“...Yeah you’re right. I’m sure it’s nothing.” Aubrey sighed and stood behind Omori as well.

They moved through the library with ease, killing some enemies with no hesitation, and retrieved the last two Humphries they needed to collect. Sailing back, the group hopped off and went over to the Humphrey bridge. With the help of the Humphries, they made their way past with ease.

They hopped onto yet another boat and continued sailing. Food started to drop from the sky but Omori was quicker, dodging the food with ease.

His friends made no comments. They knew he was good at what he was doing.

~~~~~~

They were finally approaching the core and Stranger let go of Kel’s hand, singling to the others that they could unlatch hands as well.

“This is your stop. Please, try hard not to come back.” Stranger sighed, glad he was finally going to be free from them.

“We’ll do our best.” Hero nodded, not wanting to come back here at all.

“Good. I shall see you again when the time is right.” Stranger suddenly shoved them into the light with zero hesitation and let out a groan.

He lied when he said the monsters were going crazy due to the company. He knew what they actually wanted to do. They wanted to keep them here so they couldn’t find the truth, to trap them in the same loop Basil is trapped in. After all, wouldn’t it be easier to convince people not to find the truth if they died?

He couldn’t have the others not trust Omori. Omori would immediately realize if that was the case and he could do much worse than simply send them into a void. Omori would prevent them from finding the truth.

Stranger refuses to let that happen. He will help them find the truth. When he does his job, only then can she rest. Only then, could he help the boy that he promised everything was going to be okay.

~~~~~~

Omori hopped off the boat and stretched out his legs. No matter how many times he does it, his legs always get cramped from steering. He turned around to look at his friends but...their eyes were closed.

n̸̢̏̍ö̵̗̫̝͚́̚̚.̸̭͙̈́̍̏̒͜.̸̝͓͉̎͛.̴̖̻̹̎N̵͚͗Ȍ̶̹̻͎̜N̸͍̝̉̋̃Ŏ̸̡̖̝̈̅͝N̸̛͔͙̗̼̆͋Ǒ̴̠͓͖͒N̴̜̣̣͛͠Ö̶̡͔͈́̍̈́͠N̶̯͑O̶͚͓͍̘͂N̴͈̜̘̿Ȍ̷̖̥̣͊͆Ṅ̸̜Ö̵̙́͊N̵̦̤̂ͅO̸̼͠-̶̙͇͊̓͜͜!̷̮̬̺̊͆̀͒

Their eyes opened and they were taking in heavy breaths before looking around.

“This...isn’t where we left off…” Hero muttered before turning to look at Omori. He got up and off the boat with Kel and Aubrey with a slight smile on his face. Omori hated it. They shouldn’t be here at all.

“Did you have to deal with our fake selves the whole time? That must have been so annoying.” Kel rolled his eyes.

Ị̷̾ ̸͔̎w̶̲͋ȧ̴̞ṉ̷̚t̵̲̄ ̶̘͘t̷͈͠h̸̨e̶̦͝m̴̜̃ ̶̧̔b̶̜͆a̷̩͝c̶̬̀k̸̲̓!̵̙͘ ̷̻̓H̶̱o̵̦w̶̔ͅ ̸͈̄ḍ̶a̷͈̐r̷̬͌e̴̪͘ ̷̻y̴̲o̴̰̚u̸̫͘!̵͔̓ ̴̪̑H̶̺͆o̴̦̊w̴͓̒ ̴̙̅d̴̟̕o̶̗̿ ̷̹͑y̷͈͘o̴͆ͅu̴̜̍ ̵̘̐k̴̡͝e̴͔̽e̸̙p̴̱̒ ̴͓̅ë̸͈́s̶̖̐ĉ̸̘a̷̟͆p̷͆ͅi̶̹ņ̷͝g̸̥!̸̟̈́?̵̹̐

Omori wanted to scream but held it back. They can’t know anything about him.

“Huh, seems like we made it past the Humphrey bridge. It must have been hard doing most of the work yourself, huh?” Hero patted his head. It took all of Omori’s willpower to not stab him. He wanted his friends back.

...Actually, you know what? He can work with this. They just need to stay on the script with their actions. They can mess up the lines and say whatever they want but as long as things end up the same then the loop can continue successfully. He can find a way to prevent them from breaking from the script.

“Hey, what do we need to do now?” Kel asked, looking around the room to see if he can do anything but stand around.

Aubrey shrugged, “I don’t know, we could ask around.”

“Good idea, Aubrey! Hey Humphrey, have any idea what we should do?” Kel asked the Humphrey with a green book.

“Nope! I have one thing on my mind and one thing only! I don’t know anything else!” Humphrey proudly grinned.

“What’s on your mind then?” Kel asked.

“That I fucking love air conditioning.” The Humphrey responded with a smug look.

Kel and Aubrey turned towards Omori who normally shot them glares when they swore, only to find his face was still neutral like always. In fact, his eyes seemed clouded with thoughts.

“Oh, so when I swear I get daggers but when he does it you do nothing? Rude.” Aubrey playfully rolled her eyes at Omori who just turned away from her, seemingly not in the mood to interact with them.

Huh, that’s weird…

Maybe it’s best not to ask. Might be something personal.