CHAPTER 21: A Scream

Gabe was reading a book quietly in her room when she heard a scream, from somewhere far off. She looked up from her book, frowning. What was that? The scream continued, causing her to jump onto her feet and head out towards the sound to investigate.

Gabe was not the only one who heard it. Her bodyguards moved down the corridor swiftly, heading towards the sound. Soon, they arrived at the source of the sound: the guest bedroom.

"Stand back," Max warned, shielding Gabe with his arm, as Ivan flung the door open.

"Aaaaaaaahhhhhh!!! Aaaaaaaahhhhhhh!!!" The scream was now loud and piercing.

The first thing that they saw was Togon, who was sitting on the bed, his eyes wide open and fixated on the screen of the 110-inch, ultra HD 8K television. As the bodyguards scanned the room for danger, they realized that there was nothing. Their eyes then reverted to the source of the continuous scream: Togon.

"What's the matter?" Ivan asked hurriedly.

It was only then Togon realized that the door to his room was open and six pairs of eyes were staring at him questioningly through the doorway.

"I-It's that thing! There's a monster in that thing!" Togon pointed a shaky finger at the television screen, "I pressed a button and it appeared out of nowhere so suddenly. It's going to kill me! Ahhhh!!!"

The six pairs of eyes swiveled to the television, where a fiendish face stared creepily at a girl cowering in the corner.

"Seriously? Why did you turn on the horror movies channel if you are scared?"

"I don't know! What did I do? Why is this happening?"

"I'll help him get settled. You guys can leave." Gabe told her bodyguards.

They went away, leaving Togon and Gabe in the room.

"Why don't you take a bath before getting onto the bed? You are making the sheets dirty. And you should change out of your prince clothes. Everyone's giving you weird stares." Gabe said, shutting the door behind her.

"Get rid of that monster first!" Togon screamed.

Gabe went and pressed a button on the television remote control. The television turned off and the monster disappeared.

Gabe gestured to the blank screen of the television, "Now go bathe."

"Phew! Is it really gone?" Togon panted, peeking behind the screen to check. When he was sure the monster had completely vanished, he said, "So where do I bathe? And I do not have clothes to change into."

Gabe shook her head, sighing. She brought Togon to the luxurious toilet and showed him around, explaining how everything worked. "You turn on the tap like this. The water comes out from here. That's the toilet. Press this button to flush."

"What's a flush?" Togon asked, pressing the button.

The toilet gurgled as it flushed.

"What's all those water for?" He asked again.

"You can figure that out yourself when you use it," Gabe said, annoyed.

She turned towards a polished wooden cupboard, "And now, this is the wardrobe. You can find clothes to wear here."

Togon opened his mouth to ask another question.

"And don't ask me how you wear them. Figure it out yourself." Gabe quickly interjected.

Soon, Gabe had finished her brief explanation of everything in the toilet.

"And lastly, this is the lock. Turn it to lock the door so that no one can enter," Gabe said, turning to the door to leave, when she spotted her watch on Togon, "Oh, and also remember to remove my watch from your wrist before you shower or you will wet it."

"Do you want it back? I'll return this watch to you, and you'll have to give my bracelet back to me as well," Togon pointed to the bracelet on Gabe's wrist.

Gabe turned to face Togon, "Yes, please. This watch means a lot to me. But let me keep the bracelet too."

"My bracelet is very important to me as well."

Gabe shook her head in refusal and lifted Togon's wrist, removing the straps of the watch.

"Leave it," Togon scowled, pulling his hand away from her grasp, "if you don't want to return my bracelet, I'll keep your watch."

"You still have to remove it before you shower," Gabe said matter-of-factly, "and have you forgotten our agreement? You have to do what I ask when I want it."

Togon paused for a moment, speechless.

"Fine!" Togon began to slide the watch off his wrist.

Suddenly, he felt giddy and uncomfortable. He began getting visions of his own world back in the past and started hyperventilating. The further he removed the watch, the worse it got. Quickly, he slid the watch back snugly onto his wrist and his discomforts disappeared as quickly as a flash.

"What's wrong?" Gabe asked, moving forwards to steady him.

"I don't know. I just cannot remove the watch. It makes me feel sick," Togon panted, his legs shaking. He leaned against the wall for support. Gabe closed the toilet lid and helped Togon onto the seat.

"My watch was glowing just now when you were removing it. I think this has something to do with our time-traveling mystery." Gabe suggested.

She recalled the time during the interrogation in Togon's world when the guard had tried to remove the bracelet from her wrist and she had gotten some visions. Will the same thing happen if she tried to remove the bracelet now?

She slid it off her wrist slowly, waiting for the glowing, discomfort, and visions. It never came. The bracelet was soon off her wrist and she was holding it up in her other hand. She placed it onto the ledge in the toilet, frowning.

"Hey, it doesn't happen with you?" Togon asked, pointing to her wrist. He had also suspected the same as Gabe and was just as surprised when it did not happen.

"Maybe it only happens when we are not in our own time," Gabe speculated, deep in thought.

Gabe began to feel uncomfortable about not having the familiar weight on her wrist and was unable to refuse the impulse to immediately snatch up the bracelet and put it back on. It just felt right.

She stared at the bracelet on her wrist, fingering it absent-mindedly. When she touched it, she felt her whole body grow warm, but it only felt natural to her, like it had always been a part of her.

As Togon was observing her curiously, Gabe suddenly jolted back into the present and looked up.

"What is it?" Togon asked.

"It's nothing. I just spaced out for a moment," Gabe said, turning towards the door, "Now go and shower. Remember to lock the door."

"Wait, wait. Don't go yet. How do I lock the door again?" Togon stood up from the toilet seat to stop Gabe from leaving, "And how do I get the water for my bath?"

Gabe ignored Togon and left him alone in the toilet, shutting the door on his confused face.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, she plugged in her earpiece to block out the sound of Togon's voice yelling another question from the toilet. She continued fiddling with the bracelet, trying to figure out the mystery.

It took Togon a long time to figure out how to use everything. He got steaming hot water sprayed at his face and was too scared to use the heater so he had to use freezing water for the rest of his bath. He could not find the towels and instead used toilet paper to dry himself, and then he had to spend another 10 minutes picking pieces of soggy paper off his skin. He was shivering uncontrollably as the cool air blew against his bare, wet body, and had to endure another 10 minutes of this as he figured out how to wear the clothes in the wardrobe.

Soon, after an extremely long time, he emerged from the toilet, his teeth chattering from the cold. Luckily, he did not wash his long hair or the shower experience would be ten times worse.

"Finally done? Now go sleep and don't touch anything else. I will be back tomorrow morning," Gabe said as she left, turning off the lights and shutting the door with a thud.

Togon crawled onto the bed and sunk into the warm, cozy sheets. As he lay under the blankets in the dark, staring at the ceiling, he thought about his predicament. This wasn't so bad after all. At first, he thought that Gabe would be much meaner and order him about like a servant, and he would be having the worst time of his life in a strange world. However, Gabe actually turned out to be quite helpful and comforting to have around especially in this unfamiliar world, even though she was a little cold and prickly at times. He did not blame her. He had been wrong about her being an assassin before and had hurt her terribly. Now, Togon was receiving her help, and he was thankful for his decision to trust and follow Gabe.