Argh…? My head felt like it had just been split open like a watermelon sliced in half. The last thing I remember was… wait? That jerk Luke brought me back to the hotel and then…? Come to think of it, I am in a nice room right now—but that would mean that muscle freak must've knocked me out again, didn't he?
At least I got a sweet room. The place looked really nice, with the room's walls painted gold, and the bed I was laying on had really comfy, really clean sheets and a royal red blanket with a golden image of a crown on it. The carpet was a really cool white, red, and gold color mix, and I haven't even mentioned the best part about this room—and that has to be the giant flat-screen TV. I know to some it's just like any other hotel room, but to me, this room is paradise.
For some reason, though, there was a penguin pillow pet right next to my pillow. But hey, I'm not complaining. I mean, who doesn't like penguins? If I could have one as a pet, I would.
I then started to get up and sadly head out of the room. I mean, I would rather stay here and watch TV myself, but I don't really think that's a good idea when you have Buffy the Giant running the place. As I headed towards the door and started to open it, I then heard a sound.
Beep! Beep! Beep!
What the heck? I thought, backing away from the door quickly. I then looked around to see where the sound came from, but didn't really notice a thing—just an empty hallway with golden-painted walls, crystallized chandeliers, and a nice royal red carpet.
Beep! Beep! Beep!
I heard the sound again. I then looked down and saw one of those floor-cleaning robots that cleans your floors (I don't really remember the name of the robots, though). It looked a little different than how it looked in my world. It had a cool shiny silver color, but that wasn't the main difference I meant. It was small, sure, but it had robotic spider arms popping out of it, with multiple cleaning objects in its hands, I wanna say… a mop, a broom, Windex, cleaning alcohol, towels. Jeez, this thing really does all the work around here, doesn't it?
I then didn't really pay much attention to it. I had to find Luke and maybe lash out some of my frustration on him for bringing me here. As soon as I took a single step, however, I then heard the beeping sound again.
Beep! Beep! Beep!
"The hell?!" I said as I looked down and saw the mini cleaning robot's eye flash red.
Beep! Thieve, thieve! Beep!
Thief? Is this thing talking about me? I thought, not knowing what I stole from this place. Before I could fully process what was going on, it then pulled another spider arm—(not gonna lie, this thing is really starting to remind me of Dr. Octavius from Spider-Man, just, you know, smaller and a cleaning robot). It then swung something at me. Luckily, I was able to move out of the way just in time. It was now holding a shiny silvery spiked hammer that looked like it could kill anyone with a single whack.
"Woah, woah, calm down! I didn't steal anything, okay? How about we talk about this, robo-buddy?" I said to the thing. And yes, I'm trying to negotiate with a robot that looks like it could kill me with that hammer.
My mind is telling me we could jump over the small robot, but… my body is telling me, "I wouldn't take that risk if I were you." As I backed ever so slightly into the room, I then heard footsteps approaching.
"That's enough," a voice said from the corner. "He is not a thief—at least this time."
Wait, did she say this time? What have I exactly stolen? I thought, waiting and hoping for my miraculous savior to hopefully save me.
When I saw who it was, it was a girl who looked around my age with short brown hair, hazel eyes, wearing a red vest and black jeans with her name tag that read: Harper. As I approached her to thank her for saving me, she then backed away slowly. Like, jeez, I didn't know I was that gross.
"Sorry, but even though I just helped you, don't think we're friends or anything," she said, picking up the mini robot. "Anyways, now that you're up, Mr. W wants to see you." She gestured for me to follow behind her.
I then went back over towards the bed and grabbed the penguin pillow pet as I then asked, "Hey, before we go anywhere, mind if I take this little guy off your hands?"
I mean, why not? I've never had a pillow pet. I've always kinda wanted one as a kid but sadly never got one, so what's the harm in trying now?
"Take it, I don't really care. To be honest, I don't really know what that old thing is even doing here. I guess we forgot to toss it in the garbage last week."
That's so mean—who would throw away a perfectly good pillow pet?! It's still in mint condition after all. I then followed behind this Harper chick as we headed downstairs, and this place felt like it was getting even more beautiful by the second. As I walked down each step, I noticed a couple of paintings hanging up. They were pictures of a bunch of old guys who I'm assuming were previous owners of this place before they eventually retired.
As I reached the final step of the stairs, I then saw Luke and the old guy sitting on the couch looking like they just got finished having a serious talk of some kind. As much as I really wanted to turn around and head back to my hotel room, I knew I couldn't, 'cause I got the feeling that beef-back over there would just knock me out again and forcefully drag me back down here.
"Look who finally decided to rejoin the land of the conscious! You really know how to take a hit, mate.," Luke, the smug-prick, said with a jolly happy wave. "Anyways, about our little adventure—we're good to go."
"We are?" I said, feeling a little confused at how easy that just sounded.
Not gonna lie, I thought going on an adventure quest would be a little harder with this guy, since I'm pretty sure he might hate me.
"I never put it like that," the big guy said.
And yeah, I kinda figured. Let's see what we have to do for this guy.
"Okay, so don't be mad, dude," Luke said, smiling gently at me.
"At this point, whatever comes out of your mouth will make me mad, dude."
"So, turns out I agreed to one little teeny tiny thing before you can go and get your adventurer's license—and by you, I mean we."
I then sighed and replied, "What is it? Does he want us to work here for him for a couple of days?" I guessed.
"Not exactly. He wants us to find something."
"What, a missing dog or a cat stuck in a tree?" I asked, knowing very well it's not something that easy.
"It's an item that his son was actually trying to find and bring back."
"What item?" I asked the old man.
"It's called the Gorgon's Mask," the old man said in an almost depressing tone.
Gorgon's Mask… like the head of Medusa?